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Graphics Need help on a new gfx card

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by wilkyboy, 2 Sep 2007.

  1. docodine

    docodine killed a guy once

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    I managed to upgrade the power supply on my Dell Precision 360 a couple of years ago without much trouble. I had to rip out around an inch square of the mesh in the back to get the power cable to fit right though. It was an Antec True Power, if I remember correctly.
     
  2. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Ok, well I was looking at the motherboards, all these numbers, P35, 945, 965 etc... Well I took your advice and looked at the nForce stuff, too expensive for me I think, so I went to take a look at the others. Can someone explain the difference between P35 boards and the 9 series boards (965, 945 etc.)?

    If I can use P35 boards as well as 965's, I have narrowed it down to about 3 boards, all roughly £65.

    ABIT AB9
    Asus P5B
    Asus P5K

    Can someone suggest which is best? I dont think there is much to seperate them at all to be honest! If someone could share their experience with them, it'd be great! Thanks.
     
  3. mctigger

    mctigger What's a Dremel?

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    yeah 500watss would be fine, but if ur pluggin it into a dell mobo, sometimes they don't like that, and decided to go bang,
     
  4. wyx087

    wyx087 Homeworld 3 is happening!!

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    i would personally say the Asus P5K, since it's the latest, board of those 3 and apparently very good overclocker as well
     
  5. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    I haven't used either of the 3, but read a review about the 'vanilla' P5B and it clocked well and had a good score. The P5K I'd imagine to be the same, but with a newer chipset.
     
  6. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    So are P35 boards newer than the 9 series boards? In terms of chipsets?

    Are there any other differences? I noticed the shape of the boards are slightly different, the P35 is larger.

    Also, will these boards (the P5K board especially) fit in to this case? The Akasa Zen case.

    Also I have 2 gigs of ram from my Dell computer, the pdf file for my computer when I got it said "2048MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz (4x512) Memory". All I need to worry about is if the DDR2 is compatible (which it is) right? Also it should physically fit in shouldnt it?
     
  7. AlexMF

    AlexMF What's a Dremel?

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    Yes, I believe the P35 boards do have newer chipsets (some more information in this post - might be of interest/use).

    The DDR2 from your old comp should work fine. When you say "physically fit" do you mean "is the socket the same" or "will there be space in the case"? The former would be guaranteed by a board with DDR2 sockets, the latter, as with the board sizes, I'll leave for someone supply the answer.


    - Alex
     
    Last edited: 11 Sep 2007
  8. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    The PXX/GXX chipsets are newer than the 9XX range.
    That mobo will fit in that case perfectly (ATX mobo, ATX case).
    That DDR2 will be fine.
     
  9. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks very much for the answers, also because I am using my old Intel dual core processor, that'll fit fine wont it? Dell wont have fannied about with it would they?!

    Right, I'll be placing the order for the new case and mobo then, thanks for the help guys.

    Im sure I'll be posting more in this because I have bad luck lol
     
    Last edited: 11 Sep 2007
  10. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    Nah, it should plug in and work without issue if the mobo supports it (I would be surprised if it didn't). Don't forget a heatsink though! That Dell monstrosity prolly won't fit due to the way it mounts.
     
  11. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Right, just scouted out some heatsink/fan combos and came out with these

    Scythe Samurai Z and Zalman CNPS7500.

    Sorry for asking for opinions everyday but I honestly dont know what I should do! I understand the Zalman can adapt for heavier duties because the fan varies in revolutions and it also outperforms the Scythe just slightly when needed.

    Im tempted to buy the Zalman because it can perform under more pressure when needed and also ease down when it doesnt have to work so hard.
     
  12. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    Mods edit this if its not allowed, but FrostyTech do nothing but heatsink reviews if you want an idea of what they are like.

    Theres also the Bit-Tech heatsink roundup too to look at.

    From experience I can say the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro is good, and slightly cheaper than those two too.


    And don't worry about it, always better to ask than break something!
     
  13. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    About the heatsinks, I am unsure if I would be able to fit one in to that case, the Akasa Zen case, it is 200mm wide and I am unsure if a 150mm heatsink/fan would fit inside.

    Does anyone know how much space would be between the motherboard and the opening side of the Zen case?
     
  14. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    So that leaves 5cm to play with. If you say 1cm for socket, 1cm for mobo-mobo tray spacing and 1cm for mobo tray-case spacing that leaves 2cm left. And those sizes are rounding up. It should fit, if the duct screwed to the intake on the side panel of the case is removed.
     
  15. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Ok! Am buying the Akasa Zen case, the Asus P5K Se motherboard and a Scythe Mine heatsink/fan!

    I sure hope this will all fit together and power up. No doubt I'll come crawling back once more lol, thanks again everyone.
     
  16. severedhead

    severedhead What's a Dremel?

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    No worries, good luck with build!
     
  17. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Ok just to summarise what I am getting/ have

    Akasa Zen case, XFX 7900 GTX, Intel Dual Core 2.8ghz proc, 2gb of DDR2 533mhz ram, Asus P5K SE iP35 mobo, 500w Seasonic S12II PSU, Scythe Mine cooling unit and of course disk drives and SATA HD.

    If anyone sees any problem with that set up, please do inform me!! I am hoping this goes smoothly, my friend warned me I might not be able to get it all running smoothly for a few days!
     
  18. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    Ok I think I hit a brick wall here! The official Asus website for my new mobo says

    - Dual-channel DDR2 1066/800/667 MHz

    I noticed my RAM is dual channel DDR2 533MHz!!! ****, does this mean it wont work at all then??

    Ok, having realised that, I have decided to stuff it, throw £50 more at this!!

    Corsair XMS2 PC5400 (667MHz) Ram!

    Can someone confirm for me this would work? The memory speed matches but I dont know what else could obstruct it.
     
    Last edited: 12 Sep 2007
  19. wilkyboy

    wilkyboy What's a Dremel?

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    I'm really sorry for a triple post but it's urgent, I need to know if the Corsair XMS2 PC5400 (667MHz) ram will work on the motherboard.
     

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