Hi guys. I was on here back in '06 and the computer y'all helped me build was the finest I've ever owned. I've been doing the laptop thing of late and frankly, the fanboards + vibration have been driving me nuts. In a fit of monitor-envy, I purchased a Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers from Newegg, only to discover to my chagrin that I would have to purchase a new videocard to run the 1900x1200 resolution native to the new monitor. Then I'd have to purchase new RAM, and..yeah.
I've been eyeing the EndPCNoise SPCR Extreme Gamer 22 dBA PC, but I really don't want to pay that much. And I've got lots of perfectly good parts.
Current system:
Case: Coolermaster Centurion
Mobo: Asus A8N5X R1.00
Video Card: Radeon X800 GTO 128MB /w Zalman fan
PSU: SS-430HB
CPU: Old socket 939 /w Scythe Ninja fanless heatsink
Hard drives, etc. I've been meandering around and haven't seen a direct comparison here on SPCR, so let me ask: what should I do? I'd like some forward expandability, and the potential of gradually upgrading my components as time progresses. From my reading it would seem that it's going to require good-to-decent GPU or pair of them to make things happen; Tom's Hardware gave it a recommended buy earlier this month; "ATI Radeon HD 4770 In CrossFire: Unbeatable At $220", and because it's a 40 nm process I figured it'd be cooler than the competition. But I'm in a bit of a pickle, because I want to be able to play games now and for the next few/couple of years without having to upgrade, but I need a quiet desktop as well. What solution would y'all go with?
On the CPU front, a 939 isn't going to do me much good; PCIe is now in version 2.0, evidently. Would y'all go with an Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920, or would you lean more towards a AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor? (NOTE: I'm thinking about OCing in a year or two to stave off replacement; would it be worthwhile to spend an extra $50 on a 955 if we go with AMD?) I like the cheap, and the latter appears to be about a hundred bucks cheaper and is currently the processor of the month over on Newegg. However, the Core i7 had it 4 months running, so there ya go. The PC will primarily be used for gaming, making my eyes not-hurt whilst staring at a netbook screen, and work-related applications. I figure the charts and graphs I'll need will show up just fine on pretty much anything. I had hoped to wait until the (Westmere?) tick hit the shelves, but since monitor-happiness hit...yeah. Ideally, I'd like a CPU that is forward-compatible, and if/when 8 cores hits later on if there's actually a reason to upgrade I'd like to not have to purchase a new motherboard. Future-proof me!...whilst staying QUIET. I've heard that i7 does better than PII in the multi-GPU department; I haven't the foggiest.;P.
Motherboard is obviously dependent on which CPU I go with; IIRC I've got a 1.6 Dual-Core now so pretty much any of these will be a huge improvement. Intel's silly-price x58 boards had me going 'ick', until I found one or two for cheap. An AM3 isn't going to be free either, but I'll resepect y'alls judgement on that front. Ideally something I won't have to modify a ton to get decent db out of. Still, cost IS an issue, and I don't want to have to pauper myself just to have something to plug a CPU into.
RAM: I'm just going to get DDR 3 for either route; probably 6 Gigs as that's more than enough and offers some upwards expandability.
I love my PSU. Very much. Sadly, I don't think that it's quite going to be able to power today's power-hungry boards. Would it? If not, then which of the many PSUs listed on the SPCR site would y'all recommend? Again, I'd like to future-proof myself as much as possible, but I really would hate to have to spend an arm and a leg to do it.
Cooling: ah, here we come to the quandry. I. Suck. At. Maximizing. Airflow. Seems like I was always tinkering and this and that and the other thing needed tweaking. And if I ever do end up overclocking, then a Water Cooling solution does make sense, but there's that initial up-front cost to consider... If I do go WC, I might have to buy a new case to go with it, so there's that as well. For Aircooling, I'm mildly concerned about whatever graphics card(s) we go with. I've heard that the newer graphics cards can be a real monster on the heat front; I really don't want to spend a few hundred or so on graphics cards only to have them fail on me due to heat. If we do go WC, am I going to need a new, larger case? (Ewww! More money!) If we go Air, I presume I should buy the current King of the CPU-coolers?
Cases: I love my Centurion. I was wondering about the Antec P193 and how it stacks up against the P182?
I think that's the gist of it. I'd like to thank y'all again for the awesomeness that is SPCR, and look forward to discussing with y'all!
Shandrakor
Questions about upgrading...
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
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Shandrakor
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:22 pm
- Location: Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Re: Questions about upgrading...
I'm not sure why your old graphics card can't handle the higher resolution. It should be fine according to the spec sheet: http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonx800/specs.html . At most you'd probably just need to update your drivers.Shandrakor wrote:Hi guys. I was on here back in '06 and the computer y'all helped me build was the finest I've ever owned. I've been doing the laptop thing of late and frankly, the fanboards + vibration have been driving me nuts. In a fit of monitor-envy, I purchased a Hanns·G HG-281DPB Black 27.5" 3ms Widescreen LCD HDMI Monitor 500 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers from Newegg, only to discover to my chagrin that I would have to purchase a new videocard to run the 1900x1200 resolution native to the new monitor. Then I'd have to purchase new RAM, and..yeah.
I've been eyeing the EndPCNoise SPCR Extreme Gamer 22 dBA PC, but I really don't want to pay that much. And I've got lots of perfectly good parts.
Current system:
Case: Coolermaster Centurion
Mobo: Asus A8N5X R1.00
Video Card: Radeon X800 GTO 128MB /w Zalman fan
PSU: SS-430HB
CPU: Old socket 939 /w Scythe Ninja fanless heatsink
Hard drives, etc. I've been meandering around and haven't seen a direct comparison here on SPCR, so let me ask: what should I do? I'd like some forward expandability, and the potential of gradually upgrading my components as time progresses. From my reading it would seem that it's going to require good-to-decent GPU or pair of them to make things happen; Tom's Hardware gave it a recommended buy earlier this month; "ATI Radeon HD 4770 In CrossFire: Unbeatable At $220", and because it's a 40 nm process I figured it'd be cooler than the competition. But I'm in a bit of a pickle, because I want to be able to play games now and for the next few/couple of years without having to upgrade, but I need a quiet desktop as well. What solution would y'all go with?
Now, if you're looking for a new gaming machine, that's a different story. But, getting a new system just for a monitor seems a little . . . overkill.
If you really want to upgrade your performance, I'd max out your current RAM (unless you have RDRAM, RAM is dirt cheap now) and upgrade the CPU with the cheapest/best 939 you can find online. You can also upgrade your graphics card. AMD/ATI still has AGP versions of their newest generation graphics cards, so you could get one of those. The biggest issue is that when you do upgrade your whole system, you probably can't find many motherboards with AGP.
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Shandrakor
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 8:22 pm
- Location: Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Apparently I've no idea where this idea I had that it couldn't run things came from. I guess that it was my Radeon being a 128-bit card that did it. But, I very much would rather keep the current system and hold off on upgrading until later. COuld I purchase a modern graphics card and have it work with the system without having to purchase a new mobo? The motherboard does have room, though...here are the stats on my mobo:
Model
Brand ASUS
Model A8N5X
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type 939
CPU Type Athlon X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64
FSB 1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s)
Chipsets
North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4
Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×184pin
Memory Standard DDR 400
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB
Channel Supported Dual Channel
Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16 1
PCI Express x4 1
PCI Express x1 2
PCI Slots 3
As you can see, it does have room for "stuff". I think. The thing that bothered me was that the DDR 400 was quite pricey; to max it out would take around 200 bucks all told on newegg. Which seemed odd to me; is there a cheaper site or type of RAM I should be using? And would it be worth picking up a new graphics card, or should I stick with the current one? I'd like to be able to play Demigod in particular.
Model
Brand ASUS
Model A8N5X
Supported CPU
CPU Socket Type 939
CPU Type Athlon X2 / Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64
FSB 1000MHz Hyper Transport (2000 MT/s)
Chipsets
North Bridge NVIDIA nForce4
Memory
Number of Memory Slots 4×184pin
Memory Standard DDR 400
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB
Channel Supported Dual Channel
Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16 1
PCI Express x4 1
PCI Express x1 2
PCI Slots 3
As you can see, it does have room for "stuff". I think. The thing that bothered me was that the DDR 400 was quite pricey; to max it out would take around 200 bucks all told on newegg. Which seemed odd to me; is there a cheaper site or type of RAM I should be using? And would it be worth picking up a new graphics card, or should I stick with the current one? I'd like to be able to play Demigod in particular.
Last edited by Shandrakor on Thu May 28, 2009 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MikeC
- Site Admin
- Posts: 12285
- Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Contact:
Your system is borderline old enough that in another year, you won't want to upgrade at all but replace. But you certainly don't need to spend $200 to "max out on RAM". Within 32bit Windows, you can only use 3.2gb anyway, so the best performance/price is a pair of 1gb DDR 400 sticks which can be had for $60-70.
If you're looking for a faster 939 64x2 cpu, avoid going higher than the 89W parts, which run up to 2.4GHz. Check model # details at AMD. For obvious cooling/noise control. Or just try overclocking what you have.
Another thing to consider is a fast small (say 60~120gb) SSD to replace your OS drive. It will give your PC new zip and it will be transferable to any new PC in the next year or two.
If you're looking for a faster 939 64x2 cpu, avoid going higher than the 89W parts, which run up to 2.4GHz. Check model # details at AMD. For obvious cooling/noise control. Or just try overclocking what you have.
Another thing to consider is a fast small (say 60~120gb) SSD to replace your OS drive. It will give your PC new zip and it will be transferable to any new PC in the next year or two.
As you have a PCI x16 slot, you can have virtually any GPU : )
If your current card is capable of driving your new LCD though, I think it would be best to hold off new system's purchase. 2H 2009 Lynnfield ('i5') is being released, so it's bound to result in a nice price drop.
Good luck with keeping it quiet!
If your current card is capable of driving your new LCD though, I think it would be best to hold off new system's purchase. 2H 2009 Lynnfield ('i5') is being released, so it's bound to result in a nice price drop.
Good luck with keeping it quiet!