I don't know how to add screen shots, so if you could tell me that would be great. Anyways I'd like to some screens of some FPS action!
When playing the , hit "Prt Scr" (Print Screen). Exit out of the , and fire up your image editor (Paint works just fine too). Hit Ctrl+V to paste it in. Save, but don't save as a .bmp if you want to show it off. That makes Dr. Evil angry...
http://www.hardwareforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1317 If you have a place to host the images use the following code: {img}http://www.website/image.jpg{/img} except change the { } to [ ].
No, I've figured out how to post the screenshots, but they are too big. You know the AMD Barton 2500 and Soltek MoBo you guys reccomended me? I have heard of people overclocking that sucker to 3200+! Amazing! Could you guys reccomend me some good oc'ing memory? http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=CORSAIR%2CMEMORY%2CXMS%2CExtreme%2CMemory%2CSpeed%2CSeries%2C512 -see the bottom of the page(w/platinum heat spreaders!) Do you think I need this memory to overclock and will the Soltek hold up to this? About overclocking: Say the people who do overclock their rigs to 3200+? Do they leave 'em like that for their entire life? Or do they have to tweak 'em every 7 hours to make sure they don't explode? Help...
Most people stress their overclocked components for at least 24 hours. You usually have to try several times to get the best settings you can for your system.
Well mine is oced to 220*10.5 which is 2.31 ghz and is a lot faster than a 3200+, I always leave it like that. (3200+ = 200*11). The Kingston DDR400 ram will be fine, and if you oc it to 3200+ speed, the memory won't even be oced, it will run at its specs.
But do you think spending the extra $50 on PC3700 RAM with platinum heat spreaders would be a nice investment as games get better and better all the time?
Well if your goal is to oc your cpu to 3200+ speed, then it's not a good investment imo. But if you want a guarantee that your ram will at least do 466 mhz, then it is a good investment. At least that's how I see it. Keep in mind that no cpu can natively use that much bandwidth. A 230 mhz bus is not something easy to achieve. Some people do it with a lot of tweaking and patience, and money.
Yes, I guess my rig will be a carbon copy of your rig, Harrack 32! Except for my retail AIW9800PRO. You said you have a 2500+ running at 3200+? That means that when you turn you're comp. on, you do just go straight to whatever you wanna do, without any tweaking? You can do this everyday! Awesome! What kind of cooling do you use? Maybe you could post some screens of your rig to show me where to put the fans, if you know how. -j/k. Oh yeah, about the PC3700 memory...I was thinking about getting this so in the future I would probably never have to upgrade my memory, instead of throwing down another $100 when the time comes to upgrade. Is this stupid?
Oh, the 3 things your rig has that mine hasn't is the Antec True 480W PSU(which I'll soon be getting), Windows XP Pro(I have 2kpro-does it matter when it comes to gaming-will I take some FPS hits?), and the WD 120GB HDD 7200RPM(do you need this much disk space-SHEW-you only get faster loading times though-right?)
Well first my cpu is faster than a 3200+. A 3200+ has a FSB of 400mhz with a multiplier of 11 for 2.2 ghz. Mine has a FSB of 440mhz with a multiplier of 10.5 for 2.31ghz. I don't have to do anything when I power it on, I just do and it's rock stable. It passed the 24 hour Prime95 test while running a 5 hour loop of 3dmark2001 or something like that (at the same time). There's not much difference between 2k Pro and XP Pro, except for the looks. I'd keep what I have if I were you. I don't need that much space but the drive was on sale for $130 cad (canadian dollars), so I took it. I have a SLK-800A with a Thermaltake SmartFan II on my cpu, two exhaust fans in the back, 1 intake on the side and two intake in the front. I also have a crystal orb and 8 Tweakmonster BGA ramsinks on my video card. (Just to keep it cooler than with the stock hsf). I don't oc it, except for the flash but that's not really an oc. Personnally, I wouldn't get the PC3700 because once you will decide to upgrade, it'll be for a 64 bit processor so you'll have to change the major parts in your system. Come that time, I suggest you just put together another system. You shouldn't need to upgrade anytime soon though imo.
You have a good point about building a whole new system when its time to upgrade in the near future. I think I'll pretty much stick w/ the same setup as you. And do the things on your video card really matter that you have? And how is it possible to put fans in the front? And any reccomendations for fans? Is it possible to post a pic of your machine? I would post a pic of mine, but it is too big and I don't know which program to use to size it down. Thanks for the help!
And do I need the Arctic Silver 3 thermal paste that they reccomend? Where did you buy that heatsink and fan at? They don't have it at NewEgg.
For my video card: is it necessary ? probably not but better to be safe than sorry. For the price I paid, I don't mind putting an extra couple of bucks to make sure it'll last. Well my case has clips in the front where I can put fans. It's just made like that You could always mod yours so it can have fans in the front if it can't right now. As for fans: I've used the themaltake on my cpu, a standard Antec, a vantec stealth and a panaflo H1A. I gotta' say that the thermaltake is the best one but it's pretty loud. After that, I'd say the panaflo pushes more air than the vantec and is as quiet, and the antec is a good cheap fan that pushes a good amount of air but is loud. Also, the Antec I tried isn't ballbearing so it will likely not last as long as a ballbearing fan. To sum up, I suggest you go with the Panaflo H1A. As for pics, I don't have a camera so I can't take pics, it's as simple as that. there's not much to show in my system though. I haven't modded it or anything special. You will need a good thermal paste and I suggest Arctic Silver III or Arctic Céramique. I've tried both and they're both the same if you ask me. Some say the Céramique will last longer. In any case, the céramique is harder to apply. You can't go wrong with any of those two. I bought my heatsink at www.bigfootcomputers.com . It's a canadian site, I'm not sure they ship to the US, you'll have to look that up. And I got the thermaltake fan from a Volcano 11 that I bought, but it can be bought separately if you look around. I'm sure newegg will have ordered some. If not, there are other good adjustable fans out there. Some like the Enermax adjustable, but I've never tried it. If you go on amdmb.com , they have a fan roundup that can be very helpful, you should look it up.
They have the SLK-900A and others at http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=62&manufactory=1444&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1 . Are these any good?
How do they AMD processors work? Like the AMD "Barton" 2500+ runs at 2.0 GHz or something, and when one overclocks it to 2.3GHz it becomes a 3200+? What? How does this work? This upgrading thing is getting to be a little costly with all the fans, the heatsink, thermal paste, and power supply.
Do you mean to get the Panaflo H1A for all of my fans? The two exhaust in the back, the 1 intake on the side, and the two intake on the front should all be Panaflo H1A? Does your computer sound like an airplane? J/w, because I've read the review @ newegg for the SmartFanII and said it is the noisiest fan ever.
Thermalright makes some good stuff, so it's a good investment. The AMD PR thing...when you're manipulating the FSB and multiplier, it makes the PR rating a bit null. If you're getting the OEM XP2500+ and can go without OCing it, you can save yourself a good chunk of change right there. Arctic Silver is good stuff, just don't get it anywhere other than the core of the CPU. Arctic Ceramique does not have the electrically conductive silver that AS has. I run a Thermalright SK-7 with a blue LED fan (80mm) with my XP2100+. I'm sure getting a bigger and/or faster fan would improve my temps, but since the thing is stable, I ain't worried. If you want to get an aftermarket heatsink, that's one of the less expensive ones, but like most Thermalright, Alpha, and Swiftech air coolers, you'll need to get an extra fan. I'm not a big fan of the stock AMD heatsinks, but, like I said earlier, if you don't absolutely have to overclock the thing now, that's one less thing you'll need to buy. Besides Newegg, SVC has pretty good prices and was a good deal for me when I ordered from them recently. I'll probably look at them for modding stuff and lighting. They have deals every week on stuff, so you might be able to snag a nice heatsink for a good price. PSUs: Sparkle (Fortron is made by the same company as Sparkle, btw) and Antec have been mainstays in my rigs. I did get a fairly nice Kingwin PSU for my latest build. I'd make sure to have at least a 350W PSU to be on the safe side, though there is evidence to support the use of a quality 300W one.
