Upgrade

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:32 am

What PSU would I need for this mobo? Abit UL8 ULi M1689 (Socket 939) Motherboard

I've got a DVD-RW and DVD drive installed. I think the PSU I have in now is a little over 400w, I’ll have to check.

Basically I’m upgrading soon and I’m looking at this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... ndles.html
AMD Athlon 64 3200 Retail / Abit UL8 / 512MB GeIL PC3200 CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit

Plus an extra 512 RAM and:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... oling.html
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940)

I'm not bothered about PCIe or a faster CPU and from what I’ve been told this will run games OK with my ATI Radeon 9000 card.

All in with VAT is £249.98.

Thoughts?

Post by **mik0rs** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:57 am

400W should be fine for that lot. As for it playing games ok with a Radeon 9000, depends on what you're looking to play, but I'd imagine Quake 4 will bring it to it's knees.

Post by **Psyche911** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:00 am

The AC Freezer is a great HSF. I have the Freezer 4 (socket 478). Other than the video card, that should be a decent system.

A Radeon 9000 isn't going to play anything newer than Quake 3 at a decent framerate.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:11 am

lol, oh.

OK, seeing that system what card should I be looking for. Don't go too mad though, remember i'm not on the system.

Post by **mik0rs** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 11:27 am

The Asus 6800 I bought a couple of weeks ago is a solid card, it's a V9999/TD, 128MB. For £120 inc P&P I'm really happy with it, is that far too expensive for this?

Here's the link anyway:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products ... _uid=98265

Other than that maybe a 9800 Pro wouldn't be too bad. Again for Quake 4 it might struggle but my 9700 non-pro dealt with HL2 really well at 1024*768 res and high detail.

They've got a bunch of X700 cards on Overclockers since that's the site you're buying from, they're a similar price to the out ofstock 9800 I found on EBuyer, I don't know how they compare though:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... eries.html

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:27 pm

Does anyone know how this card Sapphire ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP) stands up with my upgrade?

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:32 pm

Even better. Say i have £400 inc VAT to spend, what would you buy?

Post by **Foo** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:00 pm

Asus A8N-SLi Deluxe
XFX Geforce 6600 256 (SLi Ready)
Athlon 64 939Socket ~3200
2x512Mb dual channel RAM kit.

Averages up at about 100 notes per item, with the graphics being a little more expensive and the ram/mobo being a little less.

Then a PSU on top of it all.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:14 pm

Would i need another PSU? I already have a 400+watt PSU

Post by **DiscoDave** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:31 pm

If its a good 400W psu then it should be fine. If its a cheapo 400W maybe not..

You have to be aware that cheap psu's dont usually output what they say. My cheap 600W psu actually only outputs a good 450w.

Post by **Psyche911** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 2:40 pm

Get a 6800GS. It's a new card that just came out, as fast as the 6800GT but only $200US.

And yeah, what brand is the PSU? Cheaper ones quote their max output, which can only be done for around 30-60 seconds. Better brands quote their highest sustained output. So a cheaper 400watt might not provide any more power than a higher end 300watt.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:15 pm

i THINK it's this one
Q-Tec 400W Dual Fan Gold PSU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... c_139.html

Post by **Oeloe** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:42 pm

I run a A64 3200+ with Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 and a Radeon 9800 Pro on a Nexus 350 W PSU. Some 120 mm fans and the usual 7200 RPM hdd and DVD burner. A really good 300 W would even run this perfectly, but 350 W is enough. High end vidcards like a GF 6800 GT or better or an ATi equivalent will require some more power. In that case go for something like a 400-450 W PSU. Remember that cheap PSU's can deliver lower continuous power than higher quality ones.

For an interesting overview of videocards look here.

Qtec doesn't have a very high reputation (cheap). Buy a PSU from a respectable brand like Antec/Zalman/Nexus/Enermax/Fortron/etc.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:45 pm

Sounds like i'm sorted then.

I should be upgrading about a months after my new house is sorted, so around feb 06. Oh, i'll be back on boardband by then so get your insta-sticks out.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:46 pm

PS, thanks for the advise.

I'll see how it runs first and if i have issues i'll upgrade the PSU as well.

Post by **Doombrain** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 3:47 pm

Oh, and another thing.

Do i have to run Windows XP 64?

Post by **Psyche911** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:20 pm

Doombrain wrote:Oh, and another thing.

Do i have to run Windows XP 64?

Nope. It's optional. If you own Windows XP (32-bit) now, keep using it. If you're buying Windows, buy 64-bit for futureproofing.

And if/when you buy a PSU, I'd highly recommend either a Seasonic S12 or Enermax Liberty PSU. They both come in ~400-600 watt versions.. They are around 80% efficient as opposed to most other lines of PSUs being around 60%. I calculated that with my computer usage, that would save me about $40US a year, and the 400 watt versions are actually quite well priced in the $80US range.

I'll be buying the Enermax Liberty 500watt, myself.

Post by **DiscoDave** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:32 pm

Doombrain wrote:i THINK it's this one
Q-Tec 400W Dual Fan Gold PSU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ ... c_139.html

heh, same make as my old 600watter.

Saying that though, my housemate runs the same psu on a 3800+ 6800gt etc etc and it seems fine.