Like many others here abouts, I've already got a system that I'm fairly happy with, but is starting to give me a few issues.
Current System
Processor: Athlon 64 3500+
Motherboard: GA-K8N-SLI
Memory: 4x512mb DDR 400
Video: GeForce 7800 GT
Sound: Soundblaster Xi-Fi Platinum
The issues I've been having are twofold. First off my DVD R/W drive has died on me and needs replacing. Secondly I've been running into memory issues when I'm gaming on one monitor and doing other stuff on the other. I've temporarily fixed the memory issue by increasing my page file, however I'd prefer to run without it.
I could just go out and pick up some extra memory and a new drive, however I don't like the idea of spending money on DDR 1 when I can get DDR for the same price or better. Also I know that I'll hitting the limits of what my machine can handle within the next year or so, and would rather not have to upgrade my upgrade that soon.
I do a reasonable amount of gaming, though I tend not to play the latest and greatest FPS, so I don't need a state of the art machine by any means. I also use my PC for a lot of multimedia, and have it hooked up to my home theatre system. I'd like a machine with more than four SATA slots, since I've already got a bunch of drives and would like to be able to hook up another via eSATA. I'm also looking at getting myself into overclocking a bit, to get that extra performance edge and to help educate myself a bit.
Currently I'm just planning on upgrading my Motherboard, Processor and Memory and am looking to spend less than $500. The video card is good enough for now, and is fairly easy to upgrade on its own whenever the time comes.
Here's what I'm thinking of getting:
Motherboard: MSI P35 Neo2-FR or Gigabyte GA-EP45.
Processor: Intel Q9300 or E8500
Memory: 2x 2GB DDR2 800
DVD R/W: Something black
I'm thinking that the Q9300 will be better in the long run than the E8500 as more apps are better to take advantage of multiple cores. However when it comes to motherboards I still feel lost.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advanced.
PS. Would it be worth it to reformat and switch to a 64 bit copy of XP?
PPS. Any good newb guides to Overclocking out there? (I haven't even started to search yet)
Current System
Processor: Athlon 64 3500+
Motherboard: GA-K8N-SLI
Memory: 4x512mb DDR 400
Video: GeForce 7800 GT
Sound: Soundblaster Xi-Fi Platinum
The issues I've been having are twofold. First off my DVD R/W drive has died on me and needs replacing. Secondly I've been running into memory issues when I'm gaming on one monitor and doing other stuff on the other. I've temporarily fixed the memory issue by increasing my page file, however I'd prefer to run without it.
I could just go out and pick up some extra memory and a new drive, however I don't like the idea of spending money on DDR 1 when I can get DDR for the same price or better. Also I know that I'll hitting the limits of what my machine can handle within the next year or so, and would rather not have to upgrade my upgrade that soon.
I do a reasonable amount of gaming, though I tend not to play the latest and greatest FPS, so I don't need a state of the art machine by any means. I also use my PC for a lot of multimedia, and have it hooked up to my home theatre system. I'd like a machine with more than four SATA slots, since I've already got a bunch of drives and would like to be able to hook up another via eSATA. I'm also looking at getting myself into overclocking a bit, to get that extra performance edge and to help educate myself a bit.
Currently I'm just planning on upgrading my Motherboard, Processor and Memory and am looking to spend less than $500. The video card is good enough for now, and is fairly easy to upgrade on its own whenever the time comes.
Here's what I'm thinking of getting:
Motherboard: MSI P35 Neo2-FR or Gigabyte GA-EP45.
Processor: Intel Q9300 or E8500
Memory: 2x 2GB DDR2 800
DVD R/W: Something black
I'm thinking that the Q9300 will be better in the long run than the E8500 as more apps are better to take advantage of multiple cores. However when it comes to motherboards I still feel lost.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advanced.
PS. Would it be worth it to reformat and switch to a 64 bit copy of XP?
PPS. Any good newb guides to Overclocking out there? (I haven't even started to search yet)