Will The HD3850 Work For Me?

[Rurouni Strife]

that Asus P5b-VM looks to be a good one. Nice find!

 

[snakebite025]

Thanks Rurouni, I'm happy I found it as well. So are you totally sure that the HD 3850 will work on that motherboard, even though it's PCIe 2.0, and the motherboard is just PCIe?

 

[calvary1980]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP3cwPvCbRw this is a nice demonstration on why I chose a E2180. E2180 can overclock to 3-3.5Ghz on air but it requires a good board. the board he is using is the most common for Allendale GA-P35-DS3L

the 3850 will work.

- Christine

 

[Rurouni Strife]

Yea, the PCI-E 2.0 just means its compatible with 2.0. It's completely backwards compatible.

calvery, I think his biggest concern is budget. He's keeping it like, 40 under the costs of that board you linked to. If he manages a 800 mhz OC or a little less, it's still going to help him out. Those new Pentium dual cores are roughly Athlon 64 x2 equalivents, probably a little better once you ramp up clock speeds. So at 2.8, he probably has close to a 3 ghz A64.

 

[calvary1980]

allendale leaves athlon in the dust. P5B-VM is a crappy board the ram voltage can't be increased past 1.95v and there is a pci lock that limits overclocking. if your going to buy an allendale there is no sense in buying this board.

- Christine

 

[Rurouni Strife]

ok so i stand somewhat corrected. 2180 is probably equal to a 4800+. A mild OC puts it around a C2D 6300 or so which beats all but the most extravagently OC'd and cooled Athlons.

 

[snakebite025]

so will the P5B-VM be able to at least give me a small, modest overclock? Also, I have never overclocked anything before, so could you direct me to a overclocking guide for dummies?

 

[calvary1980]

we had a discussion about the allendale a couple months ago. in essence you turn a E2xxx $69 into a $175+ E6xxx with an overclock this doesn't sound all that spectacular but when the E2140 was released it was. they can go up to 3.9Ghz they are the "official" crazy budget processors.

if this still isn't convincing http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pentium-dual-core,1683.html

- Christine

 

[snakebite025]

Is the cpu that your talking about the one im interested in?

 

[calvary1980]

the toms review is the E2160. the P5B-VM will get you a slight overclock but it's probably not going to be very friendly for your first overclock. I really recommend the Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L, AsRock 4Core1600Twins-P35 or any other board go back to page 2 I edited my post with a preview link to the AsRock board and what it can do for $94. you can try bargain hunting via shopping online at different stores but theres no reason why you can't get all this for $300-400 as for a guide you will have to search TPU or maybe Farlex can help you.

- Christine

 

[Rurouni Strife]

yea cal, your point was made, i looked it up. by extravagant athlons, i meant something the range of 4 ghz? so nothing that is really achievable by anyone w/o nitrogen.

snake, cal has a point with the boards. I think that if your careful on the lower priced boards you can hit 2.6 or so ghz, which is going to get you good performance. If you want the magic 3.5 or something like that, you'll need more. Thats why she suggests the nicer boards. If you want the extra ghz, i'd cough up the extra dough.

 

[snakebite025]

Alright, I guess I'll have to save up a little bit longer for my PC upgrade, but it will be worth it. And once again, could someone direct me to a overclocking guide for noobs?

 

[calvary1980]

http://forums.techpowerup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56

look for Sticky's. or google "overclocking guide"

- Christine

 

[zithe]

I'm doing something similar, except upgrading (yes upgrading) to a 3.0ghz P4 and getting another stick of RAM to go with a new (used) video card. ANYTHING is better than a 9250. T_T except onboard lol

 

[farlex85]

A thing to take into account snake is those prices from tiger direct are all after rebates, meaning you will pay a lot more up front and then wait a few months to be re-imbursed. The actual total is around $360. Shipping generally costs more w/ them as well (not always though). Are you not wanting to do newegg for some reason? The p35 I linked is around the same price as the ones you were looking at, and is far better. Generally though, p35 will be the chipset you want if you can do it. The one calvary linked is better still and not too much more expensive. Newegg generally is the way to go.

If you add this psu to the parts I suggested before and move up to a 2180 instead of the celeron, the total is about $370 before rebates. $25 rebate on the ram, but that ends tomorrow, but we could probably find you some more deals. If you move up to the asrock board, your at about $390.

 

[snakebite025]

I've always used TigerDirect for my PC parts, mainly because there's an outlet store by me, and they price match the online stores. Also, tiger has fast delivery times for me in case I order online. But seeing as newegg has a wider selection and good prices, I might give it a try.

 

[calvary1980]

Tigerdirect is a little more expensive. try NCIX they are my favorite they are very hands on and can even request components.

- Christine

 

[Wile E]

If you want to save a few dollars, you can get the GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L instead for $90.

Couple that with an Intel E2180 for $70, and you'll have yourself a decent little combo for a reasonable price.

And I would definitely always check Newegg's prices before you buy from Tiger Direct. Newegg is cheaper 90% of the time. They're a great retailer too. I buy 95% of my stuff from there.