System Overhaul

[RampantAndroid]

I've been out of the loop for a little while now as internship hunting and school took over - I've not followed AMD's roadmap and release dates and such..

I've got an older system (Athlon FX-53, 7800GT) and I'm looking to do a minor (minor...heh) overhaul of it. I want a new mobo, CPU, GPU and RAM. I want to keep my optical drives and sound card, and I think my 500W SmartPower by Antec should be sufficient (please advise if it is not)

What I'm currently looking at is a build with this stuff:

Intel Core2Duo E6700 (or a Xeon 3070, if there is a quality advantage worth the price difference. Is there?)
8800 GTS 640mb superclocked, or something similar
2 GB of OCZ platinum DDR2-800 (link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227089 )
eVGA 650i motherboard



Now, here are my questions:

Will my 500W SmartPower work OK for this? Its stable on my system right now.
How good is this build? How long would it last? I know the 8800 will be replaced soon enough...and DX10 is not where games are at just yet.
Should I just pull the trigger now and go on this, or should I wait until July and see what updates nVidia has for the 8800 line, and what AMD has for new CPUs?
What is this with mobos that handle DDR2-1600 - is this for overclocking only, or right out of the box, it support it? Is there an advantage to 1600 that is noticable (other than synthetic)?

Realize I want to stay in the 1000-1300 USD or less range.


Thanks in advance,

RA

 

[MarcVenice]

with a system like that I would definately be waiting till Q3 this year, since thats when AMD's new cpu's will come out, and Intel has just confirmed in a press release that they will be bringing the new 45nm cpu's out in Q3, codenamed Penryn. How much of a performance boost they will yield over the current c2d's is unclear, but it will sure make things interesting. I dunno if you have am2 board, or s939 ? Especially then you could wait for the new amd's.

The biggest question is, do you have games right now not running at satisfactory settings that warrent a overhaul ? Or are you running heavy cpu depedant programs that warrant getting a dualcore ? You could do a minor overhaul by getting a cheap x2 3800 and OC it ?

 

[Puffnstuff]

Well if a person sat around waiting for what is always around the corner nothing would get built. Anyway do you really need the 6700 or would a e6600 for around $220 do the trick? I jumped from an opteron 175 to my e6400 setup and this thing flat clobbers my opteron. I would tell you to take the plunge but wait on the video card until after next week because the new ati cards are due out and nvidia prices are already starting to come down. I personally want one of the 8800's but I'm holding off until the prices begin to moderate even more after the ati cards hit the street.

 

[f4phantom2500]

marcvenice, fx-53 is 939

OP, if you upgraded now, you would either have to probably get a new mobo for Intel's next wave of processors, or if you went AM2 you could plop a barcelona chip into your then current AM2 board (the new processors are AM2+ but will be backward compatible with current AM2 boards; performance differences would be somewhere around 5% or so, but you wouldn't have to buy a new board). you could also hold on to your 7800GT for now as it's still a decent card and would work in your new system no problem and then upgrade it whenever the new cards come out. You should keep in mind that most people don't even have a card as powerful as the 7800GT and of course DX10 support is a bit pointless right now, so your card should still be able to run today's games fine; it should hold you until DX10, or at least until the new cards come out.

EDIT: oh and imo you should buy RAM now before the prices go up lol.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Will my 500W SmartPower work OK for this? Its stable on my system right now.

No, it won't be able to handle what you're planning on building. The SmartPowers are the lowest of the Antec's, besides what they put into their cases, and give away for free. A ~$100 Corsair 520HX would be more than sufficient, though. It has about twice as much amperage on the important rails as your "500 watt" SmartPower does. Note that a few places online are selling that psu for $100 or less, with the rebate.

 

[MarcVenice]

puffnstuff, if we'd buy new stuff everytime we felt like it, we would be broke within a week. Thats why I asked the big question. Like F4P mentioned, most of his stuff is still pretty up to date, and imo doesn't warrant a overhaul this very instant. Hence I said he 'could' wait till Q3 for intels 45nm chips as well as AMD's agena's and stuff.

F4P, I don't suggest buying ram now, since new production capabilities, 80nm and the startup of 68nm, will most likely help decrease prices even further. http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070511VL202.html for more info about it from Samsung.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Will my 500W SmartPower work OK for this? Its stable on my system right now.

No, it won't be able to handle what you're planning on building. The SmartPowers are the lowest of the Antec's, besides what they put into their cases, and give away for free. A ~$100 Corsair 520HX would be more than sufficient, though. It has about twice as much amperage on the important rails as your "500 watt" SmartPower does. Note that a few places online are selling that psu for $100 or less, with the rebate.

This PSU won't do it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103937

It's ratings seem decent....

As for just buying an X2, no - I' getting a new motherboard and videocard soon enough, as someone in my family will be needing a new motherboard CPU soon, and they will be getting mine. I guess I'll wait for Penryn - I did see some previews on it, and it looked OK...though AMD is being rather tight lipped.

 

[MarcVenice]

AMD showcased a system running on a barcelona not long ago, no benchmarks or whatever though. I'm kinda hoping theyll release some soon, if not, then I'm still fairly sure they will before penryn hits the market

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Will my 500W SmartPower work OK for this? Its stable on my system right now.

No, it won't be able to handle what you're planning on building. The SmartPowers are the lowest of the Antec's, besides what they put into their cases, and give away for free. A ~$100 Corsair 520HX would be more than sufficient, though. It has about twice as much amperage on the important rails as your "500 watt" SmartPower does. Note that a few places online are selling that psu for $100 or less, with the rebate.

This PSU won't do it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103937

It's ratings seem decent....

As for just buying an X2, no - I' getting a new motherboard and videocard soon enough, as someone in my family will be needing a new motherboard CPU soon, and they will be getting mine. I guess I'll wait for Penryn - I did see some previews on it, and it looked OK...though AMD is being rather tight lipped.

i was suggesting the option of buying an am2 board and x2, which would allow you to drop in a barcelona chip later, not a 939 x2. am2 will be supported until 2009.

 

[RampantAndroid]

Well, I don't like buying into something that MIGHT be good...I prefer to buy into something that I know is good...

Thanks anyway...but right now, if I had to pull the trigger, it'd be C2D.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Well, I don't like buying into something that MIGHT be good...I prefer to buy into something that I know is good...

Thanks anyway...but right now, if I had to pull the trigger, it'd be C2D.

if i were you i would just wait lol. it's all "good", i mean in games the more you turn up the resolution the less important the cpu becomes anyway, but if you're fine for now you should just wait since the new processors are right around the corner anyway. you've been running that fx-53 for probably a couple years now i'm guessing, so what's a couple more months?

 

[dantonic]

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: RampantAndroid
Will my 500W SmartPower work OK for this? Its stable on my system right now.

No, it won't be able to handle what you're planning on building. The SmartPowers are the lowest of the Antec's, besides what they put into their cases, and give away for free. A ~$100 Corsair 520HX would be more than sufficient, though. It has about twice as much amperage on the important rails as your "500 watt" SmartPower does. Note that a few places online are selling that psu for $100 or less, with the rebate.

This PSU won't do it?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103937

It's ratings seem decent....

As for just buying an X2, no - I' getting a new motherboard and videocard soon enough, as someone in my family will be needing a new motherboard CPU soon, and they will be getting mine. I guess I'll wait for Penryn - I did see some previews on it, and it looked OK...though AMD is being rather tight lipped.

That PSU would work fine for that setup. It has a 19A 12V rail, and a 17A 12V2 rail.
that would give you 230W on the first rail and 200W on the second.
The 8800GTS needs a little over 100W, and the CPU needs less than that... When you work all the other power draws into it you should be fine.

Now that said if you are planning to extremely overclocking this system Number one I would go with a better brand of PSU, and something with a little more juice on the 12V rails.

NOTE: the total wattage of the CPU doeesnt mean much... you gotta mostly look at what Amperage the 12V rails give you. For example. This PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817194002
is rated a 400W however it is capable of providing more juice than your 500W to either of the two 12V rails separately. 20A per rail.
Enermax also is a much better brand. Also see Seasonic, Fortron, etc.


Anyhow just a thought.

EDIT* Also if this were my system I would instantly take that Antec PSU out of my computer and smash it to bits. I have had nothing but grief with Antec PSUs, including some of their higher end ones. I've lost Video cards, mobos, because of ANTEC Psus I will never buy them again
Get a better psu

 

[RampantAndroid]

Bump...


WHat is the projected release date for Penryn and Barcelona? Also, I know this is the wrong forum, but is there a update to the 8800 series due soon (IE, 8900?)

As for the Antec, I have 2 different antec PSUs - a 3 year old 480W in my old P4 Northwood, and the SP2.0 in this one, no problems with either. I might pick up a OCZ 700W though just for futureproofing.