I'm Back!!!

[mikelopez]

Not that anyone here remembers me or even cares, but...

I got the build bug again so I'm back on the boards. It's amazing how much has changed. My current rig is way out-dated.

A part of me just wants to get a new PSU and vid card but a voice in my head says "DO IT BIG!" and go all out.

Here is a thread I started about my last (and current) build a loooong time ago:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=14404

What do you guys think?

 

[Kursah]

TBH, a cheap HD4870 or GTX260, or even lower, a 4770, 4830, 4850, gts250, etc would be a huge upgrade. When I upgraded from an x850 xt pe to an x1950pro I noticed about 2x the frames in games I played back then, and going from an x1950xtx to a 9600gt was about the same increase (before oc-ing the 9600gt that is ).

Beyond that, I'd either go with a faster and better clocking dual for some 400fsb/cpu oc action, or get a cheap q6600 (make sure that board can support a quad first). Finding an e6750 on the cheap would be a good way to go, that or if your board can support 45nm an e8400 would do quite nicely.

That and a 2x2GB kit of memory, around the 800-1066 range, doesn't really matter what speed in that range tbh...I've never noticed a difference while gaming.

Then go Vista x64 sp2 or 7x64 when it comes out...that way you can use all 4gb of memory, and really vista x64 rocks for gaming in my experience. But I am coming from a gamers' perspective along with liking to build and take risks with used parts...generally from those I trust here and on a couple other forums. But some really good deals can be found that could get you upgraded quite easily back up to par without a whole re-do. Though if you wanna replace the board on the cheap side of things, see if you can snag a used Gigabyte P35-DS3L or another P35/P45 board. I suppose you could go all out on i7 too, just depends on the performance you feel you want and how often you will use your rig and what you use it for.

Welcome back, and I'm sure we can get ya settled into something that'll do what you need, but if you could please list what you'll use the rig for, no sense in going complete overkill unless that's what you wanna do, but if you're on a budget, there's defiantely a lot of good options and even though 775 is nearing EOL for new products, it's still a very good base for a gaming rig, more than enough for modern games, the GPU will be what you really want to spend on imo, then a faster dual or a quad and 4GB of memory and you'll be back up to par imo. I know the p965/p35/p45 are all related to an extent, so I have a feeling you could go with some newer stuff and be just fine, might need a bios update, so make sure support was added, otherwise plan on getting a newer p35/p45 board...and I've had an excellent experience with the GB P35-DS3L boards, definately a sweet oc-ing little bruiser of a backbone for a gaming rig.

 

[mikelopez]

I guess I have to decide which CPU I want to go with and build from there. I'm hard-pressed to replace my e6300 because its been one heck of a trooper. Ive kept it at stock speed (1.86ghz) because I didnt really notice a difference during BF2 (back in 2006) or on City of Heroes (for far too long) when I had it clocked at 3.0+ghz.

What has brought back the "build bug" is a strange and nagging noise coming from my PSU, wanting to play AION with decent video settings, and the relatively low prices on video cards that are so much better than my x850.

Thanks for the thorough response.

 

[Kursah]

My e6300 was a sweet chip, it'd hit 3.36ghz (480fsb) @ 1.26v and 3.5ghz (500fsb) @ 1.34v, but I love my q6600, only needs 400fsb for 3.6ghz w/9x multi, an e6750 has an 8x multi iirc. A higher multi is a good help for getting more with less fsb and stress on the mb. But it's not necessarily needed, though can open up some good performance in modern games with beefier gpu's if there's a bottleneck. 400FSB on many intel boards is supported for their extreme edition chips that ran 1600fsb stock...so I find it's generally easy on very little increases in voltage to achieve on the mb side.

A new PSU wouldn't hurt...I'd highly recommend the Corsair HX520...excellent modular PSU, but there are many options to choose from, and tbh you'd be better getting a sup-600 watt higher quality imo. How stable do your voltages stay under load in say occt now?

Hell even a 9600GT would be a helluva upgrade and found for cheap, plus if you get an older model they OC quite well (my palit would go from pre-oc'd 700/1750 950 to 810/1950 1100 before vmod or close and 870/2200 1100 after vmod), what resolution do you plan on gaming at? And do you plan on upgrading your screen for a higher res later on? If so do you want to spend more later on another card or plan to spend a little more for a card that's more capable for when you do upgrade?

I'd say just start researching some parts, see what your board can take, find out the 12v+ Amp specs on your PSU, and I think you'll be able to upgrade a few parts and have a much improved gaming rig for modern games, I dunno what AION needs to run well, haven't looked into it.

 

[mikelopez]

I have been looking at the GTX 260 and 4890. For CPU I'm thinking E8500 or Q9550.

I'm kinda stuck right now because I want to go balls to the wall but cant really spend $1k rebuilding. If I upgrade to 45nm, PCI-e 2.0, etc. I will need a new mobo so my only alternative is getting a PSU that I can use for the new rig.

Then I can build from there when I'm ready.

A new PSU wouldn't hurt...I'd highly recommend the Corsair HX520...excellent modular PSU, but there are many options to choose from, and tbh you'd be better getting a sup-600 watt higher quality imo. How stable do your voltages stay under load in say occt now?

sup-600?

I am not sure on voltage stability. Here is my current PSU:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/368/1/

It was fine but started clicking in my old apartment due to high room temps (i think). Now it comes and goes but I really dont know if its the fan or capacitors or what.

Sorry if I'm all over the place.

 

[sneekypeet]

running a dual E8600 and a GTX 280 fine on my SilverStone 600. Had a QX in here for a bit too, ran that at 4.0GHz with no power issues.

if it helps I say go to a 275, better when OC'd than my 280, and hands down better than the 260. Altho that may change the money around. The 4890 is nice, but the new ATI 5K's are soo close now.

Bottom line is, unless you do alot of movie burning, or need it for WCG, I say stick with a good E8 and clock it. Go 275 or wait for the new ATI.