Upgrading

[new_rez]

Hi guys,
I didnt know where to post this...sorry.
Anyway, i have just recently decided that i want to upgrade my GC. Currently i have a Radeon 9600 pro 128mb which is starting to get like a worn out old donkey. I found out that its stock clocks should be 400/300? but its currently running at 398/201 and if i do try to oc it it just dies :(

Seeing as I am still on AGP and running a 478pin Intel I was going to go for the option of buying a Gainward 7800GS+ because upgrading to PCIe seemed to be to pricey. After looking around a bit I found people saying its not to much and you can upgrade for a reasonable price. So I looked about and found that I could get a fairly decent system for less than £300 pounds. This is what I may get-

Mobo-ASRock Socket 775 Intel 915PL PCI-E
Processor-Intel Pentium 4 630 Socket 775 2MB 800FSB (3ghz)
GC- Radeon X1800 XT 256mb

It took me a while to find those parts, im not sure about compatability but hopefully if im wrong someone will point me out. I definintaly know my Ram will run with it (DDR-SDram pc2700) :) Also if anyone can find a better set up for under £300 feel free to tell me ;)

Now my question is that if those part are compatable would i be better off getting them or sticking with my current set up and just getting the Gainward 7800GS+ ?
Will these part help me run current and next gen games fairly well?

Thanks a lot
Harry

[Canuto]

You'd better get a mobo with !945p compatible with ddr i don't any right now but search around an maybe you can find one and then you could put in a Pentium D 805 and a X1900GT.

[new_rez]

Is that within £300 pound though? Im a poor bastard student with no job.

[Canuto]

Yes the pentium D is 150£ and the X1900GT is cheaper than the X1800XT but you really need that mobo with !945p and DDR.

[new_rez]

Ok, i shall go see what i can find, thanks a lot :D

Something that is confusing me - Can you put DDR SDRAM PC 2700 In a mobo that supports DDRII RAM ?!

[Canuto]

You're welcome.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

[infrared]

Ok, i shall go see what i can find, thanks a lot :D

Something that is confusing me - Can you put DDR SDRAM PC 2700 In a mobo that supports DDRII RAM ?!

nope, ddr uses a different slot to ddr2, and the timings are vastly different anyway.

[Canuto]

No what i meant is for you to get a mobo with old DDR slots with !945p.

[new_rez]

Thanks mate :D

I found that the mobo will support my RAM but are the mobo and the processor compatable? The mobo is compatable with the 915PL chipset and I searched for what chipset the Processor is. All i could find was-
Chipset 800 MHz system bus :
Intel® 925XE Express**, 925X Express, 915G Express, 915GV Express, 915GL Express, 915P Express, and 915PL Express Chipsets

Im probably completely wrong but doesn't that mean its compatable?

[Canuto]

The mobo will support your ram alright but won't support dual core so that's why you need a !945p mobo compatible with your ram.

[new_rez]

I think ill just go for the Gainward 7800 Gs+. I cant find any mobos that support DDR and the !945P chipset :(

[zekrahminator]

That makes things simpler lol...or you could go with an AMD system. Get an A64 3200+, an ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, and whatever graphics card fits the bill. Your current memory will (suck, but still) be compatible, so no worries there, and all s939 chipsets are compatible with a dual core or "FX" processor. If you wait until the end of July, you can get an A64 3800+X2 for $170 USD (I don't know the conversion to Euros, sorry.). In USD, the processor and motherboard would cost $170ish, leaving room for a $130 GPU, like an X1600XT. Of course, European money is more valuable then American money, so you can afford a slightly better gpu :D.

[new_rez]

that sounds like a good idea. When i was getting my Pc built i told the bloke to put PC3200 in but the bastard didnt!

[rpg711]

this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150131) is the 7800gs u will want to get but how cant u find a mobo with that chip set? also, just get a ati chipset if ur going to get a ati card... but i suggest u upgrade ur memory and get the ECS C-19 motherboardhere (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135225) and the x1800gto here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161012), unlock the gto to 16 pipes, and overclock like mad with the new iceq3 coolers... this is memory that is good (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141199) omg that memory is too good of a deal... im buying that so i can have 2 512 in dual and 2 1gb in dual!!! i reccomend u get all those stuff... it is around 300 euros and is worth every cent

[new_rez]

Thanks a lot mate, that is very useful. Ill have a look and see how much that costs in Great british pounds. I was going to get the Gainward 7800GS+ 512mb on AGP :)
I may give upgrading to PCIe a miss as it could be over my budget of £300 ($552)

is the 7800gs u will want to get but how cant u find a mobo with that chip set?

I was saying I couldnt find a mobo with the !945P chipset that would support DDR ram :)

[rpg711]

so thats why i was telling u to upgrade to ddr2 ram anyways... if all of those things total under 300 euro then ur good to go

[new_rez]

Ill have a look into it. Im not digging that GC though :/ and £300 converts into about 433 euros :D

[rpg711]

oh, i live in the us so i have no clue about that stuff then if ur talking about pounds then its enough... oh u said it was 522$ so its definately enough

[zekrahminator]

For $552 you can certainly have a PCIe x16 computer. A $100 AMD Athlon 64 3200+, a $70 ASRock 939Dual-SATA2, and a $300 X1800XT gives you what you need, and the rest of your budget should go toward at least 1 stick of low latency DDR400 memory. And thanks for that conversion to Euros :D.

[rpg711]

ehhh? no i dont think the asrock mobo is a choice at all... they suck because asrock doesnt overclock well

[zekrahminator]

Does this guy look like he's going to overclock with a kit of PC2700? We're looking at stuff that will bring rock hard gaming stability, not "wheee watch me overclock my power supply!". For stability, what I'm reccomending works fine.

[rpg711]

well the his 1800gto is better than the 1800gt because it has iceq3 cooler and overclocks mem to core to mabee 640 and mem to 700 without volt mod and can be unlocked he is considering getting new memory

[zekrahminator]

But those parts aren't affected by the motherboards ability to overclock :p.

[new_rez]

Tbh im only going to overclock the card and if i do it will only be a tiny bit, i dont have the cash to replace stuff when it goes wrong :/

What you are suggesting zekrahminator seems pretty reasonable to me. Do you know what kind of details current and next gen games would be able to run on?

[rpg711]

the 1800gt costs more than the 1800gto and the 1800gto is better than the gt, i would go for the HIS 1800gto ICEQ3 i suggested in my previous post with the stuff that zek sugessted

[new_rez]

I looked up all that. After the mobo and cpu i have enough to buy the GTO. I was looking at the XT also (Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB ) is it better or worse than the HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1800 GTO ICEQ3 SILENT TURBO 256MB?

[rpg711]

worse by alot, the iceq3 cooler is everything, u can overclock it to 650/700 normally and if u get a lucky card... 700/750 with a volt mod is possible... temps might hit 80 but thats fine because most people say they wont upgrade untill 2 years but for me, when i have to turn settings to medium-low, i upgrade... right now im on all highest settings with all aa and af... 1280*1024 res and i get 40-70 fps... with a x800gto and the r480, the king of overclocking cores, i think. really depends on if ur card can unlock and overclock at all

[zekrahminator]

What you said is true, but the X1800XT (assuming it comes with the 2 slot monster cooler.) comes pre-unlocked :p.

[new_rez]

The 2 im looking at are here - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1800_Series.html
X1800XT at the top, X1800 GTO right under it.

[rpg711]

no it doesnt come witht he monster cooler, HIS makes the best monster coolers ever and with the new iceq3, the overclocking will go over the moon, conect3d is cheap like that and doesnt give u good coolers... can u overclock a xt to 650/700? no... so the gto is the way to go ok, dude, the best company with the best air cooler is HIS... u cant get any better than that other than liquid and other non air stuff

[new_rez]

Ok then, what do you think about this -

ASRock S939 Athlon ULi m1695 ATX A L
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Socket 939 512KB Inc Fan
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1800 GTO ICEQ3 SILENT TURBO 256MB
Crucial 1GB 184pin DIMM PC3200 DDRRAM NP Unbuffered CL3.0

Comes to £313 ($575)

[rpg711]

o ya... nice except if u get a amd a64 3000+ for less, its better because they overclock way better, some 3200s only get to 2.6 while most 3000s get to over 2.9 ghz so 3000 venice core is the way to go... only 90$ :eek:

[zekrahminator]

I would trade that one gigabyte stick for 2x512MB of something with a CAS of 2.5 or less. If I were you, I'd buy two of these (http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/92091). The X1800GTO will serve you well. Have fun with your new system! Oh yeah and never forget the spacers ;).

[rpg711]

they will never forget zek... if one person did i would shoot my self lol jk

[new_rez]

Thanks for your help guys, its very much appreciated :D

[rpg711]

np