Upgrading

[Paradine Hawk]

Thinking of getting the following:

Corsair Memory TWINX1024-3200XLPT XMS3200 2x512MB 2-2-2-5 Silver £109.20

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Socket 939 1MB Inc Fan £272.34

Gigabyte GeForce Dual 6600GT 256MB PCI-E DVI-I & K8NXP-SLI (dual chip graphics card and motherboard package) £268.08

Total price £763.29 (all from Dabs).

Any thoughts ..............

[knaggsy]

look good but with all this warm weather the standed AMD fan is crap... but an artic freezer 64 or an xp-120 with high end 120mm fan.. to cool it :D

[Vasquez]

Hmmm...you could probably save your money and get a 3500 CPU instead of a 4000. Also, wait a month or two before getting a new graphics card. Even if you don't get a new one, the old ones will plummet in price. You'd be able to get at least a dual 6800GT I should think.

[knaggsy]

thats y i bought a 3800+ coz it was much cheaper :D

[Vasquez]

Btw, with the Arctic Freezer 64, do you/can you have a regular CPU fan fitted already and put that on top? or is it one or the other? What about the XP-120?

I want a really god cooler, but I also want something with lights on it... I was thinknig of the Akasa AK-855-BL or Gigabyte G-Power Pro or Gigabyte 3D Rocket Pro, all of which have LEDs. Are they any good? I could the XP120 or AF 64 and get an LED fan and attach it to the cooler...I think... could I?

[knaggsy]

the artic freezer is one of the other.

the XP-120 dosnt come with a fan, you have to buy a 120mm fan and fuond it yourself (so buy a 102mm fan with LED if u want that) the XP-120 is the best heatsink on the marker for £25 as well.. + the fan of course.

i bougth one for my gaming PC thou and a capasitor on my mobo made it so it woudnt fit.. so make surec your board is compatable with it.



the problem with LED fans is they spin slower.. thus dont move as much air.. thus dont give as good cooling.. and for a processor u need good cooling :D

[Vasquez]

Hmmm....

Well at the moment my PC is in the 40s at idle and 50s/low 60s under load and its got the standard AMD fan and heatsink si I should think that big cooler and 120mm fan will lower the temperature enough...

[JojoTheSlayer]

Thinking of getting the following:

Corsair Memory TWINX1024-3200XLPT XMS3200 2x512MB 2-2-2-5 Silver £109.20

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Socket 939 1MB Inc Fan £272.34

Gigabyte GeForce Dual 6600GT 256MB PCI-E DVI-I & K8NXP-SLI (dual chip graphics card and motherboard package) £268.08

Total price £763.29 (all from Dabs).

Any thoughts ..............

I think it looks good. Am guessing youre going 2x512 since you figure 1 GB is enought, or youre reusing the ram you already have. I would say keep the AMD4000 since 272 isnt that bad a price, but if you want the most for you buck. I would aslo recommend AMD3500.
Then again we both play Planetside :D. Gigabyte card seems fine.

As for Dual 6600GT am not to sure about. Am just thinking maby you can get one 6800 GT for 300 and you would have the option of upgrading later, but also be pretty close to 2x6600GT. I havent searched for tests, but its a guess. So if I was you I would search this issue up.

I did this for 6800 Ultra vs 6800 GT and I found out that I would be better of paying a bit extra for a G70 card and getting 1/3 more pipelines and one card close to the Sli results of two GT/Ultra cards. Just a thought, youre choice and walet :)

My2cent
Jojo

[Paradine Hawk]

Corsair Memory TWINX1024-3200XLPT XMS3200 2x512MB 2-2-2-5 Silver

Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI Socket 939 nForce 4 Ultra PCI-E ATX

Gigabyte GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCI-E DVI-I

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Socket 939 1MB Inc Fan

Total £707.44

This is with the better graphics card (which I could get a second one later when prices drop) and the slightly reduced CPU (3700 instead of 4000).

If I wait for the graphics cards to drop in price it means I wont be able to upgrade anything til then as i have an AGP card at moment.

1 question, on the cpu you have a choice of 512kb or 1MB is this the cache size and if so does it make much difference?

[James24]

well cache does increase performance

for example

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.2Ghz 1024kb cache = 3700

so 1mb of cache is equal to an extra 200 points.

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.4Ghz 512kB cache = 3800

so 200Mhz is equal to an extra 300 points

so if yo over clock the 3700 by 200Mhz you should get a 4000 anyway.

[JojoTheSlayer]

As for the Sli issue. You can take a look at this:
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2451&p=8

I must say low level sli dosent seem that impressive....

[Hovis]

Don't get that graphics card. Not yet anyway. New tech is just out, makes sense to reap the impending price benefit.

[James24]

Don't get that graphics card. Not yet anyway. New tech is just out, makes sense to reap the impending price benefit.

I agree with Hovis.

Cheapest I've found a gtx is £400. I've found an x800xt at aria for £234.

[Paradine Hawk]

ok I think the decision is to wait a while.
trouble with computers is you wait to upgrade to what you think is the latest thing and then a month later something new comes along.
But hey such is life.

[knaggsy]

well cache does increase performance

for example

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.2Ghz 1024kb cache = 3700

so 1mb of cache is equal to an extra 200 points.

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.4Ghz 1024MB cache = 3800

so 200Mhz is equal to an extra 300 points

so if yo over clock the 3700 by 200Mhz you should get a 4000 anyway.

not exactly becausei n yoru 2nd example your doubling the cashe, so thats 200 points.. so 200mhz is = 100points.

so if he overclocks the 3700 by 600mhz he gets 4000 :P

[Hovis]

I'll warn you when the next generation of cards is scheduled for release :D

[James24]

well cache does increase performance

for example

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.2Ghz 1024kb cache = 3700

so 1mb of cache is equal to an extra 200 points.

2.2Ghz 512kb cache = 3500
2.4Ghz 1024kB cache = 3800

so 200Mhz is equal to an extra 300 points

so if yo over clock the 3700 by 200Mhz you should get a 4000 anyway.

not exactly becausei n yoru 2nd example your doubling the cashe, so thats 200 points.. so 200mhz is = 100points.

so if he overclocks the 3700 by 600mhz he gets 4000 :P

ok, that was a typo. 2.4Ghz 1024kb cache is a 4000+

2.4Ghz 512KB cache is a 3800+.

[JojoTheSlayer]

ok, that was a typo. 2.4Ghz 1024kb cache is a 4000+
2.4Ghz 512KB cache is a 3800+.

I would in anycase stick whit the AMD4000 1Mb cache.
You motherboard will see more 3dcards during its life than CPUs, atleast thats the history of my 3 towers. So spending a bit more one the CPU and going peformance/economi on the 3dcard will probaly save you more money in then end.

4000+6800GT. Search a bit and you will probaly find somone that has good prices. Especialy on the GT card post G70 release.

[James24]

ok, that was a typo. 2.4Ghz 1024kb cache is a 4000+
2.4Ghz 512KB cache is a 3800+.

I would in anycase stick whit the AMD4000 1Mb cache.
You motherboard will see more 3dcards during its life than CPUs, atleast thats the history of my 3 towers. So spending a bit more one the CPU and going peformance/economi on the 3dcard will probaly save you more money in then end.

4000+6800GT. Search a bit and you will probaly find somone that has good prices. Especialy on the GT card post G70 release.

You could save £90, go for a 3700+ get a powerful cooler for £15 and then overclock is to 2.4Ghz. You are saving £75. Which can be put in the kitty for future upgrades.