Looking for upgrade advice please.

[adnorton]

My board is continually getting C1 errors non-stop after 18 months. So I decided to upgrade my MB. I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I will take any advice, I am not looking to spend a bundle either. Looking to buy it today and get it by Friday for the upgrade.Full PC upgrades are an option.

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6600
CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5D
Two Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
PLEXTOR 18X DVD±R DVD Burner Black E-IDE/ATAPI Model PX-760A/SW-BL
PLEXTOR 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model PX-755SA
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Antec - EarthWatts 650-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black /Blue Aluminum Bezel Computer Case
Saitek Eclipse II Keyboard
Logitech MX518 Mouse
Dell 20-inch monitor
Windows XP Professional SP2





Thanks

 

[Zenthar]

Unless you really want an SLI-capable board I'd say just get a P45 board such as Gigabyte EP45-DS3R or, for SLI, get an EVGA 750i FTW (Full x16 SLI as opposed to most 750i boards). The DS3R is about 115$ and the other 170$ (both after MIR).

 

[Zorg]

Don't just think you might want SLI be damn sure, because the P45 is a better chipset.

 

[adnorton]

If I went with the Gigabyte board, would I keep everything else the same or should I look at just doing a full upgrade because of outdated parts? I am thinking SLI would be a pain for me with the limited time I have to work on the machine. I just want something to play games with that doesn't cause a ton of heartache.

If you see any other potential upgrades please let me know.

These are the 3 boards I found and the only difference I can see is memory.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP45C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[Zenthar]

To my knowledge, the only difference IS memory, get the GA-EP45-DS3R, it's the "basic" DDR2 version.

You should only have to change the board, everything is compatible. If you want you can change CPU, add RAM, change Gfx card, but you don't have to.

There are tons of potential upgrades, I mentioned only the simplest.

 

[adnorton]

maybe I will save up for an upgrade beginning 2009.

I think most of my affordable options are minor upgrades at best unless you can think of some relatively low cost upgrade options.

 

[Zenthar]

I think you have a nice system, probably not as nice as when you bought it, but I'm sure it still runs very well. By next year Intel will have released it's new Nehalem processor which will require new board, new RAM and everything so if you really want to make a decent upgrade, wait until then.

 

[Zorg]

Yeah, swap the mobo and OC the E6600 to 3G/1333 extremely easily. There's your free upgrade.