upgrade questions

[DEFEATEST]

Hey guys! Well I'm finally getting some cash together for a new box, you all gave me some good advice a few months ago when I was going to do it, but I could'nt until now. So I'm sticking with what alot of you suggested but I want you ideas on a couple of things. My current specs are on the left. Here is roughly what you suggested, just wondering if I'm still going down the right road here.

core2 duo e8500
p5q mobo
2gig DDR something (not sure what mhtz to go)
I am keeping my palit 4870 512mb.

I will be selling my box sans the vid card and psu
What ram is best as I will be sticking with XP, also what Asus P5q mobo should I go for, best bang for the buck as I dont need sli or a hundred sata connections or 50 usb slots

One more thing, what would be a decent mid tower? I've prolly got 130ish bucks for that and it needs to be well ventilated and hold that monster Palit 4870 with ease.

Thanks !!!

 

[angelkiller]

The brand of RAM generally doesn't matter as long as its a quality brand (eg Crucial, Corsiar, OCZ, G.Skill, etc) Speed of RAM also doesn't matter. Capacity is the most important thing to look for after brand. 4Gb is pretty cheap at the moment and DDR2-800 is a very common speed of RAM. So any 4GB kit of DDR2-800 should be good.

Looking at the P5Q series I think the P5Q-Pro is the best for the price. For $105 (AR) you get a solid board with all the standard features which includes Crossfire support. Very nice board. Anything less has some features missing and anything more isn't justified by its features.

$130 for a tower? That's plenty. There are a few cases in that range that I would consider. Antec 300. Cooler Master CM-690. Antec 900.

 

[Atnevon]

The brand of RAM generally doesn't matter as long as its a quality brand (eg Crucial, Corsiar, OCZ, G.Skill, etc) Speed of RAM also doesn't matter. Capacity is the most important thing to look for after brand. 4Gb is pretty cheap at the moment and DDR2-800 is a very common speed of RAM. So any 4GB kit of DDR2-800 should be good.

Looking at the P5Q series I think the P5Q-Pro is the best for the price. For $105 (AR) you get a solid board with all the standard features which includes Crossfire support. Very nice board. Anything less has some features missing and anything more isn't justified by its features.

$130 for a tower? That's plenty. There are a few cases in that range that I would consider. Antec 300. Cooler Master CM-690. Antec 900.

Those are great cases. If you wanted a less flashy, and/pr quieter rig, you can go with an Antec P182. It hovers around from time to time in sales, but from what I have seen, when it comes to quest, you get what you put into it. Plus the gun metal gray is damn beautiful.

 

[DEFEATEST]

Ok! Great guys , thanks, but I am only using xp 32 bit so do i need more than 2 gig or is it even worth it? Because if 2 gig is kinda tops for xp i'll keep my corsair xms twin 800's. I mostly game so...........

 

[angelkiller]

XP 32 bit can only see like 3.2 GB or something. I say if you're on a really tight budget, you can stick with 2GB for now. I'm runnin 2GB right now and I game alot with no problems. But if you have some extra cash left over, the extra 2GB might be useful. (even if you can't use all of it.)

 

[Atnevon]

Ok! Great guys , thanks, but I am only using xp 32 bit so do i need more than 2 gig or is it even worth it? Because if 2 gig is kinda tops for xp i'll keep my corsair xms twin 800's. I mostly game so...........

Unless you have 3 copies of WoW running, bots, and Photoshop AND Indesign open at the same time, and want to open Illustrator and run it Smooth as well, then I dont think there is a need for more than 2bg at the moment. I think if you are a crazy user of graphics(3D Rendering), massive Video Conversion, or have HUGE picture documents open (with lots of layers)...

...then I do not think at the moment you need more than 2gb. Should you ever go to a 64bit Vista, then 4gb would be a great addition. Ram is fairly cheep now, I have these in my system: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122
Not to much, and suit me well. I do overclock my rig because of my room temps, but if it is 4gb you need, the price and reliability are right.

Hope that helps.