Mid upgrade while I wait for prices to drop.

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Chase023

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Nov 15, 2007
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Right now I have a AMD 64 4000+ with an EVGA 7800GTX ACS KO 256 meg with 2 gigs of ram, 500w Antec Shadow, thats the gist of it.

I was thinking of doing a mid upgrade and making this my 2nd computer when I do my major upgrade much later this year, but use it as my primary while I wait. I am trying to get the most bang for the buck.

I was thinking either Q6600 or a Q9450 with a 8800 GTS 512 meg with 2-4 gigs of ram.
Is the current power supply enough to handle the new cpu and the 8800 GTS?
Which heat sink for air cooling for the CPU?
Which cpu should I go with and what motherboard?

About how much will I end up spending for this upgrade?
Can you guys give me some advice and suggestions??

Thanks
 
Three questions:

1) How much are you willing to spend?
2) Which components are you planning on "upgrading"?
3) Have you checked out some of the other build threads (and/or the FAQ) from the past few days?
 
1) I will spend up to what is necessary I guess
2) CPU/Motherboard/RAM/GPU/
3) I have seen a few but I guess I need to check them out a bit more.
 
"... To what is necessary" doesn't help us; we can recommend nearly anything, like:

$90 - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
$220 - Intel Q6600 (free shipping)
$37 - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 (free shipping)
$77 - G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 kit (free shipping)
$240 - EVGA 8800GTS 512MB ($30 mail-in rebate)
=====
$664 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)
Click to expand...

... and you could easily say that you want something better -- even though the above setup is similar to what many people now are using for their long-term builds.
 
Sorry didn't mean to be so vague, but thanks for the example, it's a good start.

I want to spend around $500 but willing to spend up to $700.

I hope to overclock it a little bit either it be Q6600 or Q9450.

I have a few extra 120mm Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F that I didn't use in my Silverstone TJ10 which I plan to use for the CPU Heatsink Fan on this Q6600 or Q9450.
(The TJ10 is for my main build later this year with maybe a custom phase cooling cpu unit by Vapoli and a QX9650, I am waiting for it to drop it's prices some more)

Didn't mean to go off tangent, but anyways

From your example

Mobo - $90 - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L (Any Asus or Gigabyte better?)
CPU - $220 - Intel Q6600 (free shipping) (I guess I would be saving over $100 not going Q9450? any reason other than price to go with Q6600?)
Heatsink - $37 - XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 (free shipping) (how about ThermalRight Ultra-120 eXtreme for overclocking?)
RAM - $77 - G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 kit (free shipping) (Corsair or G.Skill good?? also timing, not sure exactly what I would need so please advise)
GPU - $240 - EVGA 8800GTS 512MB ($30 mail-in rebate) (For sure, I like EVGA)

Some of these brands like the Motherboard and RAM is favored because I always bought these but if you can recommend other one that are as good or better, I would really appreciate it.

I hope I was a bit more specific.

Thanks in advance.
 
Asus boards are usually a bit more expensive compared to other boards with similar features (here in the US). Ultimately, the board you should get comes down to which options you want available -- like more SATA ports, RAID, SLI/CrossFire, better OC options, etc.

If you're trying to keep this build under $700, I suggest keeping the setup that I recommended earlier. Many people have said that the XIGMATEK HD-S1283 performs just as well as (if not better than) the TRUE 120/S-FLEX combination. And if you aren't planning a major overclock, nearly any DDR2 800 dual channel kit would work. (Timings don't mean as much with DDR2 RAM and its emphasis on RAM speed.) The Q6600, with its (relatively) higher multiplier, is easier to overclock than the Q9450. Though the Q9450 could (potentially -- YMMV) reach higher speeds than the Q6600, its lower multiplier means that more stress is placed on the motherboard when the processor is overclocked. (Otherwise, it runs a bit faster and more efficiently than the Q6600.)

I forgot one thing: You should buy a better power supply. For the above setup, a quality 450W-550W PSU with active PFC is recommended. Brands to look at are Antec (EarthWatts models), Corsair, Seasonic, Silverstone, PC Power & Cooling, and Thermaltake (ToughPower models) among others.

If you want more options, check out some of the other build lists that have been floating around here over the past couple of days. All of the options that we normally recommend here have been listed at one point or another during that time.
 
Nehalem (from intel), RV770 (from ATI) and GT200 (from Nvidia), all due out before the end of this year. Nehalem, intels successor to the Core 2 (presumably going to be marketed as Core 3?) is going to be out for "enthusiasts (with deep pockets)" for Q4 08. In a massivly available form it will be out in Q1 09. Nehalem will not be supported by any current motherboards. That said it won't be purchasable by us lowly mortals until Q1 09. the RV770 is at our doorstep, due out in late may. If ATI has fixed the ROPs you can expect performance twice that of the 9800GTX, if not, you can expect similar performance to the 9800GTX. The GT200 is going to have upward of 192 shaders and presumably has a 512bit bus. Its due out in late augest.

Wait until you can't bear to wait any longer. Always the best advice I can offer. In this biz, an extra 2 minutes and an extra $2 gives you 2 fold performance. You've got to draw the line somewhere, and it seems to me your setting the line aweful high for a hold-over comp.

But if you still want to go through with it, heres an idea: buy a 9800GTX. when you drop the money for the rest of your build, pick up a 790i motherboard and two more 9800GTX's, and tri-SLI em.
 
For my Main build I can wait (I only have the TJ10 and the 1600W X3 Ultra just sitting around and yes I need to find an electrician to up my amps in the room so it won't shut down if I run this thing with say my TV or something LOL and yes I need to add a 20 AMP socket as well), we will see what happens and maybe a QX9650, maybe not.
With the phase cooling, I hope to have some fun with that!

Well with the advice I think here is what I am going to do.

CPU - Q6600 G0 Stepping ($199 at Microcenter in Southern CA, but I hope its G0, I might go tomorrow to get one)
Mobo - Asus P5N-E ??? For better OC options which Asus mobo?
Heatsink - XIGMATEK HD-S1283 ($37) - I might go with Ultra-120 Extreme ($60) not sure!
RAM - Corsair DDR2 PC2-6400 (800MHZ) 4-4-4-12 ($104 after $40 mail-in rebate) or G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 ($77)? Which one?
GPU - EVGA Nvidia 8800 GTS 512MB ($200 - $220) (Will this card fit in the 1st version of the Antec P180? Will I have to buy a new case?)
Power supply - Um, I have no clue so can someone pick out a decent power supply for the price that will replace my Antec Shadow 500 with either an Antec/Silverstone or Thermaltake around 500w or maybe better to support the above components?

I guess I am pretty much set other than Mobo/RAM/Power supply, and maybe a new case unless the P180 can fit that 8800 GTS.
 
Most of the boards that we recommend, including the Gigabyte DS3L, are good overclocking boards. With Nehalem in the horizon and the fact that this build is not your primary one, I wouldn't spend too much on a motherboard if I were you. How far are you trying to push the Q6600 to? The approximate threshold for most Q6600s is around 3.6GHz (9x400FSB).

enginurd said:
Stated FSB/4 = Actual FSB
Multiplier x Actual FSB = CPU Speed
2 x Actual FSB = RAM Speed

Q6600:
Multi x Actual FSB, Stated FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9 x 266Mhz, 1066Mhz, DDR2 533 RAM = 2.4Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9 x 333Mhz, 1333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.0Ghz <== Good OC
9 x 400Mhz, 1600Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.6Ghz <== Excellent OC, About the Max
Click to expand...

I have one more piece of advice for you: Don't spend more money if you don't have to. There's no noticeable difference performance-wise between CL4 and CL5 RAM; again, overall RAM speed is the important factor. And people have been saying that the XIGMATEK HSF cools about as well as the TRUE 120 -- and it costs around $20-$30 less.

The length of the 8800GTS is the same as the 8800GT, which is (IIRC) about 9 inches. The worst case scenario -- unless you have a lot of hard drives in your P180 -- is that you'll have to remove the top HDD cage in order to accommodate the 8800GTS (which I honestly doubt you'll have to do).

Some good power supplies to consider are the Antec EarthWatts EA500, the Corsair VX550, Seasonic S12 II SS-500GB, and the Silverstone ST50F. There are other (good) choices available for around/under $100, but these are some of the more commonly recommended models.
 
the 8800GTS will fit in the P180. The cage can stay but (depending on the placement of the PCI-16X slot) the individual drive might have to be moved.
 
Thanks for all your help.

I will go with your suggestion.

CPU - Q6600 ($199)
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ($90)
Heatsink - XIGMATEK HD-S1283 ($37)
RAM - G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 ($77)
GPU - EVGA Nvidia 8800 GTS 512MB ($200 - $220)
Power supply - SILVERSTONE ST50F ATX12V 500W ($67)

I am just around the $700 mark, maybe I hope to find some better deals in the meantime.
 
You'll have to search around -- Google (Product Search) and Pricewatch come to mind -- but a lot of deals come and go weekly (if not monthly).
 
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