Major Upgrades/ Rebuild

[CrazyPenguinDude]

Well i have had my pc for 3 yeras now and i have updated the graphics cards only once. Now i am looking for a new Mobo so i can switch from GPA to PCI 16x. I have a few questions about doing this upgrade.

First off, is this a good Mobo to use with the crossfire technology?
DFI Lanparty UT CFX3200-DR Socket 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Next, If i am upgrading to crossfire technology, does that mean i need two graphics cards? If so i am looking at this one for one of the cards but i do not know what to do in terms of the secound card?
SAPPHIRE 100162L Radeon X1300XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Video Card - Retail

I already have a 939 socket AMD 3200 proccesor, along with the ram, HD, and everything else. (except for a new case)

[freakitchen]

What's your budget for this upgrade? Unless you have serious bucks and want to create a top of the line gaming machine, don't worry about Crossfire. The X1300XT you picked out is a lower end gaming card, and using two together wouldn't give you much of an improvement.

With that in mind, I'd go for the ASUS A8N5X motherboard (DFIs are intended for overclockers and enthusiasts, are picky about hardware and can be difficult to set up).

Another point, the DDR RAM that socket 939 takes is being phased out along with the socket. If you intend on a RAM upgrade any time soon, do it now - DDR is getting more and more expensive.

FK

EDIT: Remember you'll need a quality power supply for a PCI-E based system - one that conforms to ATX2 standards.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

Well i chose that perticular Mobo because it came with a good proccesor free. Money isnt that much of an option but i dont want to spend more than $300-$350 for the graphics cards (total, both combined)

[glc]

You don't NEED two graphics cards - a single $300 card will blow away two $150 cards.

[freakitchen]

Is the deal you're referring to this one at Newegg? (combo deals down the page)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813136009

That's fair enough, but if you went for the ASUS A8N5X, you could get an AMD 3700+ processor that has 1MB of level 2 cache for LESS than the DFI combo ($160)

What is your total budget for everything you want to buy - Processor, Motherboard, Video card and potentially more RAM? The reason I ask, is because you could potentially upgrade to a dual core processor before they disappear for good

FK

[newbuilder14]

I'd definately go with an Asus quality board if you aren't interested in tweaking every last bit of your computer.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

well i dont really wanna spend more than $500 but i already got a gig of 3200
but yah i guess the dfi doesnt look good

[freakitchen]

The DFI is a good motherboard - but it's expensive considering you can have great stock stability and performance with the ASUS.

Dual Cores for AMD 939 have pretty much disappeared, so my suggestion would be to get a top end single core:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103529

And the A8N5X

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131569

Which leaves you around $300 for a video card, though the budget will likely be eaten into somewhat with a new power supply. You'll need a quality ATX2 unit with 450w for a powerful vid card, like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954

After all that, if your budget can stretch a few $$, this is a fantastic gaming card that will play anything around on high settings:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102067

FK

[CrazyPenguinDude]

k that sounds pretty good... plus ill prolly get a sooped up case so that should b nice

[freakitchen]

Note that the power supplies that come with flashy cases are almost always junk. I'd get a case without a power supply, and buy the FSP unit I linked to above to go in it.

FK

[CrazyPenguinDude]

ight that all sounds pretty good! i noticed that this procsesser was great for overlcocking (some guy claimed to get 3.8 ghz? is it possible to increase my speed that much? and if so would it be worth the cost to get a liquid coolin system?

Anyway it would be nice to get some tips and tricks on overclockin it and if you had the same type of proccessor, it would be helpful to know what u used and what the results were?

P.S. i dont want to spend a HUGE amount of money on the coolin system unless it is highly compatible with many components (CPU (or possibly VGA's) of the future? ) Because i dont want to spend 200 dollars if it will only work for a year or less.

[flanzig1]

If you get into serious OCing, you start to run into limits on the PSU and ram speeds. Also, CPU temps will increase which means W/c or after market HSU.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

so liek at what point in o/cing will i find this lol my memory is crappy 2x 512mb at 3200 and my psu its a really high qaulity 450 one

[flanzig1]

If you want to OC the CPU up to that magic 3.0 gHz level, your talking probably a 100 watt higher PSU, 1 or 2 speed steps faster ram, full out quality W/C system.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

lol well what would be a simple solution that doesnt require me buying all sorts of new parts to overclock? i mean how far can i take this without buying more than a cpu cooler?

ps would the powersupply listed above work with most atx cases

[CrazyPenguinDude]

could i pull it off with just getting a casegears 580 w power supply? (is casegears a good brand?

[Alaron]

If this is the PSU you're thinking about: http://www.xoxide.com/casegears-blac...-580w-psu.html it is no good. It is not ATX 2.0, without dual 12V rails. New builds need these. Go with the Fortron that FK linked to earlier.

[TimPoet]

Fortron is a great choice.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

but will the forton have enough to o/c it? idk it was just an idea but every notch up in speed helps.

[TimPoet]

Yeah, if you want to o/c it, then get at least 450W.

[CrazyPenguinDude]

wait i was just looking back on the thread and u said that i should get a dual core before they are gone. If i can fit that into my budget should i? i suppose i could go a bit more and ask for some stuff as christmas presents. (don't think im some 40 year old still milkin people for christmas presents im 15)

Anyway i could possibly get dual core i just need some ideas. Also wouldi have to change my mobo?

[CrazyPenguinDude]

nvm i checked it and it said it works w/ dual

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103741

is this one better than the old one? if it is and is worth the money... i think ill have to go with it

or get this one and overclock it a bit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103735

[freakitchen]

That processor is a completely different socket - AM2. Buying it would mean that you had to change your motherboard to an AM2-compatible one, and you'd also have to buy totally new RAM. AM2 requires DDR2 RAM, preferably DDR2-800.

If you're prepared to buy a new processor, motherboard, and RAM - then I'd say you should look at an Intel Core2Duo based system.

Unfortunately, the 939 Dual Core processors are all but gone.

FK

[CrazyPenguinDude]

well i havent bought either of them yet but you said i should switch to intel? would that be the better option?
i mean it doesnt have to be socket 939 for the mobo or anything i can get a dif mobo if that is neccisary

plus c2d's are way more expensive and dont seem to give as much bang for the buck

anyways i can prolly get more memory

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820161666

that wouldnt run me up to much, but could it handle vista

plus i can get this mobo wich is almost the same cost as the other one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127010

[CrazyPenguinDude]

So, the question is would i be better off going dual core and getting:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103735

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127010

the graphics card, and this psu? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104122

This is definately in my price range and even leaves some money to get some fancey lights heh

[freakitchen]

You're links are broken there.

Dual core is certainly worth getting, if you can afford it, but see if you can't afford a Core 2 Duo system. An Intel E6300 processor, ASUS P5B motherboard, and 1GB Corsair VS DDR2-667 memory runs to $421 at Newegg.

The FSP 450w power supply adds another $53. I'd skip the Athena model you linked to - it's not a true ATX2 spec unit.

FK

[CrazyPenguinDude]

so the 550w psu wont work? cause i would really like to have a good 500+ w psu to help with overclocking. C2D wont work cause when u add the 270 dollar graphics card to the 421 plus 50 ish for the case its way over..

any good ideas for a good psu. and the main question is, is this dual core going to be better than the single core?

Also a good heatsink/fan for the CPU is what im lookin for. If you have any good idea's (that are easy to install) to cool my am 2 i would love suggestions

[freakitchen]

C2D really isn't that much more expensive than AM2 when done right - and gives you more performance for the money. For example - an AMD X2 3800+ Retail processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16819103733), an ASUS M2N-E Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131022) and 1GB Corsair XMS DDR2-800 RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145566) comes to $390 - just $30 less than the equivalent C2D-based components.

Dual core is certainly worth it over single core - particularly for multitasking. Additionally, more and more applications will be written to take advantage of two cores simultaneously.

If you want a 500w power supply, this would be my suggestion:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104934

I'd have to advise you against overclocking. I believe in the stance that Overclocking shouldn't be done to SAVE money - as it requires premium parts to be done anywhere near safely. On a budget, I'd say just get the most powerful and quality, stable parts that you can.

Note that you don't HAVE to spend $250+ on a video card. I'd say something like this would be a great match for a basic C2D system, and still give you great gaming performance. Balance is an important aspect, too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130056

FK

[Mr.Ferrari]

If your overclocking, these are the powersupplies I would suggest for you:

Enhance 500w $69

ZIPPY 400W $84

[CrazyPenguinDude]

Ok so here is the bottom line. Would it make my computer better if i get the C2D or the X2?
I possibly could go with the C2D but that would be cutting it very close. The only question i have is: is the C2D going to be better than the X2.

Its possible that i could sqeeze out the money for the c2d but unless i notice a fairly big difference its not worth it.