Upgrading Computer

[Strip]

I am upgrading my computer and was curious to see what you guru's opinions were of this combination......

AMD Phenom 9950 Agena 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition

with

GeForce 9800 GT 512mb with a 500-600 watt PSU.

This will be running 64-bit Windows Vista and will be upgraded to Windows 7 ASAP. I am tired of not being able to max out everything when it comes to most video games.

<S> Strip

[Getback]

Are you using a current motherboard? I would urge you to get a pc power and cooling power supply, preferably the 750 quad. Other than that I have preferences but nothing against the AMD chip or the video card.

[Strip]

Getback,
Yes its a current mother board and do you think the combo is well matched? ie no bottle neck?

Just another tid bit of info......3.0 GB of DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)

[stran]

most games, AH included will be better off with a faster clock speed than more cores. if i were on a budget i would get a 2 core processor at 3.0 ghz.

[BaldEagl]

Agreed.  Most games don't make efficient use of quad cores and the dual cores typically bench better in games.  That said some of the AMD dual cores have a bug whereby you'll have to run a patch that essentially disables one core.

The card choice is good.

Is your memory in matched pairs (i.e. 2 x 1 Gb + 2 x 512 Mb)?  If not you'd get better performance by running in matched pairs so a couple of 1 Gb RAM chips to replace a single would get you back into dual channel mode.

[Getback]

Getback,
Yes its a current mother board and do you think the combo is well matched? ie no bottle neck?

Just another tid bit of info......3.0 GB of DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)

I'm no expert at motherboards. Besides, what is your motherboard? We can take a look at it. I'm sure some have some will have excellent suggestions. As far as the ram goes that is very slow these days. But let's wait until we see the motherboard.

Stran, As far as the duo cores go, I prefer intel but the 3 gig intel chip is about 170 bucks and I'm not sure of the budget. So I just looked at the chip. It worries me still about the amd duo cores although I know I've heard the newer ones don't have the bug.

[Masherbrum]

Getback,
Yes its a current mother board and do you think the combo is well matched? ie no bottle neck?

Just another tid bit of info......3.0 GB of DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)

First buy two of these: (Crucial, G Skill or Corsair)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052408745%201052307859&name=2GB

then

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009

Running 3GB's is more than likely negating your Dual Channel Memory speed.   RAM is cheap and less than $50 gives you 4GB kit.  Then + Video Card memory (with 64 Bit), giving you around 4.5GB total system memory.   Depending on your Motherboard, you might even be able to get DDR2 800, instead of the DDR2 667.   

PC & Cooling PSU's are tanks.   They are heavy and run at 40 degrees Celsius, which even helps keeping your case cool.   OCZ are good too.  I have a PC & Cooling, so that is my first recommendation, as I have no experience with OCZ PSU's.

[Strip]

First buy two of these: (Crucial, G Skill or Corsair)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052408745%201052307859&name=2GB

Beginner Question(s).....

How is that different than what I have now?

I think they have the same speed PC2-5300 correct? Could be wrong here, if so that negates the next question.

Other than being 4 Gb instead of 3 GB what would be the benefit?

Just saw edit: That explains the above questions fairly well thanks!

The MotherBoard....sigh...I can hear it already....upgrade.

ECS MCP61PM-AM Mainboard

• Brand: AMD
• Socket type: AM2
• System bus: 2000 MT/s 
 
Chipset
• MCP61P/MCP61S
 
Memory
• Type: 2 DIMM DDR2 sockets (visually see 4 with 3 being used)
• Supported speeds: 800,667,533,400 MHz
• Expandable up to 2 GB total memory (shows 4 GBs allowed)
 
Audio
• AC'97 ALC888 7.1

     At this point if it runs it I will put up with some headaches til finances become a little more available. I went over board as it is already.....Fathers Day and some poker money financed what I have already. Its a micro ATX form factor which I will be staying with.

Strip

[Masherbrum]

Beginner Question(s).....

How is that different than what I have now?

I think they have the same speed PC2-5300 correct? Could be wrong here, if so that negates the next question.

Other than being 4 Gb instead of 3 GB what would be the benefit?

The MotherBoard....sigh...I can hear it already....upgrade.

ECS MCP61PM-AM Mainboard

• Brand: AMD
• Socket type: AM2
• System bus: 2000 MT/s 
 
Chipset
• MCP61P/MCP61S
 
Memory
• Type: 2 DIMM DDR2 sockets (visually see 4 with 3 being used)
• Supported speeds: 800,667,533,400 MHz
• Expandable up to 2 GB total memory (shows 4 GBs allowed)
 
Audio
• AC'97 ALC888 7.1

     At this point if it runs it I will put up with some headaches til finances become a little more available. I went over board as it is already.....Fathers Day and some poker money financed what I have already. Its a micro ATX form factor which I will be staying with.

Strip

Buy 2 sticks of 2GB of DDR2-800, your MB supports it and it is faster than 667.   You want to utilize "Dual Channel" RAM speed.   If you fill 3 of the 4 slots, it is Single Channel.   

800's for you:   The goal is "Matched Pairs".   I have 2 x 2GB of Mushkin 1066 RAM on my PC.   I run 32 Bit XP Pro.   I dropped about $140 for my 4GB kit last July when I built this.   

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052416064%201052307859&name=2GB

No need to upgrade the MB Strip.   We're merely trying to help get the most out of what you have currently.   You WILL notice a notable improvement of Dual Channel.   

[Getback]

Strip, I couldn't locate that mother board. However, the chip is an am2+ and the board is a socket am2. Now I don't know if it is a am2/am2+ or not. If just an am2, looks like you need a new motherboard for the quad amd 9550 chip. That one is limited anyway at least, by the amount of ram it can use.

Is that a brand name computer you have? Sounds like it. What is he model # if it's from a manufacturer?

[Masherbrum]

Strip, I couldn't locate that mother board. However, the chip is an am2+ and the board is a socket am2. New motherboard. That one is limited anyway at least, by the amount of ram it can use.

I found it.   It's a Gateway, which is fine.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006157R/4006157Rmvr7.shtml 

Strip, click this link.    If you don't wish to get a 2 x 2GB kit.   Someone else please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd remove a stick.   There should be a stick in the slot of the Left (Orange) and Left (Purple).   That will give you "Dual Channel" and is more than likely faster than your 3GB on Single Channel. 

[BaldEagl]

For DDR2 RAM to run at DDR2 it has to be installed in matched pairs.  There have to be two identical memory chips installed in the two color coded matched slots.  The other two slots can be left open or they can be filled by two more matched memory sticks.  As soon as any slot is filled and it's counterpart is not then your memory speed decreases by about half.

[Getback]

I found it.   It's a Gateway, which is fine.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006157R/4006157Rmvr7.shtml 

Strip, click this link.    If you don't wish to get a 2 x 2GB kit.   Someone else please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd remove a stick.   There should be a stick in the slot of the Left (Orange) and Left (Purple).   That will give you "Dual Channel" and is more than likely faster than your 3GB on Single Channel. 

Great find Karaya! Still though it's only an am2.

[BaldEagl]

I found it.   It's a Gateway, which is fine.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/Shared/4006157R/4006157Rmvr7.shtml 

Strip, click this link.    If you don't wish to get a 2 x 2GB kit.   Someone else please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd remove a stick.   There should be a stick in the slot of the Left (Orange) and Left (Purple).   That will give you "Dual Channel" and is more than likely faster than your 3GB on Single Channel. 

Actually 3 Gb in single channel mode will be slightly better than 2 Gb in dual channel (but probably not worth spending the money on if it was an upgrade) but 4 Gb in dual channel will be vastly better than 3 Gb in single channel mode.

[Strip]

Getback,

Yes, I agree and it was something that I was just going to over look for a little while. My little bit of computer knowledge thinks it should get me by for a month or two. Barring any objections I think I am going to upgrade the mobo and memory in a couple of months. Just didnt want to build a budget system and buy everything over again to build a good computer. From what I have read AM2+ is backwards compatible with AM2 with a slight reduction in performance.

Masherbrum,
Looks like I missed your edit by five minutes and missed your first explanation. Between the two I will make that a priority in the near future. Any benifit in buying 6 Gb (or 8 ) now and throwing the extra stick(s) in later? FYI Its two 512 and two 1GB memory sticks so I should be getting dual channel speed from the 3gigs I have currently correct?

Edit: If I buy two matched pairs does that equate to match sets? Or do I need to buy three matched 2GB sticks? Or do you mean matched as in same part number/manufactor? I will give up some performance now to save money down the road and have a good system then.

Thanks,
Strip