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I am looking for a PC upgrade, help is more than welcome!

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lancelot88

Registered
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Hello everybody,

I have not made any posts yet on this forum because I only found out about it a few days ago. This was because I did my first OC. My specs are:

Asus AM2 M2N nforce 430 (90-MIB020-G0EAYGZ)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz AM2 65W Box (Brisbane)
Sapphire HD3850 256MB GDDR3
Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC6400 CL5.0 (KVR800D2N5K2/2G)
Recom Power Engine 450W

I successfully OC-ed my system to 3.0Ghz and everything remained stable but I would like to get an upgrade, and I need your help.

I am looking for a motherboard which is OC stable (or how to say it) and a processor which can be OC-ed very well (Intel or AMD???). I already know which videocard I want, namely the MSI PCI-e Radeon HD4870 512MB DDR5 2xDVI/HDCP, but for the rest I am stuck!

I did some research on my own and found some motherboards which I was thinking about (only IF I am going for an AM* processor), for the processor I have no clue (wait for deneb and use my brisbane 5000+ for now, main question then is, can it handle the HD4870?):

MSI K9A2 Platinum
MSI K9A2 CF-F V2 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD
Biostar TA790 GXA2

I would like to spend, apart from the videocard, about 300 dollars (if possible even cheaper) on the processor and motherboard. If someone can help me out with this and because I would like to make this thing last, future features like 750SB are welcome.

Awaiting some replies

Edit1: Is it useful to buy a CF motherboard if I purchase my 2nd HD4870 in like 6 - 10 months, or is it then of no use because there are single videocards then that perform better or equal to HD4870x2?

Edit2: I would like to play future games such as CoD5:World at War at high settings with a stable high fps.
 
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Alright figure out which mobo your going to use...

Once you have that find a CPU that matches i Prefer AMD over Intel but thats my choice. 92$ for a dual core AMD 3Ghz on Newegg "http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773"

First off find memory thats stable with a lower Cas latency. that could be a bottle neck for your gamming

And for the video card...
I am not into ATI ive always been a Nvidia fan. also by choice
i would recomend getting a good card like the 9800 GX2 but the price is up their or at leat get a 8800gtx/ultra as a bare start

i use 8800gtx and ive been VERY VERY pleased with it especialy the cooling mods ive pulled off with it.

To get better FPS get a good fast multi Core CPU either dual or quad "depending on how much multi tasking".

To get even beter FPS get memory the matches the rated FSB so that your memory divider will be 1/1 "ive always noticed a big difference in performance." NOTE make sure the memory is supported by the MOBO before buying. 2nd NOTE make sure your ram can be cooled efficiantly i use "http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185051"
Their solid copper and are GREAT at keeping my memory cooled

now get a Fast Graphics card I recomend the 9800GX2 but it requires PCI x16(2.0)

but thats if you want the BEST

for more practicle uses i might recomend the 8800 seires either a GTS or GTX/ultra


Just make sure EVERYTHING is cooled properly and accordingly.

Stability before performance REMEBER THAT!
 
Well the most important thing we need to know to recommend things is what resolution are you playing at and/or planning to play at? This will determine what size megabyte videocard you need and etc. If your playing at resolution of 1680x1050 and under your not gonna need more then a 768 or 640 mb card(512 is fine) because you wont see any difference at that resolution. Also Intel processor overclock way better then anything AMD has to offer right now so if you plan to overclock your gonna wanna go intel and you will need a good cooling system.
 
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I would recommend a motherboard from the Asus P5Q line. I currently have the P5Q-Pro and it is great.

For the processor I would recommend and E8xxx series cpu. They are 45nm and they overclock like champs. 4GHZ on air is not unreasonable on high end air (using a heatsink like the TRUE).
 
Hey guys!

thanks for your fast reactions! I have been looking around and for now I found this:

Arctic Processor Cooler F7-PRO Intel
Asus P5Q Pro iP45, SATA2 RAID, GLAN, 8CH
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz 1333 6MB Box
MSI Videocard PCI-e Radeon HD4870 512MB DDR5 2xDVI/HDCP
Sweex Powersupply 650W
Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 SDRAM PC6400 CL5.0 (KVR800D2N5K2/2G)

I would like to know your opinions on this system and I have a few questions left:

Is it a good system to OC, with remaining stability in memory and processor unit (1:1)?

I added a Processor cooler, should I be able to OC the system now decently more? Or won't it make a real difference?

Is the memory to old / out-dated, if so advice me a new CHEAP one.

Does the power supply of 650W provide enough power to run this system, especially when OC-ed?

Until what limit should I be able to OC the CPU, in ghz?


Please give me your opinion guys and answer if possible the / a few questions.

Regards,

Danny.
 
Don't gimp the PSU... a good high quality PSU can save your system. Crappy PSU blowing up = mobo + cpu + ram + possibly other components all dying along with it.

Get this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=corsair 550vx

And for RAM, go for PC8500, you need to be sure you can get 1000+ Mhz on it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144

Those are very good low priced/high quality components.

Choose the 4GB version of that RAM if you're going to use Vista.
 
as he said never buy a crap supply i always checkout jonnyguru.com before looking at any but the corsiar supplys are top notch. powersuppy is the heart of all systems it powers all your parts you can spend all your money on parts just to have the supply fail and smoke all those new parts.
 
I would like to know your opinions on this system and I have a few questions left:

I mentioned before that the memory divider of 1:1 is good, but its not necessary.

The stock cooler on a CPU is ONLY designed to handle the thermal load of the processor it came with.

Using a better heatsink/fan combo and using a goot Thermal interface material between the heatsink and CPU will make a huge difference.
using Arctic silver5 in replace of a lithium based TIM i had a teperature that was 23 Degrees Celsius cooler allowing me to push my rig to its bottle neck.

The memory looks great

I agree with don'tknow its important to have a stable PSU i had a voltage regulator go out on a cheap one and thats what killed my last build

650 watts is good but make sure its 80+ certified with a active PFC
NOTE If your going to crossfire the ATI card i would recomende getting something alot higher than 650

but on its own i dont think it will make

Every Cpu is different some over clock better than others.
intel over clock well but their is no possible way to give you a number.

it depends on airflow, ambient rooom temperature, and alot of complicated details.
 
i have never had stock cooling in any of my builds spend the extra 20ish to get atleast a decent cooler so you can run cooler and overclock i got my geminII for free after rebate and it holds 2 120's and runs supercool
 
I want to first thank you for all your comments, on some I will elaborate a bit more and at the end I will ask some questions. Thanks for helping me out so far.

@ RaV3N: I really have no clue. With my old system I used to play CoD4 at 800x600 to have a bit more fps. CoD2 I played on 1024x768 with stable 125fps. This is of course a laugher, so I really do not have a clue. I also do not know on which resolutions people normally play. The details don't really matter that much, as long the view is clear and I have no crappy fps. Of course, if this system will run a nice detailed view with high graphics (how high I do not know), that's more than welcome.

@ baggedmazda: I know what you are referring too. I am from the Netherlands and on the webpade we people mostly use (hardware.info) it shows that with a full 120W the temperature will be about 63 degrees. Now I am assuming that with OC-ing this gets hotter on full load, beside that fact, the cooler seems to make a hell lot of noise when running on its max rpm (about 50 - 60 dB). Could you advice me a decent budget price cooler?
I will also look into a bit more detail about the memory (I will provide details later)

@ hauntings: Could you describe the difference of memory running in 1:1 and being "out of balance" in percentages or something, or elaborate a bit more on the consequences? About the coolingpasta you are referring to, namely Arctic Silver 5. It is not expensive, but I am a newbie on this sort of things. I suppose this is the pasta you put between the processor and the motherboard when clicking the processor on the motherboard. Isn't the processor not usually foreseen from a pasta when you buy it? For my 5000+ this was the case, I only needed to get the processor out and implement it on the motherboard.

@ don'tknow: I am not going to run vista, I am satisfied with XP home. So I will not go for the 4GB ram but instead take a decent (which I am still looking for) 2GB ram. Also I will look a bit deeper into the PSU.

Overall I agree with you that I (and this was also my intention) did not spend money on the processor cooler and the PSU. This was the case because I though my system was expensive enough (hey, I am a student). But you are right, why buy everything else good when the PSU will break the whole system apart, ain't of any use then is it.

Hope to hear something from you, and maybe from other people who are willing to help me. You have been a great help so far!

Regards and awaiting your replies,

Danny
 
I want to first thank you for all your comments, on some I will elaborate a bit more and at the end I will ask some questions. Thanks for helping me out so far.

@ RaV3N: I really have no clue. With my old system I used to play CoD4 at 800x600 to have a bit more fps. CoD2 I played on 1024x768 with stable 125fps. This is of course a laugher, so I really do not have a clue. I also do not know on which resolutions people normally play. The details don't really matter that much, as long the view is clear and I have no crappy fps. Of course, if this system will run a nice detailed view with high graphics (how high I do not know), that's more than welcome.
Well what size is your monitor? Put it this way if you have a regular computer monitor nothin bigger then 20in you dont need, not in any circumstance a card bigger then 512mb. I was just posting this to make sure you didnt go spending a whole load of money on a powerful video card that you didnt need.;) which is a large misconception that if you buy a bigger card it will perform better which is not true.

For the CPU cooler you cant go wrong with a decent xigamatek and you should invest in one if your overclocking.
 
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Well what size is your monitor? Put it this way if you have a regular computer monitor nothin bigger then 20in you dont need, not in any circumstance a card bigger then 512mb. I was just posting this to make sure you didnt go spending a whole load of money on a power video card that you didnt need.;) which is a large misconception that if you buy a better card it will perform better no matter what which is not true.

Oops....

I just have a normal 6 year old 17 inch monitor.... what now? :-/
 
Ok well get anycard you want but dont go over the 512mb range because you would be wasting your money. At the resolution your playing at a 512mb card will never run out of video memory when gaming.
NOTE:If you you were to have a 512mb card and if your computer were to lag its something else not the size of the videocard at that resolution.
 
Ok well get anycard you want but dont go over the 512mb range because you would be wasting your money. At the resolution your playing at a 512mb card will never run out of video memory when gaming.
NOTE:If you you were to have a 512mb card and if your computer were to lag its something else not the size of the videocard at that resolution.

Oke thanks for your comment, but can I play on higher resolutions? Where will it end? Where will my monitor say, no sorry pal, can't handle this. It's just a real basic big monitor when the 500mhz pc was THE THING.
 
Oke thanks for your comment, but can I play on higher resolutions? Where will it end? Where will my monitor say, no sorry pal, can't handle this. It's just a real basic big monitor when the 500mhz pc was THE THING.
Um well the games wont give you the higher resolution as an option either will windows so you dont have to worry about that. With a 512 card you can play the highest resolution possible on your monitor.
 
Um well the games wont give you the higher resolution as an option either will windows so you dont have to worry about that. With a 512 card you can play the highest resolution possible on your monitor.

so as in SWAT4, I just went to settings and saw 1600x1200 was the highest option for the game. This means my monitor can handle this I assume. But when I do rightmouse click on my desktop and click settings and go to plug and play monitor I can only shift the value until 1280x1024, is this then my max or...? Is their an online check to see what is the max my monitor can handle as a resolution?
 
Well you have a CRT right? Maybe thats why . I wouldnt exactly know why it would give you a different resolution in a game and on the desktop cause 1600x1200 is way higher then 1280x1024, maybe its different with some old crt's, i dont know.Maybe someone can chime in on this
 
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