Upgrade For Folding Thread

[DoubleK]

Quote:

Karma reporting for duty!

1. Yes my GPU is still up for sale. $190 to any of the folders.
It easy handles anything, and really I mean anything. That said, 2x GPU cores for mucho PPD.

2. Best bang for buck GPU (that folds worth a $hit) would be the GTS 250/9800GTX(+)/8800GTS 512Mb. Basically, a nice G92 core will do you.

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-1150-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - XFX GS250XYDFC GeForce GTS 250 512MB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
(New COD: WaW free with this one)

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - XFX PVT98WYDFU GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
(Free COD:WaW with this one)

WoW video cards are cheap! Go recession!

Those are some great deals everyone thanks!

Let me clarify.

Main PC has a asus p5n32slise deluxe motherboard and an intel core 2 duo 6700 that I want to put in my backup computer. Need a new mobo, proc and ram now that the video card path is clarified I will be eBaying the 7950gx2 as the Antec 400 watt power supply in the backup computer could not handle it. I want to cannibalize any parts I can as putting good money into my backup computer is not a priority otherwise I would upgrade the power supply.

Main computer sits in a sweet Lian Li full ATX case with a 750 watt ThermalTake Power Supply and I think I like the new i7 IntelProcs. Question is what Chipset? Mobo?

Backup pc sits in an old full ATX Antec Soho File Server case with a paltry 400 watt Antec power supply.

Tankies!

[nunyadam]

Thank you for Starting a new thread. Karma (or somebody else) will be along to help you shortly.

[2monsters]

First thing is your budget, because we can spend your money like no others

Just keep in mind core i7 rigs can get up there in price.

[KarmaKiller]

^ Budget is a must. I can blow through $2k of yours quicker then you can think about it.

Second, do you know/have you heard anything about the i5? They are dropping soon, and they are gonna be a bit easier on the pocket book, with near i7 performance.

Third, are you a overclocker?

4th, Are you going with the GTS 250 then?

5. Is the point of this rig maxium PPD that you can get. Or a sweet gamer that happens to be good at folding?

[DoubleK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarmaKiller

^ Budget is a must. I can blow through $2k of yours quicker then you can think about it.

Second, do you know/have you heard anything about the i5? They are dropping soon, and they are gonna be a bit easier on the pocket book, with near i7 performance.

Third, are you a overclocker?

4th, Are you going with the GTS 250 then?

5. Is the point of this rig maxium PPD that you can get. Or a sweet gamer that happens to be good at folding?

1) Budget because wasting money is plain stupid!

I am usually not an "upgrader" but find myself with a great power supply until it dies and a great atx case as btx floundered, lol. I build every three to four years depending on software requirements.

2) I know nothing about the i5 or current procs in general (maximum pc subscription ran out) but have a distinct feeling that it is like when I purchased my intel c2d 6700 opposed to the intel c2d 6800 that was twice as much with only a 10% gain.

3) I have never found the time to overclock So no.

4) I want to go with any cheap video card until DX11 and go for a beast. Hopefully the mobo, ram and cpu will not be irrelevant? Possibly I should just use the 7950gx2 until then.

5) A sweet gamer that can also crunch mpeg video (video editing w/ Vegas) along with crunching.

[KarmaKiller]

Ok. well basically the i5 is gonna be within 10-15% slower then the i7. It uses dual channel memory instead of triple channel. (saving money on memory there) The only news on a chipset is the intel X55. It's very similar to the current X58 chipset, but it's supposed to be more budget friendly, as are the CPU's. I've heard late Q3 to early Q4 on release, but you know how the "leaks" go. It may change, there is no telling.

So if you want to wait for the i5, I'd personally just upgrade your graphics card, and wait out the release of those. The reason why I say GPU, because you'll see a very noticeable change in performance now, and that may hold you over.
If you don't want to wait for the i5, I'd honestly just suggest a nice skt 775 Quad. I think if your not overclocking, then really there is no reason to upgrade motherboards. You could run a quad. (just not a 45nm Quad, I believe those boards are limited to just 65nm Quads) But even with that limitation, you can snag a Q6600/Q6700 for fairly cheap. ($~150) and video rendering would be much better.

If you want to upgrade your the whole system now, I'd suggest these:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R-SLI LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 3GB (3 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Newegg.com - XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

Newegg.com - XFX GS250XYDFC GeForce GTS 250 512MB Core Edition 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Newegg.com - Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (bare drive) - Internal Hard Drives
^something else that's often overlooked with video rendering/editing. The faster HDD's you have, the faster your gonna be able to do your work. If you want to get even faster, SSD's are almost reasonable in price. For the speed gains, it's something else to consider.

Total for the above is $903. And that's a helluva gaming rig/rendering/folding machine.

[DoubleK]

Karma your knowledge of hardware is legendary. Thanks for all the solid hardware advice you give people around here.

You saved me alot of reading and research and give me an awesome starting point.

Tankies.

[KarmaKiller]

[ShyguyXPC]

another board that might be good Newegg.com - ZOTAC X58SLI-A-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

its a cheaper one, and from the looks of it the only thing that has me concerned is the chipset heatsinks, from what i've been told is the chipsets do run pretty warm, and not sure how those "weak" looking ones really perform.

it also does support SLI besides Crossfire. and can support 2 kits for Triple Channel RAM instead of just one like the Gigabyte one (one triple channel kit or 2 Dual channel kits is all it can support with the 4 RAM slots).

also for any/most of these boards, from what I've read, most likely you'll have to set the RAM speeds to the 1600MHz specs in the Bios, since supposedly only up to 1066 or 1333 is the official speeds these boards run, anything higher is considered overclocking and usually has to be set manually in the bios.

though that may have changed recently in last few months with Bios updates etc.

the Dark Knight Cooler, if you get it, seems like its very tall, but I just measured it, its almost exactly 6 inches top to bottom, and only 1/8th to 1/6th of an inch taller than the width of a 5.25" bay optical drive. so should fit, unless you have a thick side vent fan mounted on your side panel above the CPU socket area.

the other thing missing, Thermal Paste, the Dark Knight doesn't come with any on it already, and the stuff that does come with it is cheap junk, its in one of those tear off pouches, where any excess left over has to be thrown, since you can't store it anywhere for future use.

but for $210 that Gigabyte board isn't bad, running both SLI & Crossfire. only thing that would have me turned off from it is the lack of 6 ram slots, just the 4 it has now. (not just for Triple Channel, but limits the max amount of RAM down the road)

[DoubleK]

Above all else I want a board that is stable and why I do not overclock that compounded with lack of time.

The p5n32sli was my first stab at a cutting edge (1st board with sli had and the pcie16 slot) and I have been less than enamored at some of its gremlins compared to the abit boards I have ran over the years.