Back for upgrade advice - 2 yrs later...

HarryH99

Folks,
About 2 years ago I built the following with the help of guys here:
Intel C2D E4300 1.8GHz
Gigabyte GA 965P DS3 Rev 1.0 http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2314&ProductName=GA-965P-DS3
1 Gb DDR2 PC2 - 5300
Samsung T166 500 Gb
ATI Radeon X1650XT

It was built with upgrading in mind - and now the time has come.
I need a faster CPU and more memory - I think...
Questions:
I know that the Rev 1.0 mobo limits my choice of CPU so, is it better to get a lower speed chip with more L2 cache eg Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 or higher speed chip with less L2 eg Core™ 2 Duo E6700?
It also supports up to 8Gb memory - I was going to just get another 1Gb - but would it be better to get at least 2 x 2Gb? Would I see a big difference if I went the whole hog and got 4 x 2Gb?
When replacing the chip is it just a mater of maybe upgrading the bios then removing the old and putting in the new?
Finally - where is the best place these days to purchase?

Thanks for any help - this forum is a great resource...

H

cherryghost

You could always overclock your CPU? That CPU can do 2.5ghz no problem as long as you got good airflow. You probably need an extra gig on the RAM as least yeah, but its not a bad build you got there. A cheap memory upgrade and some good oc'ing will save you a handful for a while

Effluo

What kind of things are you doing with the pc?
Is it just for general Media Player, word processing and internet use?

As Cherry said it's specs are alright except for the ram (especially if you're on vista)

If you're finding that the pc is running slow then maybe you should try some cleanout program.
ccleaner is what most people recommend here but i've found Advanced system care to really good too....

Both are available from www.downloads.com

Solitaire

Are you still gaming on it? (just guessing but you do have an X1650 in there!) If so you might be best off with a cheap graphics upgrade and OC the CPU.

Mileage may vary because of cooler, the CPU itself could probably go pretty far given its a x9 mult on FSB800 (200MHz); switch the FSB to 1066 mode and you have an easy 2.4GHz. At FSB1333 you'd have 3GHz but it'd almost certainly need an overvolt and probably a better cooler to boot. Then again E2160s usually hit 3.5GHz on better-than-stock cooling so there's a lot of potential. I doubt you'll need a CPU upgrade just yet

And yes, you most certainly need more RAM. A 2x2GB kit is the best idea for sure.

HarryH99

Thanks guys...
Not gaming on it still... but am recording webinars and processing them to avi using Camasia - so a bit of work there...
After that it's the usual stuff - also maybe some handicam processing...
Running XP pro - not Vista

Have used the EasyTune software that came with the mobo to run cpu at 2.1Ghz for the last while - havent pushed it further...
Solitaire - I might try your suggestions before changing cpu - maybe some extra cooling...
Will deffo get the extra memory - and a good clean up - cheers Effluo

Will see what happens...

H

Solitaire

Then you probably won't have any graphics issues, well not unless you want to record those webinars in high-def anyway

CPU OC and getting some (okay, a lot) more 800MHz DDR2 seems to be the way to go. You may want to try to raise the CPU frequency by way of an old-fashioned FSB OC and see if it can take 2.4GHz (266MHz bus speed); if it can't boot properly or remain stable under torture testing then increase the CPU voltage in the BIOS just a tad and check again, making careful note of the temperatures during the torture test. You'll find all the OC goodies in your BIOS' MIT menu, and for heat monitoring try SpeedFan and/or CoreTemp.