|
As this forum is rarely used anymore, we've locked it. Feel free to browse and read. Questions? Please reach out to us directly. Cheers! |
|
 |
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
Right,
No AM3 on my motherboard. I'm not too worried about fan noise though. Right now I believe I'm using an 89w CPU, and being O/C'd its running hotter than it would stock, and the CPU fan is still by far the quietest in my HTPC, I'm using a ZALMAN CNPS9700 and it has never been noticeable.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Spanky Ham
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 5643
Location: Comedy Central
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 5:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
Zeb,
Memory seems to have spiked in the last couple of months with DDR2 on par with DDR3. Since you already have two gigs of DDR2, I say hold on to that. My advice would be to get a new mobo/CPU. You can usually find some good combo deals at Frys. The only problem is that the mobos are usually microATX and have only two memory slots. You might have to wait, but sometimes they will have one with four. I think they had a MSI board last week with four slots. The great thing about the Fry's combos is they are usually the price of the CPU with the mobo thrown in. Right now I am trying to decide between getting an Athlon II X2 and Gigabyte mobo for $49 or an X4 and Biostar for $109. This is probably more than you want to spend, but they have a Q9400 and Biostar mobo with four slots for $159. I think your video card should be fine, but if you want to upgrade the 4650 or 220 are around $45. The other thing and Mike can comment on this is the hard drive. Anandtech has been going off about SSDs. I have thought they were just to expensive, but Intel just came out with a 40gb drive for $130. I am thinking of getting one as my main drive and then using the regular drives for storage.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
I've just ordered a Athlon X2 6400+ for my HTPC, I'll get that installed and report back if I'm still having problems.
Spanky,
Are the Fry's combo's in store only? I've been looking on their site and I'm only seeing CPU's and motherboards separate?
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MikeEby
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 5237
Location: Osceola, Indiana
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 1:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Spanky Ham wrote: | Zeb,
The other thing and Mike can comment on this is the hard drive. Anandtech has been going off about SSDs. I have thought they were just to expensive, but Intel just came out with a 40gb drive for $130. I am thinking of getting one as my main drive and then using the regular drives for storage. |
I haven't messed around with SSD's for a couple of years ago...At that time I had a very bad experience with them. There seems to be some issues with them the performance degrades over time something about "Trim", I'm not sure it's ready for prime-time yet, but getting close.
Mike
_________________
Doing HD since the last century!
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zebu Fellenz
Joined: 21 Dec 2006
Posts: 2567
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:58 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| MikeEby wrote: | | Spanky Ham wrote: | Zeb,
The other thing and Mike can comment on this is the hard drive. Anandtech has been going off about SSDs. I have thought they were just to expensive, but Intel just came out with a 40gb drive for $130. I am thinking of getting one as my main drive and then using the regular drives for storage. |
I haven't messed around with SSD's for a couple of years ago...At that time I had a very bad experience with them. There seems to be some issues with them the performance degrades over time something about "Trim", I'm not sure it's ready for prime-time yet, but getting close.
Mike |
I'm also curious about SSD's. I'd look into one if there is a real world performance increase, but I've heard the same things as Mike as far as long term speed. I wonder how they compare to the 10k, and 15k hard drives?
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Spanky Ham
Joined: 22 Mar 2006
Posts: 5643
Location: Comedy Central
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2010 5:42 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Zebu Fellenz wrote: | I've just ordered a Athlon X2 6400+ for my HTPC, I'll get that installed and report back if I'm still having problems.
Spanky,
Are the Fry's combo's in store only? I've been looking on their site and I'm only seeing CPU's and motherboards separate? |
I think they might be in store. I never look, because I don't buy online. In hindsight, in store only would make sense. My guess is this is a loss leader to get people into the store.
In looking at Anand's bench, the 6400 isn't far off from the II x2. If this works, then you can probably stand pat on the CPU for awhile. I just looked at Purevideo wiki and you only have VP1. You might have a boost with a newer card. I haven't looked at this in forever, but your card may not be accelerating the video. The 220 cards are around $50. The good thing about upgrading the card is you can use it in a new box, if this doesn't work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_PureVideo
| Zebu Fellenz wrote: | | MikeEby wrote: | | Spanky Ham wrote: | Zeb,
The other thing and Mike can comment on this is the hard drive. Anandtech has been going off about SSDs. I have thought they were just to expensive, but Intel just came out with a 40gb drive for $130. I am thinking of getting one as my main drive and then using the regular drives for storage. |
I haven't messed around with SSD's for a couple of years ago...At that time I had a very bad experience with them. There seems to be some issues with them the performance degrades over time something about "Trim", I'm not sure it's ready for prime-time yet, but getting close.
Mike |
I'm also curious about SSD's. I'd look into one if there is a real world performance increase, but I've heard the same things as Mike as far as long term speed. I wonder how they compare to the 10k, and 15k hard drives? |
Anand did some extensive testing on SSDs last year. The latest drives from Intel, Kingston and OCZ Vertex don't have any problems. Yes, I still hate being an early adopter, but I think the time may be right to jump in.
| Quote: | We’ve become complacent. In today’s world of netbooks and nettops where performance is cast aside, we’ve let far too much slide. The bar of acceptability is too low. A good SSD is the anti-netbook, it is the most believable proof that PCs aren’t fast enough today. We don’t need good enough, we need orders of magnitude of performance improvement. And that's exactly what a good SSD can deliver today.
The performance improvement isn't limited to high end machines. In fact, some of the most perceivable differences in performance are on lower end machines, netbooks and nettops. The combination of a slow CPU and a slow hard drive is horrendous; the SSD allows you to at least alleviate some of the bottleneck in these slower machines. And today we actually have affordable options that make sense to even put in a netbook. |
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=27
Unless I do something Wednesday or Thursday, I will probably stand pat till I come back to Atlanta from Florida next month.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
|
Forum powered by phpBB © phpBB Group
|
|
