Upgrade Compatability Questions.

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Neodr31

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Hey guys, its time yet again for another upgrade. I've finaly decided to take the step upto DDR2 RAM which means a new motherboard and CPU. Just wanted to check with you guys if the choices i've made are going to work and there wont be any compatability issue's. Here are the parts i am going to use.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+ 3.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Processor.

Asrock ALiveXFire-eSATA2 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 - Motherboard

Corsair 2GB DDR2 Value Select PC4200 Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) - RAM

Hitachi Deskstar 7K160 NCQ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - Hard Drive

I also have a Hiper 580-620 watt PSU, Sli ready. And i would like to keep my old IDE Hard drive, would it be possible to connect it as a secondary drive even though it is so old? Would the motherboard accept it?
Here is a link with more detail on the motherboard.

OCWorkbench.com - ASRock ALiveXFire-eSATA2 ATi Express 1600 (RD480+SB600) Mainboard Review Intro 1/5


Thanks for your help guys.
 
The cpu was looked at for upgrading the current build while now looking at the FX-74 quad core model and a new Asus board. The memory is choice among several good brands for gaming. The old drive shouldn't have any problem while the board itself is one of the low end makes there. A better board besides Asus would be an Abit, DFI, and even better Gigabyte or MSI.
 
Obviously you don't want to overclock but I still highly suggest unless that is all you can get to find some faster ram. DDR2-533 is all you need however I would get at least DDR2-677
 
With that model cpu I would be going with DDR2 800 to get the most out of the system with that speed of value ram. For ocing then you have to start looking at the performance memory available especially with faster timings. One common drawback there is that some boards won't run faster memory.
 
Most boards will run DDR2-677 just fine. It's DDR2-800 and above some boards have a hard time with. Even if he isn't overclocking decent DDR2-677 ram will go farther say if he wants a new 1333 FSB chip later.
 
8gb of DDR2 800 wouldn't be a problem for the Asus model seen at Newegg.com - ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

I plan to pass the AM2 here when upgrading for a newer Socket 1207FX board like the one seen at Newegg.com - ASUS L1N64-SLI WS Dual Socket L (Socket 1207FX) NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI MCP SSI CEB AMD Motherboard - Retail 8gb of DDR2 800 there as well.

But that means choosing a model board that offers more along with being one of the better makes. You try to get the most out of the hardware selection that will fit into your budget. In the long run that saves from later having to have to upgrade this or that on the same build.
 
Well after searching around some more i've decided to go with a Core 2 duo e6600 processor instead, which of course means a new motherboard. I managed to find an Asrock motherboard that is fairly cheap, much cheaper than other boards that support Pci-e x 2 so i'm wondering what the drawback is. Its got good customer reviews, but i know they arnt always that indicative. Here is the board.

ASRock CONROEXFIRE-ESATA2 SKT775 945P PCI-E 7.1 channel audio ATX

One drawback i noticed is it only supports upto 4GB RAM, which could be a problem as direct X 10 games are said to be RAM hogs. I have no problem getting a new DX 10 card, which i plan to do soon after this, but to get a whole new motherboard would be a pain.

Thanks for all your input guys, i'm looking into better RAM now. I found some 6400 stuff that looks a little better. But i'm not into overclocking so its not a big deal for me.
 
DX10 games might be RAM hogs, but over 4GB is just too much. 2-4GB will do fine.
 
Thanks for the reply.

Looks like this is the set up i may be going for. I usualy try to overhaul my rig twice a year. Once for things like RAM, sound cards, small things etc. Then in the summer i go for the bigger things like CPU and Graphics card, which can sometimes involve a Motherboard change too, so this motherboard should atleast last me till next year.

One last question is about compatability. Will everything fit? I've only ever used AMD rigs before this one and i'm always hessitant about buying parts. I know things like RAM will technically work, but there can be performance problems depending on processor etc. Looking at your specs b1gapl my Hiper PSU should be sufficient for the load.

I also noticed a problem regarding RAM. The RAM i found says it is DDR2 6400, which means it is DDR2 800 right? This motherboard says it only supports upto 667. That'd be a big problem right? I could just get the 667 so no biggy, was just wondering if the move upto 800 is worth it?
 
Yes...everything is compatible. And a 580w is more than enough to power that whole system.
 
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