# CPU upgrade or full overhaul?



## GENTLEMEN (Jun 18, 2010)

- should've made the name cpu upgrade or full overhaul -

Hi guys. I'm kinda new here on the forums, but not much to system builds. I'm kinda torn between 2 choices with what to do with my system. Any help appreciated. 

Either:
1. I keep the mobo and wait until the bios for Thuban support comes (maybe buy PSU + better cooling + p2 965 c3)
2. go x6 now (PII x6 + mobo + ddr3 + cooling or PSU)


I'm trying to stay under $550 for either way. (8800gt is kinda lagging at 1920x1080 though) So far, the Corsair H50 in Push/Pull looks interesting, though.

edit: whoops. forgot to set show system specs from no to yes


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## erocker (Jun 18, 2010)

Please post your current system specifications.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 18, 2010)

specs posted. also, a mobo with lots of sata ports would be helpful (almost everything is sata now a days)


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## Fourstaff (Jun 18, 2010)

Upgrade your graphics card to 5770 or something like that, and wait for Bulldozer. I don't see any point in upgrading your processor yet, its still quite good.


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

+1 on the GPU upgrade since u said ur 8800 is laggin at ur reso u'll need more memory on a GPU and fast clocks (the 5770) has both.


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 18, 2010)

+1 to the 5770 upgrade. Since it has 1GB the resolution shouldn't bother you so much.


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## GSquadron (Jun 18, 2010)

I think you shouldn't upgrade at all. The 8800 gt is still quite good. My 7600 gs can open any game that i like even assasin's creed 2 which i thought it would be terrific to play in my computer.
25-30 fps in average. (minimum specs) I strongly recommend not to upgrade. Better wait for the gf104 or 6xxx series from ATI. Bear in mind that in 13 june 2 new cards from nvidia will come out. Second generation fermi and without L2 cache, would make it an overclocking champion.


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## brandonwh64 (Jun 18, 2010)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> I think you shouldn't upgrade at all. The 8800 gt is still quite good. My 7600 gs can open any game that i like even assasin's creed 2 which i thought it would be terrific to play in my computer.
> 25-30 fps in average. (minimum specs) I strongly recommend not to upgrade. Better wait for the gf104 or 6xxx series from ATI. Bear in mind that in 13 june 2 new cards from nvidia will come out. Second generation fermi and without L2 cache, would make it an overclocking champion.



Im sorry but i don't believe that your socket 754 system with a 7600GS will play assassins creed 2 at anything playable. my E5200 @ 3.6ghz and a 8800GTS 640 wouldn't play the first assassins creed good at all. I don't know if your trolling but i would like to see some screen shots with fraps running.


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## GSquadron (Jun 18, 2010)

I just uploaded a photo cuz fraps needs converting which i don't have a video converter program.
And yes, assasin's creed 1 was worse to play than 2, cuz i got lower fps.
Bear in mind that i play it with minimum settings possible.
Card and cpu are both overclocked and i am running windows xp x64


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## AlienIsGOD (Jun 18, 2010)

Not everyone is comfortable with Min settings, I cant stand games with everything turned down.  A 5770 would be the best bet for now.


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## GSquadron (Jun 18, 2010)

Still the 8800 gt would make the game playable at medium specs as what i have for now is extremely outdated


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## lyndonguitar (Jun 18, 2010)

wait for bulldozer. while waiting save big. then buy a new rig after the first price drop of the bulldozer. with a 5770 GPU.


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## JrRacinFan (Jun 18, 2010)

I myself have played ACII on a 9600GT overclocked (med 1360x768). It's not _bad_ but a LOT more fun with the 4870(max'd 1680x1050).

@gentlemen

A GPU upgrade would do your system justice and wait for newer stuff.


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## lyndonguitar (Jun 18, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> - should've made the name cpu upgrade or full overhaul -
> 
> Hi guys. I'm kinda new here on the forums, but not much to system builds. I'm kinda torn between 2 choices with what to do with my system. Any help appreciated.
> 
> ...



Oh i see youre from the philippines? where do you live? are you going to buy at Gilmore? If you are. Go to PCHUB. they've got the best prices there.(kamusta haha)


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## Frick (Jun 18, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> I myself have played ACII on a 9600GT overclocked (med 1360x768). It's not _bad_ but a LOT more fun with the 4870(max'd 1680x1050).



What a terrible game it must be then, when it's better when you crank things up. 

And I agree with everyone here: New GPU and then wait. Your system is more than fine.


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## JrRacinFan (Jun 18, 2010)

Frick said:


> What a terrible game it must be then, when it's better when you crank things up.



It is a decent game. In a game like that the graphics helps lure you in to play it more.


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## starams5 (Jun 18, 2010)

I have 8800GT's in SLI on my old rig, some games play okay with high settings, others not so good.  Usually have to do some tweaking, no shadows, etc;  I have GTX260's in SLI on my new rig, they might not be the latest and the greatest but the difference is like night and day.  I agree with the others, upgrade the graphics.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks to all for the quick replys. If I skip the x6 idea for now, I'm back at plan 1. (PII x4 955/965 + cooling + GPU). What would you guys recommend for around $550 altogether? I'm at a need for a faster cpu (unlocked x3 @ 3.3GHz is a bit slow) and will my PSU hold up to overclocking?


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

that Hec has to go i had a Hec X-power pro and the quality freakin sucks RMA if u can if not buy this : Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12...


for AM3 CPU i would get this : AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 ...   AMD PhII 955BE $159

for GPU i would get this :  XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 1...  5770 $159
ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LE... and after market cooler if ur OC'ing if not then just use stock. 

u dont even need to spend 550 for an upgrade lol this would last u for a while, unless u need mobo and ram then we can still work on somehthing still good.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 18, 2010)

i was thinking something more like AMD PII x4 965 c3 and Corsair H50 (will be OCing). Also, what's a good modular psu? I'm trying to avoid more cable mess in my PC.


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## Mandown (Jun 18, 2010)

IMHO up the gpu to 5770, and maybe some cheap 1066 ram, but other than that I'd wait till bulldozer to do a complete upgrade.


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2974472&CatId=1483


this would be perfect Mod. PSU also register the PSU at manufacture site for life time warranty and CPU and ur CPU cooling r both fine

edit  to mandown post:

yep i listed a pretty cheap 5770 for him.


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## trickson (Jun 18, 2010)

Yeah you need to just wait . You can get an HD5770 that will give you an advantage when you over haul your system ( DX11 ) . unless you are a die hard AMD person then you need to wait till Bulldozer or just move right on into a full blown core i7 DDR3 ram ect ..


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

bulldozer wont come out for a bit longer... also pretty sure no one want to spend that much for it... u can do the the job with a 940 / 955 / 965


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## Mandown (Jun 18, 2010)

Well after re-reading the thread about 50 times over, If you up the cpu, gpu and psu you might as well do the overhaul, and since you want to OC you'll be better off.


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

His MSI board isn't all to bad... his main problems that i saw / he stated was his GPU and PSU however that CPU is actually pretty good... dont get me wrong the 965 u chose is in its own league. but for now i think he should stick with his current setup but add on the new PSU GPU and CPU / aftermarket cooling...

but if u do ever want to upgrade then get a AM3 board and some DDR3 (ur 965 ur spoke of up b4 will do just fine with ddr2 if u keep the ur current board) up to u really


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 18, 2010)

i7 is overkill for me, and I'm willing to wait for x6. Fermi is too HOT and HD58xx are beyond my budget. Also, if not H50, what good, inexpensive aircooler do you guys suggest?


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## Mandown (Jun 18, 2010)

joeyck said:


> His MSI board isn't all to bad... his main problems that i saw / he stated was his GPU and PSU however that CPU is actually pretty good... dont get me wrong the 965 u chose is in its own league. but for now i think he should stick with his current setup but add on the new PSU GPU and CPU / aftermarket cooling...
> 
> but if u do ever want to upgrade then get a AM3 board and some DDR3 (ur 965 ur spoke of up b4 will do just fine with ddr2 if u keep the ur current board) up to u really



I Agree with you the gpu and psu replacement and keep current set-up but if you throw in that cpu as well then I see little reason not to upgrade the rest.


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## BraveSoul (Jun 18, 2010)

athlon II unlocked to quad at 3.3ghz sounds good to me, so does the 8gb of ddr2, dont see reason to upgrade these,, ur video card however is behind for sure,, Ati 5850 would be perfect here ,,,that is all
_____________________________





Antec1200 filter project


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

i7 is over kill for every one pretty much lol x6... eh.. most games wont even utilize that so over kill 965 / 955 even 940 would be great nothing under 3.0 tho, the fermi is stupid to buy 58xx is overkill 5770 is good shoot 9800GTX+ SLI / single is awesome lol 

also i would suggest http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4197086&csid=_21 

but it fits a AM2+ (aka AM3 so ur good)


Reply to brave soul :

+1 on the athlon II unlocked 5850 would be a lot for 5770 he would do just perfect

reply to mandown his MSI that he has would be decent ro OC his CPU, i dont expect him to OC to anything over 3.6 since i personally think he wont need (if he runs a 940Be if he uses a 965 i would just go with oc'ing to a good 3.7 - 3.8) spending extra for a new mobo and RAM would to much and wont be needed


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## Mandown (Jun 18, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> i7 is overkill for me, and I'm willing to wait for x6. Fermi is too HOT and HD58xx are beyond my budget. Also, if not H50, what good, inexpensive aircooler do you guys suggest?



This is my suggestion. ZeroTherm NV120


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

i love the speed control on that one and its simple... nice find! but through personal exp. the http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4197086&csid=_21 runs very cool and quiet (my teacher runs this on his 965BE nice cool and quiet and looks nice )


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## Mandown (Jun 18, 2010)

joeyck said:


> i love the speed control on that one and its simple... nice find! but through personal exp. the http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4197086&csid=_21 runs very cool and quiet (my teacher runs this on his 965BE nice cool and quiet and looks nice )



You know I never had the courage to try one of those, I was afraid of how it cooled but I did love the look. Plus I never use the speed control on my fan, its still damn quiet on max.


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## joeyck (Jun 18, 2010)

basically what it does (this is genius by the way) the fan part that sucks the air down the pipes basically gets double the air if u have a front fan (think thats how it works not 100%) ... so any one with an antec 900 / 1200 / 300 with a front fan would get optimal cooling on ur CPU... (and no it doesn't fall off cuz its to heavy, it works awesome)


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 19, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> I myself have played ACII on a 9600GT overclocked (med 1360x768). It's not _bad_ but a LOT more fun with the 4870(max'd 1680x1050).
> 
> @gentlemen
> 
> A GPU upgrade would do your system justice and wait for newer stuff.



A 9600GT OC at med, 1360x768?

Thats strange because i played the game on my friends stock 9600GT at maxed but no AA on 1440x900.


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## JrRacinFan (Jun 19, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> A 9600GT OC at med, 1360x768?
> 
> Thats strange because i played the game on my friends stock 9600GT at maxed but no AA on 1440x900.



1440x900 wasn't an available res for me. Went from that to 1680x1050. Altho I probably could have forced it with a proper refresh rate. Either way I just did medium, really didn't have the 9600GT that long for use.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 19, 2010)

looks like i got lucky this time and stretched my budget for full system overhaul 

Biostar TA890GXB HD (micro atx)
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (not 8GB  but should be enough)

(PSU pending return, lotsa bad reviews)

Pending list:
1055t (no stock at Fry's, build delayed until stock arrives )
MSI R5770 Hawk or any good HD 5770?


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## GSquadron (Jun 19, 2010)

I have heard that msi cyclone is better than hawk, but i don't know if there are any 5770 with cyclone cooling.


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## Zubasa (Jun 19, 2010)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> I have heard that msi cyclone is better than hawk, but i don't know if there are any 5770 with cyclone cooling.


There is no Cyclone 5770, and no the Cyclone isn't really that good at all.


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 19, 2010)

Aleksander Dishnica said:


> I have heard that msi cyclone is better than hawk, but i don't know if there are any 5770 with cyclone cooling.



Just get a Sapphire 5770 normal/vapor-x or a HIS 5770 normal/ Iceq 5. The card cooling is really good.


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## Fourstaff (Jun 19, 2010)

I think it doesn't really matter which cooling you get with the 5770, even with the crappiest cooling you will still get fantastic temps.


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 19, 2010)

Fourstaff said:


> I think it doesn't really matter which cooling you get with the 5770, even with the crappiest cooling you will still get fantastic temps.



Yep thats true.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 23, 2010)

Okay I'm back. PSU is now Thermaltake TR2 RX 650w. Hopefully that'll suffice for some OC'ing.


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## trickson (Jun 23, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> Okay I'm back. PSU is now Thermaltake TR2 RX 650w. Hopefully that'll suffice for some OC'ing.



Not a very good choice in PSU if you ask me . I have had Tt and they do not seem to be of the best or even med quality ! JMHO .


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## JrRacinFan (Jun 23, 2010)

trickson said:


> Not a very good choice in PSU if you ask me . I have had Tt and they do not seem to be of the best or even med quality ! JMHO .



I agree. Would have looked at a Toughpower if needing to buy a Tt. Depending on the price tho the TR2 isnt too too bad.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 23, 2010)

Only toughpower available here is like 1200W and that's beyond overkill.


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## TechPowerDown (Jun 25, 2010)

Over Haul, DDR3 Is Much Better, Processor Is Still Good. And Upgrade The Graphics.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 28, 2010)

well, looks like my upgrades (when I get some sleep) are as follows:
Thermaltake TR2 RX 650w (hopefully enough, needed modular)
Biostar TA890GXB HD (will return later)
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

If I don't go x6 now, I'd rather go for a good am3 board and be ready for x6 (and bulldozer, should it be am3).

Any recommendations for a board which is:
x6 ready
known for good overclocks on air
lots of sata ports (more than 6)
at least 2 pcie slots
NOT mini-atx and extended atx
Asus or Gigabyte

Right now I'm looking at the ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 and just thinking of adding a pcie to sata card to fix my lack of sata ports.


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## Dent1 (Jun 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> well, looks like my upgrades (when I get some sleep) are as follows:
> Thermaltake TR2 RX 650w (hopefully enough, needed modular)
> Biostar TA890GXB HD (will return later)
> CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
> ...



I would hold off the new motherboard and DDR3 for the time being, your main bottleneck right now is your video card. Like you said you are not buying a Phenom II X6 at the moment so what advantage will DDR3 have for you? It makes more sense to switch to DDR3 with a new motherboard and the Phenom II X6 or Bulldozer at the as same time, hopefully by then motherboard prices and DDR3 prices will be lower. Your current 785GT-E63 seems like a decent board I would bet my house that you could probably drop Phenom II X6 in there without issue, MSI seem to be consistent with the bios updates so hopefully in a few months an official X6 bios will be released and hence saving you the cost and hassle of jumping into a new mobo and ram. 

But for the moment address the video card if you are feeling the itch to upgrade something!


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 28, 2010)

I do some light gaming at 1920x1080 (MW2 and other FPS) so I can live with dropping down the settings a notch. But multitasking I do a lot, and even with an x3 unlocked to x4 and OC'd to 3.3-3.4 isn't enough, and I don't wanna go the Intel way (too expensive to go i7). I can OC my 8800gt quite a bit so I can hold off gpu upgrade for now. Though, what I do need is a good mobo recommendation.


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## Dent1 (Jun 28, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> what I do need is a good mobo recommendation.



The cheapest motherboards with the most support and features is any motherboard based on the 785G chipset. But like I said earlier you could probably drop a Phenom II X6 in your current motherboard without a bios update, it might be worth attempting yourself before investing in a new motherboard/ram.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 29, 2010)

True, but I'm a week away from my main system (on vacation/shopping trip) and my board is really lacking in sata ports and pcie slots. It's been a while since I spurged. (about me board, I read around the net that MSI should release the bios update sometime soon, but wouldn't DDR2 limit the performance of the x6 or something? I'm VERY new to DDR3 so I'm not sure)


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## Fishymachine (Jun 29, 2010)

You REALLY don't need a X6 today,and you already have a quad.
What you can do is get a volt-friendly 5770 Hawk or even a GF104 is nVi didn't screw up again


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 29, 2010)

well, true. but a upgrade to a board with lots of sata ports (a newer 8xx board would be nice) is very necessary atm. And I can manage dropping quality settings down a notch for games so GPU isn't that much a must now.

Also, it would be nice to see my temps again (without disabling the unlocked core)


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## Dent1 (Jun 29, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> but wouldn't DDR2 limit the performance of the x6 or something? I'm VERY new to DDR3 so I'm not sure)



Nope, the X6 will reach its potential whether its DDR2 or DDR3.

The only time DDR2 will limit you is in applications which require additional memory bandwidth which are specialist applications for i.e. video editing, graphic design, CAD work etc and even then you'd probably need DDR3 with really high bus rate of 1600MHz+ to benefit over DDR2 . No amount of multi-tasking in windows using generic applications will require that amount of memory bandwidth or a X6 for that matter.

I am currently running the ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO, highly recommend this midrange board with the latest bios I can achieve a 1GHz overclock on the processor via FSB with only 1.45v and a 500Mhz overclock on my memory sticks with low latancies, see my specification on the side. The board has 5x sata ports and its one of the cheapest AM3 boards with Hybrid CrossFireX support.

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=fcsXWSxnhzZE9rnR


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## kurosagi01 (Jun 29, 2010)

Your current spec looks good to me in my opinion,i would just consider getting a corsair 650W psu and a 5850 and maybe the Corsair H50 cooling.
SAPPHIRE 100282-3SR Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 29, 2010)

The asus board looks nice but lacks sata ports (though that 2nd pcie might be useful). And i need a board which will last me for a a few years, so i'd rather get a relatively high end (8xx) board now. Also, I need a modular PSU before anything else. Also, I have yet to find a board which supports 4 slots of ddr2 AND x6 at the same time.


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## Dent1 (Jun 29, 2010)

GENTLEMEN said:


> I have yet to find a board which supports 4 slots of ddr2 AND x6 at the same time.



They are around, but they are hard to find as DDR2 prices are so high that consumers are opting for DDR3 generally speaking which has meant that retailers rather stock what's selling.

Buying a DDR2 capable AM3 board seems pointless considering that you have a adaquate board already, you may as well go all in and sell your DDR2 sticks on ebay and use the money to help invest in DDR3 memory with a AM3 board.

You only have 2 sensible choices.

1.) Sell current AM2+ board and DDR2 and invest in a AM3 board with DDR3 memory

or 

2.) Keep your existing board and dropping in a new CPU

As you've expressed a strong will to have more sata ports option 1 seems the best.


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## GENTLEMEN (Jun 30, 2010)

I'm back, and took the x6 + DDR3 plunge. Incomplete specs are as follows:
Gigabyte 880ga-ud3h
(ddr3 ram and PSU as specified in previous posts) 2 sets, leading to 8gb ram.
Coolermaster Hyper N520 (will probably switch out fans for high airflow ones)
Hitachi 1TB drive (lotsa bad reviews on WD Blacks 1tb and up)

I chose gigabyte since that board (and others) have 1 thing I need a LOT (8 sata ports)

Will update when I get back home (Philippines)


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