Ethan_Kaizer
Daemon Poster
- Messages
- 881
- Location
- Long Island, NY, USA
I currently have an ECS 945GCT-M v.2 motherboard:
Newegg.com - ECS 945GCT-M/1333 (V3.0) LGA 775 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards (This is v.3, but mine is very similar).
I might be getting some money soon, so I'm thinking of changing it with this:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
First reason is because my board only supports 2gb of ddr2 667 ram, and I have Vista 64 bit, so I want at least 4 gigs of ddr2 800 ram, if not better. Second reason is that I can't currently have a larger graphics card (in the future) because it might be blocked by the power connector, as it is a small board. I also can't overclock with this motherboard, but I hear my E4600 (2.4 GHz stock) can overclock very nicely, to about 3.2 GHz with stock cooling. Lastly, I want to have Crossfire capabilities in the future, maybe add a second HD 4670.
First question: Is this the best board for that price range, that has good OCing and crossfire?
Second question: If I change from my current board to this P45 board, will I have to reinstall my OS, or have to reformat, or anything of the sort? Because I have a lot of music, games, and files on this drive, and I also don't have a Vista OS disc, I would have to get my hands on a copy somehow.
Third Question: I have never OC'ed before. Would it be relatively easy with my CPU and this Biostar board? I don't want to mess up, and ruin my hardware or anything of the sort, and I don't want to have to spend weeks dealing with updating my Bios and changing settings and troubleshooting to be able to OC. I just want the mobo to work out of the box, without all of this being a painful procedure.
My current CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Newegg.com - ECS 945GCT-M/1333 (V3.0) LGA 775 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards (This is v.3, but mine is very similar).
I might be getting some money soon, so I'm thinking of changing it with this:
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TForce TP45HP LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
First reason is because my board only supports 2gb of ddr2 667 ram, and I have Vista 64 bit, so I want at least 4 gigs of ddr2 800 ram, if not better. Second reason is that I can't currently have a larger graphics card (in the future) because it might be blocked by the power connector, as it is a small board. I also can't overclock with this motherboard, but I hear my E4600 (2.4 GHz stock) can overclock very nicely, to about 3.2 GHz with stock cooling. Lastly, I want to have Crossfire capabilities in the future, maybe add a second HD 4670.
First question: Is this the best board for that price range, that has good OCing and crossfire?
Second question: If I change from my current board to this P45 board, will I have to reinstall my OS, or have to reformat, or anything of the sort? Because I have a lot of music, games, and files on this drive, and I also don't have a Vista OS disc, I would have to get my hands on a copy somehow.
Third Question: I have never OC'ed before. Would it be relatively easy with my CPU and this Biostar board? I don't want to mess up, and ruin my hardware or anything of the sort, and I don't want to have to spend weeks dealing with updating my Bios and changing settings and troubleshooting to be able to OC. I just want the mobo to work out of the box, without all of this being a painful procedure.
My current CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Allendale 2.4GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops