Time to leave Socket 939 behind... recommendations?

[JYeager11]

Current :
MB: A8N-SLI Deluxe
CPU: Opteron 180 (dual core)
RAM: 2GB Corsair 200mhz DDR (2x1024)
HD: Seagate ST3250823AS (SATA)
HD: Western Digital WDC WD740GD-000FLA2
DVD: Plextor DVDR PX-716A

--

Time to upgrade. Have appx. $2,500 to spend.

Computer use :
- Cakewalk Sonar 7 (Audio Software)
- Photoshop CS3 (Graphic Editing)

I'd preferably like everything to come from NCIX.com, or DELL.ca.

The hard drives don't need to be upgraded unless there's an actual benefit to be gained from it.

What do you recommend for me?

PS: Your recommendation may very well be "That's good enough - now is not a good time for you to upgrade."

 

[Met-AL]

Your Opteron is a dual core CPU.

Core 2 Duo is Intel's name for their CPU, just as Opteron is the name of AMD's CPU.

As for what to buy, you could get a very nice system from Dell.ca with that budget.

Oh, and what you have is pretty nice. I don't have alot of experience with what you do with Photoshop and ask, would you get any gains from a faster CPU?

 

[VanQuiShEr]

That system spec is "good enough" for now. I would rather wait.
Or update the graphic card, it seems thats what you'll want the most.

 

[MC FLMJIG]

Seems like a deceent system.

However it seems as if you will get a nIntel system next.

Go quad core.

Abit IP 35 board. Pro or the reg. I wouldn't do the E version of that board though.

they have some ballistix on sale from time to time.

DDR2 800 minimum.

You can pretty much use everything else.

Don't know what PSU u use but the Corsair 520 is sweet...

Oh seems like nvidia is also dropping the new 8800gt. Seems like a weiner!

 

[JYeager11]

Seems like a deceent system.

However it seems as if you will get a nIntel system next.

Go quad core.

Abit IP 35 board. Pro or the reg. I wouldn't do the E version of that board though.

they have some ballistix on sale from time to time.

DDR2 800 minimum.

You can pretty much use everything else.

Don't know what PSU u use but the Corsair 520 is sweet...

Oh seems like nvidia is also dropping the new 8800gt. Seems like a weiner!

Cool, you really seem to know what you're talking about, with very specific references. But as someone who hasn't upgraded in close to 4 years, it's all a bit chinese to me. Other than quite a few people have been quoting Abit to me, which is a shock to be honest. They weren't even a player last time I had to upgrade.

Could you point me to exactly which products on the http://www.ncix.com page I'd need to purchase to get up to speed?

PS: Current video card is an Asus GeForce 6600 GT (128mb). I wouldn't mind upgrading to.. what was it you wrote? 8800 GT? Will that help? Should I stick with Asus for that?

 

[Concentric]

Will you be playing any games or just photo editing?

 

[JYeager11]

Will you be playing any games or just photo editing?

You know, every past upgrade has accounted for the possibility of playing games, but I've found that my XBOX gradually made that need obsolete. This may actually be the first time I answer "no" to that question.

Just some serious heavy-duty (ridiculous resolutions and processing-driven plugins) 2D graphic editing, and pro audio recording/editing (with as many real-time audio plugins running simultaneously as I can afford).

Again, I can't stress enough how high the levels of both will be, and how I will push the machine to its limits no matter where they lie. But yeah, at the end of the day, it will be "just" 2D photo editing and music production.

 

[engiNURD]

I think your system is good for now. Wait until next year sometime to upgrade. AMD and Intel will be coming out with new CPUs and chipsets, and NVIDIA will be coming out with new graphics cards.

If you were to upgrade now, get these:

Intel Core2Duo Q6600 G0 energy efficient CPU
4GB 2x2GB DDR2-800 G.Skill PQ kit or Patriot ELK sticks

Motherboard choices if you don't need SLI:
Abit IP35-E
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Abit IP35
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R
Asus P5K
Asus P5K-E
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
Abit IP35 Pro

If you need SLI:
eVGA nForce 680i SLI NF68-A1
eVGA nForce 680i LT SLI NF67-T1

PSU: Corsair 620W

 

[MC FLMJIG]

Enigurd has the right idea and most of that stuff is avaiable at the store you mentioned. However I would not do Junkabyte. Asus aren't bad but that Abit is hands down the best bang for the buck.

Considering the Canadian $ is on par to the US $ Those prices are a tad on the high end.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24629&vpn=IP35&manufacture=ABit

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24641&vpn=BL2KIT12864AA804&manufacture=CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY
This memory is at a very SWEET price. These can go to ddr2 1000+ if need be with a lil voltage OR loosening timings a bit if.

Either one should do well
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19832&vpn=CMPSU-520HX&manufacture=CORSAIR
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=19831&vpn=CMPSU-620HX&manufacture=CORSAIR

The 8800GT is NOT out yet. Should be out very soon. I would really wait. Seems like this may have 512MB, be stronger than the current 8800gts and be VERY, VERY competitively priced.

Personally that ram is very cheap. Memory prices have were supposed to go higher but never did...

 

[JYeager11]

Considering the Canadian $ is on par to the US $ Those prices are a tad on the high end.

Do you know where I can buy them in the US that will deliver to Canada? Because Newegg doesn't (at least, last time I checked).

The 8800GT is NOT out yet. Should be out very soon. I would really wait. Seems like this may have 512MB, be stronger than the current 8800gts and be VERY, VERY competitively priced.

For what it's worth, the first I'd heard of the 8800GT was at Best Buy on Saturday, when it came bundled with a system they had for sale.

You also seem to have left out the CPU, and whatever cooling technology is needed (I heard Quads are very loud, this is a concern).

 

[engiNURD]

You also seem to have left out the CPU, and whatever cooling technology is needed (I heard Quads are very loud, this is a concern).

CPUs have no moving parts nor do they emit any audible noises. Therefore, a quadcore CPU cannot be loud. Maybe you mean the intel stock HSF? If so, then yes, those can get loud. To cool the chip better, its suggest to pickup either a Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultima90 + Panaflo Hydrowave fan, or a Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex fan. All three of those coolers are quiet and can keep a quadcore cool.

 

[JYeager11]

CPUs have no moving parts nor do they emit any audible noises. Therefore, a quadcore CPU cannot be loud. Maybe you mean the intel stock HSF? If so, then yes, those can get loud. To cool the chip better, its suggest to pickup either a Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultima90 + Panaflo Hydrowave fan, or a Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex fan. All three of those coolers are quiet and can keep a quadcore cool.

uh.. I wasn't referring to the CPU itself being loud. I was referring to the fact that no CPU was listed, AND there was no cooling system in this computer you suggested. Perhaps none is even necessary. But I was told by more than one source that Quad Core setups are so loud (I assume straight out of the box) that one guy even returned his and got Dual.

*Is* a cooling system a must? If nothing else, it'll mean a less noisy computer, right? No loud fans?

 

[Private_Ops]

A simple HSF is a must on any CPU from about 1990 and up. The most you could do for a Quad Core is get a good silent HSF instead of the stock cooler Intel usually gives.

 

[engiNURD]

But I was told by more than one source that Quad Core setups are so loud (I assume straight out of the box) that one guy even returned his and got Dual.

If he thought the HSF was too loud, he could have just picked up a better, more quiet HSF solution like the ones I listed above.

So, if you want a quiet HSF, choose one of the three I listed...

CPUs have no moving parts nor do they emit any audible noises. Therefore, a quadcore CPU cannot be loud. Maybe you mean the intel stock HSF? If so, then yes, those can get loud. To cool the chip better, its suggest to pickup either a Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultima90 + Panaflo Hydrowave fan, or a Thermalright Ultra 120 eXtreme + Scythe S-Flex fan. All three of those coolers are quiet and can keep a quadcore cool.

I'll repeat it again, in case you missed it again... All three of those coolers are quiet and can keep a quadcore cool.

 

[JYeager11]

I'll repeat it again, in case you missed it again... All three of those coolers are quiet and can keep a quadcore cool.

I understood you the 1st time. And that fact won't change even if you decide to repeat it a 4th time.

Need I remind you that I'm not the one who misunderstood the other, here. You thought I believed CPUs made noise. I never did. That was your mistake, not mine. So why the sarcasm and general douchebaggery? Payback?

I appreciate help, but not when it's at the expense of common courtesy. Feel free to abstain from helping me further.

 

[JYeager11]

A simple HSF is a must on any CPU from about 1990 and up. The most you could do for a Quad Core is get a good silent HSF instead of the stock cooler Intel usually gives.

Sounds sensible. So I guess the logical thing to do is try out the stock, and if it's too noisy, look into more silent alternatives..?

 

[tiraides]

Sounds sensible. So I guess the logical thing to do is try out the stock, and if it's too noisy, look into more silent alternatives..?

I'd listen to enginurd on this one. In addition to the fans being quieter, each HSF that he mentioned cools the Core 2 Quad Q6600 much better than the stock Intel HSF. The Tuniq Tower 120 can also accept any 120mm fan that is 25mm thick, should you not like the stock fan that it provides.

*Is* a cooling system a must? If nothing else, it'll mean a less noisy computer, right? No loud fans?

Yes a cooling system is a must... even if you purchase a Q6000 with G0 stepping, it's going to generate a lot of heat. But if you're really concerned about noise from the processor, then you also need to take into consideration the noises coming from the hard drive and the CD/DVD drive as well -- when active, both are considerably loud. And you can't forget about the noise coming from the cooler on most video cards....

There are many options available to minimize the noise coming from computer, but not having an active cooling system (for the processor) is not recommended.

 

[engiNURD]

Need I remind you that I'm not the one who misunderstood the other, here. You thought I believed CPUs made noise. I never did. That was your mistake, not mine. So why the sarcasm and general douchebaggery?

Need I remind you that you were unlcear with your statement:

I heard Quads are very loud, this is a concern

Then you clarified what you really meant, and thats fine. Its not my mistake that you didn't type your understanding correctly. Therefore, I was just clarifying that the CPU's themselves aren't loud. Then you went ahead and clarified your concern. Thats fine, too. But I had already addressed that concern. Therefore, since you restated your concern, I restated what I thought you had missed. You never acknowledged that you understood what I was saying regarding quiet coolers for a quad because you kept saying the loudness of a quad core setup was still a concern. Since I had already pointed out a way to keep it quiet, yet you kept mentioning your concern, I felt the need to point it out in a more obvious manner.

If you feel offended in any way, please accept my apologies, because I did not intend any sarcasm nor offense. However, I will refrain from helping you further (after this post), since you seem so sensitive to help.

Sounds sensible. So I guess the logical thing to do is try out the stock, and if it's too noisy, look into more silent alternatives..?

Sound is subjective, so yes, it would be best to test out the stock one first. However, since many have already told you its loud, you could believe them and get one of the coolers I recommended above, saving yourself the trouble of having to uninstall and reinstall HSFs.

/unsubscribed

 

[MC FLMJIG]

Oh! I meant I agreed with the CPU recomendation. Isn't there a new Quad on the horizon?

I would also do the Ultima 90. It is a great cooler and small. I a mvery shockedit can hang with the big boys at that size!

 

[Ethug]

You do not need an 8800gt if you aren't gaming. Get an 8600gt and you're fine. You can even get a passive one for a bit of peace and quiet. For photoshop an 8800 would be a waste. I actually have an 8500gt doing 1680x1050 in vista and it does fine. The 8600gt's have come down a bit since launch tho making them the better value against the time period I bought my card in.

 

[shuffle2]

i have MSI's passively cooled 8600gts. it runs all current games fine at 180x1050, i'm sure you'd be happy with it - plus, it's silent.

 

[JYeager11]

Need I remind you that you were unlcear with your statement:

I heard Quads are very loud, this is a concern

Yes, I heard Quad systems were much noisier than Duos. You're the only person here who interpreted that as the CPU itself being somehow noisy. Thus, you misunderstood. Why you're having such a hard time accepting such a trivial fact scares me a bit.

Then you clarified what you really meant...

...to the only person who understood it that way...

...and thats fine. Its not my mistake that you didn't type your understanding correctly.

"Didn't type your understanding correctly" -- ?

What the heck does that even mean?

Listen, it seems very important to you on a psychological level to prove that you are incapable of misunderstanding someone else, and that the fault must be theirs if you didn't get it the first time.

As for me, I just like to say "oh, okay" when those types of situations occur. Not start a flamefest and slam the door on my way out...

/unsubscribed

...like that.

What, was "talk to da hand!" simply not geeky enough?

 

[JYeager11]

You do not need an 8800gt if you aren't gaming. Get an 8600gt and you're fine. You can even get a passive one for a bit of peace and quiet. For photoshop an 8800 would be a waste. I actually have an 8500gt doing 1680x1050 in vista and it does fine. The 8600gt's have come down a bit since launch tho making them the better value against the time period I bought my card in.

You bring up a good subject : while this probably doesn't influence anything, I should probably mention that I'm running natively at 1920x1200 (on a Dell 2407WFP-HC). It will never be less than this, and in fact may go higher if I upgrade the monitor.

Should I still not sweat the video card?

 

[Ethug]

You bring up a good subject : while this probably doesn't influence anything, I should probably mention that I'm running natively at 1920x1200 (on a Dell 2407WFP-HC). It will never be less than this, and in fact may go higher if I upgrade the monitor.

Should I still not sweat the video card?

If you aren't running games, the rules for performance totally change .You might want to double check to make sure whatever card you get can support a 30inch monitor for the future, but I really doubt it would be an issue.

I'll admit, I was really scared purchasing this card after I stopped gaming. I had that "overzealous game player" thing going and thought it might not even run vista well. Needless to say, these feelings were completely unfounded. I'd still check about the 30inch support, then get an 8600gt.

 

[engiNURD]

ROFL... The problem with unsubscribing is that I still see the thread when I look in GenHard...

Sure, I was being sarcastic, but its not like I wasn't helping. I was giving you suggestions on how to make a quad system more quiet, yet you failed to look past my sarcasm and decided to continue voicing your concerns of a noisy quadcore system, thereby ignoring the rest of my post. I merely restated my post, yet you get all defensive about it, lol. I never meant for it be a flamefest or whatever you wanna call this. Once again, I apologize. Relax and get on with your life already. LOL.

 

[JYeager11]

Relax and get on with your life already.

Says the guy who actually typed "/unsubscribe" at the end of his last post as a means of self-therapy, yet couldn't resist coming right back here to type the above just a few hours later.

I'll admit, I was really scared purchasing this card after I stopped gaming. I had that "overzealous game player" thing going and thought it might not even run vista well. Needless to say, these feelings were completely unfounded. I'd still check about the 30inch support, then get an 8600gt.

Good point about Vista. Doesn't it do its fair share of 3D? (I've never run it, but from afar, I seem to recall seeing quite a bit of 3D used by the OS itself.)

And it would have to be able to do 2560x1600 smoothly (which, as you pointed out, would be the next resolution if I upgrade the screen).

Now as for my old/current system... which I will keep as a 2nd computer on the network (it's a Dual Core Opteron 180 running on WinXP x64 / Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe) I'd like to upgrade the RAM, but that's a really complicated area for me as I've tried it before on another system and ended up buying the wrong sticks.

I am currently using 2 sticks of (according to SIW.exe):

Manufacturer: Corsair
Part Number: CMX1024-3200C2
Capacity: 1024 MBytes
Memory Type: SDRAM DDR
Speed: PC3200 (200 MHz)
(but websites report this model actually does 400mhz, not 200)
Data Width: 64 bits
Voltage: SSTL 2.5V
Error Correction: None
Refresh: Reduced (.5x)...7.8 µs
EPP SPD Support: No

And my shopping options as a Canadian are pretty limited.
In-store, there's :
http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/index.php?cPath=2030000
Online, it's :
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=105

What can I safely add to my MB?

 

[Ethug]

Says the guy who actually typed "/unsubscribe" at the end of his last post as a means of self-therapy, yet couldn't resist coming right back here to type the above just a few hours later.



Good point about Vista. Doesn't it do its fair share of 3D? (I've never run it, but from afar, I seem to recall seeing quite a bit of 3D used by the OS itself.)

And it would have to be able to do 2560x1600 smoothly (which, as you pointed out, would be the next resolution if I upgrade the screen).

Now as for my old/current system... which I will keep as a 2nd computer on the network (it's a Dual Core Opteron 180 running on WinXP x64 / Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe) I'd like to upgrade the RAM, but that's a really complicated area for me as I've tried it before on another system and ended up buying the wrong sticks.

I am currently using 2 sticks of (according to SIW.exe):

Manufacturer: Corsair
Part Number: CMX1024-3200C2
Capacity: 1024 MBytes
Memory Type: SDRAM DDR
Speed: PC3200 (200 MHz)
(but websites report this model actually does 400mhz, not 200)
Data Width: 64 bits
Voltage: SSTL 2.5V
Error Correction: None
Refresh: Reduced (.5x)...7.8 µs
EPP SPD Support: No

And my shopping options as a Canadian are pretty limited.
In-store, there's :
http://www.microbytes.com/computer/ordinateur/index.php?cPath=2030000
Online, it's :
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=105

What can I safely add to my MB?

this page is what you have:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/268/2/ (by part number)

your prices via that ncix site quite frankly are absurd. Since you intend to keep this as a second computer, I would buy 1, 2 or 3 of these:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15556&vpn=VS1GB400C3&manufacture=CORSAIR
at 65 each.
They have a slightly slower timing than what you currently have in there, but whats in there now will just be bumped to that slower timing when this is added.

In terms of that speed "difference", you'll never see it. In most things having MORE ram matters a lot more than having "fast" ram. Value ram is generally the way to go unless you need really "fast" ram to overclock with.

How much you put in (1,2, or 3 sticks) is up to you, I would probably buy 1 more stick and leave it at that. A dual core with 2 gig is a lot more snappy than it is with just 1 in my experience.