Another one of those upgrade threads.

[taks]

i've got a big antec server case, which i like, but it has issues with anything that uses IDE cabling (such as my older CDROM). my wife has one of those antec "quiet" cases and, quite frankly, it's noisier than my server case and more crowded to boot. either way, i'm an antec case/PSU fan since they've both always proven very reliable.

 

taks

[tripleRRR]

My last PSU was an Antec Neopower. It nearly fried my entire mobo when I first turned the damn thing on. Kinda scared to get anything Antec right now.

[wesley2]

I've only ever used about 3 of them, but 2 were antec. That includes the one I have now and I've had no problems with it. It runs loudly at startup, but will often quiet down within about 15 minutes. I think that's more attributable to all the dust in the fan than anything else though. it had adequate cables and I haven't had problems with space. From the reviews I've read and my own experience they seem to be pretty reliable and usually pretty comfortably priced. There's nothing like paying a ton for a case on top of all the money you're spending to upgrade your machine.

[Gorgon]

Now I'm torn, trying to figure out if I should hold out for a 4870x2, counting my money. I bloody knew this was going to happen

[Gorgon]

So, this is the 'monster from the blue lagune'. http://www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=09191#

 

It has a few positive reviews, although you should be cautious of impartiality of price comparison sites. The Zalman PSU alone costs half of what I would pay for this PSU+Case.

 

It's a two in one PS split in a 650 watt for the mobo and PCI cardds and a 550 watt for the drives and the rest.

http://www.antec.com/pdf/flyers/Neo-link_flyer.pdf

 

Now comes the hard part. Is this sufficient for new cards in Sli/Crossfire. Is it going to last me a long time. I read something about the PCI connectors needing to be 'running on a dual rail' in the PS thread. I have no idea what this means.

 

My guess is that this combo is better than a single 850 watt because they share the load.

 

 

 

The case has the HDDs isolated from the board for more efficient cooling and materials designed to lower noise.

 

The way I see it there is not very much to save by getting a Zalman or quatro 850 watt + another case, and this way at least I know the internal cables are going to be a snug fit.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Gorgon

[Gorgon]

I just noticed it weighs 20 kilograms - EMPTY lols.

[samm]

I hope it comes on wheels

[Gorgon]

So, who knows anything about Ram specifications. This is the test report sheet for the x38 diamond. http://global.msi.eu/uploads/test_report/TR10_1328.pdf

 

 

As you can see not a whole lot tested compared to what is out there. Is there any real danger in choosing something else, There is a real shortness in the 1333, 2 gb section.

 

I take it the 'DDR' heading is synonymous with FSB, since it goes 800/1066/1333 same as the boards FSB speed options.

So I can buy something higher than 1333 mhz, but not lower if I want to run 1333 mzh on the board.

 

 

 

However, the price comparison site I am looking at has an array of options. Including the prefixes 'PC', 'PC2' and 'PC3'. I surmise 'PC3 11000' and 'DDR3 SD Ram' is what I'm looking for in the drop down menu, You can see that here http://www.edbpriser.dk/Products/Showsubcategory.asp?ID=37. It's in danish but the categories should be self explanatory. The pricing for similar specifications from different producers vary wildly, I suppose roughly according to timings.

 

Anywho 2 x 2 GB '(4 GB) / DUAL RAM / DDR3 SDRAM / PC3-11000 / 1375 MHz / ? Bit /' is a listing for two kingston 2 gb sticks. Will that run happily at 1333 fsb, and OC to 1375 fsb ?

 

I wonder if I should look at another board. Don't want to order all this stuff and not even get the board to post.

[Gorth]

DDR3 isn't that widely available yet, so if that is what it is, you might check the link below. DDR3 is the most important criteria when narrowing down your search on edbpriser really (because you can't plug a DDR2 ram into a DDR3 socket). The PC10800 etc. notation is more a legacy thing, as it is the FSB speed multiplied by a factor 8 (rounded to nearest "nice" number). It probably made sense back when PC3200 was all the rage. Now the numbers are so big it's silly and impossible to remember.

 

A small brand comparison guide: http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1152/ddr...l_kingston_ocz/

 

I miss the days when edbpriser was still wheeler.dk

 

Good hunting

[Gorgon]

Is DDR 3 worth it. I mean if I can get twice as much DDR 2 for the same money and DDR2 is going to be supported well into future nehalem boards ?

 

These are all ifs I'm asking, not telling

[Gorth]

The closest reference I could find was this:

 

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=13674

 

Looks like you need "Tri-channel" (whatever *that* is) DDR3 ram and a new motherboard to run Nehalem (the pin layout of the cpu is different to current LGA775 sockets)

[Gorgon]

On the verge of a major shift in technology is a really bad time to be buying I guess

 

Maybe I should just get a DDR 2 compatible board and chuck cheap ram in it to save money. Or, wait it out with my archaic system, but when is Nehalem going to get cheap enough for mere mortals. Christmas, Christmas next year....

[CoM_Solaufein]

I'd stick with DDR2. DDR3 is still over priced and not worth it for the small gains you would get. Eventually prices will go down and by that time it may be time to do another upgrade.

[Spider]

What Lucian is saying is what I was told when asking the same question. And it's also what I did. Also, don't stare yourself blind at the FSB thing. From what I gather that won't be the choking point for memeories anyway. What you want to be aware of is the Cas Latency. The lower the better. It's either represented as CL5 or if it's more detailed 5-5-5-18.

 

I ended up getting 800mhz memories with CL4. I got 4GB of those for the same price as 2GB 1066mhz memories with CL5 (almost).

[Bokishi]

Memory speed is so "meh" the gains in speed are minimal as in like 1-2 fps in games

[Gorgon]

Bearing in mind that I have to save somewhere, no name industry standard or 9/9/9/24, or 7-7-7-20 cas corsair ram might be the place to do it. It costs barely anything, and if the actual performance difference is still negliable and I'm going to be throwing it in storage at my next upgrade anyway.. well.

[Gorgon]

@Bokshi

 

By the way, getting a e8400 @ 3.8 GHz, pretty nifty. Although you must have spent an arm and a leg on coolers. Still coolers might be as good a future investment as anything else. Is it stable, and by that I mean as a rock ?.

Edited July 20, 2008 by Gorgon

[Bokishi]

@Bokshi

 

By the way, getting a e8400 @ 3.8 GHz, pretty nifty. Although you must have spent an arm and a leg on coolers. Still coolers might be as good a future investment as anything else. Is it stable, and by that I mean as a rock ?.

 

Been running it that way for 3 months now. I originally had it at 4 ghz, and it was stable for like a month, and then it started giving me errors. Of course it might have had something to do installing that 3rd videocard, I dunno. Just watch it with those e8400's, what's stable on it when you first buy it, may not be once it finally sets in

[Gorgon]

Ok here is an attempt at a complete lineup for a budget PC.

 

Processor

Core 2 Duo E8400 6 MB (Intel Boxed)

 

Board.

Asus Maximus Formula. it's not cheap, but it supports very cheap ram while having two pci express 2.0 x16 slots. Also, bundled with S.T.A.L.K.E.R, shadow of Chernobyl, which made me laugh.

 

Ram

2x 2048 MB Dual Mushkin Xtreme. DUAL RAM / DDR II SDRAM / PC2-8500CL5 / 1066 MHz

 

GFX

Asus HD 4850

 

HDD

Samsung SpinPoint T166 - 500 mb

 

CD/R

Salvaged, although I can't figure out if the board actually has an old style IDE connector. Rooting through the PDF manual now.

 

PSU& CaseI'm at a loss here on whether to match something to my needs or go with a the Neo link 1200 PSU & Case from Aentech, which should last me through another upgrade.

[samm]

The Maximus Formula does have one IDE connector, see here, for example, or a picture of it.

[Gorgon]

I originally thought that FSB had to match Ram Speed, but this is not the case is it ?.

 

I mean I don't need ram rated at 1333 mhz to run the board & processor at 1333 sfb

[Gorgon]

Theres something else, The ATI certified components list lists power supplies according to the number and type of PCI express slots.

 

They list PCIe 2x3 and PCIe 2x4 and the number of cards you can have. How does this relate to PCI e2.0 x16.

 

2x4 is 8, not 16. Does it simply mean ; this is how many PCI express slots of that type you can have filled - with anything, not necessarily a gxf card ?

 

http://game.amd.com/us-en/crossfirex_components.aspx?p=3

 

I'm going to have to figure this out if I decide to go with a PSU that targets my system more or less exactly.

Edited July 22, 2008 by Gorgon

[samm]

How the FSB and the RAM speed are connected depends on the chipset. You'd have to look for a review that covers whether and how it works exactly. For my motherboard, they're completely independent (while the HT-speed - owning an AMD board - is tied to other frequencies), but there are sure to be others where FSB and memory speed must fulfill certain criteria, like 1:1, 2:3, 1:2 or similar relations.

 

Concerning the strange PCI-e numbers: These are the connectors of the PSU. 2x3 is a 6pin, 2x4 is an 8pin connector. The table shows the number of connectors available for each type and how many cards of the type in the title of the table are supported by the PSU.

Edited July 23, 2008 by samm

[Gorgon]

Looking at the Asus Page it says that the board supports 800, 1066 and 1333 FSB, My processor is 1333.

 

 

Then it says it supports Dual-Channel DDR II 800 and 1066, and just to make things interesting

 

Memory Features

 

Native DDR2 1066 Support

To attain top performance, ASUS engineers have successfully unleashed the true potential of DDR2 memory. While in DDR2 1066 mode, ASUS

Edited July 23, 2008 by Gorgon

[samm]

Looks that way, yes