VaKo Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 Going to upgrade my computer, but not especially for gaming. So far: Core 2 Duo 6300 2GB DDR2 5300 or Core 2 Duo 6600 1GB DDR2 5300 (is the 6600's 4MB of level 2 cache worth the extra £100 I could spend on RAM? I know I can add more ram later, but again would 4GB of RAM with a 2mb cache be better than 2GB of RAM with 4mb of cache?) What I need to know is: What is a good motherboard for this? Main things I'm after are an Intel 965P or 975X chipset with Intel onboard graphics, sound, firewire etc for about £100. I'm planning to add graphics, sound and a sata raid controller at a later data, so I can do with integrated graphics&sound and no raid until then. I don't really game that often so SLI and physics cards don't interest me. The system will be dual booting XP Pro and some form of Linux, probally Suse, and I'll be using a number 250GB WD Sata2 drives with 16mb of cache. And lastly, is Hiper an OK brand for PSU's? Again, don't care about lights, glowing things, windows, parts that bounce or anything with windows cut in the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingwray Posted November 19, 2006 Share Posted November 19, 2006 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo...roductID=433274 Would get my vote. As the only difference really between 975 and 965 is that the 975 supports Crossfire, you could go with a nVidia chipset but then again people tend to go for them because they want SLi support. Which you have said you arn't interested in. The 965 is a better overclockers than the 975 as it is a newer chip than the 975, I don't know whether you are interested in that or not. I know you said that you wanted intergrated graphics but seriously I wouldn't bother. You'd be much better buying something like this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo...roductID=442876 Because it will then actually run games, plus when you do upgrade your gfx you can put that in a PCI-E 1x and run the extra monitors. Hiper are a good brand of PSU, i have a Type-R myself, they are infact Coolermaster just under a different name. Very stable and get very good voltages. On the decision between more ram or not, I would go for more, if I remember you do a lot of photography so more ram would really help with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share Posted November 20, 2006 I have a motherboard now: Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 Main reason for getting integrated graphics is so that I can do without games until I can afford a better graphics card, and when I upgrade, I can use it without a graphics card. Plus, the X3000 chip interests me, apparently its direct X 10 due to some fancy programmable pipeline tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSenay Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 When it comes to Core 2 mobos, im all in favor of Asus. I've had an asus board for about 5 years, and am still using it as a main PC. It runs amazingly well and i have never had a problem with it. Maybe something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131045 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingwray Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 When it comes to Core 2 mobos, im all in favor of Asus. I've had an asus board for about 5 years, and am still using it as a main PC. It runs amazingly well and i have never had a problem with it. Maybe something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16813131045 Apart from downloading drivers from Asus you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ABC Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 Im building a similar system soon and as a a big fan of pcpro i would recomend : http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo...;source=Froogle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelictorment Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 At the current moment I'm running a gaming system using the P5N32 SLI Deluxe from Asus. I've had no problems with it since I've had it, nor downloading drivers from them. I don't know about integrated graphics though, as I've never dealt with them except with my laptop. So I'm of no help there, but I'd go with either Asus, or eVGA is s'ppose to make a nice motherboard for the Conroe processor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted November 20, 2006 Author Share Posted November 20, 2006 Fuckit... 6600 and 4GB of RAM... Should be Vista Proof, and Suse will fly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OtterFox Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Fuckit... 6600 and 4GB of RAM... Should be Vista Proof, and Suse will fly!Damn that makes my horny...not you VaKo, the setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ABC Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 dont worry vako, you make me horney :P [/joke] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
take it take Posted November 22, 2006 Share Posted November 22, 2006 Take the 2nd one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.