Hey there,
I bought a custom made computer from a store 3-4 years ago and been upgrading it a couple times since. I mostly use the computer for browsing, playing music and movies, playing some games, using it as a big backup for useful data. Yesterday I bought a big HDTV for living room and will be plugging my computer on it and will most probably be playing more games than before. I also want to setup a RAID 1 with 2 HDDs to keep the data thats worth more to me. I think my mobo and CPU are alright and I don't wanna pay 800$ to upgrade my damn computer so I need to upgrade what i currently have, here's my current setup.
Mobo: ASUS P5P43TD PRO
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 1600(?)
GFX Card: some crap, i definitely need to upgrade, PCI-Express
PSU: Seasonic 650W SS-650HT
I don't have a budget but am trying to keep it as low as possible, i want to order from NCIX or NewEgg but canadian version of newegg and that good (I dont want to order from US stores which will cost me a lot of shipping, i live near Montreal in Canada).
So my questions are as follow.
First of all I want to upgrade my RAM so should i go with 16 or thats abusive and 8 is enough? I want to be able to play a new game, put it in background and still be able to watch HD video and use other apps and what not, but i don't use any professional program or whatever. My mobo says dual channel so i should go with either 2 x 4GB or 2 x 8GB DDR3 right? also it says "4 x240-pin DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture" What do they mean by O.C. can i just put 1600 on it without having to overclock anything? Is http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=57076&vpn=CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair a good thing to buy?
For the graphics card i seen Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 Windforce 820MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card for 140 CA$ ( http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=58225&vpn=GV-R685OC-1GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1261 ) am I OK with this card for a couple more years to play full details ? I can pay more than that but don't wanna go over 250$ really ... I'm not a hardcore gamer, just want to to play nice games on my new big ass TV with all details on, i can put some at medium if needed lol.
For the RAID setup, I can't seem to find anything cheap for that .. i only wanna do RAID 1 with 2 HDDs for the moment but if a 4 port controller card is not really much more I'll go with that for sure so i can upgrade to RAID 5 later on if needed. Any suggestions?
I also wanted to know if 650W is enough for a big graphic card which i will be buying, plus 5-6 HDDs and the usual other stuff ?? Is there a program to test our power supply also?
Is a (cheap)UPS worth it or just a surge protected powerbar is enough to keep me from losing stuff?
Thanks a lot to everyone who will help or even try to help me with all of that hehe!
Let me know if more info is needed I will ask questions when needed.
I bought a custom made computer from a store 3-4 years ago and been upgrading it a couple times since. I mostly use the computer for browsing, playing music and movies, playing some games, using it as a big backup for useful data. Yesterday I bought a big HDTV for living room and will be plugging my computer on it and will most probably be playing more games than before. I also want to setup a RAID 1 with 2 HDDs to keep the data thats worth more to me. I think my mobo and CPU are alright and I don't wanna pay 800$ to upgrade my damn computer so I need to upgrade what i currently have, here's my current setup.
Mobo: ASUS P5P43TD PRO
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 1600(?)
GFX Card: some crap, i definitely need to upgrade, PCI-Express
PSU: Seasonic 650W SS-650HT
I don't have a budget but am trying to keep it as low as possible, i want to order from NCIX or NewEgg but canadian version of newegg and that good (I dont want to order from US stores which will cost me a lot of shipping, i live near Montreal in Canada).
So my questions are as follow.
First of all I want to upgrade my RAM so should i go with 16 or thats abusive and 8 is enough? I want to be able to play a new game, put it in background and still be able to watch HD video and use other apps and what not, but i don't use any professional program or whatever. My mobo says dual channel so i should go with either 2 x 4GB or 2 x 8GB DDR3 right? also it says "4 x240-pin DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture" What do they mean by O.C. can i just put 1600 on it without having to overclock anything? Is http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=57076&vpn=CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair a good thing to buy?
For the graphics card i seen Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 Windforce 820MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card for 140 CA$ ( http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=58225&vpn=GV-R685OC-1GD&manufacture=Gigabyte&promoid=1261 ) am I OK with this card for a couple more years to play full details ? I can pay more than that but don't wanna go over 250$ really ... I'm not a hardcore gamer, just want to to play nice games on my new big ass TV with all details on, i can put some at medium if needed lol.
For the RAID setup, I can't seem to find anything cheap for that .. i only wanna do RAID 1 with 2 HDDs for the moment but if a 4 port controller card is not really much more I'll go with that for sure so i can upgrade to RAID 5 later on if needed. Any suggestions?
I also wanted to know if 650W is enough for a big graphic card which i will be buying, plus 5-6 HDDs and the usual other stuff ?? Is there a program to test our power supply also?
Is a (cheap)UPS worth it or just a surge protected powerbar is enough to keep me from losing stuff?
Thanks a lot to everyone who will help or even try to help me with all of that hehe!
Let me know if more info is needed I will ask questions when needed.
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