Upgrading my PC, need some help though..

[Luciphear]

Okay, I am going to upgrade my PC alittle(Alot..), and I need some help n_n;
So heres what im planning to upgrade:

1. my AGP Motherboard to a PCIe DDR2 Motherboard..
-What motherboard is good and not to expansive?

2. my graphic card to a X1800/X1900 512 MB.. (Not Crossfire)
-How much WATT does these cards require?
-What is the diffirence between..for example Sapphire's x1800 and Excalibur's x1800? :wtf:
-I probably need a fan for this one too, which one? (Not to expansive..but still good)

3. my RAM, well...I already know where to buy this one (A 2GB card) n_n;

4. PSU? (I got a 350W at the moment)
-If I need a new one(Depends on the WATT requirement for X1800/X1900?), which one is good and not too expansive?

Thank you~

[HookeyStreet]

What CPU do you intend on using with this new motherboard and are you in the UK or US?

[bruins004]

I agree with HookeyStreet.
You also have to indicate what processor you currently have and the socket. If you are looking not to upgrade your PSU for a while I suggest getting one that is a little more than you will require (ex: like a 520W), but you could prob. get away with a good 450W. Please list your specs so we may be of more assistance

[Luciphear]

1. Err, I intend to use my original CPU with my new motherboard?(Intel Pentium 4 540 Prescott 3.2GHz Hyperthreading 1Mb 800MHz
Boxed Socket775) <_<
2. I live in Sweden :p

[bruins004]

I hear the x1900xt's take a lot of power. A 520W is alright, but a 600W will def. give you no problem. I would suggest either of the ones below (in no order):

1. OCZ PowerStream (520W or 600W)
2. OCZ ModStream (520W)
3. Antec TruePower 520W
4. Ultra 600W

I personally prefer both of these brands. Never had a problem with them. However another company to look at would be Ultra. They have very good products and have gotten very good reviews as of late.

[HookeyStreet]

What about this m8:

PSU: Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0
MoBo: Asus P5ND2 SLi
GFX Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI
RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-6400 TwinX

That would be :pimp:

[Luciphear]

Ahh, thanks :D
Sli? I thought that was some other kind of "Crossfire" version o_o? Guess im wrong O_o ..

[Cybie1111]

I hear the x1900xt's take a lot of power. A 520W is alright, but a 600W will def. give you no problem. I would suggest either of the ones below (in no order):

1. OCZ PowerStream (520W or 600W)
2. OCZ ModStream (520W)
3. Antec TruePower 520W
4. Ultra 600W

I personally prefer both of these brands. Never had a problem with them. However another company to look at would be Ultra. They have very good products and have gotten very good reviews as of late.

Also have a look at this: http://www.home2000.net/client/fspgroupusacom/proddetail.asp?linenumber=222 I dont know how good it is but from the specs shown it seems to be great for the money ($139 US at newegg). Its the FSP Source 600 watt quad 12 volt rail power supply.


3. my RAM, well...I already know where to buy this one (A 2GB card) n_n;


If you want better performance, get a 2 GB dual channel kit unless you are planning to get another 2 gig stick soon if you already bought the 2 gig stick.

[giorgos th.]

Ahh, thanks :D
Sli? I thought that was some other kind of "Crossfire" version o_o? Guess im wrong O_o ..
SLI --> Nvidia
Crossfire --> Ati.
same thing,different name..

[Luciphear]

SLI --> Nvidia
Crossfire --> Ati.
same thing,different name..

Huh?
Why should I get a SLI motherboard if I am going to use ATi?
And why should I get it if I wont use 2 cards at the same time anyway? o_O

Or it doesnt really matter?

[bruins004]

I agree. There is no point in getting SLI esp. if u arent going to use it. You could get the non-SLI version of the same board.

[giorgos th.]

i mean that the pattern except from 2-3 differencies is pretty much the same.you can`t use crossfire on a Sli mobo.Crossfire mobos are f.e. DFI LanParty UT RDX200 CF-DR,Asus A8R-MVP.
you can buy one if you want to use them in the future.you can find cheap ones.

[yogurt_21]

as for power issues the x1900xtx uses around 320 watts full load draw from the +12v rail thus you need a psu with enough power on the +12v rail to handle both the gpu and the cpu so 430 watts becomes the minimum. (ie my psu the enermax liberty 620 or the ocz modular 600w) nothing less unless you want to have an unstable system. oh yeah and no more than dual +12v as the gpu need enough amperage draw from on single rail meaning you need aroud 22amps peak, for it on that rail.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104126

http://www.frozencpu.com/psu-116.html

the athena power is about as cheap as you can get 850 watts of power though admittedly a little bit of overkill but hey while you're looking lol.
if you're an overclocker the ocz is probably your best bet.

[HookeyStreet]

Huh?
Why should I get a SLI motherboard if I am going to use ATi?
And why should I get it if I wont use 2 cards at the same time anyway? o_O

Or it doesnt really matter?

You shouldnt, you should get a CrossFire board for future upgrades if you want to go ATi but you said you didnt want CrossFire :confused: thats why I recommended a random decent motherboard thats socket 775 and it just happens to be SLi :)

[Luciphear]

Okay,im confused now...are you saying that:

*Some motherboard..probably not crossfire*,
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/DualDVI and a
A-DATA 2x1024Mb Dual DDR2 PC4200 240pin 533Mhz

requires a 850W PSU? ... O_O; I think a 600W PSU will be enough? <_<;

[Luciphear]

You shouldnt, you should get a CrossFire board for future upgrades if you want to go ATi but you said you didnt want CrossFire :confused: thats why I recommended a random decent motherboard thats socket 775 and it just happens to be SLi :)

Ofcourse I want Crossfire, but its way to expansive :p
A single X1900 XT will suit me fine for plenty of years..
And a Crossfire X1900XT is more expansive than a non-Crossfire card..right? x_x

[bruins004]

He is saying that a 520W PSU should be enough, but just to be safe a 600W will be enough. I agree with getting the OCZ Powerstream. My OCZ PowerStream 520W is great w/ many connections and you can even modify the voltage. It also has over/under surge protection. The only downside, which all the reviews say as well, is that all the wires are covered in mesh. Oh and there is NO noise with this PSU. When I first turned it on I thought the fans weren't working. So I put my hand on the back and felt a lotta air being blown out by the PSU. Its a great PSU for the money cant go wrong.

[Luciphear]

He is saying that a 520W PSU should be enough, but just to be safe a 600W will be enough. I agree with getting the OCZ Powerstream. My OCZ PowerStream 520W is great w/ many connections and you can even modify the voltage. It also has over/under surge protection. The only downside, which all the reviews say as well, is that all the wires are covered in mesh. Oh and there is NO noise with this PSU. When I first turned it on I thought the fans weren't working. So I put my hand on the back and felt a lotta air being blown out by the PSU. Its a great PSU for the money cant go wrong.

Awesome :D

I did some motherboard research and I found this one: Elitegroup PT880PRO-A
Is it good enough? <_< And no, I think I wont get a crossfire/SLI, I have a feeling that I wont buy a crossfire/SLI graphic card anyways.

If so, are these stuff good enough?:

PSU: OCZ Powerstream 520/600W (Im not sure which one I need..)

MoBo: Elitegroup PT880PRO-A

GFX Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/DualDVI

RAM: A-DATA 2x1024Mb (tot. 2048Mb/2Gb) Dual DDR2 PC4200 240pin 533Mhz

[HookeyStreet]

Sounds good to me m8 :D but what does PCI-Express Lite mean :confused:

http://www.supergooddeal.com/ECS_PT880PRO_A_1_0_LGA775_A_L_ATX_Motherboard_MB_p/mb-880pr-a.htm

If that ones no good what about this one for that little bit extra:

http://www.supergooddeal.com/ECS_945P_A_LGA775_945P_DDR2_SATA2_A_L_Motherboard_ p/mb-945p-a.htm

[Luciphear]

Sounds good to me m8 :D but what does PCI-Express Lite mean :confused:

http://www.supergooddeal.com/ECS_PT880PRO_A_1_0_LGA775_A_L_ATX_Motherboard_MB_p/mb-880pr-a.htm

If that ones no good what about this one for that little bit extra:

http://www.supergooddeal.com/ECS_945P_A_LGA775_945P_DDR2_SATA2_A_L_Motherboard_ p/mb-945p-a.htm

I wonder what PCI-Express Lite mean too :wtf:
I hope its something good..
Well, otherwise, which one of those two cards that you mentioned will suit me best? <_< Like, one's $55 and the other is around $80, and the diffirence on the cards? Alot? not that much? slighty diffirent? (I barely know anything about motherboards and PSUs) :p
Btw... 520W or 600W? >_>

[bruins004]

You dont want the cheaper one. It only supports DDR, not DDR2. Plus the cheaper one only supports 2 sticks of RAM while the other supports 4 DDR2 sticks. Just as an FYI....I have heard in many forums that ECS boards dont overclock well like Abit, MSI and DFI boards.

With your system I would go with the 600W system just to be on the safe side. I would also order from newegg since they usually have rebates on these things.

[G.T]

PSU = Hiper Type-R

I can't sing their praises enough.

[bruins004]

I have heard about them a lot, but have not read any reviews on them. Are they modular and could you post a review? Thanks.

[Luciphear]

Okay, so, if im right this should do:

PSU: OCZ Powerstream 600W

MoBo: ECS 945P-A LGA775 945P DDR2 SATA2 A&L Motherboard MB-945P-A
http://www.supergooddeal.com/ECS_945P_A_LGA775_945P_DDR2_SATA2_A_L_Motherboard_ p/mb-945p-a.htm

GFX Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/DualDVI

RAM: A-DATA 2x1024Mb (tot. 2048Mb/2Gb) Dual DDR2 PC4200 240pin 533Mhz

(I probably wont order from newegg, as I live in Sweden, I probably order from a swedish site, if theres any good, cheap, nice site..I think I know some too) :D

[bruins004]

That looks pretty good.
You prob. wont have to upgrade anything in a while except your CPU and maybe eventually add more RAM.
With my 7800GT I run into lag sometimes during FEAR at max settings due to only have a gig of RAM

[Luciphear]

That looks pretty good.
You prob. wont have to upgrade anything in a while except your CPU and maybe eventually add more RAM.
With my 7800GT I run into lag sometimes during FEAR at max settings due to only have a gig of RAM

Euhm, look again at the ram, it says "2x1024Mb (tot. 2048Mb/2Gb)" :p
...CPU? o_o I guess im fine with what I have untill its dead or something xD
Well...now then...

I guess im finished in this topic..
I thank you for your time that youve spent helping me out! Thank you! :D

[bruins004]

My mistake....
As CPU it will be good for a while, but prob. the next piece that will need the upgrade since the rest of the system will last a while since you are just upgrading it.

[Luciphear]

My mistake....
As CPU it will be good for a while, but prob. the next piece that will need the upgrade since the rest of the system will last a while since you are just upgrading it.

..euhm, what?
Could you rephrase that please because..I didnt really understand what you wanted to say.
Thank you.

[bruins004]

Just saying that your system will be good for a while (no upgrades will be needed for a while)....Probably the next thing you will have to upgrade is your CPU (the Pentium 4).

[G.T]

I have heard about them a lot, but have not read any reviews on them. Are they modular and could you post a review? Thanks.

Yup, modular they are.

This was a small review I wrote about them for elsewhere.

Right from opening the package the order came in I was impressed, you know you are getting quality. The box supplied with the PSU is very cool and has it's use once the PSU is fitted and running.
Once the box is opened I was amazed how bright the blue is, it's a really well polished and shiny PSU that just begs to be fitted and admired. The build quality is fantastic. It's fairly heavy but that is just reassuring.

All the cables supplied with the PSU are wrapped in sealed plastic bags, so you can keep the ones you don't/won't need neatly and safe.
The manual supplied is to the point and not very instructive for those who are unsure what all the cables may be for if they are new to building their own computers or upgrading old PSUs for something with a bit more power and style.
The cables are as well built as the PSU and look just as good. They are plenty long enough for even the tallest cases (This was fitted in an Antec Plusview AMD1000 SOHO File server) and there was still more than enough cable to reach from the PSU down to the bottom of the case to power the bottom harddrive and lighting & fans.
One small niggle with the cables was with the SATA cable power connectors. They were not a tight fit and once or twice slipped out of the back of the drives when slightly adjusting the cables. The ATA connectors were a nice tight fit, so it was a shame the SATA ones were not as tight fitting, but it is no big drama, just make sure you have a good secure fit and you should be fine.

Another small niggle was with the rubber caps placed over the cable outputs from the PSU which protect them from getting dust and such inside, they are also a bit loose and can easily fall off. So again, make sure they are fitted as best you can or remove them in case you need to move the computer in case they fall off and foul up something important like a fan etc.
Overall, these PSUs are the dogs dangly bits. The cables glow under UV lighting and are easy to manage and keep tidy. the PSU itself is a workhorse, it goes and does what is asked of it and discreetly too. the fans are LED lit and give out ample blue light which shines through the drilled sides of the PSU giving a nice effect day or night.
I consider these PSUs a bargain for what they are. & for the money they perform well and look good, always a bonus.

[vito7766]

I'm not sure about all your other stuff but wait untill the Nvidia 7900 GTX comes out to buy your video card. If you're going to spend that much money on your video card might as well wait a little to see how it stacks up against Ati's 1900x

[Luciphear]

I'm not sure about all your other stuff but wait untill the Nvidia 7900 GTX comes out to buy your video card. If you're going to spend that much money on your video card might as well wait a little to see how it stacks up against Ati's 1900x

Maybe..
I never really liked nVidia :wtf: .. well, I can wait (depends on how long til release..).. and maybe, if we are lucky ATi's prices will get somewhat reduced? <_< X1800 is way cheaper now than..err..not too long ago >_>

[trog100]

so why not a pair of X1800 in C/F.. got to be some good bang for buck there.. at current prices.. ???

trog

[Luciphear]

Hmm, I might bring this up for a while longer.. (Tried on a swedish forum first, but their answers suck) xD

Well... I did some more research, and the PSU and motherboard was not sold in Sweden.. :wtf:
So heres what I found:

BTW: Current processor(I dont got enough cash to upgrade this yet)
(Intel Pentium 4 540 Prescott 3.2GHz Hyperthreading 1Mb 800MHz
Boxed Socket775)




PSU: Seasonic S12 Nätaggregat 600W, 120mm fläkt, 4xSATA, ATX/EPS, SLI, 20/24pin

MoBo:
ECS 945P-A LGA775 945P DDR2 SATA2 A&L Motherboard MB-945P-A
or
ECS 945P-A(v1.1), I945P, Socket-775, SATAII, GbLAN, DDR2, ATX, 2xPCI-Ex16
*Or should I get a crossfire card? Question about Crossfire cards in the end of this reply*

GFX Card: Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express,ViVo,Dual-DVI-I,Full-Retail

RAM: A-DATA 2x1024Mb (tot. 2048Mb/2Gb) Dual DDR2 PC4200 240pin 533Mhz


Some questions:
-If I get only one crossfire card, will it work alone? Or do I have to get two cards?
-If I have to get two crossfire cards to make anything work, I wont buy it, as its to expansive.. anyways, if so, are the things above able to combine? (PSUs confuses me the most, it says "SLI" <_<?)..

Thank You.

[FLY3R]

Yeah dude try out Cross Fire, every one goes SLI and i think that ATI is going to make a come back in this performance war.

[Luciphear]

Well, can I use a crossfire Ready WITHOUT a crossfire Compatible card? (Untill I got cash for it)? If so, I probably get crossfire..
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=9464

[trog100]

this one is about the bandwidth the cards use.. the higher powered cards need the bridgeing thngy the lower power ones dont..

i still recon a pair of x1800 cards in c/f mode would be a good bang for buck ratio.. he he.. they should get cheaper over the next few weeks..

trog

[Luciphear]

Crossfire?:
1. Crossfire Ready motherboard
2. X1800 (example..)
3. X1800 Crossfire Edition (Is this one optional? Can I wait getting this one untill I got money for it and go with my X1800 in the meanwhile*with the Crossfire Ready Motherboard*?)

Edit: Nevermind, I already got the answer, and I probably go for Crossfire :D ...I think...

[Luciphear]

So once again I've been trying to find something that I think should work(I hope this is better, and hopefully last time I ask about this, lol):
BTW: My CPU again:
Intel Pentium 4 540 Prescott 3.2GHz Hyperthreading 1Mb 800MHz
Boxed Socket775
**I will not upgrade this yet, I don't got cash for it. Please tell me if theres something below that wont work with this CPU, if everything works..well..yay! :D**



PSU:
Seasonic S12 Nätaggregat 600W, 120mm fläkt, 4xSATA, ATX/EPS, SLI, 20/24pin
--Nätaggerat is PSU, but in Swedish >_>

MoBo:
Asus P5WD2-E Premium i975X CrossFire 4DDR2-DIMM 3PCI 4PCIe SATA Raid Audio DUAL GB-LAN Firewire Socket775 ATX

GFX Card:
Sapphire Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express,ViVo,Dual-DVI-I,Full-Retail
(Later a Crossfire Edition, but that will have to wait)

RAM:
1)A-DATA 2x1024Mb (tot. 2048Mb/2Gb) Dual DDR2 PC4200 240pin 533Mhz
----or----
2)Corsair Value S. PC4200 DDR2 2048MB Kit w/two matched Value Select 1024MB


Will everything work together? I might have missunderstood something :p
(And yes, only one GFX Card, I am going to wait getting the Crossfire Edition card and use an ordinary card till I got money for it)
And about the PSU, it says SLI, but that doesnt really matter, does it? And its 600W, is it enough for Crossfire? (Probably enough for one card, but enough for two cards?)

Thank You ^^

[trog100]

its not my choice but i aint building it.. a pair of X1900s can draw a lot of current.. the power supply being enough for two of em is an unknown unless u can find evidence of one being used..

my choice would be no wait till i have the money.. it would be go for pair of X1800s in c/f mode right from the word go.. a pair of 256 cards could be bought for pretty much the same money as one X1900.. performance wise it would be overkill..

there are so many choices its impossible to pick the best.. best of luck with whatever u choose..

trog

[vito7766]

Yes, it will all work together. Either ram should work fine. But about the cpu, im not sure if thats the best choice.Nvidia and ATI are head to head right now but AMD has taken the lead with Intel. So you might want to think about buying an AMD proccesor. Also even though games aren't multithreaded now they will be in the very near future. Think about that too, I know you can get a really cheap AMD Anthlon X2 Proccesor in a combo with a motherboard. But then that would cause a problem with the whole crossfire thing. Just something for you to think about.