Upgrade Time - Need help

S

Spark_Plug

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
Messages
115
So my motherboard just died, and I figured this as an excuse for an upgrade. My previous machine was built 2 years ago, right after the Quad Core price drop.

The machine was this:
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
EVGA 8800GTX
Intel Quad Core Q6600 B3 stepping
2x2gb Patriot PC6400 RAM
Corsair HX620.

Over these two years, I have not kept up with hardware, so I need some help with this. I am looking at getting back into the gaming scene. Haven't really been playing much, but want to start up again. I have no idea which way to go, Intel or AMD, Nvidia or ATI. I do not know if my Q6600 or memory would be worth keeping. I know DDR3 came out, so not sure what advantages or anything over DDR2 are. I am thinking of going with a new CPU/Memory and buying giving the current to my dad so he can play FSX, buy him a new Power Supply too. Hes currently using a AMD S939 3000+, Nvidia 6600 and an Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. All help would be greatly appreciated.

Would you recommend going for SLI or Crossfire if I am going to get semi-heavily into gaming and would like to keep this machine around for another good 2-3 years? And if so, which route should I take, SLI or Crossfire?

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming and programming mostly.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$750-$1000.

3) Where do you live?
Madison, WI

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Motherboard, Video Card for sure.
Maybe CPU and RAM.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Corsair HX620 Power Supply
Maybes:
Q6600
2x2gb Patriot PC6400 DDR2
Hard and Optical Drives

6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2x24" Monitors

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
2 weeks to a month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
Would like Crossfire or SLI

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes

Thanks for all help.
 
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I was mainly just planning on upgrading the CPU, mobo and video card. If I were to give my old parts to my dad then I would get some new memory too.
 
As far as I know it is. I have no way of testing it though. I would like to upgrade anyway and like I said, give some parts to my dad to help him out.
 
RMA the motherboard.

For gaming with a single vidcard, you won't notice a difference between the Q6600 OC'd to at least 3Ghz vs the AMD Ph2 X4 945, since most games are GPU limited instead of CPU limited.

If you want to give your current setup to you dad, then go for the Phenom2 parts lt shiro recommended unless you need i7. When you program, are you developing for different platforms? do you run multiple VM's? If so, you may want to consider an i7 instead.
 
I am just doing PHP stuff for myself. I am going to school for an Management of Computer Systems degree and that is mostly JAVA stuff. I do not run any VM's or anything.
 
I am thinking of going with that first combo that Hardware Guru posted, the 945 and Asus 770 mobo. For a video card I would go with 2 of the HIS 4890 video cards. Would my HX620 power supply be able to handel all of this? Or should I get a more powerful power supply? Also what kind of HSF should I use for a setup like this?
 
What mobo would you recommend if I wanted to go crossfire?
Also how much of an increase would I get running 4890's in crossfire vs running a single 4870x2?
 
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1. yes hx620 will do crossfire with no problems
2. depends on the brand of the 420 watt psu.
 
That one was supposed to be for the 8800GTX, 4gb RAM and a Q6600. Ill be using the HX620 4890 crossfire.
 
Ahh... I need coffee. Sorry. Yes, for the old system, the EA430 will do fine. ;)
 
One last question, I am using a Thermalright Ultra 120 Heatsink for my Q6600, will I be fine using that on the 945 too? I would just order the AM2 bolt through kit, I read that AM2 and AM3 uses the same mounting holes, is that true?
 
The TRUE 120 would be fine, but I don't know whether or not AM2 and AM3 boards use the same mounting holes. I want to say yes, since many AM2 boards can support the Phenom II processor, but not all boards have the same configurations.
 
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