PSU Recommendation please..

[DaveB]

DO NOT SCARE ME LIKE THAT!!

Yes indeed.. the P5Q Deluxe is a DDR2 board and it was bought for that reason (I don't have to buy DDR3 ram) Looking at the spec, it will take just about any current form of E and Q chip which again gives me room to manoeuvre in a couple of years time when E's and Q's are 10-a-penny and i5/7/9 are near affordable I want to get rid of the 2gig Ballistix I currently have and replace it with 3gig of Corsair but I really dare not go down that route yet. I'm only running a 32-bit OS so buying more is fruitless.

Hopefully.. the force will be with me and by this time tomorrow.. I'll be enjoying the sort of performance I've yearned for. One more piece of the jigsaw to fulfill (replacement of ATI HD2900XT) and it should be rockin' for a long time

Chris.. I bet your Q6600 goes like something off a shovel as-is let alone clocked to 3.24

ATB

DaveB

[ianhind]

I think it's too late for the money monster!

Re Ben's comment about DDR2 and DDR3 being different connectors, that's correct. I think Dave may have been confused by his previous motherboard claiming to support both types of RAM. It does (did?) but only by providing 4 x DDR2 slots and 2 x DDR3 slots. I know because I have one of those boards too.

Ian

[DaveB]

Yup.. it certainly is.

Now.. I'm confused. I mentioned DDR3 above (or the lack of on the new board) as a possible retrograde step as there are a number of ASUS boards out there that support the faster ram. I chose the P5Q Deluxe because it only supports DDR2 and this is the ram I already have (as well as it being an intel chipset - P45 - and not nvidia/a-n-other). The Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L doesn't support DDR3 either and only has 4 x 1.8v DDR2 slots.

Now, you have me wondering if the DDR2 I have is compatible

ATB

DaveB

[ianhind]

oops - getting my DS-3R confused with my DS-3L

The Gigabyte P35 DS-3R has both slots (DDR3/DDR2) while the DS-3L only has DDR2 slots. Don't panic, my mistake.

Motherboard nomenclature is an art in itself. If you ever buy a Foxconn motherboard, the naming of the variants could be a Mastermind topic .

Ian

[DaveB]

Tks Ian.. I was begining to doubt my sanity then

ATB

DaveB

[DaveB]

The REAL finale..

ASUS P5Q Deluxe arrived today (only a day late!) and installed. A couple of minor issues that I may well leave.. 1 HD Audio bus (which if I'm not mistaken is the b1oody ATI graphics card.. and 1 ATK0110 ACPI Utility not wanting to load. This (I believe) is part of the RAID setup anyway and I don't have RAID in use so I don't care
The mobo comes with an odd 'one or t'other' PS2 port (fit either a ps2 keyboard or mouse) which left me confused for a while and without the use of a mouse when I first flashed it up. This confuses the issue with my KVM as I now have two mice (1 USB attached to the mobo and 1 for the other 3 pc's on the KVM) but I'll get my head around that in due course.
Was surprised to get away with it not spitting me out first time (I know mobo changes can do this) and all I had to do was re-activate (just went for the wrong mouse again ..blx AND again! ) and that was done after I got the BT Voyager USB wifi do-dar working after the 3rd attempt
FS9 checked and going like stink at Aerosoft LHR2008 with AI banged up. Possible bottleneck for now remains the ATI HD2900XT but hopefully, that'll be gone soon (right mouse this time)

This mobo does more than I will ever throw at it. It's a thing of great engineering beauty with copper pipping and copper fins surrounding the cpu (the standard intel heatsink fits snuggly in the middle). It has a smashing utility for those get up and go folk who can't wait for the OS to load and want to make a skype call or work on Linux. The bios (which has 3 times more ram than my first pc had in total!) opens at the 'Express Gate' page. If you don't move your mouse, it will go to the OS in 6 seconds. If you touch the mouse.. that's it and ready for something else. Hit the skype button and off you go! Very impressive even if it's something I'll never use
My favourite part thus far has been a little packet of 3 plugs.. 2 of which I've no idea what they do and the other I've used. We all know how fiddly it is trying to get the speaker/reset/pwr e t c connectors onto the mobo. With this, you don't. One of the 3 plugs mimics exactly how the connectors fit on the mobo so you connect them all to the plug then simply push the plug into the space on the mobo. Mighty fine. Simple but very effective.

What can I say. I started off by asking for PSU recommendations then finding it wasn't the PSU and buying a CPU THEN, thanks to Ian Hind who very kindly lent me a used but working CPU to update the bios on the old board only to find it WAS the mobo that had gone down and not the rest, ending up where I am now with 75% new system. I could have done without it but I'm happy to be up and running again and faster than ever.

Tks for all your input guys. I appreciate it's always difficult to give advice without being able to see for yourself exactly what is (or isn't) happening. In the end, a successful conclusion albeit an expensive one for me(wrong bloody mouse again!)

ATB

DaveB

[Effoh]

Glad you're sorted Dave - be interested to hear how the E8400 performs when you're fully up and running - I have my eye and my slush fund targetted on one of them


Rgds,


Colin

[TSR2]

Glad your sorted Dave. The ASUS kit is definately the mutts nuts, and IMHO the best of the bunch. Good luck!

[DaveB]

Tks guy's (blx.. I still keep going for the wrong mouse but this is sorted.. an adapter for the mouse is already on order and will allow me once more to stay focused).. just did it again.. and again

Colin..
The E8400 will overclock like a charm (or so I read). Even at it's standard 3ghz, it's b1oody quick when compared to the (no slouch) E6600 and the potential to go much further is there with little or no fuss. Mine will stay bolted to 3ghz as I like to play safe The main improvement I expect to see next will be from the nvidia 8800GT (800mb). The ATI HD2900XT I have has many qualities but unfortunately, they're not directed in the same direction I want to go. WIth 512mb onboard, it's not slow by any means but it's geared more for stuff I don't do than for stuff I do do (no.. not THAT sort of do do). To be honest, the 6800GT I have on the XP3200 is a superior card for the gamer. Sadly.. it's not PCIe otherwise I'd be more than willing to lose the 256mb advantage the ATI has and luxuriate in the raw power of the nvidia card

Memory is a bit confusing (mobo that is). If you click on somewhere like Crucial.. their memory checker will always advise you go for at least 3gig on WinXP with the caveat that having more will not be seen on a 32-bit OS (true.. I suppose they've had complaints). If you look at the motherboard manuals ( ASUS is no different from Gigabyte here).. they advise less than 3gig for a 32-bit OS. The ASUS P45Q D will take just about anything and automatically map what is available into equal parts to fill the memory bus which is fine but is still a bit contradictory to what the memory makers are saying. I suppose that figures.. they want to sell more memory. I have 3gig fitted in the XP3200 (WinXP Home) and it runs ok and could, I suppose, get another 1gig Crucial Ballistix to run on this one. I'm not quite sure how much benefit I'll see and how much will be imagined Ah well.. something to ponder over

Anyway.. it's official. Christmas has come early (for me if not for everyone.. and that comes straight from SWMBO)

ATB

DaveB

[Effoh]

TVM for that Dave.

I have an E6750 at the mo' so not a million miles away from your old chip.

You will enjoy the 8800 - that's what I use.

May invest when I get back from hols

Rgds,

Colin