Upgrade Time!

[mumchumba]

Hi,

I posted here in Jan 07 but that topic has now closed.
(original topic: http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...tml#post978665)

To recap, the rig I built at the time contained the following:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHZ
MSI P6N nForce 680 Pci-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Geil 2GB PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Chan
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3
Corsair HX 620W ATX 2.2. PSU
Lian-Li PC V1000 Plus Case

Since then i've purchased a second BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 OC Edition and enabled it in SLI mode with the original BFG.

Now I feel the need to upgrade first the RAM then the processor. I was thinking of simply getting another 2GB of the orginal ram (35 quid from Overclockers) but am wondering whether it might be more advisable to dump the old ram and buy 4GB of something sexy but not too expensive. Anyone have any suggestions ?

I would love to swap the processor for a Core 2 Quad, preferably the Yorkfield version but I hear the MB is not compatible with the Yorkfield. Instead i've been advised to upgrade to a Q6600 and overclock it to QX6950 performance. What do you guys think?

I've returned to this forum because I got such common sense advice when I initially posted. Just goes to show that people will, and do, return

Cheers, Shaun.

[staffsMike]

What is the upgrade for? What are you trying to improve? If it's for gaming the quad wont improve anything.

The Q6600 will work with that mobo I think but overclocking can be serverly tricky..

2x2GB sticks are better for power usage, mobo stress and overclocking. You can often get 2x2GB PC6400 for £35, ebuyer normally sell Crucial Ballistix which I have

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Why don't you try overclocking you existing CPU first?? Not all games will benefit from a quad core. Some such as FarCry 2 do though!!

Scan have the Q6600 under £150 including a free copy of FarCry 2:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Intel...-8MB-Cache-OEM

However the later Q6600 processors are not as good overclockers than earlier ones. However you should be able to hit 3ghz to 3.2ghz relatively easily.

The offical CPU support list for your motheroard does not mention any of the newer quads:

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?f...1&maincat_no=1

I would go for 2x2gb of RAM.

Novatech have 4gb of Corsair RAM for under £40 delivered:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...x1y0z1p0s0n0m0

With delivery both Ebuyer and Scan will cost more than £40 for similar RAM delivered.

[shbris]

^^ agreed, why quad core ...

4gb would loosen up slight bottle neck, other than that ur upgrade money is probably best saved or spent on more storage or something

(chances are ur rig is faster than alot of people here, students... )

[mumchumba]

Wow, quick replies, many thanks!

I haven't yet tried over-clocking the E6600, perhaps i should look at that first. But I do intend to get as much life out of this rig as I can so I will have to look at upgrading to a quad core at some point I imagine. Would you be able to reccomend an overclocking reference for the E6600 ?

Thanks for the MSI link to the motherboard but mine has copper pipes on it. When I go through the manual motherboard identification process (nVidia 680i etc) I only get a P6N Diamond listed whereas mine is listed as a MSI P6N nForce 680 Pci-Express on the sales invoice. Of course the invoice could be wrong.

Are the Crucial Ballistix 6400s "better" than the Geil's then ? If so then I'd go for 2*2GB of those.

Thanks again, I wish I could give something back.

[staffsMike]

I have a set of the same geil.. 3 actually and trust it more than any other but the crucial is proving very good and cheap if you get the same price.

It's not better.. no branded RAM has a particular performance advantage with core 2.

I overclocked my E6600 in 680i to around 3.6GHz
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...beginners.html

Start there but there are easier ways with a 680i board due to unlinked FSB speeds.

[mumchumba]

Not sure what you meant by unlinked FSB speeds but i'm sure i'll find out in the link you gave me, thanks. Oh, did you manage 3.6GHz with stock cooling ?

Cheers, Shaun.

[staffsMike]

It means you can overclock the CPU and RAM independently. The guide doesn't cover it, but it does cover the best way to do it.

I found unlinking useful to see if it was the chip that couldn't go any further or the RAM

[mumchumba]

It seems I have an MSI P6N + Nvidia 680i chipset. Note this is not the P6N SLI (which has a 650i chipset) or the P6N Diamond (which was released later). Rather this is a reference board made by some other manufacturer that also made the EVGA and BFG boards (at least thats what the web tells me).

What is worse is that MSI do not offer any bios upgardes for this board on their main website, nope, instead you have to go to here:
http://support.msicomputer.co.uk/ind...mid=11&nav=0,1

So not even MSI want to admit having sold this board, probably because it was manufactured by a competitor. I have to say that such an attitude has completely ruled out me ever buying an MSI board again. I had very bad support from Asus once and have never touched their products since. Its a shame that manufacturers can sell a board one minute then cut off their "customers" the next (it took them a very long while to make a bios download available and even then you have to go through the back door to get it).

The latest verison of the bios available from MSI is P32....however, nVidia, BFG and EVGA have released a P33 version.

So my question is, can I flash my board with one of the other manufacturer bios releases ?

Secondly, stay away from MSI!

Cheers, Shaun.

[Badbonji]

I don't think using other manufacturers will work, and possibly even brick it...
I would just go along with a Q6600 for now and overclock it