Hey all, i'm getting rdy to purchase a new mobo to replace my skittish p5n-e. I'm going to be purchasing a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R.
Right now i'm kind of debating between 2 ideas. 1 is to purchase the mobo, 2x WD RE3 HDD's for a raid 0 array, and a new heatsink (zalman cnps8700) for my C2d E6600, all in all this would cost ~300 usd.
The idea behind the above was to run a raid 0 for my system drive (I have 3x other storage drives as well as a fileserver, so data loss isnt a big deal), and use the new heatsink to OC my e6600 up around 3.2-3.4 ish, assuming i can get it that high. Later on down the road, maybe 3-6 months, i was thinking about picking up an e8600 or e8500 to rep the e6600, assuming intel is still shipping them, etc.
What i am wondering is if i might be better served by picking up a single fast drive, like a 320gb seagate 7200.11, an e8500, the mobo, and the heatsink, this would cost a bit more, around ~420 usd.
My question is i have 4gb (4 1gb sticks) of supertalent 5-5-5-15 DDR2-800
From reasearch i see the e8500 is a 9.5x multiplier at 333mhz. I know this is a n00b question, but since i have effectively 400mhz memory, i should in theory have a limit of 9.5 x 400mhz, for 3.8ghz, of course assuming the processor and cooling is capable of putting up 3.8ghz.
My question is what would you guys do?
Stick with the cheaper solution, and overclock my existing processor?
Go with the more expensive solution for more CPU performance, but lower HDD performance?
Some alternative? Any other opinions?
I am using the comp primarily for gaming, its got a factory OC'd 8800gt 512mb for GPU. Right now i am mainly playing Warhammer Online, and since its a pretty CPU intensive game, these are the reasons i was tossing the two ideas around.
Right now i'm kind of debating between 2 ideas. 1 is to purchase the mobo, 2x WD RE3 HDD's for a raid 0 array, and a new heatsink (zalman cnps8700) for my C2d E6600, all in all this would cost ~300 usd.
The idea behind the above was to run a raid 0 for my system drive (I have 3x other storage drives as well as a fileserver, so data loss isnt a big deal), and use the new heatsink to OC my e6600 up around 3.2-3.4 ish, assuming i can get it that high. Later on down the road, maybe 3-6 months, i was thinking about picking up an e8600 or e8500 to rep the e6600, assuming intel is still shipping them, etc.
What i am wondering is if i might be better served by picking up a single fast drive, like a 320gb seagate 7200.11, an e8500, the mobo, and the heatsink, this would cost a bit more, around ~420 usd.
My question is i have 4gb (4 1gb sticks) of supertalent 5-5-5-15 DDR2-800
From reasearch i see the e8500 is a 9.5x multiplier at 333mhz. I know this is a n00b question, but since i have effectively 400mhz memory, i should in theory have a limit of 9.5 x 400mhz, for 3.8ghz, of course assuming the processor and cooling is capable of putting up 3.8ghz.
My question is what would you guys do?
Stick with the cheaper solution, and overclock my existing processor?
Go with the more expensive solution for more CPU performance, but lower HDD performance?
Some alternative? Any other opinions?
I am using the comp primarily for gaming, its got a factory OC'd 8800gt 512mb for GPU. Right now i am mainly playing Warhammer Online, and since its a pretty CPU intensive game, these are the reasons i was tossing the two ideas around.