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Upgrade path

S

spewing oil

n00b
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
1
So I have been contemplating upgrading for the past few months. The problem is I don't have the cash for a major overhaul.

Right now:
939 opteron overclocked
1gb ddr
x1900aiw

I figure for now I can grab a nice LGA 775 board , good 2 x 2gb ddr2 and a e2140. Then later (year maybe more?) get a quad.

My questions are:

How long do you think will 775 stick around? Will ddr3 be needed soon? Thoughts on the budget setup and recommendations for a ~$120 sli 775 motherboard.
 
The upcoming Wolfdale and Yorkfield processors are last processors coming to LGA775 as far as now. So If you're looking to upgrade to say a quad that may come out next year that won't be happening. Intel's upcoming processor with the integrated memory controlled will have three different sockets if I'm not mistaken.
 
Wait as long as you can before upgrading. If you can wait right now, do so... buy when you can't wait anymore. If you just want better gaming performance, pickup a new vidcard.

Penryn/Wolfdale/Yorkfield is coming out at the end of Q1'08. Its a 45nm version of the current 65nm CPUs (its basically a die shrink with slight improvements). They generally increase performance by 10-15% over current offerings and are still LGA775.

Nehalem is Intel's new architecture, scheduled for release in Q4'08. Mainstream parts should come in the following quarter (Q1'09). Nehalem will include an integrated memory controller (ICM; a current feature of the AMD K8 CPUs) and a new tech called Quick Path Interconnect (QPI; similar to AMD's HyperTransport). You will need a new motherboard (socket B; LGA1366) and most likely DDR3 for this platform.

What features do you need in a motherboard?

If you don't need Crossfire/SLI, stick with a P35 board. If you don't need anything fancy, the Abit IP35-E and Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (if you need legacy ports) are your good-but-cheap options (they can OC great w/ better chipset cooling). If you need RAID, the GA-P35-DS3R is good and has 8 SATA ports, but the MSI Neo2-FR has better cooling for the chipset/mosfets (though you're sacrificing 3 SATA ports). If you need Firewire, the Asus P5K fits the bill. If you want/need both RAID and Firewire, check out the Abit IP35 non-pro, if you can find it in stock (typically $120 - $25MIR).

The higher end boards aren't in your price range, but I'll list them anyways: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P, DS4, Asus P5K-E, and the crowd favorite, Abit IP35 Pro.
 
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