Hi,I was suposed to upgrade my PC a long time ago but didn't had the money.Now that I have the money I want a CPU,motherboard,ram & GPU.

Current spec:
P4 HT 2,8 gHz
2gb 400 mhz
P5GD1

I can have the following pieces for 480$(include taxe & shipping)

Intel E8400
Gigabyte EP35 DS3L
RAM?
BFG 8800GT OC 512mb DDR3


I'm ordering on www.directcanada.com
Is there anything better on that website for this price?Should I keep the 4 pieces i chose?Is there any thing bad about these?


EDIT:I heard that 1066 memory had problem with this motherboard,wich DDR2 800 will fit on it?

That looks like a good system, video card is a bit old now but it's still fast.

Whatever you heard about DDR2 1066 not working I don't think is completely true. See, certain "cheap" brands may not work, but if you buy a trusted brand like OCZ, Crucial, or Kingston, they will work. Besides, RAM can work at lower speeds too, it's always backwards compatible. So you can buy 1066 RAM, and if it doesn't work at 1066 (which is not likely imo) you can always run it at 800.

One last word, you don't need to "upgrade" your old computer because you're essentially replacing all the pieces. You might as well buy a case and power supply and you can have 2 computers.

Quote from shiny_red_cobra :

That looks like a good system, video card is a bit old now but it's still fast.

Whatever you heard about DDR2 1066 not working I don't think is completely true. See, certain "cheap" brands may not work, but if you buy a trusted brand like OCZ, Crucial, or Kingston, they will work. Besides, RAM can work at lower speeds too, it's always backwards compatible. So you can buy 1066 RAM, and if it doesn't work at 1066 (which is not likely imo) you can always run it at 800.

One last word, you don't need to "upgrade" your old computer because you're essentially replacing all the pieces. You might as well buy a case and power supply and you can have 2 computers.

I know I could buy a new case,HD,DVD & PSU but I don't want to spend all my money on this.Will my SATA HD fit on the P35 DS3L ?I'm going with Kingston HyperX PC2-6400 800MHZ & hope to don't get voltage problems.Be sure to check your PM shiny_red_cobra.

It's all good now,I ordered and can't wait to get them!

This is the system I will have:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Gigabyte EP35 DS3L
Kingston HyperX 2x1GB PC2-6400 800 MHZ
BFG 8800GT OC 512 MB DDR3
Maxtor 120b SATA
Antec Sonata 1
Antec Neo HE 550 watts PSU
LG DVD/RW

I'm going to get a HUGE perfomance boost

Quote from CobraDrifter :

I'm going to get a HUGE perfomance boost

that's for sure

i have to warn you that the new "energy saver" version of the P35DS3L isn't very good, especially if you are planning to overclock your pc, i heard that is possible to flash the BIOS to make it work like de P35DS3L, but i'm not sure

EDIT: why kingston? i would buy Gskill or OCZ

Quote from [plidex] mateo :

that's for sure

i have to warn you that the new "energy saver" version of the P35DS3L isn't very good, especially if you are planning to overclock your pc, i heard that is possible to flash the BIOS to make it work like de P35DS3L, but i'm not sure

EDIT: why kingston? i would buy Gskill or OCZ

Never had problem with kingston & lifetime warranty.Also the HyperX memory was listed in the supported memory list of the mobo.The downside is that the HyperX PC-6400 is in fact a PC-5300 667 mhz & I'll need to overclock it to PC-6400 800 mhz wich should be ok since Kingston tested them as PC-6400.I don't really know how I'll do that but I'll try.I know the little energy saver program called ''DES'' & I was told to don't install it when they'll ask me during the driver installation and I should never have problems with it.

yeah, the e8400 and the pentium 4 are worlds apart. even running my e8400 at 1.9ghz, on my system, it's way faster than my previous processor.
why the 8800gt over the 4850? ah, looks like at some places the 4850 costs a bit more

Quote from Gabkicks :

yeah, the e8400 and the pentium 4 are worlds apart. even running my e8400 at 1.9ghz, on my system, it's way faster than my previous processor.
why the 8800gt over the 4850? ah, looks like at some places the 4850 costs a bit more

Well,I'm not touching to ATI anymore since I've broke 2 of them.Never had a single problem since I'm on Nvidia.Got the 8800GT for 130$ thought.

Sorry to kinda highjack ur thread but I didn't see the need to make a whole new thread about it but I was thinking of getting an extra 1 gb of ram @ like 500 mhz but I'm wondering if it would be too much for my fans or power supplies since the pc does seem to heat up quite a bit.

Kinda on topic : I've been using ATI cards ever since I bought my first computer and I've never had any trouble with them. :P

You would probably be seeing signs of instability already if RAM was going to be a problem for your PSU. It doesn't (compared to mechanical devices like fans, HD's, Media drives) use a lot of power.

As for heat, RAM will generally get hotter the faster it's run, but again if your system is fine now (albeit a little warm) then another stick shouldn't push it into a danger-zone.

Basically as long as the RAM is working when it arrives, and is compatible with the existing modules then it's probably the least impact of any upgrade you can get. The most common problems when upgrading RAM are incompatibility or dead modules.

Get the RAM, don't even think about power consumption or heat because RAM doesn't use much power or make much heat. Just make sure you get the right memory, because the way you said it you make it seem like any RAM you buy will work. Also, buy from a respected manufacturer like OCZ, Crucial, or Kingston, don't buy the cheap crap.

Great choice of CPU, those things are so incredibly nasty fast, it's insane. At stock speeds it will probably run 2x the speed of my 6400+BE, even at 3.5!

My next build, if it's soon, will have an 8 series(the CPU, not GPU), those things are just so sick for gaming, from what I've seen they eat up Crysis like it's nothing. Oh, good choice of GPU also, more than enough with the setup you have. Is that board SLI capable? If so, booyah, add another GT later on for dirt cheap and it'll RUN.

Anyways, heh, the difference between what you had and what you just built, is so incredibly over the top(not in spending, in comparison to what you had lol) the difference in speed can't even be compared. Enjoy, my next rig is gonna be very similar, post how it runs, I'd especially like to hear how it runs Crysis, if ya don't mind installin the demo and tryin it. Hell, would be a great way to break that thing in!

Edit: I hear those E8XXX CPU's are very good for overclocking, I hope your board will let you. Regardless, even stock, looking at the charts on tomshardware, they're out performing everything in their price range, and many others more expensive.

Thanks for the help.

Don't worry I know what kind of RAM I should have and all. DDR2 and checked and it is compatible with my pc and I do have space for another RAM. (my bro knows all bout computers really but ya know just wanted to ask and be safe). As for respected manufacturers and all that well I'm getting it from Factory Direct (www.factorydirect.ca) because I only have around 25$ to spend on it and it's mainly to get iRacing to not lag so much @ laguna seca :P.

Anyways thanks for the help.

Recently made piecemeal upgrade from P4 533 2.4 (overclocked 3.2) , ddr 333, 2.5 Gb,ASUS p4p800-e, ATI x1650pro with ASRock 775i65g and 2.66 Kentsfield. Added low latency (cl2) kingston hypermax ddr400, 2Gb and saw unbelievable increase in framerate while driving solo with heavily textured areas. Running at 6xAA, 16xAF and literally increased framerate nearly 100%.