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Thread: I've got the upgrade itch again

  1. #1
    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    I've got the upgrade itch again

    I blame you all.

    I've been getting less and less happy with my system as the weeks and months go by, and I know that my P4 is neither cool nor particularly good these days for gaming etc.

    That said, it works. My system is stable, does what I want (by and large, but read on), and it is quiet-ish.

    But i want more. More. MORE! I am a greedy tech-obsessed geek with a credit card and a girlfriend who doesn't have to know what I do with it (i hope).

    Specifically, i want a faster system, i want to play games at my max res, and I want to have what you guys all have: - a 939 system and PCI-Express.

    Now i have not got a specific budget, but you know, i have to repair my oven soon (might cost £100) and need to look at double glazing too (£ don't ask), so i don't have money to burn.

    Am seiously considering the much-talked about ASRock Dual motherboard, and keeping my GeForce 6800 AGP for the time being, but with the knowledge that i am (finally) on the PCI-Express road (phew). To go with that (CPU-wise) however, am slightly less sure.
    I probably can't really afford an X2 at the moment, so has to be £150 or less. Probably.
    Am considering: A64 3200, A64 3700, and Opteron 146. Will try to get it OEM, and get a decent cooler (have always gone with Zalmans but like the idea of Arctic Coolers).

    Can anyone give me an opinion? I want the latest and greatest, with good upgrade paths, but don't want to shell out for it!

    PS Can anyone confirm what i heard that the ASrock will be future compatible with the M2 socket????
    Last edited by MSIC; 20-02-2006 at 01:43 PM.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member sawyen's Avatar
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    I wouldnt count too much on the Asrock with M2, they'll probably come with compromises here and there.

    But for £150, u cud go with a 3200+ OEM + that Asrock u just mentioned... miught not run 1T with 2 sticks.. but just small compromises for the price really..
    Me want Ultrabook


  3. #3
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    I've got the Asrock DualSata and it has a CPU expansion socket for AM2. Not sure how good it will be though. Hopefully it will be good so I can keep this board for a while as I wont be upgrading for a while yet from my Opteron.

  4. #4
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    Asrock board is cheap enough you can just replace it anyway. That's the way I would look at it. Great value for money now and has a PCI-E slot for a new graphics card. I'm happy with mine and will go X2 on this board later when the prices drop. I very much doubt I'll go AM2 with any kind of adapter because it probably won't make much sense when the time comes. No doubt the DDR2 memory will be faster or cheaper or some such thing will throw a spanner in whatever long term plan you have.

  5. #5
    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    • MSIC's system
      • Motherboard:
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    True. Good points.

    Am really interested in getting this motherboard, but seen two reviews
    TechPowerUp and TweakTown which give conflicting reports about overclocking.
    As I intend on getting an Opteron 146 for that very purpose, can anyone tell me from experience if i should be getting this board or not??
    Cheers
    I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
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  6. #6
    Alien Symbiote Sumanji's Avatar
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    Before you jump ship mate, have you tried clocking your CPU? That 2.6C might have a fair bit of mileage in it... wouldn't be surprised at 3.2+ GHz. And that would give you a pretty nice boost in games and apps!

    Suman

    P.S. Fellow Notts man whereabouts are you?

  7. #7
    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    • MSIC's system
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    Yep, certainly have. It goes to ....... 2.75 Ghz reliably!!!
    I know the 'C' northwoods were known for doing well, but my old 1.6 northwood went to 2.1 Ghz on this motherboard, so i know it's not that. Just a wimpy P4 i guess.

    Anyway, i have now ordered an ASRock DualSATA motherboard, an Opteron 146 (OEM - Great price from scan!! £126! Overclockers are selling it for £176!!). Also got an Arctic Freezer 64 from aria as scan dont have it in stock.
    Or so i thought..... see this post....
    Last edited by MSIC; 21-02-2006 at 09:01 AM.
    I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
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  8. #8
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    The Asrock is good for overclocking apart from 2 things.

    1) The bios that it comes shipped with has a 274HTT lock on it.

    Solution: Download the OCWBeta1 BIOS from www.ocworkbench.com/asrock and flash the motherboard

    2) The max vcore on a stock DualSata is 1.45v

    Solution: Get details on the Vcore Mod from www.ocworkbench.com/asrock. It involves soldering two pins together on your motherboard and then allows you to have a vcore of upto 1.575v IIRC.

    I've had my Opty 146 upto 2.7ghz on air and with only 1.45v. I'm not comfortable doing the voltmod until I can find a conductive pen that isnt ~£20 as I'm not too steady with a soldering iron. I reckon with the voltmod, I could get 3ghz on air.

  9. #9
    A shadowy flight. MSIC's Avatar
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    Nice one, good advice.
    Am really not wanting to solder my motherboard either, just dont feel confident!
    I'm commenting on an internet forum. Your facts hold no sway over me.
    - Another poster, from another forum.

    System as shown, plus: Microsoft Wireless mobile 4000 mouse and Logitech Illuminated keyboard.
    Sennheiser RS160 wireless headphones. Creative Gigaworks T40 SII. My wife.
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  10. #10
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    Def stick with artic cooler on the upgrade cheap as chips and one hell of a cooler. The 3700 can clock very well I have mines at 250 fsb flying with 1mb cache. if on a tight budget the 3200 can do well too should hit 2500. Stick with asus board for clocking at nice price compared to DFI.

  11. #11
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Yup, happy with my asrock as I'm not going to be approaching the limitations listed. Lack of 1T mem timing bothers some (and me a little bit).

    It requires a daughter card to be AM2 compatible - I think this won't be worth it and it'll be better just to get a new 40 quid motherboard if you need to go AM2. But regardless of this it's a great board.

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