Intel 915gev running Windows 7

[deerock]

I recently inherited a 3ghz Pentium 4 on an Intel 915gev motherboard. I am running Windows 7 (32 bit) and I am planning on adding a 512mb Geforce 8800gt video card.

It currently has 2x512mb memory, I am unsure what brand/speed and haven't checked because I am planning on upgrading via Newegg this weekend. The Intel website shows that the board can handle 3200 or 4200 speed RAM.

My plan is to add 2x2GB sticks of pc2(4200) RAM and toss the 512 sticks. The only ones available from Newegg are PQI brand, which have good reviews on the site but it is a brand I have never heard of. Can anyone recommend this brand (currently just under $50 on newegg), or would I be better off buying from a different site/getting a better brand of pc2(3200)? Alternatively, with the 4GB OS limit would I be better off getting 2x1GB memory and, say, a 1GB 4850 card?

If it matters, there are two sets available on newegg, one with a latency of 3 and the other with 4. I have no plans to overclock, I'm just looking for something to play Fallout 3/ Starcraft 2 on until after the holidays when I plan on building an actual gaming computer.

Here is the link to the two 4200 options on newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052408147%201052315794&name=4GB%20%282%20x%202GB%29

Thanks in advance for the help, I always find memory to be the most confusing/frustrating part of a pc to buy.

 

[o1die]

Go with the pqi turbo. I've used the following brands with no problems: corsair, crucial, kingston, samsung, pqi, and pny. Check your Intel board specs first. Some older chipsets don't work with 2 gb sticks.

 

[deerock]

Thank you. A quick look shows that it supports 4GB max. I'm wild guessing that with 4 slots it means a max of 1GB per, you just saved me quite a headache! I ordered the 2x1 Corsair, hopefully it plays nice with the current memory if not I'll just toss the old and order 2 more of the Corsair sticks.

 

[mcnuggetofdeath]

I used PQI RAM when I inherited an AMD Duron. Then put that in an Athlon rig. Each time allowed for decent overclocks on a crap board with low latencies. Dont remember the exact specs but with the Duron I ran 266mhz RAM at 300+ Mhz with latencies lower than the ratings and all at a lower voltage. Definite thumbs up.

 

[photonboy]

Your CPU can't make use of anything more than an 8800GT. Most games, possibly all will be limited by your CPU.

I'd go ahead and get this card, actually I think there's a newer card with similar performance (9600GT ?). At any rate, I'd get the newer card with the same or slightly lower performance. 512MB for sure. 1GB is a waste unless you are hitting really high resolutions (over 1920x1080) and you can't support that anyway. The extra Video RAM would simply create heat.

Update:
My calculations indicate you can't utilize more than the NVidia 9600GT. Get this card.

 

[MRFS]

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d915gev/sb/CS-012067.htm

http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/sb/c6413602_en.pdf

Desktop Boards D915GEV and D915GUX:
• Four 240-pin, 1.8 V SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets
• 533/400 MHz single or dual channel DDR2 SDRAM interface
• Designed to support up to 4 GB of system memory

• Memory configuration listed below:
⎯ Up to 2.0 GB utilizing 256 Mb technology
⎯ Up to 4.0 GB utilizing 512 Mb or 1 GB technology

MRFS

 

[MRFS]

These should also work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145527

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145525


MRFS

 

[deerock]

Thanks again to everyone for all the help. The 8800GT is second hand from a friend of mine, and may or may not work (It's from a system that liked to constantly reboot, and they built a new one after getting annoyed with trying to figure out why). I'll be plugging it in today, if it causes problems I will go with a 9600GT from Newegg per this thread.

Any brand recommendations? The cards I've had back to Geforce 2 days have been pretty exclusively BFG or EVGA. I've seen EVGA get rave reviews here for their upgrade policy, but have no personal experience with it. Also, if I get a 9600 I would prefer to keep it in the $80-90 range, as the ones that are around $110 make me feel like I'd be better off spending an extra $10 now on a 4850 and swapping it into a new build in 6 months.

Thanks guys, you've been incredibly helpful!

Edit: For whatever it's worth, my monitor is 1920x1200.

 

[o1die]

Newegg has an MSI radeon 4670 on sale today for $39.99 after $20 rebate. It's a steal. The link is at fatwallet.com.