Opinions of my (quick and cheap) upgrade.

[Boxman]

I had been playing on an old GForce 4400TI and a low-end p4. Keep in mind, I went to the comp store intending to but a pre-built system. However when I saw what $350 got you (super-small mobo/case/power supply), I decided to upgrade my current system.

With help of a friend here's what I got:

Case.....paid $200 likw 9 years ago. It's big and green with see-through side :-). But we'll call thie free since i had it already.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-M61PME-S2p ($59.99)

Power supply: Thermalake (sp?) 650w (free cuz donated by buddy)

RAM: OCZ Gold Edition 4GB DDR2-1066 (PC-8500) Memory Kit (Two 2GB Memory Modules) $89.99

Video card: GeForce 8800 GTS 640 Mb (again donated by frien....pretty nice of him right?)

Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core

H/D Barracuda 500GB 7,200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($69)

All other bits scrounged from old system (using mobo sound)

Questions.......will the mobo run the memory at 1066 automatically?

Should I use my old soundblaster PCI card?

I have not yet had the chance to try the game with my new rig.....hopefully when I get home tonight.



All feedback appreciated.

[skribetm]

that seagate drive, 500GB/16MB died on me after six months. it runs hotter temps than the equivalent western digital drive, and may be the reason why the wd lasted me up to now.
hope it doesnt die too. nice QUAD CORE upgrade on a very cheap budget. 

[Fulmar]

that seagate drive, 500GB/16MB died on me after six months. it runs hotter temps than the equivalent western digital drive, and may be the reason why the wd lasted me up to now.
hope it doesnt die too. nice QUAD CORE upgrade on a very cheap budget. 

There are 3 generations of that 500gb HD from Seagate.  The 10, 11, and 12 series.  Not everyone is the same is speed/performance/reliability.  My 500gb is a 10 series that's nearly 2 years old.  The 11 series had firmware problems.  12 I haven't followed up on recently.

[skribetm]

There are 3 generations of that 500gb HD from Seagate.  The 10, 11, and 12 series.  Not everyone is the same is speed/performance/reliability.  My 500gb is a 10 series that's nearly 2 years old.  The 11 series had firmware problems.  12 I haven't followed up on recently.

yeah it was the 7200.11 series that died on me.

[cattb]

You may have to update your bios for the quad core you have( should be able to check your bios on the board), I was lookin around abit, from what I found looks like that board will support 1066 RAM. May have to set RAM in bios from 400 to 533. I have a gigabyte board i bought this spring and had to manually set the divider.
I found this bit of information
Also this board does overclock to all the knuckleheads who are quick to give it a poor rating. YOU HAVE TO HIT CTRL+F1 AT THE SAME TIME. THEN THE ADVANCED CHIPSET WILL COME ON SCREEN, AND ALLOW YOU TO CHANGE BUS FREQUENCY, MULTIPLIER, AND EVEN RAM TIMINGS. PLUS VOLTAGES.
I found this at newegg revues

I was reading some overclock forums about unlocking the otherday, I see some of the people are able to unlock the propus core, some of them are propus cores some are denab cores
I would highly suggest you do your own due diligence and look into the matter also.

I have SATA 2 drives 350, 500 , seagate allmost 2 years old they both run fine  (knock on wood). The last drive I bought is a WD. I see how people like them here and checked some reviews thoguth I give WD a try. Before Seagate I bought maxtor ,I still have 3 maxtor IDE drives that run fine
Cattb

[Boxman]

Thanks for the replies....especially that last one, gracias.