upgrading

by **ShipWreck** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 7:39 am

want to upgrade my current system.

4400+
Vista
320 gig HD
HD3870
550 Watt PSU

Basically I just want to update my motherboard and processor. I would like to go Intel I think. Could someone recommend a good motherboard and processor that will eat a AMD 6400+ for breakfeast? I don't want to overclock since i'm limited on cooling. I was thinking of maybe the Q6600 or the E8400. any thoughts?

by **Wesley** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:42 am

whats your budget?
You want 2 PCI-E 2.0 slots or is one sufficient?
How much RAM do you want to support 8GB or 16GB?

by **Wesley** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 9:53 am

If you have a microcenter nearby, the Q6600 is on sale for $199.

by **ShipWreck** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:02 am

I live out in the boonies. There isn't even a Best Buy for 60 miles. I just want to run a single card. So one PCI 2.0 would work. And I only want to use a 32bit OS, so 4 gigs would be fine. 32 can only use 3.3 I think. As for budget $200.00 - $400.00 tops. I can buy a Dell system with a Q6600 and all the goodies for $600 shipped with this rebate I have. So i'm not sure to upgrade this old girl or buy a new one. I also need to get a better case if I dont buy new, so i'm saving for that also. I have promotional codes from newegg. http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Mar-0-2008/Promo032108in/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNECPUMB032108&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNECPUMB032108-_-email-_-E0-_-Moredeals

Thing is Newegg seems to jack the Intel prices up a bit. This is my first time changing a motherboard and processor. I've changed ram, cards and PSU's before.. I'm just not sure what to do or what to get. The reason I want to upgrade is my 3Dmark06 score was only in the 7600's. And people running the same card as me are getting over 100 fps in games without overclocking. While i'm limited to 50-70.. sometimes 25-30, for some reason. I have an XP Pro cd from my old PC that crapped out. So I was just going to use that instead of Vista. Since this current PC only came with the restore disks. Not the OS. So I was just going to reuse everything else I had. And then buy a new case down the road so I could get better cooling. I can get a 6400+ and a decent motherboard for around $250.00. But Intel seems more to out perfrom AMD. So I just wanted something faster than the 6400, since it uses 125W and the higher end Duos only use 95W.

by **CreepingCharlie** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 1:43 pm

I would go with the E8400 series. If you can't find an E8400 or its too high of a price try looking for an Xeon E3110. Its exactly the same as the E8400. Same family, same cache, same frequency, same everything. The only difference is that the voltages are slighty different. I'm not talking very big here. And the fact that is maketed toward the server end. Google it to see for yourself.

by **ShipWreck** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 2:42 pm

Ya, i've researched the 8400 actually. In my mind it's a tie between the Q6600 and the E8400. Funny thing is that when you buy the processor and the motherboard. Your about the price as the Dell inspiron 530 with Q6600.

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard $169.00
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $259.00 = $428.00 OR New Dell = $600 Shipped. Not sure what to do actually. I ordered the Dell then cancelled. Then decided to upgrade my system. So i'm kind of weighing my options. New Dell with the processor I want. Plus the new disk drives and HD. Or keep using my old stuff and upgrade it for about the same money. This it what I have now. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000M8MWI8/ref=dp_image_text_0?ie=UTF8&n=541966&s=pc Plus the PSU, Video Card and ram upgrade I did.

by **ShipWreck** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 4:03 pm

Ok, heres what i'm thinking any input would be warrented.

I'm going to use the XP Pro cd from my old system that crapped out. The 320 Gig HD, CD Drives PSU & Video Card from my current system. And add these parts.

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $119.00 $79.99 after rebate

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard $89.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor $254.99

Shipping $16.57

Total Before Rebate $463.98
After Rebate $441.57

Any thoughts or changes I should make?

by **Blaster** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:03 pm

I shoulded take Antec p182 will make less noise and not soo dusty inside.

Gigabyte P35 is areally good m board.
Price will drop on Q6600 werry soon April (sence the new Q9450 will replace in time and it´s comming now).

Pc6400 DDR2 will be more then enough on q6600.
If your goin to Oc and taking E8400, You should take Pc8500 at least.

The cpu that´s can be really fine is this new q9100 (2333Mhz, bus1333mhz 2x6mb cache multi 7, price not set yet!

by **ShipWreck** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:47 pm

ok. Thanks. Well I ordered the Antec 900. Just because of the price. I would have spent $50.00 more if I bought the p180. I usually dust my pc's out with compressed air once a month anyways. Then next week i'll get the motherboard. Then the processor, if I an make up my mind. Hopefully by that time the price might drop some.

by **ShipWreck** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:01 pm

Antec 900 Case I got it for $79.00
Rosewill 550 Watt PSU.. it's free.. so.. Will update when I have more $$'s
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 $79.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz $203.00
G.SKILL 2GB PC2 6400 $42.00
SAPPHIRE HD3870 512 $149.00
Seagate Barracuda 320Gigabyte Harddrive $69.00
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM $19.99

$641.98

Going to run stock cooler and see what temps are. Not planning overclocking as of yet. Hope everything works together Should have it all up and running by mid next week.

by **ShipWreck** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:12 am

Well I finally got everything and up and running. Very fast.. and everything runs cool. CPU is 25 degrees and GPU is 34 on idle. My FPS went from 15-60 fps to 80 - 150fps in TF2. Sometimes 200 inside. I havent seen it drop below 50 in big fights. I'm pretty happy considering I spent over $1200.00 on my last PC. And only $700 on this one.

by **Blaster** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:09 am

Now you only should set Fsb to 400hz instead of 333hz
raise vcore one or two step for boot go 100%

Set Pci-E to 100hz instead of auto
Set mems on example 800mhz cl5 5 5 15 t2 the other on auto, Raise vcore 0.1-0.2v

Run Super pi 1M ( if it pass mems are ok and not to high clock).
Run orthos alt Tat or Mprime four a couple of hours (to see if Cpu is stable check temp soo it dont gets over 55-60c)

If orthos stable in 5-8 hours your comp is getting rock solid
You know have a 3600Mhz instead of 3000. And your mems are going 1:1 then.

I seen ppl having record on air at 4800-5000 not stable but enable to boot with it on Air, ok they change cooler to Termalright ultra etc. With such cpu E8400.

Check temp with realtemp latest becuase many progs are not showing right temps on E8xxx series.

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