DDR3, CPU cooler... and probably some help putting it together!

So once upon a time I had a Compaq SR1340UK Desktop PC. It was pretty cool, but time stands for no box of kit and over the years I've fudged it into a new case and added a few pieces to try to keep it up to date. However, the beating heart of the machine is still the Athlon 64 3200+ from the original Compaq. There's a brand new AMD Phenom X4 965 125W processor in the post now though, as well as an MSI GD70 to plug it into. So now I have a few questions:

- What RAM should I get?

- How likely am I to break anything? The other changes I've made haven't been a big problem, but I foresee getting thermal paste everywhere...

- Is a Hyper Z600 any good as a cooler? I'm not overly bothered about overclocking, but I would run it with a fan, maybe two.


Here are the full stats of my machine, if it helps..

>>>>>>>Original>>>>>>>>>>>Now>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Future

Case-------Compaq case>>>>>>>>CM Stacker 831
PSU--------Generic 300W>>>>>>>PC P&C Silencer 750w
Cooler-----Stock>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hyper Z600?
Mobo-------MSI 7093>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MSI GD70
CPU--------AMD Athlon 64 3200+>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AMD PHenom II x4 965
GPU--------ATi X300 SE>>>>>>>>Sapphire ATi HD 3870
RAM--------1GB DDR>>>>>>>>>>2GB DDR>>>>>>>>>>>>>DDR3 ???
Storage----200GB Seagate>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WD Caviar Black 500GB

This article should be useful for you to read:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ddr3,2319.html

Basically if you do not intend to overclock 1333MHZ DDR3 at low latencies is the best RAM to buy:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166996

If you intend to do some overclocking then get some 1600MHZ DDR3 as you may need to increase the HT speed:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/180490

The MSI GD70 is am3 so it's DDR3 only, however being an amd there's no voltage restrictions.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/166996
I'm sure this was only £60 last week :(
Still good memory for the price.

EDIT: I doubt the Hyper Z600 could cope passive, that 965 is too hot a cpu, but use the brackets and get a 120mm pwm fan and it should be good.
Only question really is price? and if there's something better out there.

This list of heatsinks should help:

http://www.frostytech.com/top5heatsinks.cfm

I forgot the CM hyper 212+
Intresting to see frosty have it at number7 esp as I picked one up from play for under £20

I've not tested mine out yet, beound a quick test fit of the mounting bracket, which I like, I'm still waiting for my new ddr3 to arrive to I can put my i5 together and compair it against the stock cooler and my Ultima90

Hey guys, thanks for the input!

I liked the look of the Z600, and from what I read about it, it seemed relatively decent as a passive cooler. I've not seen any numbers as to how much heat it can dissipate though, I suppose it would depend on your case airflow, but I would almost certainly run it with push pull fans. I'll read the links you've posted, and see if there's anything better though. Price wise I'm not overly constrained - not bought any hardware for quite while, but obviously don't want to waste money...

All the bits and bobs I ordered have turned up, and I bought that Crucial DDR3 that was recommended. It was pretty hard to find anything comparable under £100, so thanks for the link!

I'd kind of like to put it all together, but I've still not really decided on a cooler. Will it be a lot of effort getting it off if I use the stock cooler for now and change a bit later? As I don't intend to overclock for at least a while, will the stock cooler be all right? It looks pretty small compared to the things I've been looking at buying, and my stock 939 cooler is pretty noisy...

The stock cooler should be fine if you don't intend to do much overclocking. The AMD coolers are more tricky to install than the Intel ones IMHO although if you are careful it should not be an issue. TBH,it is usually just easier to install the after-market cooler you want at the beginning as it avoids any hassle later on if you want to overclock.