Researching for upgrade, some questions

[Dswissmiss]

Hi guys,

So it's been just over 5 years since my last CPU/Mobo upgrade and Bioshock and Crysis seem to be the right reasons to get going with this.

Besides the normal stuff, I plan to use this rig for gaming and linux (just watching out for compatibility issues).

Anyway, after a day of research I've come up with some preliminary choices:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (E6600 or E6700 depending on the price drop)
Mobo: Asus P5K or something like it
PSU: Corsair 520W ...I know about the buy.com deal. I currently have a Sparklepower PSU that has been driving me crazy with the noise level and the corsair PSU's got great reviews over at silentpcreview.com
RAM: TBD (what brands are recommended? my list is a bit dated)
Video Card: EVGA 8800GTS 320MB (ATI is not well supported in linux)

Now my question (besides any changes you recommend) is whether or not I have, or should, upgrade my hard drives. I currently have two IDE 100 ATA drives and was wondering if a new motherboard still supports this or if I need to get the SATA 3.0 GB/s one? Would I notice any difference in speed if I got the new drives?
And finally, I want to buy everything before August 20 (latest), so is there anything coming up besides the Intel price drops that I should wait for or can I just get everything at the end of this month without missing out on any new technologies?

Thank you
Dswissmiss

ps. I'm fairly sure crysis will require vista, if so would I need the 32bit or 64bit version? I suppose this depends on how far driver support has come for the 64 bit.

[Jimmy0]

For the RAM, if you do not plan to overclock then some Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667 2x1GB sticks will be fine.

The Corsair 520W is a great PSU, a good choice.

On the P5K there is one IDE slot that is controlled by a 3rd party drivers and as such I would recommend you get both SATA hdd's and optical drives, if you can afford it. Perhaps putting the other IDE drives in an external enclosure

[oddjobguy147]

It would be a better idea to switch to SATA cables, they're easier to work with, faster, and more convenient in general. For a little bit more you can (should) get DDR2 800, I'd personally recommend Corsair XMS. DDR2 is at a very low price right now with DDR3 being released (yet still not in true effect or full efficiency). 2x1GB is the new standard of memory (in case you don't know due to being outdated). That should be good enough, I recently looked at the Crysis recommended, and 2GB is plenty of RAM. Here's a link:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820145590
Now, are you planning on SLI? That will factor your power supply and motherboard.
How big is the monitor you plan on using? That will decide how much memory you need on your video card (you may have to get the 640MB is it's 22" or so)
It's a great looking setup, I'm going to get one very similar. Good luck! Ask as many questions as needed.

[Dswissmiss]

Thanx for the replies.
I guess everything inside the box must be replaced then.
Right now I have a 19" Hitachi CRT which I still plan on using for a year or two before getting a 20.1 widescreen LCD, and I don't think I'll be doing an SLI setup anytime soon unless games really start requiring it.
Jimmy0, I'll take a look at some external enclosures, sounds like a good idea.

[oddjobguy147]

Well, usually when it's time to upgrade most people don't go SLI, they simply get a newer, more powerful card, but that's all you. If you were to plan on going SLI in the future, I would suggest a 680i motherboard.

[Dswissmiss]

I did actually upgrade my video card a few years ago from a 4200ti to a 6800 something. But now that it's a fresh build, it might just be another thing to consider.
Although I don't know if I can stomach paying twice as much for my video card needs. In this case for example, would people get two 8800GTS's or two cheaper cards that would still beat one 8800GTS 320 card?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss PSU: Corsair 520W ...I know about the buy.com deal. I currently have a Sparklepower PSU that has been driving me crazy with the noise level

Sparkle Power PSUs are known to have high RPM fans in them and do make a lot of noise. I replaced the original fan with a Panaflo L1A low RPM fan in mine.

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss the corsair PSU's got great reviews over at silentpcreview.com

I think the Corsair runs pretty quietly because it's made by Seasonic and Seasonic power supplies are known to run very quietly.

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss Now my question (besides any changes you recommend) is whether or not I have, or should, upgrade my hard drives. I currently have two IDE 100 ATA drives and was wondering if a new motherboard still supports this or if I need to get the SATA 3.0 GB/s one?

It's better to go with the newer SATA 3.0 HDDs instead of using IDE HDDs with newer motherboards. Jimmy0 explained why.

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss Would I notice any difference in speed if I got the new drives?

Yes, the newer SATA 3.0 HDDs do perform better than the older IDE HDDs.

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss And finally, I want to buy everything before August 20 (latest), so is there anything coming up besides the Intel price drops that I should wait for or can I just get everything at the end of this month without missing out on any new technologies?

I don't think you'd miss out on any new technologies if you bought your stuff at the end of this month...I don't think anything new is coming out before August 20th.

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss ps. I'm fairly sure crysis will require vista, if so would I need the 32bit or 64bit version? I suppose this depends on how far driver support has come for the 64 bit.

Get the 32 bit version...driver support for 64 bit computing isn't as widespread as 32 bit computing..

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss In this case for example, would people get two 8800GTS's or two cheaper cards that would still beat one 8800GTS 320 card?

The only way to outperform any of the 8800's is to go with two 8800's...two lesser video cards in SLi really won't do it.

Cricket

[alanebro82]

Talk on the street is that Intel is slashing prices on July 22nd. If you can wait until then, I would suggest doing so. AMD cut their prices by 20%-30% a day or two back, and Intel will likely follow suit.

Edit: News Story

[Dswissmiss]

Great, thanks for all your help.

I've been reading at a lot of similar threads on this forum and it looks like I'm set on everything except the Motherboard.
I know I want a P35 chipset, and that I don't plan on ever going with an SLI setup.

My choices are Abit IP35-E
Asus P5K or
Msi NEO-FR
I know the P5K has been recommended around here but the Abit looks enticing as well.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Dswissmiss My choices are Abit IP35-E Asus P5K or Msi NEO-FR I know the P5K has been recommended around here but the Abit looks enticing as well.

The ABIT would be my second choice. The ASUS would be my first choice. I'd pass on the MSI.

Cricket

[Dswissmiss]

You know, I was just about to change my choices when I saw your reply.
I was going to take out the MSI board because it kept getting bad reviews everywhere, upgrade to the Abit IP 35, and maybe add a Gygabite because they seemed to get the best reviews.
I suppose though that some benchmark reviews can't compare to an entire forum's experience.

[LeftyAce]

I'd go with the ASUS for their reliability, ease of use/setup and good tech support. I've built with 4 of them in the past year and all worked without a hitch. (I know the tech support is good b/c I had to call to get them to decipher the front panel audio hookups on my case; nothing wrong with the board).

[Dswissmiss]

Asus seems like the most reliable choice. I did go with Asus the last time around, and the only thing that broke is the onboard lan, but it's been perfect otherwise.

Anyway, I originally meant to buy components in a month from now, but the bug bit me early and I think I need to cool down a bit and see what happens on the 22nd with Intel before deciding anything further.

Just one more question: the P5K has a PCI E 4x slot which got me thinking, if in say two years I want to upgrade my video card, can I just move my current card onto that slot and install the new one on the PCI E 16x, or would I need to get an SLI board? I'm still new to SLI, so I don't know if people usually get two of the same card or if it makes sense to relegate an older card to the second slot when upgrading.

Thank you

[Katreat]

SLI requires two identical video cards and a SLI motherboard. The P5K is not an SLI MB.

SLI is not really a good upgrade path. Two years down the road you would be better off just buying a new generation video card. History has shown that each new generation card out performs two older cards. It might also be hard to find an identical video card to match with your current card in a couple of years. If you really think you need more video card you would be money ahead investing in a 8800 GTX now and just upgrading to the next generation of cards when they arive in a year or two.

Kat

[Dswissmiss]

Makes sense. I decided not to go with a SLI setup but figured that instead of giving an older video card away I could just install it a few slots down.


What's the second PCI E 4x slot usually used for? (I suppose the video card wouldn't fit into it anyway)

[flanzig1]

The second PCI-E slot at x4 is to add a second video card for multi-monitor setups. It probably could be a lesser card.