What would you pick?

[snake_pliskin]

Would dual channel ddr make a big differnce for gaming with the E6300
if yes here is another question for you.
Well this board supports dual channel but on a 4x pci slot would this make a big differnce in gaming i have a 7900GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092

If you had to pick being a poor gamer would you opt for the non dual channel board or the 4x pci-e board

 

[quantumsheep]

Would dual channel ddr make a big differnce for gaming with the E6300
if yes here is another question for you.
Well this board supports dual channel but on a 4x pci slot would this make a big differnce in gaming i have a 7900GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092

If you had to pick being a poor gamer would you opt for the non dual channel board or the 4x pci-e board

I would opt for the non dual channel motherboard.

 

[runswindows95]

Go with the board with a 16X PCI-E and non dual channel.

 

[darkstar782]

There is a PCIe x16 board that supports Core 2 Duo but doesn't support Dual Channel RAM?

I don't believe it until someone posts a link tbh.

 

[snake_pliskin]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813135023

Its either this board or the Asrock vista?

 

[darkstar782]

Wow you are right :/

What are your reasons for looking at either of these boards? They are both "low end" boards with very limited overclocking options. The e6300 especially needs a high FSB to really shine, something neither of these boards are going to provide.

Having looked through the BIOS on the ECS board in their manual, the overclocking options and DRAM settings (timings etc) are *even more* limited than the ASrock 775DUAL-Vista.

As you have a PCIe gfx card, I assume you are wanting to re-use some old DDR1 RAM?

DDR1 even in dual channel limits a Core 2 Duo massively, in single channel it would likely be worse. The ECS board has on-board gfx which are of no use to you and can only cause conflicts.

Of those two I would chose the ASrock board, I used one a while back and PCIe x4 isnt all that much of a limitation, however it really would be worth scraping together a bit of extra cash and going for a 1GB stick of DDR2 and an Intel P965 based board if you possibly can!

 

[snake_pliskin]

would this be a little better im on a budget then I could get 1gb ddr2 677. Since you think that would be better than my 2gb of ddr 400. Sould i just get on stick of ddr2 or 2 512 chips dual channel?

oh heres the board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813138034

Would this ram be compatiable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220070
explain how i can tell if ram i compatiable with that board please if you could

 

[darkstar782]

Ok...

Prior to my e6700 and 8800GTX I had a D805 and a 7900GT.

At first I had these running on an ASrock 775DUAL-Vista with 1.5GB DDR1 (1GB+512MB), then I went to 1GB DDR2 (Single DIMM) then to 2GB DDR2 (two DIMMs) then to the Asus P5W DH I have now with the same Gfx card and RAM.

In Summary:

1. Asrock, DDR1 1.5GB,

2. Asrock, DDR2 1GB,

3. Asrock, DDR2 2GB,

4. Asus, DDR2 2GB.

I can tell you that while there was a small jump going from the DDR1 to the DDR2 on the ASrock board, the jump from the ASrock board to the Asus board was MASSIVE, even with both using DDR2. I could score in 3Dmark 06 with my Video card at stock speeds more on the Asus board than I could score with it at 740/1400 (almost 80% GPU overclock) on the ASrock board.

I also tried limiting the Gfx card to x4 mode on the Asus board, and it STILL performed much better than the ASrock one. Added to that it allowed MUCH better CPU overclocks than the ASrock board.

In short, I think the limiting factor was not the PCIe x4 or the DDR1, (although the DDR1 did suck, I got about 15% switching to DDR2) but the crappy VIA chipset motherboard. The Intel chipset boards simply perform much better, and especially for this scenario where you have such an overclockable CPU, will serve you much better.

If I were you I'd go for a P965 board and 1GB of DDR2-667 in a single DIMM with a view to adding a second DIMM later when I had the cash. Or even 2x512 with a view to adding another 2x512 later, the difference is minimal.

The 775DUAL-Vista has an FSB limit of about 280-290, this would take your e6300 to 1.96GHz - 2.03GHz, a very small overclock. The ECS board seems worse from the BIOS options. A P965 would give you at least 400MHz, or 2.8GHz.

If you go the 775DUAL-Vista route you'll only be looking at replacing the thing in 6 months when you have switched to DDR2 on it anyway.

You could probably even sell your 2GB DDR1 for enough to buy at least 1GB of DDR2, or use it to keep your old system going and sell that....

 

[darkstar782]

would this be a little better im on a budget then I could get 1gb ddr2 677. Since you think that would be better than my 2gb of ddr 400. Sould i just get on stick of ddr2 or 2 512 chips dual channel?

oh heres the board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813138034

Would this ram be compatiable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820220070
explain how i can tell if ram i compatiable with that board please if you could

Thats a 945 based board, and the 945 never officially supported 1066FSB so it tends to have a much lower FSB max than the 965 or 975.

They will run Core 2 Duo fine, but your overclocking ability will be limited by the chipset.

The RAM looks fine, but if possible I'd recommend a P965 board, This one maybe?

I know it means a larger cash outlay, which can be annoying, but otherwise you'll only be left with an ASrock or an ECS board you have no use for when you get sick of the performance of either and upgrade :/

How about this:

What is it you are tying to achieve with the build? What are your expectations from it, and what is your current system?

You may find the ASrock board is adequate, but it would really suck to end up buying one then hating the thing and upgrading, leaving it sat in a cupboard, which is what I did!

Of course then I went mad and spent more and more cash till I ended up with my current system...

 

[snake_pliskin]

P4 650 PRESCOTT 3.4
DUAL CHANNEL KINGSTON 2GB DDR 400
BFG 7900GS
WD 120 SATA 3.0
ECS 915PL-A2 DUAL PCI-E
E-POWER 550 DUAL RAILS
ZALAMAN COOLING
SB AUDIGY 7.1

Thats what i Have I want to use this machine mainly for gaming I play games like oblivion and fps. I would like to see a noticable differnce in the upgrade

Why does that board only get a 3star wish I could find a 4 or 5 star under 115
Oh and that board you recommended pick me out some good ram that would work for that board and under 125

What about this board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138037
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186102

Would this ram work for either of these boards?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145566

What does this mean
Only DDR2-800 memory supporting JEDEC approved 1.8V operation with timings of 5-5-5 or 6-6-6 is supported on Intel Desktop Boards based on Intel 965 Express Chipsets

 

[Newf]

P4 650 PRESCOTT 3.4
DUAL CHANNEL KINGSTON 2GB DDR 400
BFG 7900GS
WD 120 SATA 3.0
ECS 915PL-A2 DUAL PCI-E
E-POWER 550 DUAL RAILS
ZALAMAN COOLING
SB AUDIGY 7.1
Thats what i Have I want to use this machine mainly for gaming I play games like oblivion and fps. I would like to see a noticable differnce in the upgrade...

Well, it sounds like you are on a budget, so for $150 (AMR) you could buy another 7900GS and run SLI. Newegg has a few to choose from at this price. This would be a noticeable difference.