Possible upgrade path. What do you guys think?

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peacetilence

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
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I've had my setup for some time now and I'm starting to get bored with it. I've never really been that happy with the performance I've gotten out of the system and just recently it's been giving me trouble for reasons which go beyond what I'm willing to waste my time on.

The PC worked fine at 2.75 180FSB (ram at 250) with a divider for over a year then just stopped working stable this way. I went down to 260x260 and it was perfectly stable. I'd recently tested out 2.75 again and got it stable with my ram running Odd Ram Divisor setting on but it's only running at 229mhz this way. I figure it's this crappy g.skill ram that's giving me so many problems. I've always had to run it slightly below recommended settings for it to be stable. I see that PC500 ram costs upwards of 200-300 dollars so instead of trying to replace the ram I might as well just replace all my base components for a couple hundred extra.

Here are the components I'm considering (in newegg prices but I'll probably buy someplace else)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail - $222.90

EVGA 122-CK-NF67-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $184.99

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail - $88.99

I'm reluctant to buy G.Skill again though because of how terribly the ram I have now performs. They also never honored the rebate I'd sent them for it.

ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail - $49.99



My PC just now failed orthos again at settings that were stable just yesterday so this all looks very tempting though I can't really afford it. This would set me back from being able to buy an HDTV and right now I'd rather have a big screen than new pc components that will probably give me only marginal performance gains.
 
eh, the e6600 is pretty much dead, go with the e6750 or 6550 with the newer 1333mhz fsb and cheaper prices.

Also intel p35 chipset motherboards have been getting great reviews and have been beating 650/680i's so I would probably get a p35 mobo. The abit's are great.,
 
I need something for SLI though, at least until I upgrade my video cards. I'm really trying to do this as cheaply as possible. I didn't want to upgrade this gen but wait until next. I kind of have to now that my system seems unstable despite whatever settings I try. I'd already budgeted out everything for my HDTV so this is pretty much an emergency situation.
 
So, whats your budget? Also, what size monitor/HDTV (resolution)?
 
I wanted to get a 37" or higher 1080 monitor. Most I'd pay would be $1500 but I'd have to save a while to be able to afford it.

I don't really have a budget for upgrades I guess. I'd like to keep it under $500 but I'd want a noticeable performance increase over what I have now as well.
 
peacetilence said:
I wanted to get a 37" or higher 1080 monitor. Most I'd pay would be $1500 but I'd have to save a while to be able to afford it.

I don't really have a budget for upgrades I guess. I'd like to keep it under $500 but I'd want a noticeable performance increase over what I have now as well.
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I guess you missed out on the Westy 37" for $800. Newegg has it for $999 I think, if they have any left. The 42" model should only be around $1200.

A noticeable performance increase... hm... be aware, your current setup is pretty good. It'll be hard to make a noticeable difference with only a $500 budget. I hardly notice any difference between my Core2Duo at 3.2Ghz and my Opteron 165 at 2.6Ghz, unless I'm video editing/encoding.
 
Yeah, I know I missed out on the westinghouses. I'm just going to save for a samsung.

The negligible performance difference was what I was afraid of. I'd just buy new ram to replace what I have now but why the heck does DDR1 PC 500 ram cost close to $300 for 2gb?
 
peacetilence said:
The negligible performance difference was what I was afraid of. I'd just buy new ram to replace what I have now but why the heck does DDR1 PC 500 ram cost close to $300 for 2gb?
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Because its been discontinued. You're about a year late if you wanted to cash in on cheap DDR 500, hehe. Your best bet is used, so try the FS/FT forums. Or, just pickup some DDR400 and use a higher divider. Oh, btw, G.Skill has lifetime warranty, so just get it replaced -- thats your cheapest solution.
 
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