Would like a upgrade suggestion

Top Wop · Post by **Top Wop** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:16 pm

Ive been given a handful of cash to upgrade my pc, but im a bit hesitant to choose a path. I would like to go AM2 or even C2D, but the thing holding me back is that I have to spend $100 extra dollars just to switch over to DDR2. Thats alot of money for such a jump and ive already spent on DDR for my previous system with the intent that I could plop it in a future rig. I would be content to get a 939 system and pair it up with a 7800 or higher video card so I could play Oblivion decently, but I dont want the video card to be bottle necked.

Right now I am all AGP, and I bought by accident a PCI-E 6800gs card thinking it was AGP, so now that I have it I might as well put it into good use until I can get a much faster vid card later. But now I will have to build a new system around it. What would you suggest?

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:12 pm

Install a vhs drive. :p Shouldn't you wait a bit for the next gen of cpu's coming out? Didn't intel come out with a quad core cpu or something?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:26 pm

I have a C2D E6600 with 2 GB of memory and a 7950 GT, if you are in the market for performance / performance per watt, and the best price/performance ratio, this system will rate quite well in all of those. The AM2 CPUs, at least at the lower end should be a lot cheaper so you may get better price/performance from them. However Intel is trashing AMD for raw performance and performance per watt right now, so if you are thinking about building a gaming machine and holding off on the video card for a next gen, I would say get a C2D.

Also keep in mind the C2D likes fast RAM, so even though it only 'needs' DDR2 533 MHz, get 800 MHz or faster. I got a jump from 103 FPS average to 126 FPS average in HL2 from taking my ram from the motherboard default 5:4 340 MHz to 3:2 408 MHz while leaving the CPU at 2450 MHz.

Top Wop · Post by **Top Wop** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:24 pm

I just did a side by side between an AM2 and a C2D and a C2D is only on average $40 more. The cheapest CPU is still expensive, but I can live with a $40 dollar difference.

Now for those with C2D, what motherboards are you running? Once I have that down I will probably get my setup sometime during the weekend.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:38 pm

Abit AW9D-MAX, decent for the price, excellent features (8 SATA ports, 8 USB ports, Firewire, dual gigabit LAN, passive cooling on everything), overclocking options are average but could use a little improvement, board layout is acceptable.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:18 pm

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe. Expensive but lots of features. The ASUS P5B-E isn't too bad.

Edit: How about the upcomming ASUS Commando

Top Wop · Post by **Top Wop** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:23 pm

Holy crap those are expensive.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:54 pm

Your whole system relies on the quality of the motherboard a lot, so it is a bad idea to cheap out on them.

Top Wop · Post by **Top Wop** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 11:36 pm

I've spent no more than $120 dollars on motherboards before and I never had any problems with them. Ill probably stick to those manufacturers but I will definitely need something more affordable.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:49 pm

I would recommend at least a 965P + ICH8R based board made by one of the big manufactors (Abit, ASUS, Gigabyte, Intel, MSI) to be on the save side of things. Looks like $135 tho.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:54 pm

Would like a upgrade suggestion

Sorry, how about an coffee instead?

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:58 pm

Mobius wrote:
Would like a upgrade suggestion
Sorry, how about an coffee instead?

I think you meant:

Sorry, but how about an coffee instead?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:10 pm

Topher wrote:
Mobius wrote:
Would like a upgrade suggestion
Sorry, how about an coffee instead?
I think you meant:

Sorry, but how about an coffee instead?

Not to suggest that everyone should continue to go off topic, but wouldn't it be: "Sorry, but how about a coffee instead?".

Topher · Post by **Topher** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:59 pm

Krom wrote:
Topher wrote:
Mobius wrote:
Would like a upgrade suggestion
Sorry, how about an coffee instead?
I think you meant:

Sorry, but how about an coffee instead?
Not to suggest that everyone should continue to go off topic, but wouldn't it be: "Sorry, but how about a coffee instead?".

No, because then you lose the jest at the topic title.