Upgrading old Athlon 64 Rig

Water Drop · Sep 25, 2011, 08:56 PM

I've been kinda out of the loop on PC hardware lately, but I'm upgrading my brother's PC. He's currently running a Athlon 64 on a DFI Ultra-D motherboard with 4GB of Ram and a Geforce GTX 250. Looking at upgrading the CPU, RAM, and motherboard. Looking at about $500 budget.

So far I've decided on the Intel Core i5 2500K. Looking for a good P67 motherboard and what 8GB Ram kit you would recommend to be able to overclock the 2500K well. I've been looking at the Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte P67 boards, and not really sure which to go with.

I was thinking of this Gigabyte P67 board because of the features and price point:
GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6G...

Not really sure about RAM, considering this just not sure if its worth the extra money:
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM...

MT Alex · Sep 25, 2011, 09:29 PM

The components look fine, but his GPU sure is going to show its age when combined with them. ASRock and Biostar also have some great boards at that price point, as well.

Water Drop · Sep 25, 2011, 09:46 PM

Having built systems in the mid 2000s I don't have good impressions of either ASRock or Biostar but I've heard they have come a long way.

MT Alex · Sep 25, 2011, 09:55 PM

I'm a Gigabyte fanboy, myself, but jumped ship for my current ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 board. I wouldn't go Biostar, simply for the red color scheme(

), but cadaveca found his review boards very solid.

Goodman · Sep 26, 2011, 12:20 AM

I am Gigabyte board fan too , second one best i like is Asus & nothing else as a board...

Anyhow now is really a bad time to upgrade just wait about 3 weeks when Bulldozer be out & then decided which way to go AMD or Intel there is a good chance that Intel will lower there prices on most of they CPU's , you may safe lots of money by waiting only just a few weeks

xenocide · Sep 26, 2011, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Drop

Having built systems in the mid 2000s I don't have good impressions of either ASRock or Biostar but I've heard they have come a long way.

ASrock is now it's own company and has made great boards since the tail end of S775, I had one with my Q6600 that ran much better than the ASUS it repplaced. BioStar has some ofthe best P67/Z68 mobos on the market in terms of performance. I reccomend the TZ68A+ since for $100, you can't beat it.

For RAM, I reccomend G.Skill Ripjaw's since they are just as good as that Corsair Vengence (maybe better) and are usually the cheapest kits as well (fantastic value).

Water Drop · Sep 26, 2011, 01:04 AM

Wow, didn't realize they got rid of IDE on these P67 boards. Seems only the Asus has an IDE controller. He still has 2 great working IDE optical drives.

Edit: Would this system have any trouble running off of an older Cooler Master eXtreme Power 600W PSU? My concern about it is that it only has a 4-pin motherboard/CPU power connector, though I would imagine a 4 pin to 8 pin adapter should work fine. Correct?

Goodman · Sep 26, 2011, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Drop

Wow, didn't realize they got rid of IDE on these P67 boards. Seems only the Asus has an IDE controller. He still has 2 great working IDE optical drives.

Edit: Would this system have any trouble running off of an older Cooler Master eXtreme Power 600W PSU? My concern about it is that it only has a 4-pin motherboard/CPU power connector, though I would imagine a 4 pin to 8 pin adapter should work fine. Correct?

EDIT: Never mind about the IDE part... miss reading the optical part of it...

As for your PSU having only 4 pins for the motherboard 12v it will work still , i had an old 500w PSU with only 4 pins also & a motherboard AM2+ with 2x4 pins connector & it worked fine with only the 4 pins in even with an overclock CPU (800+)

I do suggest again , to wait a few weeks (~3) before buying...

Water Drop · Sep 26, 2011, 03:22 AM

His hard drives are SATA. It's the optical drives that are IDE. And yes I know a SATA DVD-RW drive is like $20 so its not a big deal really.

Goodman · Sep 26, 2011, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Drop

His hard drives are SATA. It's the optical drives that are IDE. And yes I know a SATA DVD-RW drive is like $20 so its not a big deal really.

Sorry! i miss the optical part of it lol!

Water Drop · Sep 26, 2011, 03:30 AM

I wasn't too aware of bulldozer, there isn't any benchmarks out yet is there?

Goodman · Sep 26, 2011, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Drop

I wasn't too aware of bulldozer, there isn't any benchmarks out yet is there?

Nothing official but we should know in about 2-3 weeks

If Bulldozer is as cheap as we heard to be , it may force Intel to lower they prices too on CPU's so just sit on it & wait a little , just a few weeks is not that long of a wait

JrRacinFan · Sep 26, 2011, 04:13 AM

Other than age, what else are you looking to get out of the upgrade?

EDIT:
Saw that you will be overclock. Want to add he may have better luck overclocking with 4x2 vs 2x4 when it comes to memory.

Volkszorn88 · Sep 26, 2011, 04:16 AM

ASrock boards are amazing. No matter if you're going for an AMD or Intel chip, you won't be dissapointed.

P.S.

I'm using a ASRock board atm ^^

BrooksyX · Sep 26, 2011, 04:16 AM

+1 for the ASRock! my asrock is rock solid

LagunaX · Sep 26, 2011, 04:55 AM

You may want to consider some lower profile ram (traditional ram heatspreaders) if you plan to get a monster air heatsink to overclock.
Get ddr3 1600 or 1866 - not much benefit other than AIDA64 benchmarks above that...

Water Drop · Sep 26, 2011, 01:46 PM

It's for my brother who is looking to play BF3, and yes he will be upgrading the videocard soon too, but probably a few months down the road. So yes, it's mostly an upgrade for gaming.

In terms of overclocking, why would it be better to go with 4x2 Ram? I've always overclocked PCs with 2 sticks of Ram no problem. Not looking for a huge overclock, but just a nice solid overclock to maybe 4Ghz or so on air cooling.

JrRacinFan · Sep 26, 2011, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Water Drop

In terms of overclocking, why would it be better to go with 4x2 Ram? I've always overclocked PCs with 2 sticks of Ram no problem. Not looking for a huge overclock, but just a nice solid overclock to maybe 4Ghz or so on air cooling.

High density IC's. From what I know by hear-say, Sandy bridge IMC, doesn't particularly care for them. Think you can wait to build this for about another 2 weeks and wait for AMD FX lineup?

If not:
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...
Team Xtreem LV Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 S...
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI...
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatp...

Sep 25, 2011, 08:56 PM	#1
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	Upgrading old Athlon 64 Rig I've been kinda out of the loop on PC hardware lately, but I'm upgrading my brother's PC. He's currently running a Athlon 64 on a DFI Ultra-D motherboard with 4GB of Ram and a Geforce GTX 250. Looking at upgrading the CPU, RAM, and motherboard. Looking at about $500 budget. So far I've decided on the Intel Core i5 2500K. Looking for a good P67 motherboard and what 8GB Ram kit you would recommend to be able to overclock the 2500K well. I've been looking at the Asus, MSI, and Gigabyte P67 boards, and not really sure which to go with. I was thinking of this Gigabyte P67 board because of the features and price point: GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6G... Not really sure about RAM, considering this just not sure if its worth the extra money: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM...

Processor:	Intel Xeon X3210 Quad Core (G0) @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	DFI Lanparty Dark P35-T2RS
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra 120A w/ Scythe S-Flex F 120mm
Memory:	G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1000
Video Card:	eVGA Geforce 8800GT 512MB
Hard Disk:	WD Black 1TB + 320GB
Optical Drive:	BenQ DW1655 Lightscribe 16x DVD+/-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell Ultrasharp 20.1" Widescreen 2005FPW (1680x1050)
Case:	Cooler Master Centurion 5 w/window (black inside and out, debadged)
PSU:	Seasonic X750 Gold
Software:	Windows 7 Professional x64

Sep 25, 2011, 09:29 PM	#2
MT Alex Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Montana Posts: 2,018 (1.45/day) Thanks: 2,536 Thanked 1,323 Times in 917 Posts System Specs	The components look fine, but his GPU sure is going to show its age when combined with them. ASRock and Biostar also have some great boards at that price point, as well. __________________ “growing up, i always wanted to be a vet. til i learned there was more to being a vet than just putting down cats all day.” -digibucc My 700D

System Name:	Abacus
Processor:	i5 2500K
Motherboard:	ASRock p67 Extreme4 Gen3
Cooling:	Swiftech MCP35X, 2 DD 5870 WB, EK HF Copper, 2.120 rad, 3.120 rad
Memory:	2x4GB G.Skill Sniper 1600
Video Card:	2 Sapphire HD 5870 w/ Danger Den WBs
Hard Disk:	WD 640BG x2/WD 250GB/Samsung 2TB
Optical Drive:	Silly
CRT/LCD Model:	ASUS VH242 23.6" LCD
Case:	Corsair 700D
Sound Card:	X-Fi XtremeGamer
PSU:	Thermaltake Toughpower 700w Modular
Software:	Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM

Processor:	Intel Xeon X3210 Quad Core (G0) @ 3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	DFI Lanparty Dark P35-T2RS
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra 120A w/ Scythe S-Flex F 120mm
Memory:	G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-1000
Video Card:	eVGA Geforce 8800GT 512MB
Hard Disk:	WD Black 1TB + 320GB
Optical Drive:	BenQ DW1655 Lightscribe 16x DVD+/-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell Ultrasharp 20.1" Widescreen 2005FPW (1680x1050)
Case:	Cooler Master Centurion 5 w/window (black inside and out, debadged)
PSU:	Seasonic X750 Gold
Software:	Windows 7 Professional x64

Sep 25, 2011, 09:46 PM	#3
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	Having built systems in the mid 2000s I don't have good impressions of either ASRock or Biostar but I've heard they have come a long way.

Sep 25, 2011, 09:55 PM	#4
MT Alex Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Montana Posts: 2,018 (1.45/day) Thanks: 2,536 Thanked 1,323 Times in 917 Posts System Specs	I'm a Gigabyte fanboy, myself, but jumped ship for my current ASRock Extreme4 Gen3 board. I wouldn't go Biostar, simply for the red color scheme( ), but cadaveca found his review boards very solid. __________________ “growing up, i always wanted to be a vet. til i learned there was more to being a vet than just putting down cats all day.” -digibucc My 700D

Sep 26, 2011, 12:20 AM	#5
Goodman Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Canada/Québec/Montreal Posts: 1,506 (1.05/day) Thanks: 253 Thanked 328 Times in 247 Posts System Specs	I am Gigabyte board fan too , second one best i like is Asus & nothing else as a board... Anyhow now is really a bad time to upgrade just wait about 3 weeks when Bulldozer be out & then decided which way to go AMD or Intel there is a good chance that Intel will lower there prices on most of they CPU's , you may safe lots of money by waiting only just a few weeks

System Name:	Main PC
Processor:	PII 925 @3.724GHz (266x14) 1.525v NB 2660 1.425v
Motherboard:	Gigabyte AM3 GA-890XA-UD3 (790x+SB850)
Cooling:	Scythe Mugen 2 rev.B
Memory:	Hyperx 8GB (2x4) 1600@1418 8-7-7-20-27-1t
Video Card:	Sapphire 6850 Stock (Max Overclock 1030/1200)
Hard Disk:	1x1TB WD Green / 1x1TB Seagate
Optical Drive:	LG 20x DVD+RW Sata
CRT/LCD Model:	LCD Samsung 24" 16:9
Case:	Cooler Master HAF 912
Sound Card:	On-Board HD
PSU:	CM 750w GX \|3.3v@25a\|5v@25a\|12v@60a
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Benchmarks:	later...

Processor:	Intel i5-2500k
Motherboard:	MSI P67A-GD65
Cooling:	Corsair Hydro H60
Memory:	8GB (4x2GB) G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600
Video Card:	eVGA GTX670
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black 1TB
Optical Drive:	ASUS DRW-24B1ST
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer GD235HZbid 120hz LCD
Case:	Rosewill Destroyer Mid-Tower
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	Corsair 650W 650-TX
Software:	Windows 7 Professional

Sep 26, 2011, 01:04 AM	#7
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	Wow, didn't realize they got rid of IDE on these P67 boards. Seems only the Asus has an IDE controller. He still has 2 great working IDE optical drives. Edit: Would this system have any trouble running off of an older Cooler Master eXtreme Power 600W PSU? My concern about it is that it only has a 4-pin motherboard/CPU power connector, though I would imagine a 4 pin to 8 pin adapter should work fine. Correct? Last edited by Water Drop; Sep 26, 2011 at 02:32 AM.

Sep 26, 2011, 03:22 AM	#9
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	His hard drives are SATA. It's the optical drives that are IDE. And yes I know a SATA DVD-RW drive is like $20 so its not a big deal really.

Sep 26, 2011, 03:30 AM	#11
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	I wasn't too aware of bulldozer, there isn't any benchmarks out yet is there?

Sep 26, 2011, 04:13 AM	#13
JrRacinFan Served 5k and counting ... Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Youngstown, OH Posts: 16,121 (7.14/day) Thanks: 4,149 Thanked 4,552 Times in 4,027 Posts System Specs	Other than age, what else are you looking to get out of the upgrade? EDIT: Saw that you will be overclock. Want to add he may have better luck overclocking with 4x2 vs 2x4 when it comes to memory. __________________ Graphics Artists United™ Request Thread Low Cache CPU Club Solaris Utility DVD 3.0 DanishDevil's Logitech Soundroom TPU Video Gallery Sciencemark Revisited

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Cooling:	CM 212+ w/ scythe jyuni : Stock : Stock :Stock
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Hard Disk:	2x 750GB Raid 0 + Maxtor 500GB : WD Black 1TB+Corsair Nova 2 64GB : Toshiba 750GB : Leftover ATA133
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Sep 26, 2011, 04:16 AM	#14
Volkszorn88 Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 828 (0.79/day) Thanks: 113 Thanked 286 Times in 179 Posts System Specs	ASrock boards are amazing. No matter if you're going for an AMD or Intel chip, you won't be dissapointed. P.S. I'm using a ASRock board atm ^^

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Cooling:	Corsair H70
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Video Card:	Crossfire XFX 6950s 2gb
Hard Disk:	Western Digital Green 2TB 64mb Cache/ Western Digital 500gb
Optical Drive:	LG Dirve
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Sep 26, 2011, 04:16 AM	#15
BrooksyX Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 3,572 (1.82/day) Thanks: 511 Thanked 570 Times in 527 Posts System Specs	+1 for the ASRock! my asrock is rock solid

System Name:	Main / Home Media Serever
Processor:	Intel i5 2500k @ 4.75ghz / AMD AM3 5200+ x2
Motherboard:	ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance / Biostar 790GX
Cooling:	Xigmatek Dark Knight / XIGMATEK Apache
Memory:	16gb of G.Skill Value Series DDR3 / 4x 1gb DDR2
Video Card:	XFX Radeon 6870 1gb / Asus Radeon 5450 512mb
Hard Disk:	2x Samsung 830 64gb SSD Raid 0 & 750gb WD Blue HDD / OCZ Vertex 30GB & 8TB of HDD Space
Optical Drive:	Blu-ray Rom & DVD-RW / DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	2x Acer 20" LED 1600x900 / Samsung 40" LED
Case:	Xigmatek Asgard II / APEX PC-389-C
PSU:	OCZ Stealth Power 500w / Antec EArthwatts 380w
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Sep 26, 2011, 04:55 AM	#16
LagunaX Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 953 (0.62/day) Thanks: 76 Thanked 273 Times in 185 Posts System Specs	You may want to consider some lower profile ram (traditional ram heatspreaders) if you plan to get a monster air heatsink to overclock. Get ddr3 1600 or 1866 - not much benefit other than AIDA64 benchmarks above that... __________________ i7-3770k 4.8ghz 1.21-1.24v Delidded 3231B415 i7-2600k 4.8ghz L041C108 1.32v PLL off Venomous-X Push/Pull Asus P8P67 Vanilla Samsung 30nm MV-3V4G3D/US 2x4GB @ 9-10-10-28 1T DDR3 2133 1.6v Diamond HD 7970 Corsair TX750W CM 690 II Advanced

System Name:	Primary Rig
Processor:	e8500 Q822A549 4.5ghz AIR
Motherboard:	Foxconn Mars P35
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Video Card:	Sapphire 5870 Unlocked
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Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate x86

Sep 26, 2011, 01:46 PM	#17
Water Drop Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Not far from NYC Posts: 165 (0.08/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts System Specs	It's for my brother who is looking to play BF3, and yes he will be upgrading the videocard soon too, but probably a few months down the road. So yes, it's mostly an upgrade for gaming. In terms of overclocking, why would it be better to go with 4x2 Ram? I've always overclocked PCs with 2 sticks of Ram no problem. Not looking for a huge overclock, but just a nice solid overclock to maybe 4Ghz or so on air cooling.

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