need beef - advice please!!!

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hello everyone... my first post here...

this is my comp i built just over a year ago and i think it might be time for a big upgrade!

mycomp.gif


as well as what's in the pic it's got:

i could sorely do with advice! if anyone has a similar system or knows a good route to upgrade then please help me out and look at my wishlist below. :down_arrow: :down_arrow: :nerd:

what i would like to change:

  • HD. about 600 gb of free space in a striped raid config. so about 1.2tb. i don't want mirroring for the lot but say 100gb mirrored would be good for a safe storage area and the other 500 just striped. i have no idea if my mobo can do BOTH like this but i don't want to get a seperate card. i've got 5 free hd slots in my case.
  • CPU. needs to be socket 939. the best i'm aware of for this is the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ 2.20GHz (939). this is about £98 in the uk new.
  • GFX. something of the price of nVidia GeForce 8600GTS 256MB PCI-E or nVidia GeForce 8600GT 512MB DDR2 PCI-E. i could go for an ati if they're hot at a similar price (about £100 uk). now i could sli my existing card (xfx geforce 7600gs sli 256mb pci-e) with a new one but i doubt the performance would be a good bang for my bucks, any ideas? ebay??
  • cooling. i think the new gfx card is going to have a fan on it and i've already got a dome-like extractor over the cpu's fan pumping straight out the side of my case but this probably isn't great at dissipating. standard cpu heatsink and fan. i might need something to keep the hard drives from melting and also to combat the heat that'll leak onto the mobo from all these new, beefier :D components. i want a quiet cooling setup and would go to £100 if it really was of benefit (say if i could overclock a lot) but would prefer £50 (if not overclocking at all).
  • RAM: i've got 2gb of the same stuff in the pic ^^. if my mobo can take a higher speed i could go for that... or i could go for more of the same? would my new cpu cope with the bandwidth?
PHEW!!

i'm confident i can rig a cooling system up (never done one) and, well, there's probably not much overclocking potential with my budget and the stuff i want to shove in my case so there's only so much i could get out of it.

i just took pics so you can see what sort of space i'm working with- fairly big atx case. i don't think i need to replace it.

http://www.nickgrayson.net/temp/front.jpg
http://www.nickgrayson.net/temp/side.jpg
http://www.nickgrayson.net/temp/hdrack.jpg

maybe it could end up looking like this :eek:
IMG_2895.jpg

CHEEERS!!!
 
go AM2 with an x2 brisbane, no need to use outdated tech, also is that a 7600gs Sli? (where they give u two 7600gs and u put the card in?) or is it just a normal one just saying its an SLi compatible one...and biostar tforce550
 
ok thanks i'm trying to find an x2 brisbane, have only come accross 90nm m2's so far. going to need a new board if i go to m2.

as for my card, there's only one and that's sli compatible i.e. there was only 1 in the box but it has the connector and capability if i added another. is getting another and doing sli worthwhile? always seemed like a gimmick... i think you only get 60% extra power? plus this card doesn't have a fan meaning it's overheating with room temp of just 22c and that's only ONE card all on it's own overheating.
 
I have an fx-55 im trying to sell to get money for my upgrade lol, pm if intrested

an FX is good but the fx-55 imho isn't worth it, because its single-core, but unless u get it for like under $100 USD i wouldn't even consider it..
 
okay, you dont want a 90nm brisbane, might as well get a windsor if you do that.
if you get am2 you will have to get a mobo AND ram.
if you get an opty 165, you can clock the shite out of it.
they are dual core, and here in the states they are like 95 dollars. i dont know how much that is in redcoat money lol.
sli 7600gs would be okay if you get one like...CHEAP.
otherwise, meh...i'd go with an 8800.
i like that case setup, by the way. very tidy.
 
an x1950pro is a good option if the 8800 is too much ($260 after MIR)
the 8600gts and 8600gt arnt very good bang for the buck
 
thanks for all the advice guys. i've had my work cut out reading up on all the new cpu models now. first i want to look at what's the best i can get without changing my mobo, and if i don't like the look of it i'll upgrade that along with the ram when i get my new cpu.

taintedplay, i guess you're in the u.s. so i'm not sure i wanna :) unless the exchange rate on my redcoat money makes up for the shipping ;). u.s. goods are cheaper anyway, you lucky luckers, so i might be in luck :p.

nagasama- yeah i did try to make it neat, just a few cable ties really. and sorry, the 90nm brisbane WAS a windsor, my mistake!

ok now for cooling, how do you guys rate this :right_arrow: Thermaltake Bigwater 745 CL-W0076 Liquid Cooler they claim to have the biggest stock of cooling in the uk. bearing in mind that is within my budget (£50 to £100 in the uk), is there anything you see from specialtech (or in the u.s!) of that price which you think is a better solution? (k8 series amd).

32enlargeview.jpg


back to processors. correct me if i'm wrong with any of this please! the best i can get with my current mobo is:

Athlon_64_X2_E6_3800.jpg


Toledo (90 nm SOI)
Dual-core CPU

CPU-Stepping: E6
L1-Cache: 64 + 64 KiB (Data + Instructions), per core
L2-Cache: 512 or 1024 KiB fullspeed, per core
MMX, Extended 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, AMD64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Bit
Socket 939, HyperTransport (1000 MHz, HT1000)
VCore: 1.35 V - 1.4 V
Power Consumption (TDP):
89 Watt: 3800+ and 4400+
110 Watt: 4400+ and 4800+
First Release: 21 April 2005
Clockrate:: 2200 - 2400 MHz
1024 KiB L2-Cache:
4400+: 2200 MHz
4800+: 2400 MHz


(wikipedia)

that doesn't look a whole load better than what i've got!! maybe a 30% speed increase at best?

right, now if i change mobo i could go am2, with either an x2 brisbane or a windsor.

x2 brisbane:

Athlon X2

Brisbane (65 nm SOI)
Dual-core CPU

CPU-Stepping: G1
L1-Cache: 64 + 64 KiB (Data + Instructions), per core
L2-Cache: 512 KiB fullspeed, per core
MMX, Extended 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, AMD64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Bit, AMD Virtualization
Socket AM2, HyperTransport (1000 MHz, HT1000)
VCore: 1.25 V
Die Size: 118 mm2
Power Consumption (TDP): 45 Watt
First Release: June 1, 2007
Clockrate: 1900 MHz - 2300 MHz
BE-2300: 1900 MHz
BE-2350: 2100 MHz
BE-2400: 2300 MHz


(wikipedia)

so i should get a brisbane not a windsor?

windsor:

Windsor (90 nm SOI)
Dual-core CPU

CPU-Stepping: F2, F3
L1-Cache: 64 + 64 KiB (Data + Instructions), per core
L2-Cache: 256, 512 or 1024 KiB fullspeed, per core
MMX, Extended 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, AMD64, Cool'n'Quiet, NX Bit, AMD Virtualization
Socket AM2, HyperTransport (1000 MHz, HT1000)
VCore: 1.25 V - 1.35 V
Power Consumption (TDP): 35 Watt (3800+ EE SFF), 65 Watt (3600+ to 4800+ EE) , 89 Watt (3800+ to 5600+) , 125 Watt (6000+) max
First Release: May 23, 2006
Clockrate: 2000 MHz - 3000MHz
256 KiB L2-Cache:
3600+: 2000 Mhz
512 KiB L2-Cache: (often mislabeled as Brisbane core)
3800+: 2000 MHz
4200+: 2200 MHz
4600+: 2400 MHz (F2&F3)
5000+: 2600 MHz (F2&F3)
5400+: 2800 MHz (F3)
1024 KiB L2-Cache:
4000+: 2000 MHz
4400+: 2200 MHz
4800+: 2400 MHz
5200+: 2600 MHz (F2&F3)
5600+: 2800 MHz (F3)
6000+: 3000 MHz (F3)
6400+: 3200MHz

(wikipedia)

now, i can see the windsor has a higher freq but is it better or worse than the bris? is it gonna run hotter and have less overclocking potential as it's 25nm bigger!? or am i missing the point?

right, now into uncharted territory (for me)... the opty! i haven't even looked at the wikipedia article! Opteron - Wikipedia and i've never bothered to understand these server processors- please shed light! what the fluff is a 165?

i'm gonna put off thinking about the video card for now, ^^ that's confusing me enuff!!
 
The Brisbanes will run cooler than the Windsors, because of the smaller fabrication process (nm). But I think they all have around the same overclocking potential. Most AMD's overclock to 3.0GHz, with good cooling.

The Opteron, is AMD's server line of processors. The 165 is one of them, and it is known to overclock very well. You can use Opterons for desktop usage, instead of server purposes.
 
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