Hi.
Today I upgraded (finally), three components (but will eventually, which means in about one or two months, upgrade other components).
So I'd like to see opinions on the upgrade I made, and especially on the future upgrades I'm considering to "complete" the whole upgrading move.
Here are my "old" system's specifications:
-ASUS A8V Deluxe
-AMD Athlon 64 ClawHammer 3500+ (I was fooled by the mistake my local store made in one of its commercial ads for AMD CPU's, they said all their 3500+'s were NewCastle's, and at that time ... I didn't know I could look at the model number onto the CPU itself, when it's inside the retail box ... but, anyway, things happen, not to say something else)
-Kingston Value RAM KVR C3 PC-3200 Dual-Channel 1024 MB (2 x 512 MB)
-ATi Reference Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB 256-Bit
-Generic un-branded 420 Watts PSU
Here are my new system's specifications:
-ASUS A8N-E nForce 4 Ultra
-Very same CPU, but is now OC'd at 2.4 Ghz (And oh man does that 130nm needs juice when OC'd, thus resulting in more heat, but hey, I needed to do something while waiting to buy a new CPU)
-Very same Memory, but now runs at 2.5-3-3-5 1T, at 2.7V, and is very stable (Compared to its default of 3.0-3-3-8 2T at 2.6V)
-Antec (Branded ! Yay !) 450 Watts PSU (My old one was almost 3 years old, had dust inside, and only one fan)
*Starts John Williams' Imperial March*
-Leadtek WinFast PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO 256 MB (Now that's my baby, and oh boy does it makes a difference over my 9800 Pro, which by the way I still like ... but the thing is, I switched to PCI-Express, and that little ATi beast is AGP, so won't be able to use it as a back-up in case something ever happens to my 7800 GTX ... but oh well, let's get over it)
Ok, so, how's the upgrade, overall ? Including the little optimizations I made to the components I kept from my old system, of course.
And, finally, I will eventually, like I said I would mention, buy a new CPU. Perhaps a 3700+ San Diego I was looking at. Affordable, supports new features, is 90nm, over-clocks like a beast (As I heard), is very stable, and requires less power to function. Or perhaps, the new, more affordable X2 solution, the 3800+ one if I'm not mistaken, but it's only 2.0 Ghz, so, I'd have (Well ... not *have to* to I know I will want to) to OC it at least at 2.2 Ghz, which I know should be quite easy.
As for the Memory, I was thinking going with Corsair, and their TwinX XL products, the 2.0-2-2-5 1T, default, at 2.7V (Pair of 2 x 512 MB PC-3200) with Heat-Spreaders.
So, all in all, I'd appreciate opinions and/or comments and/or facts.
Oh and by the way, what would be the best, known and reliable program (IF there's a need for such a thing) to over-clock my GPU if I ever want to ? Because so far all I've done was to install the official, and latest nVidia drivers, and test some games right after.
Thanks for your time and help guys.
Today I upgraded (finally), three components (but will eventually, which means in about one or two months, upgrade other components).
So I'd like to see opinions on the upgrade I made, and especially on the future upgrades I'm considering to "complete" the whole upgrading move.
Here are my "old" system's specifications:
-ASUS A8V Deluxe
-AMD Athlon 64 ClawHammer 3500+ (I was fooled by the mistake my local store made in one of its commercial ads for AMD CPU's, they said all their 3500+'s were NewCastle's, and at that time ... I didn't know I could look at the model number onto the CPU itself, when it's inside the retail box ... but, anyway, things happen, not to say something else)
-Kingston Value RAM KVR C3 PC-3200 Dual-Channel 1024 MB (2 x 512 MB)
-ATi Reference Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB 256-Bit
-Generic un-branded 420 Watts PSU
Here are my new system's specifications:
-ASUS A8N-E nForce 4 Ultra
-Very same CPU, but is now OC'd at 2.4 Ghz (And oh man does that 130nm needs juice when OC'd, thus resulting in more heat, but hey, I needed to do something while waiting to buy a new CPU)
-Very same Memory, but now runs at 2.5-3-3-5 1T, at 2.7V, and is very stable (Compared to its default of 3.0-3-3-8 2T at 2.6V)
-Antec (Branded ! Yay !) 450 Watts PSU (My old one was almost 3 years old, had dust inside, and only one fan)
*Starts John Williams' Imperial March*
-Leadtek WinFast PX7800 GTX TDH MyVIVO 256 MB (Now that's my baby, and oh boy does it makes a difference over my 9800 Pro, which by the way I still like ... but the thing is, I switched to PCI-Express, and that little ATi beast is AGP, so won't be able to use it as a back-up in case something ever happens to my 7800 GTX ... but oh well, let's get over it)
Ok, so, how's the upgrade, overall ? Including the little optimizations I made to the components I kept from my old system, of course.
And, finally, I will eventually, like I said I would mention, buy a new CPU. Perhaps a 3700+ San Diego I was looking at. Affordable, supports new features, is 90nm, over-clocks like a beast (As I heard), is very stable, and requires less power to function. Or perhaps, the new, more affordable X2 solution, the 3800+ one if I'm not mistaken, but it's only 2.0 Ghz, so, I'd have (Well ... not *have to* to I know I will want to) to OC it at least at 2.2 Ghz, which I know should be quite easy.
As for the Memory, I was thinking going with Corsair, and their TwinX XL products, the 2.0-2-2-5 1T, default, at 2.7V (Pair of 2 x 512 MB PC-3200) with Heat-Spreaders.
So, all in all, I'd appreciate opinions and/or comments and/or facts.
Oh and by the way, what would be the best, known and reliable program (IF there's a need for such a thing) to over-clock my GPU if I ever want to ? Because so far all I've done was to install the official, and latest nVidia drivers, and test some games right after.
Thanks for your time and help guys.