QJ.net Game Discussion - PSP, Xbox, Wii, PS3, PSP Homebrew, and PSP Guides

**twelve** · 09-08-2006, 02:18 AM

I'm upgrading my pc this month and just want to get some advice on what to get. But first off what I've already got:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP2600+
Motherboard: PCchips M848-ALU
Graphics Card: ATi Radeon 9250 (256MB RAM Version)
Memory: 1GB PC3200 DDR400
HDD1: Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM
HDD2: Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM
Optical1: LG DVD Multi Burner
Optical2: LG DVD Multi Burner
PSU: 400W
Case: Jeantech something
Cooling: ThermalTake Big Water Liquid Cooling kit

Ok so there it is. I'm aiming to replace the CPU, Motherboard, Graphics card and possibly the memory, depending on what the motherboard/CPU needs.

What I'm aiming for is 64bit CPU and PCI-Express graphics.

I'm leaning towards staying with an AMD Processor, because although the Intel Core 2 Duo's are incredible they are way out of my price range, whereas the 64 X2's are a little more affordable.

I'm looking to get as much power as I can for around (hopefully under) £300. I'm quite happy to overclock to get more power as the liquid cooling will keep temperature down.

I need to know some motherboards that are overclocking friendly, I've seen a few that are supposedly good for overclocking but they lacked the vital option to up the CPU voltage to avoid stability issues. So basically I need motherboards that cover all the tweaking options and also a processor to stick in it.

And before people tell me to use Google read the quick justice policy in my sig.

**PopeOfDope** · 09-08-2006, 03:17 AM

Is that £300 for everything?

Core2Duo prices are up in the air at the moment, with the initial shortages and lack of motherboard options availible, you can either wait it out or decide to get something right now.
AMD dual cores are great too, consider Opterons if you are interested in overclocking. I don't know much about them though so you might have to read up.

You have DDR RAM right now, which means if you want to go with socket AM2, then you will need to buy new RAM. You can go with socket 939 and keep the RAM, but socket 939 is dead now and you will probably have to replace the motherboard + CPU + RAM the next time. Either way I recommend the AMD X2 3800+ or if you are willing to spend a bit more then choose the AMD X2 4800+ due to the increased L2 cache, which really helps. Of course that leaves less for your graphics card.

Motherboards:
For AM2 get the ASUS M2N32-SLI (reviewed here http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...hlbnRodXNpYXN0 )
For 939 get the ASUS A8N32-SLI (Reviewed here http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...udGh1c2lhc3Q=). )

For the graphics card, a good card is the newly released 7900 GS. Some benchmarks can be found here http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=1
I'm not too good with the ATI side of things, I'm sure brain_stew might step in and recommend something :P

**twelve** · 09-08-2006, 03:25 AM

Im not bothered about staying with the ATi graphics cards. geforce or ATi are both ok with me. I kinda knew I'd have to go for DDR2 RAM. I can spend a lot more than £300 but I really don't wanna go too crazy because im buying a new car too.

I just want something reasonably powerful. I mean its fine at the moment, it will run oblivion (just). But Its starting to get so outdated now. It was never meant to last as long as it has. I had intended to get it up and running and update every 6 months. but its been 2 years now so I need to change so much.

The AMD X2's are what I was looking at. AM2 is the same as Socket 940, right?

Because initially I was looking at the socket 939 but realised (as you say) its a dying technology.

Also I'm not all that fussed about games because I tend to stick to consoles but I would like to be able to run games like RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 at max graphics (something which I'm ashamed to admit it wont at the moment).

**PopeOfDope** · 09-08-2006, 03:42 AM

Not sure about your socket question, I just thought it was called socket AM2.

If you need RAM, check out Corsair Value select. That range is very awesome. If you need slightly lower latencies for overclocking try the Corsair XMS range.

The graphics card will be able to run Oblivion decently as long as you don't play it at crazy resolutions.
Oblivion specific benchmarks are here:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=7
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

Hope this helps

**Tommi** · 09-08-2006, 06:06 AM

to quote wikipedia:

The Socket AM2, renamed from Socket M2 (to prevent using the same name as Cyrix MII processors), is a CPU socket designed by AMD for desktop processors, including the performance, mainstream and value segments. It was released on May 23, 2006, as a replacement for Socket 939 & Socket 754. Although it has 940 pins, it is incompatible with Socket 940, as the older Socket 940 does not support dual channel DDR2 RAM. DDR2 runs at higher clock frequencies while drawing less power than DDR memory, which the previous Socket 939 supported. AnandTech reported that Socket AM2 system performance was 0-7% faster than Socket 939 equivalents with most applications about 2% faster [1][2], despite having over 30% greater memory bandwidth due to DDR2 support. While future samples and the final product may prove to be faster, significant gains are not expected until later revisions take advantage of the surplus bandwidth.

**brain_stew** · 09-08-2006, 11:41 AM

I'd say something like a X2 3800+ coupled with a AM2 motherboard (someone else will have to give specific recommendations here) 7600GT and 2GB of DDR2 would offer you great "bang for buck" and should come in close to your budget.

What sort of PSU is it? If its just a cheapo 400w one then to save investing in a new PSU, sticking with something like a 7600GT would be wise as its very power efficient and you "should" be able to get away with it. If it is a cheap PSU then investing in a quality one is a sound investment and would allow you to be much more flexible on the GPU front but its going to squeeze your budget. If your PSU is a decent brand then just forget all this as an efficient 400w PSU should be plenty to run most single GPU setup.

**twelve** · 09-08-2006, 11:46 AM

Its a cheap PSU that came with the case. I've had it for nearly 2 years now and my pc is on a hell of a lot. So a new 500W PSU could be a worthwhile purchase.

I've been googling a lot today. And that CPU is the exact one I'm planning to get, now I just need to find a mobo that has the potential to clock it higher and a gfx card. I've heard that (some) 6600GS's can be reflashed to get the performance of a 6600GT so I'll google that a bit more.

I'm not looking for SLi or Crossfire gfx as I no way need anything on that level.

**brain_stew** · 09-08-2006, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twelve

Its a cheap PSU that came with the case. I've had it for nearly 2 years now and my pc is on a hell of a lot. So a new 500W PSU could be a worthwhile purchase.

I've been googling a lot today. And that CPU is the exact one I'm planning to get, now I just need to find a mobo that has the potential to clock it higher and a gfx card. I've heard that (some) 6600GS's can be reflashed to get the performance of a 6600GT so I'll google that a bit more.

I'm not looking for SLi or Crossfire gfx as I no way need anything on that level.

I don't really think a 6600GT is going to give you the performance you crave and reflashing a card is never guaranteed. Supply of 6 series cards is starting to dry up anyway and considering you can get a 7600GT for less than £90 its really a sound investment. Performance will be roughly doubled.

**twelve** · 09-08-2006, 11:57 AM

Oh cool I didnt realise they had got so cheap.

**PopeOfDope** · 09-08-2006, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brain_stew

you can get a 7600GT for less than £90

eBay? The £90 7600GTs I can see are the usual no name ones with shoddy warranties.
If you are getting an nVidia card, stick to eVGA, XFX and MSI. The warranties are awesome and I have never had any of their products fail on me.

If you are concerned about power consumption, the 7900GS I recommended consumes 5W more than the 7600GT when idle. The 7900GS however is more silent.

Read this article again and look specifically at the difference between the 7900GS and the 7600GT http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=1

On average, the 7900GS is £10 more expensive. If you think £10 is worth the extra FPS then go for it.

**twelve** · 09-08-2006, 04:53 PM

Noise is a major concern for me, hence why I liquid cooled a lowly Athlon XP2600. i forgot to mention that. I suppose I could always get a better pump and a GPU water block tho.

**brain_stew** · 09-08-2006, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PopeOfDope

eBay? The £90 7600GTs I can see are the usual no name ones with shoddy warranties.
If you are getting an nVidia card, stick to eVGA, XFX and MSI. The warranties are awesome and I have never had any of their products fail on me.

If you are concerned about power consumption, the 7900GS I recommended consumes 5W more than the 7600GT when idle. The 7900GS however is more silent.

Read this article again and look specifically at the difference between the 7900GS and the 7600GT http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=1

On average, the 7900GS is £10 more expensive. If you think £10 is worth the extra FPS then go for it.

Its a BFG card which is a big firm and the card comes with a 2 year warranty so that's not an issue as its going to be worth nothing after 2 years anyway. All 7600GTs are essentially the same cards anyway, you're just as likely to get a faulty card from another manufacturer.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...aGX_2d025_2dBG

The lowest prices I can see for the 7900gs is £125, which is probably worth the outlay but it is a much bigger leap than the stated £10.

**PopeOfDope** · 09-08-2006, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brain_stew

Its a BFG card which is a big firm and the card comes with a 2 year warranty so that's not an issue as its going to be worth nothing after 2 years anyway. All 7600GTs are essentially the same cards anyway, you're just as likely to get a faulty card from another manufacturer.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...aGX_2d025_2dBG

The lowest prices I can see for the 7900gs is £125, which is probably worth the outlay but it is a much bigger leap than the stated £10.

Ah OK. BFG prices look much cheaper than everyone else, I always thought something might be suspicious but I guess it can't be that bad.
I was comparing these 2 for the £10 quote.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=385521
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=465741

I haven't dealt with Overclockers since a few people have told me they have a poor customer service and if anything needs to be returned then it's gonna be hell.

**twelve** · 09-09-2006, 08:03 AM

Ok this is what I'm aiming for:

AMD 3800 X2 skt AM2: £95.16
MSI K9N Platinum: £71.91
1GB DDR2 800: £82.48

Just looking for a graphics card now. Oh and the RAM will be upgraded to 2GB at a later date. Total of that approx £250. I'm looking to spend around £100 on the card, maybe slightly more. PSU can wait, if the one I have works I'll run it into the ground and the upgrade it.

**brain_stew** · 09-09-2006, 10:22 AM

If you plan on upgrading to 2 gig later on then I'd recommend just going with a single 1GB stick, dual channel only gives a <5% performance boost and doing it this way saves you throwing away two good sticks later on. You'll definitely be doing this upgrade sooner rather than later as well as an increasing amount of games are demanding 2GB to function well.

If you want to keep the GPU under £100 then the 7600GT is easily the best buy for you. If you can stretch to ~£130ish then the 7900GS is an excellent buy.

I can personally vouch for Micro Direct as well, as I ordered a TV from them and had no trouble.

**twelve** · 09-09-2006, 10:41 AM

I've used MicroDirect in the past thats why I looked there. I also had a search around ebuyer and komplett. There both good but MD are excellent.

I think I'm gonna go for a 7600GT.

I might wait until next month and then get one of those new modular PSU's, there expensive but they keep the case tidy with a lot less cables. And less cables = less obstruction to airflow. Which with the liquid cooling I am lacking a little. I got a 120mm fan at the front sucking in and a 120mm fan on the radiator at the back sucking out. The dated components dont exactly push heat up much. The gfx card is natively cooled, without any fan, just a heatsink and thats fine without a million fans sucking in.

This PC is gonna pwn compared to my old one.

**brain_stew** · 09-09-2006, 02:01 PM

You can actually buy 7600GTs that are passively cooled and as you seem to want to keep your PC quiet this may interest you although finding one, and at a reasonable price, may be a bit more difficult.

**PopeOfDope** · 09-09-2006, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brain_stew

You can actually buy 7600GTs that are passively cooled and as you seem to want to keep your PC quiet this may interest you although finding one, and at a reasonable price, may be a bit more difficult.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=412319

It is more expensive than the £90 version that brain_stew suggested earlier (this is £117) but I used to have this and it worked perfectly. I managed to overclock it too (about 5%)
Also Scan is great too if you want to order from them, I had no problems with the 10 or so order I've placed with them.

**twelve** · 09-09-2006, 04:11 PM

We have a winner on the gfx card front then. I'll order it all up next saturday because I'm going away on tuesday for 4 days and would like to be in when they arrive.

**twelve** · 09-25-2006, 01:14 AM

Ok this is what I am now getting, its changed slightly.

HIS X800GTO
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400
ASRock motherboard

I don't know the motherboard model. I'm getting it off my gf's step dad who is a hardware genious. The gfx card is 256MB but only running 12 pipelines, however it can be flashed to open up all 16 hence I will be getting a huge amount of bang for buck. And the CPU is more expensive but it has 1MB L2 cache per core whereas the rest of the Athlon 64 X2 range is only 512KB L2 cache.

Both gfx card and cpu are costing more than I intended but the motherboard will be cheap because it is a spare that didn't get used when he was making a PC for a friend. The mobo and CPU are skt 939 not AM2 because I can keep costs down by not needing to buy RAM immediately.

So end result will be:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400
Motherboard: ASRock
Graphics Card: HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB
Memory: 1GB PC3200 DDR400
HDD1: Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM
HDD2: Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM
Optical1: LG DVD Multi Burner
Optical2: LG DVD Multi Burner
PSU: 500W
Case: Jeantech something
Cooling: ThermalTake Big Water Liquid Cooling kit

**cyanide** · 09-25-2006, 03:57 AM

Yup, the GTOs can be flashed to turn on all the pipelines.. If you're gonna use linux though, stick to an nvidia.

**twelve** · 09-25-2006, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyanide

Yup, the GTOs can be flashed to turn on all the pipelines.. If you're gonna use linux though, stick to an nvidia.

Really? Driver support not so good or something?

My current Radeon 9250 has no problems with ubuntu.

**cyanide** · 09-25-2006, 02:43 PM

Driver support = ****! Do not use an ATi on Linux.
-= Double Post =-
If you're using the default drivers, then it's fine..

The 3d accelerated drivers from ATi suck major balls

**twelve** · 09-25-2006, 04:52 PM

Can't say fairer than that then. lol

**twelve** · 10-23-2006, 07:25 AM

It's done. thought I'd post some pics of the finish product:

And the obligatory but pointless glowiness:

09-08-2006, 02:18 AM	#1
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Upgrading my PC, need advice I'm upgrading my pc this month and just want to get some advice on what to get. But first off what I've already got: CPU: AMD Athlon XP2600+ Motherboard: PCchips M848-ALU Graphics Card: ATi Radeon 9250 (256MB RAM Version) Memory: 1GB PC3200 DDR400 HDD1: Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM HDD2: Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM Optical1: LG DVD Multi Burner Optical2: LG DVD Multi Burner PSU: 400W Case: Jeantech something Cooling: ThermalTake Big Water Liquid Cooling kit Ok so there it is. I'm aiming to replace the CPU, Motherboard, Graphics card and possibly the memory, depending on what the motherboard/CPU needs. What I'm aiming for is 64bit CPU and PCI-Express graphics. I'm leaning towards staying with an AMD Processor, because although the Intel Core 2 Duo's are incredible they are way out of my price range, whereas the 64 X2's are a little more affordable. I'm looking to get as much power as I can for around (hopefully under) £300. I'm quite happy to overclock to get more power as the liquid cooling will keep temperature down. I need to know some motherboards that are overclocking friendly, I've seen a few that are supposedly good for overclocking but they lacked the vital option to up the CPU voltage to avoid stability issues. So basically I need motherboards that cover all the tweaking options and also a processor to stick in it. And before people tell me to use Google read the quick justice policy in my sig.

09-08-2006, 11:41 AM	#6
brain_stew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Newcastle, England Posts: 3,145 Trader Feedback: 0	I'd say something like a X2 3800+ coupled with a AM2 motherboard (someone else will have to give specific recommendations here) 7600GT and 2GB of DDR2 would offer you great "bang for buck" and should come in close to your budget. What sort of PSU is it? If its just a cheapo 400w one then to save investing in a new PSU, sticking with something like a 7600GT would be wise as its very power efficient and you "should" be able to get away with it. If it is a cheap PSU then investing in a quality one is a sound investment and would allow you to be much more flexible on the GPU front but its going to squeeze your budget. If your PSU is a decent brand then just forget all this as an efficient 400w PSU should be plenty to run most single GPU setup. __________________ [B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=16878]Ultimate Newbie Guide[/URL] [/B] [b] Read about:[/b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=9708"][color=Purple][b]Operation: PSPositive Posting[/b][/url] [b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2047"]Posting Guidelines[/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2189"][color=Red]Ultimate Guide[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=4394"][color=Green]Piracy Policy[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=18175"][Downgrader Topic][/url][/color][/b] [URL=www.maximopark.com]MON THE PARK![/URL] [URL=www.thefutureheads.com]Le Heads rule[/URL] [B][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Red"] [/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

09-09-2006, 08:03 AM	#14
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Ok this is what I'm aiming for: AMD 3800 X2 skt AM2: £95.16 MSI K9N Platinum: £71.91 1GB DDR2 800: £82.48 Just looking for a graphics card now. Oh and the RAM will be upgraded to 2GB at a later date. Total of that approx £250. I'm looking to spend around £100 on the card, maybe slightly more. PSU can wait, if the one I have works I'll run it into the ground and the upgrade it. Last edited by Phil; 09-09-2006 at 09:59 AM..

09-09-2006, 10:22 AM	#15
brain_stew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Newcastle, England Posts: 3,145 Trader Feedback: 0	If you plan on upgrading to 2 gig later on then I'd recommend just going with a single 1GB stick, dual channel only gives a <5% performance boost and doing it this way saves you throwing away two good sticks later on. You'll definitely be doing this upgrade sooner rather than later as well as an increasing amount of games are demanding 2GB to function well. If you want to keep the GPU under £100 then the 7600GT is easily the best buy for you. If you can stretch to ~£130ish then the 7900GS is an excellent buy. I can personally vouch for Micro Direct as well, as I ordered a TV from them and had no trouble. __________________ [B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=16878]Ultimate Newbie Guide[/URL] [/B] [b] Read about:[/b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=9708"][color=Purple][b]Operation: PSPositive Posting[/b][/url] [b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2047"]Posting Guidelines[/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2189"][color=Red]Ultimate Guide[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=4394"][color=Green]Piracy Policy[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=18175"][Downgrader Topic][/url][/color][/b] [URL=www.maximopark.com]MON THE PARK![/URL] [URL=www.thefutureheads.com]Le Heads rule[/URL] [B][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Red"] [/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

09-09-2006, 02:01 PM	#17
brain_stew Join Date: May 2005 Location: Newcastle, England Posts: 3,145 Trader Feedback: 0	You can actually buy 7600GTs that are passively cooled and as you seem to want to keep your PC quiet this may interest you although finding one, and at a reasonable price, may be a bit more difficult. __________________ [B][URL=http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=16878]Ultimate Newbie Guide[/URL] [/B] [b] Read about:[/b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=9708"][color=Purple][b]Operation: PSPositive Posting[/b][/url] [b] [url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2047"]Posting Guidelines[/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=2189"][color=Red]Ultimate Guide[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?t=4394"][color=Green]Piracy Policy[/color][/url][/b] [b][url="http://forums.qj.net/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=18175"][Downgrader Topic][/url][/color][/b] [URL=www.maximopark.com]MON THE PARK![/URL] [URL=www.thefutureheads.com]Le Heads rule[/URL] [B][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Red"] [/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

09-08-2006, 03:17 AM	#2
PopeOfDope DopaMean Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London UK Posts: 3,739 Trader Feedback: 0	Is that £300 for everything? Core2Duo prices are up in the air at the moment, with the initial shortages and lack of motherboard options availible, you can either wait it out or decide to get something right now. AMD dual cores are great too, consider Opterons if you are interested in overclocking. I don't know much about them though so you might have to read up. You have DDR RAM right now, which means if you want to go with socket AM2, then you will need to buy new RAM. You can go with socket 939 and keep the RAM, but socket 939 is dead now and you will probably have to replace the motherboard + CPU + RAM the next time. Either way I recommend the AMD X2 3800+ or if you are willing to spend a bit more then choose the AMD X2 4800+ due to the increased L2 cache, which really helps. Of course that leaves less for your graphics card. Motherboards: For AM2 get the ASUS M2N32-SLI (reviewed here http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...hlbnRodXNpYXN0 ) For 939 get the ASUS A8N32-SLI (Reviewed here http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...udGh1c2lhc3Q=). ) For the graphics card, a good card is the newly released 7900 GS. Some benchmarks can be found here http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=1 I'm not too good with the ATI side of things, I'm sure brain_stew might step in and recommend something :P

09-08-2006, 03:25 AM	#3
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Im not bothered about staying with the ATi graphics cards. geforce or ATi are both ok with me. I kinda knew I'd have to go for DDR2 RAM. I can spend a lot more than £300 but I really don't wanna go too crazy because im buying a new car too. I just want something reasonably powerful. I mean its fine at the moment, it will run oblivion (just). But Its starting to get so outdated now. It was never meant to last as long as it has. I had intended to get it up and running and update every 6 months. but its been 2 years now so I need to change so much. The AMD X2's are what I was looking at. AM2 is the same as Socket 940, right? Because initially I was looking at the socket 939 but realised (as you say) its a dying technology. Also I'm not all that fussed about games because I tend to stick to consoles but I would like to be able to run games like RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 at max graphics (something which I'm ashamed to admit it wont at the moment).

09-08-2006, 03:42 AM	#4
PopeOfDope DopaMean Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London UK Posts: 3,739 Trader Feedback: 0	Not sure about your socket question, I just thought it was called socket AM2. If you need RAM, check out Corsair Value select. That range is very awesome. If you need slightly lower latencies for overclocking try the Corsair XMS range. The graphics card will be able to run Oblivion decently as long as you don't play it at crazy resolutions. Oblivion specific benchmarks are here: http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3...s/index.x?pg=7 http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA== Hope this helps

09-08-2006, 06:06 AM	#5
Tommi Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Broxburn, Scotland Posts: 967 Trader Feedback: 0	to quote wikipedia: The Socket AM2, renamed from Socket M2 (to prevent using the same name as Cyrix MII processors), is a CPU socket designed by AMD for desktop processors, including the performance, mainstream and value segments. It was released on May 23, 2006, as a replacement for Socket 939 & Socket 754. Although it has 940 pins, it is incompatible with Socket 940, as the older Socket 940 does not support dual channel DDR2 RAM. DDR2 runs at higher clock frequencies while drawing less power than DDR memory, which the previous Socket 939 supported. AnandTech reported that Socket AM2 system performance was 0-7% faster than Socket 939 equivalents with most applications about 2% faster [1][2], despite having over 30% greater memory bandwidth due to DDR2 support. While future samples and the final product may prove to be faster, significant gains are not expected until later revisions take advantage of the surplus bandwidth.

09-08-2006, 11:46 AM	#7
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Its a cheap PSU that came with the case. I've had it for nearly 2 years now and my pc is on a hell of a lot. So a new 500W PSU could be a worthwhile purchase. I've been googling a lot today. And that CPU is the exact one I'm planning to get, now I just need to find a mobo that has the potential to clock it higher and a gfx card. I've heard that (some) 6600GS's can be reflashed to get the performance of a 6600GT so I'll google that a bit more. I'm not looking for SLi or Crossfire gfx as I no way need anything on that level.

09-08-2006, 11:57 AM	#9
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Oh cool I didnt realise they had got so cheap.

09-08-2006, 04:53 PM	#11
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Noise is a major concern for me, hence why I liquid cooled a lowly Athlon XP2600. i forgot to mention that. I suppose I could always get a better pump and a GPU water block tho.

09-09-2006, 10:41 AM	#16
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	I've used MicroDirect in the past thats why I looked there. I also had a search around ebuyer and komplett. There both good but MD are excellent. I think I'm gonna go for a 7600GT. I might wait until next month and then get one of those new modular PSU's, there expensive but they keep the case tidy with a lot less cables. And less cables = less obstruction to airflow. Which with the liquid cooling I am lacking a little. I got a 120mm fan at the front sucking in and a 120mm fan on the radiator at the back sucking out. The dated components dont exactly push heat up much. The gfx card is natively cooled, without any fan, just a heatsink and thats fine without a million fans sucking in. This PC is gonna pwn compared to my old one.

09-09-2006, 04:11 PM	#19
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	We have a winner on the gfx card front then. I'll order it all up next saturday because I'm going away on tuesday for 4 days and would like to be in when they arrive.

09-25-2006, 01:14 AM	#20
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Ok this is what I am now getting, its changed slightly. HIS X800GTO AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 ASRock motherboard I don't know the motherboard model. I'm getting it off my gf's step dad who is a hardware genious. The gfx card is 256MB but only running 12 pipelines, however it can be flashed to open up all 16 hence I will be getting a huge amount of bang for buck. And the CPU is more expensive but it has 1MB L2 cache per core whereas the rest of the Athlon 64 X2 range is only 512KB L2 cache. Both gfx card and cpu are costing more than I intended but the motherboard will be cheap because it is a spare that didn't get used when he was making a PC for a friend. The mobo and CPU are skt 939 not AM2 because I can keep costs down by not needing to buy RAM immediately. So end result will be: CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 Motherboard: ASRock Graphics Card: HIS X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB Memory: 1GB PC3200 DDR400 HDD1: Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM HDD2: Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM Optical1: LG DVD Multi Burner Optical2: LG DVD Multi Burner PSU: 500W Case: Jeantech something Cooling: ThermalTake Big Water Liquid Cooling kit

09-25-2006, 03:57 AM	#21
cyanide Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: meh Posts: 2,799 Trader Feedback: 0	Yup, the GTOs can be flashed to turn on all the pipelines.. If you're gonna use linux though, stick to an nvidia.

09-25-2006, 02:43 PM	#23
cyanide Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: meh Posts: 2,799 Trader Feedback: 0	Driver support = ***! Do not use an ATi on Linux. -= Double Post =- If you're using the default drivers, then it's fine.. The 3d accelerated drivers from ATi suck major balls Last edited by cyanide; 09-25-2006 at 02:43 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost*

09-25-2006, 04:52 PM	#24
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	Can't say fairer than that then. lol

10-23-2006, 07:25 AM	#25
twelve Muffin Love n Lemon Join Date: Jul 2005 Real First Name: Phil Location: Surrey, UK Just Played: Why is this mandatory? Posts: 11,734 Trader Feedback: 0	It's done. thought I'd post some pics of the finish product: And the obligatory but pointless glowiness:

QJ.net Game Discussion - PSP, Xbox, Wii, PS3, PSP Homebrew, and PSP Guides

Upgrading my PC, need advice