Hello,
First let me say thanks in advance. Even if no one answers this these forums have been a wealth of knowlege. I currently have a 2.26 Costa Rican chip on a Gigabyte GA81Hxp with 2 sticks of kingston 1066. I have a stripe 0 raid with 2 maxtor 7200rmp 133 HD's. A visiontek TI4600 for video and a SB audigy for the sound. I bought the MB/Mem combo in ignorance and going by the reviews for Tom's hardware. I have since learned the mistake that I made. The Gigabyte board is alright for a mild OC but it lacks too many things that are needed for a good OC. So with a little over time and a few orders later I have gone with the following.
PIV 2.26
Abit BD7II-R
512m CorsairXMS PC3200c2 ram
2 Maxtor 40gig in raid0 stripe
Visiontek TI4600
COOLDERMASTER IHC-H71 HSF
Antec case that is not modded in any way. I have 2 antec exhaust fans+PS fan in the rear and 3 antec fans in front for intake. Going to replace all cables with round to improve air flow.
I have 2 goals, the first being to be the newest member in the club (crosses fingers). The second is to clock back down once I hit the 3gig mark and go for best mem bandwidth score. TASOS put up some very impressive Sandra scores at just below 3gig. I would be elated with a set up like that although I am only on air cooled for the time being.
I have a question in regards to when I set up the MB, it should be here tomorrow. I currently have my HD's striped. The Gigabyte board uses the highpoint raid controller also. Will I be able to just swap out the MB or will I have to re-stripe/format my HD's? Also related to this question is what is the best bios to go with at this time? From what I have read Mr. Natural is the Bios of choice around here. Should I have a floppy disk ready and flash the bios as soon as I get it powered up on the first run? I am running XP home at the moment, but plan on upgrading to Pro on my main machine when the funds become available.
I plan to keep the Gigabyte board around and try to pick up a 1.6a or a 1.8a from newegg to through in it so I can have another machine. I plan on powering down my machine when I get home from work in the morning to begin routing my power wires in the case better then what they are. I also plan on lappin the heat sink as soon as it comes in. Going to go with the Articsilver. I am also considering picking up some supplies in advance to put an air duct in my case to help with keeping the temps down on the CPU and also possibly installing a fan on the top of the case for exhaust to create negative pressure to help with the duct.
Thanks in advance.
Buzzdog
First let me say thanks in advance. Even if no one answers this these forums have been a wealth of knowlege. I currently have a 2.26 Costa Rican chip on a Gigabyte GA81Hxp with 2 sticks of kingston 1066. I have a stripe 0 raid with 2 maxtor 7200rmp 133 HD's. A visiontek TI4600 for video and a SB audigy for the sound. I bought the MB/Mem combo in ignorance and going by the reviews for Tom's hardware. I have since learned the mistake that I made. The Gigabyte board is alright for a mild OC but it lacks too many things that are needed for a good OC. So with a little over time and a few orders later I have gone with the following.
PIV 2.26
Abit BD7II-R
512m CorsairXMS PC3200c2 ram
2 Maxtor 40gig in raid0 stripe
Visiontek TI4600
COOLDERMASTER IHC-H71 HSF
Antec case that is not modded in any way. I have 2 antec exhaust fans+PS fan in the rear and 3 antec fans in front for intake. Going to replace all cables with round to improve air flow.
I have 2 goals, the first being to be the newest member in the club (crosses fingers). The second is to clock back down once I hit the 3gig mark and go for best mem bandwidth score. TASOS put up some very impressive Sandra scores at just below 3gig. I would be elated with a set up like that although I am only on air cooled for the time being.
I have a question in regards to when I set up the MB, it should be here tomorrow. I currently have my HD's striped. The Gigabyte board uses the highpoint raid controller also. Will I be able to just swap out the MB or will I have to re-stripe/format my HD's? Also related to this question is what is the best bios to go with at this time? From what I have read Mr. Natural is the Bios of choice around here. Should I have a floppy disk ready and flash the bios as soon as I get it powered up on the first run? I am running XP home at the moment, but plan on upgrading to Pro on my main machine when the funds become available.
I plan to keep the Gigabyte board around and try to pick up a 1.6a or a 1.8a from newegg to through in it so I can have another machine. I plan on powering down my machine when I get home from work in the morning to begin routing my power wires in the case better then what they are. I also plan on lappin the heat sink as soon as it comes in. Going to go with the Articsilver. I am also considering picking up some supplies in advance to put an air duct in my case to help with keeping the temps down on the CPU and also possibly installing a fan on the top of the case for exhaust to create negative pressure to help with the duct.
Thanks in advance.
Buzzdog
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