Asus M3N-HT/HDMI upgrade?

[chaszmyr]

I have this motherboard for about a year, but I never set it up to it's max potential. Right now I have 4GB Corsair Memory, 3 Nividia 9800 GTX card in SLI mode.

I need to upgrade it to it's highest potential, so what CPU, Memory(8GB) should I get so I don't bottle neck and still be able to overclock?

I was also thinking of getting a new case for better wire management and plenty of room for multiple drives.

If you had this board and the MONEY, what would you do to set it up to the max? Don't be shy

 

[EarthDog]

Well, what you need to do is go to the Asus website and find your board. Once there, you should see a PCU compatability chart and grab the best one.

I would only get 8GB of ram if I did any phot editing, multiple VM's or something that would actually use more than 4GB...yes money even if money wasnt an object.

 

[chaszmyr]

I have multiple monitors and work with Maya Unlimited, Adobe Creative Suite and of course play high graphic games. Alot of graphic programs running at once. I'm familiar with the CPU's but the memory department, I am a little slow in. I just don't want to starve the CPU with memory issues, so I was hoping for a good match.
If there is no need to buy a huge CPU because the memory could never feed it, then why spend the money. This board only takes DDR2, unless I am mistaken.

 

[EarthDog]

So then you may need that extra memory...Just get 4x2gb DDR2 1066 and call it a day. But the extra CPU will certainly help your rendering, encoding etc.

Likely you can get a Phenom x4 of some type in there... I can look at the CPU chart..hang tight.

EDIT: Looks like with the bios flashed to 2603, you can use a X6 CPU. Money no object, get that and stack your ram.

 

[chaszmyr]

Thanx.... I know Corsair puts out some nice memories, but do you have an opinion on another?

I can put a computer togethor but it seems you guys have a more in depth knowledge than me.

 

[EarthDog]

If you are not overclocking, I wouldnt worry about brand really. But I would get matching sticks as in the same you current have for compatibility. If you cant find them, you can get another set with the same speed, timings, and voltages and should be OK.

 

[Grosjambon]

Hey! I have the same mobo !!!
U can flash the bios to the recent to use x6, you will be able to use phenom II x4 or x6 on the board.
Its am3 Compatible, I was able to reach 3.8Ghz on my 955 rev c2 ( cpu limit) not mobo.
U should add Ram (2x2 ddr2), Update bios and Buy a new cpu if u want to upgrade. No need to go ddr3 since The gain are not Worth the money, (in my opinions)

 

[QuietIce]

to OCF!

I have this motherboard for about a year, but I never set it up to it's max potential. Right now I have 4GB Corsair Memory, 3 Nividia 9800 GTX card in SLI mode.

I need to upgrade it to it's highest potential, so what CPU, Memory(8GB) should I get so I don't bottle neck and still be able to overclock?

I was also thinking of getting a new case for better wire management and plenty of room for multiple drives.

If you had this board and the MONEY, what would you do to set it up to the max? Don't be shy

If your versions of Maya and Adobe are multi-threaded then the CPU is easy. The 1090T is supported by your board and I doubt you can beat an X6 for performance. One note, though, you should update your BIOS before swapping CPU's.

For RAM you have two choices. Either match the sticks you're currently using and buy another 2x2 Gb kit or get a 4x2 Gb kit and sell what you have now. A quick look at Newegg shows only G.Skill offering a DDR2-1066 kit at 4x2 Gb. What RAM do you currently have ...?

 

[chaszmyr]

I decided to go completely new and going to buy a Crosshair Formula 4. While I was looking through AMD chips, I noticed ATI is now ran by AMD, so I didn't want to give up AMD and decided to keep everything compatible.
I going to order an ATI Radeon™ HD 5970 Graphics card (2) . I'm just a little confused on memory right now, but I posted the question in the memory forum.
Would it be worth my while if I get a SSD 80GB drive and use it as my boot up disk?