big computer upgrade

[brentidge]

so early january i will be making a big computer up grade first thing is first i have replaced everything but a mother board is it any harder than installing any other part ?

i no what i want but i want to make sure it what i get will be compatible

for the mb i would like a am2/am2+/am3 soket becouse i wont be able to up grade my procceser for probbly a little later and dont want to be left with no computer for a few months and i would like 2 pci e slots

i plan on getting the 6 core amd proccesser 3.2 one

and i want cheep good ram dont no if that is out there lol 4 gigs for starters
all the mb's that have am2/am2+/am3 are all ddr2 ram is there a big diff between ddr2 and ddr3

not sure what i am looking for for heat sink i saw that v8 one thats what i was thinking

allready have the pny gts 450 for graphics

and i no i will need a bigger power supply i only have a 500 watt now

and how do i no if it will fit in my case ?



these are what i am thinking of
power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171054
cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849
cooling
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055
ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178219
mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130265

i am up for ideas and any suggestions exept get intel over amd i like amd thank you

[StarsMine]

Us an AMD3 (it does have ddr3) if your going to use the thuban CPU
And why would you need a PSU bigger then 500W unless its a piss poor model? I wouldnt spend the money upgrading that unless you plan on getting a second gts450

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

Stars is right on the PSU. So with the money you save lose that DDR 2 as it's a dinosaur and the MB to upgrade to:




MSI NF980-G65 AM3 NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130236&Tpk=MSI%20nForce%20980a

Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory Model KHX2133C9AD3T1K2/4GX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104204

Then when you get a 2nd card, buy a 800-1000 watt PSU as you won't overly abuse it by drawing too much. I like Corsair as I have an 850 but I also like Ultra X3 and I have a 1k unit. Both are nice.

Granted you'll have to kick in another $70.00 but it's worth it IMO - OR - you can use the cooler that comes with the X6 and only kick in another $10.00. There's nothiing wrong with the cooler that comes with the AMD CPU as I run a X4 955 and it hovers around 34 idle and even at 10% OC it never goes over 65 so get the cooler later IF you feel you need it.

GLK

[brentidge]

so i can manage with the 500 watt psu with all that that is awsome
and the cpu come with a cooler? and dennis would that mb be able to use a am2 socket? also

and is putting in a mother board complicated?

[jssaylor2007]

I'll say this ... Putting in a new motherboard is incredibally complicated if you have never done it, but if you have done it its not too bad, just extremely frustrating.

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

so i can manage with the 500 watt psu with all that that is awsome
and the cpu come with a cooler? and dennis would that mb be able to use a am2 socket? also

and is putting in a mother board complicated?

If you buy the BOXED version of the CPU (which is what you linked) then yes it comes with a matched cooler.

It is a AM 3 socket so that means that you can ONLY use a AM3 socket CPU. Go to the MB mfr. and check the compatability charts for which processors you can use. The X6 is one of the fastest out atm if you don't need that then you can also save some money on a older version such as a quad core vs. 6 core state of the art latest/greatest blah, blah, blah, and still have plenty of speed for $100.00 less with something like this..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103656&cm_re=phenom_2-_-19-103-656-_-Product

IF it's on the compatability sheet of the MB. That's YOUR homework, not mine :P

As far as installing a MB being easy, well, only if you know how, like anything else, but if your going to learn then it's much easier these days.
The trick is to R E A D the instruction manual, THEN, RE READ the instruction manual, then, well, you get the idea and keep it open page by page when you're installing it w/o missing a step. When done recheck every page + every connection like your life depended on it or you could be putting in for an RMA then you get to practice some more on a new one!

Once you get it all built and it runs, before you get it all loaded up only to find out that either something went wrong or it may be a faulty unit (it happens) do a burn in test with a program like SiSoft Sandra utility that you can get FREE from here...

http://downloads.guru3d.com/SiSoftware-Sandra-2009-(freeware-version)-download-2056.html

Then if all goes well start loading it up remembering to do it in small stages creating restore points along the way so if something goes awry you don't have to start from the beginning.

Have fun :icon_mrgreen:

[StarsMine]

When do Am3+ boards come out? I would think q1 next year as you can pop in your am3 CPU now and upgrade to a buldozer later, it just wouldnt have a nividia chip that brentige here would need to SLI his 450.

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

When do Am3+ boards come out? I would think q1 next year as you can pop in your am3 CPU now and upgrade to a buldozer later, it just wouldnt have a nividia chip that brentige here would need to SLI his 450.

Feb, but most of the stats are heresay atm and really not a lot of benefits worth waiting for.

Let him get the revised schedule I gave him and he'll be a happy camper for years before he needs to rebuild again with a few add ons like another card, a new PSU, etc. when the money is available. The last biggie of switching out the X6 for an X4 will be a noticable difference in the wallet and not much for him on performance as the X4 is really a nice unit that's proven itself worthy w/o the excessive heat, easy OCing (NO Brent, just use the built in turbo booster at +10% and leave it there - Nothing fancy) and real stabil.

For more info on the
"Bulldozer", AM3+, the subject matter is all over the different forums... Pack a lunch but no need to concern Brent here with a clusterfuck like that now.

The "KISS" method works well here :)

[brentidge]

i really want the six core for bragging rights but your probbly right and should just get the quad and wait for the next latest and gretest lol whats it mean when starmine says he will need something nvidia to sli his 450

[StarsMine]

To do SLI without a hack (its an easy hack but it still makes people nervous) you need a intel or nividia chip set on the mobo southbridge(?). AMDs chipsets dont allow SLI only crossfire, although im fairly sure nividia chips allow crossfire... odd considering they dont let you use a physix card with a amd card w/o a hack (once again its an easy hack, but its still a hack none-the-less)

If you dont actually plan on going SLI with your 450s, I say just use an AMD chipset with an AMD mobo, as sometimes those nividia chipsets when running on am3 boards freak out and do some odd things, nothing major, just odd.

I actually would say go for the x6 the cost of 2 extra cores is only 50 bucks and even though it wont make much of a difference now (like 4-5 frames), I am sure it will in 2-4 years when games actually start using those cores, and if you use apps like photoshop or video editing, you will notice the difference instantly. However this artical will disagree with me D: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-athlon-ii-x4,2791.html

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

To do SLI without a hack (its an easy hack but it still makes people nervous) you need a intel or nividia chip set on the mobo southbridge(?). AMDs chipsets dont allow SLI only crossfire, although im fairly sure nividia chips allow crossfire... odd considering they dont let you use a physix card with a amd card w/o a hack (once again its an easy hack, but its still a hack none-the-less)

If you dont actually plan on going SLI with your 450s, I say just use an AMD chipset with an AMD mobo, as sometimes those nividia chipsets when running on am3 boards freak out and do some odd things, nothing major, just odd.

I actually would say go for the x6 the cost of 2 extra cores is only 50 bucks and even though it wont make much of a difference now (like 4-5 frames), I am sure it will in 2-4 years when games actually start using those cores, and if you use apps like photoshop or video editing, you will notice the difference instantly. However this artical will disagree with me D: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-athlon-ii-x4,2791.html


The board supports SLI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130236&Tpk=MSI%20nForce%20980a

even with AMD and if u read the specs it is an nvidia chipset, and as far as him buying the X6 for use 2 years from now I'll guarantee that in less than 2 years there will be aniother chip for les money and FAR better than the X6 when he can have all he can handle now with a quad chip and an xtra $100 in his wallet now.

Anyway, I'm done here and Brent u have more than enuff info to make a decision and have a great system for a cplof years with a few minor adds....



adios

[ZERO]

Currently the AMD sockets have the worst upgrade routs short of the 1157 socket. They are all going out of production soon.

Check the latest issue of Maximum PC for recommendations. It is on shelves now and so I am not able to link any direct data now look up the info as my copy is back in atl.


Currently the only socket that I know of that will have decent upgrade routs for the next 3 years is the 1336 socket. This will not be replaced for 2 years and still will have xeons on it. So unless you want to hold to buy a board on one of the new sockets coming out you can either buy a 1336 board or get screwed down the road.

[StarsMine]

how does 1366 have upgrade routs? it only can use the i7 9xx and will only ever be able to use that.

and dead eye, I said I doubt that the first am3+ mobos would have nividia chips, wasnt anything to do with your recomendation

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

Currently the AMD sockets have the worst upgrade routs short of the 1157 socket. They are all going out of production soon.

Check the latest issue of Maximum PC for recommendations. It is on shelves now and so I am not able to link any direct data now look up the info as my copy is back in atl.


Currently the only socket that I know of that will have decent upgrade routs for the next 3 years is the 1336 socket. This will not be replaced for 2 years and still will have xeons on it. So unless you want to hold to buy a board on one of the new sockets coming out you can either buy a 1336 board or get screwed down the road.

Although I said I was done here I MUST post at least this...

Z, the site that u reference must be in INTELS pocket as I know u are a staunch advocate of Intel and anti AMD for the most part, BUT, if u read all the info that is out there atm, u will find that the AM3 socket will not be left out in the cold all too soon and has a future more so than most of the rest.

But let's face it, really, if u stay on top of the game, have the resources, and can do your own builds, who the hell keeps a system for more than 1-2 years anyway?!

Don't answer because it's an academic question as not many do. I update my primary and pass it down/recycle it to my secondary, to my 3rd, etc. etc and I upgrade annually unless the market is just building w/o retooling for a revenue and not a whole lot of pluses or increases in performance over what I already have then I'll overextend.

AMD- ASUS - FTW

:icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen: :icon_mrgreen:


PS--- Let the clusterfuck begin :P

[ZERO]

My system is already over 2 years old so clearly I do. My systems usually last 4 years before needing an upgrade and have historically lasted 5 years before requiring processor changes.

My previous system was used from 2004(early)-2008(late) and only received cooling, gpu and memory expansions in its lifetime.

So far my current system is 2 years old and has had:
a gpu upgrade due to the old one failing
a ram upgrade to expand to 64bit
an os upgrade to win 7
a HDD update to RAID 6 and 12TB more capasity
a HDD update for the OS disk to be a SSD
a recently purchased new SSD to upgrade the previous one that will be used to upgrade my tv computer
a minor cooling upgrade to account for the new HDDs added

I plan to easily be able to continue to use this system for another 2 years. Ultimately I can upgrade my current 965 to one of the 6 core chips of either another extreme edition or to xeon chips. From there I should be able to then get another 2 years or so out of this platform. For a total of at least 6 years. If you jump on the correct platform at the right time you can really make a single system last for many years though isolated upgrades.

Note too that in my case my other computer is on the same architecture so I actually upgrade 2 computers for the price of one at every major update. For example the cpu from my current computer upgrades the tv computer when it is upgraded.

[StarsMine]

Well, since you arnt getting the money till Christmas, I would say wait for a AM3+ mobo as I dont think you are planing on SLIing in the future this mobo will give you room to upgrade your CPU later down the line in say 2-3 years when 8 cores will make a difference (yea bulldozers going to be 8 freaking cores :D, and thats not even the high end) and get say an x4 955(or 965) for 120 some bucks as I recall from there roadmap (i dont remember where I saw it :() that is going to be like the projected area possibly late q1 next year.


edit: If there is anything wrong with what I said here, tell me its late and im just throwing out ideas

[mag36]

My system is already over 2 years old so clearly I do. My systems usually last 4 years before needing an upgrade and have historically lasted 5 years before requiring processor changes.

My previous system was used from 2004(early)-2008(late) and only received cooling, gpu and memory expansions in its lifetime.

So far my current system is 2 years old and has had:
a gpu upgrade due to the old one failing
a ram upgrade to expand to 64bit
an os upgrade to win 7
a HDD update to RAID 6 and 12TB more capasity
a HDD update for the OS disk to be a SSD
a recently purchased new SSD to upgrade the previous one that will be used to upgrade my tv computer
a minor cooling upgrade to account for the new HDDs added

I plan to easily be able to continue to use this system for another 2 years. Ultimately I can upgrade my current 965 to one of the 6 core chips of either another extreme edition or to xeon chips. From there I should be able to then get another 2 years or so out of this platform. For a total of at least 6 years. If you jump on the correct platform at the right time you can really make a single system last for many years though isolated upgrades.

Note too that in my case my other computer is on the same architecture so I actually upgrade 2 computers for the price of one at every major update. For example the cpu from my current computer upgrades the tv computer when it is upgraded.

I would agree with Zero on this.

I pretty much have the same philosophy as he does. Ifyou buy right s system will last you just fine for 4-5 years. But you have to know yours stuff.

My Rig will be 2 years in Feb. and its still faster then what most people are buying now. Only thing I have upgraded so far is the CPU cooler and added a Second GPU.
(probably give it one more change in GPU series before I upgrade my ATI 4850s . They are still doing me well for the price I paid)

Though its about time to add some more memmory and a extra HDD or two.

[brentidge]

i really want to wait to get the am3+ mb but i really dont need that beast of a pc i mainly want it for pure bragging rights lol but i am thinking it will be around 200-300$ am i right if so i think i will just go with what i was planing but i still have a few weeks to make up my mind

[brentidge]

yeah i think i just will wait till the am3+ boards come out and buy one of those but my question is how long till they announce the am4 socket lol how long was the am2 out befor the am2+ came out

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

yeah i think i just will wait till the am3+ boards come out and buy one of those but my question is how long till they announce the am4 socket lol how long was the am2 out befor the am2+ came out

LOL, u will be waiting forever as as soon as one comes out another is on the way, or haven't you figured that out by now?

Regards to Zero and Mag, well my system is 2 years old and I'll bet that my stats stack up to yours and I paid HALF the money but am willing to upgrade more often just because of that fact. That's why I use ASUS, AMD, and I have NO problems with ATI and my OC'd 4890's in Crossfire mode, but will upgrade my Crosshair 3 MB, and my AMD X4 955 as soon as there is a MAJOR marked difference which isn't going to be for 6 months is my guess but that's always up in the air. We'll see about this "new" Bulldozer and the MB of the future but as of now I'm not impressed with it or anything else for that matter.

For now it's more than I need and faster than the majority for all I use it for. My peripherals are also more than I need and I too will pass it down to the # 2 slot when I do make the jump and that will be the last of my nvidia GPU's for at least the major half of my gear.

On another note regarding INTEL -- I am SUPER happy with my Intel Core i7 720QM laptop and I don't see a need for an upgrade there for quite awhile either. I just upgraded my RAM to 8g and added a 1TB HD for extra storage for both business and pleasure on the road so I'm a happy camper! (PS- the ATI 5870 GPU really rox, Z- even you would be impressed!)

So as you see, although I am an AMD-ASUS-ATI- fan, I am not totally biased to that scenario.

Good input tho and yes Z that’s a nice system but not the only good one in existence. We all have our preferences and that's what makes us individuals in this capitolist society that we are lucky enough to be a part of.

May not suit everyone, but it's the best game in town!

:wtg:

[ZERO]

Also wanted to point out that the sandy bridge should release beginning of next month. So if you want something that will last a while and not be too much that may be a good choice. Another option is to wait until release as the cost of all alternatives should reduce at that same time due to new competition.

[StarsMine]

I was under the impression that that wasnt going to come out untill q2.

and Deadeye, like I said, he doesnt get this money untill christmas, if he gets the money then, why not wait for the big things to come out q1 and possibly q2

[ZERO]

I am under the impression it is going to release in the first 2 weeks of jan. Samples are already our for review now and that along with the way intel has been acting indicates that they are already building inventories. We also already saw motherboard samples months ago from major manufacturers and so it would be no surprise they are stockpiling as we speak.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/12/06/bit-tech-is-testing-sandy-bridge/

[StarsMine]

twell if it comes out when he bulds it, yea it would be nice to go for iy

From what I have seen it is a nice upgrade from the current i cores and is actually cheaper then current i-cores at launch to compeat with amd on the mainstream, like the i5-2600k is 200 bucks I think?

[ZERO]

You mean i7-2600k that is going to be a bit over $300

The i5 will go from 2300-2500 with the cheapest being <$200 so still pretty good!

[StarsMine]

Yea, however I keep hearing that it will be difficult to OC anything other then a Sku that ends with a K, however that K added i think 11 or 16 bucks to the i5 model, dont remember the i7, so I think that the K should very well be worth that cost for the at least 15% boost you can get with it



Edit: found the prices
Edit 2: son of a bitch those are from semi accurate >.<