abit AW9D-max

[Trogen]

Hi,

Hope you guys can help me.

I have a AW9D-max motherboard, already setup but I'm looking to upgrade parts.

Could anyone please help me with to max out my Motherboard with the best parts it can take, ie, graphics(crossfire if needed), memory(I think I know this one), Power needed, CPU, SATA drives and anything else you can think off.

Your help would be appriciated.

[Tetras]

The AW9D-MAX will work fine with either card but only Crossfire has official support.

If you have an X1950 Pro then I'd suggest you look at replacing it with a HD 4850, which would be a huge step up in performance (but may be CPU limited, what do you have now?).

[Trogen]

Wow, you guys are fast.

I have a Pentium 4 CPU 3GHz, 1Gb RAM.

The Graphics card issue, I would like to stick with Radeon and love to try out crossfire.

Also, could you recommend a new PSU (power) to cope with all this.

Thankyou

[Tetras]

There is no need to Crossfire, a single Radeon 4850 can power 1680 x 1050 resolution in modern games with ease and costs approx £120.

Your CPU and RAM are a serious bottleneck (to the point the performance benefit of a 4850 would be negated).

You'll need to pick up a new CPU and at least 2GB of memory (though even 4GB kits can be had for around £60).

For the AW9D-MAX I'd consider picking up a second hand E6600, which can be found for as little as £50. With BIOS updates it can also support an E8000 series Wolfdale (dual core) CPU but they are around £100 - £150.

[hokiealumnus]

Also, could you recommend a new PSU (power) to cope with all this.

Links are US, but you'll get the idea. The short of it is - as large of a single +12v rail as you can afford.

Single GPU:

• Corsair 450VX (single, 33A +12v rail)
• PC Power & Cooling Silencer 500 (single, 35A +12v rail)

Min for a CF setup, but will be working to do so:

• PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610 (single, 49a +12v rail).
• Corsair 550VX (single, 41a +12v rail).

For CF with beastly GPUs:

• Corsair 650TX (single, 52A +12v rail)
• PC Power & Cooling 750W (single, 60A +12v rail)

[Trogen]

Ok, you guys are great, thanks for all the advice.

I'm going to go look at these items you have advised, I will get back to you all on this link as soon as I have priced up, just to make sure I am doing it right.

Thanks again.