Need help with small upgrades.

[Nagasama]

i wouldnt do open box on a mobo. it will probably work fine, but it might not...or it may not OC worth a crap (i've returned them before for that reason), or it may be missing some parts like the I/O shield and all the cables. sometimes they have all that, sometimes they dont. i wouldnt do open box for a motherboard. graphics card, maybe...but probably not that either.

 

[hikaricloud]

Yeah, I'm not too keen on open box stuff. :[ I priced out an intel build with a Gigabyte mobo here: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards and a 9600 GSO 768mb for 75 bucks on newegg, but it still works out to about 300 bucks... and that's without the core contact freezer. If I can afford to throw the extra money at this upgrade, I'd love to go with it. The E5200 is a really nice overclocker it seems, and I'm partial to intel. The onboard card on the 780G is really making me lean towards it so I don't have to worry about any video card for a while; it will tide me over.

 

[philbar71]

well there are intel mobo's that have decent onboard gfx. and you dont "need" the core contact freezer.

 

[hikaricloud]

well there are intel mobo's that have decent onboard gfx. and you dont "need" the core contact freezer.

Which chipsets have "decent" onbaord? When it comes to onboard video, I don't really know all that much, lol.

 

[Nagasama]

i'd stick with the 780g if at all possible. it is much better than any intel onboard.
and you can use hybrid crossfire when you can buy a cheap card.

 

[hikaricloud]

i'd stick with the 780g if at all possible. it is much better than any intel onboard.
and you can use hybrid crossfire when you can buy a cheap card.

Yeah, that's probably what I'm going to stick with. The mail-in rebates will pay for the core contact cooler, so I can try overclocking without frying anything, haha.

 

[Evolv]

Yea, the 780g will have a lot more overclocking potential compared to that G31. I've worked with the Biostar 780g, it's nice.

 

[hikaricloud]

Yea, the 780g will have a lot more overclocking potential compared to that G31. I've worked with the Biostar 780g, it's nice.

Did you use the onboard video at all? If so, how did it work out for you?

As was suggested, I may get another cheap card sometime later down the pike and use this Hybrid crossfire thing, but for now, I just want to use the onboard to save money.

 

[Evolv]

The HD 3200 onboard video works pretty well. We could play Counter Strike on 1280x1024 at max settings and still get decent fps. And it can handle HD videos. You could always overclock it as well to give it some boost, I didn't try it though. And later on you can get even more performance with Hybrid Crossfire and something like a cheapo HD 3450.

 

[hikaricloud]

The HD 3200 onboard video works pretty well. We could play Counter Strike on 1280x1024 at max settings and still get decent fps. And it can hand HD videos. You could always overclock it as well to give it some boost, I didn't try it though. And later on you can get even more performance with Hybrid Crossfire and something like a cheapo HD 3450.

Wicked. This setup sounds like a winner. Since the MIRs basically pay for the cooler, I'm definitely going to be grabbing it with the rest of the stuff.