Alright so far as far as the mobo goes it looks like a really good setup, also I was confused as to how much RAM it could hold? Does it only have two slots for this?.. I think there pci slots?? correct me if I'm wrong, and what would be the max amount of RAM I could have with it. Also I was confused about the different F versions of Bios..? and how hard would it be to upgrade them? You were also speaking of overclocking a gpu.. how technical is that? I would really like to be able to do that. And my last question is, I'm expecting a little debate over it.. I would really like to use Vista on this build. I realize that a lot of people are against it, but I also know some people that like it for there own reasons. What do you all feel about this? Also would that change anything in the build that we have going?
The board can handle up to 4GB of RAM, in a maximum of two slots. 2. RAM slots are just that, slots for RAM. PCI slots are the white ones at the bottom and are for general peripherals such as modems, sound card, network cards, extra IDE/S-ATA port cards, firewire cards and so on. 3. Upgrading the motherboard BIOS is only recommended if you have any problems, but generally (at least as far as Gigabyte are concerned) newer is better. 4. Easy as pie, just grab the relevant program, no BIOS tinkering needed. 5. I'm not an anti-vista flagbearer, but I choose not to use it for my own needs, XP handles everything I do much quicker, and I dislike how Directx10 currently does not support anti-aliasing for graphics, so I wouldn't use it for gaming. XP feels a lot more responsive for me, but if you want to use vista, I'm not stopping you.
as far as i know, changing the bios of the gpu is kinda dangerous, if something goes wrong your gpu is screwed. My mo only supports max 2GB ram and only support dual 667, but i have 2GB os 800 on...i'll have to lower the ram speed to 667
The same is true with motherboard BIOSes, but for the fact that you only have to replace the BIOS chip, not the whole board.
I see, I will still have to think about what OS I am going to use. Is there an article or video or something that might be able to help better with understanding on OCing my GPU or CPU? Also what exactly is anti-aliasing, and what does it do? I saw a video where you could take some kind of heated substance like glue or something similar and press the CPU right on to the mobo, I'm not sure where I saw it, it might have been using the original mobo I had thought about when the budget was still 250.. Would this be different for a dual core processor? Thanks again for all of your help, I get my tax money tomorrow , and hoping to be able to buy the parts sometime this coming week! I was also looking at some other ram that Newegg has. They also have 4GB (2x2GB) here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145195 I've heard RAM has different speeds and was wondering if more is better, or like somethings more is less..? Would this type of ram would work the new build? I saw that it was DDR2, and thats about the only thing that I know is important when it comes to RAM. Another reason I bring up the issue on the RAM is that I was reading up on the reviews on newegg for vista, and it recommends bare minimum of 4GB of RAM, or if you want 64Bit it recommends 6GB!! What would it cost to upgrade the mobo to be able to have a maximum of 6GB? I'm guessing it wouldn't be cheap, I would just like to know what kind of figures I'm looking at. Thanks again for answering all of the noob questions!
Make a post in our official overclocking thread when you're done building the PC, and then we'll help you from there, it's quite simple. As for AA, it's a technique used to remove all the jaggedy pixelated lines in games. Read here for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-aliasing The video you saw was not a heated substance, it was thermal grease, which is that state at room temperature. It's used to make a better contact between the CPU and it's cooler. Most of us here at aD use the stuff, but be advised it can only be used if you've cleaned the existing stuff off the cooler and/or CPU first. The bonus of it though is if you ever do remove or change your CPU cooler, you can put a new one back without having to clean the stuff off. The process applies for all CPUs. The RAM you've posted is fine for performance, but if you want to overclock, it'll greatly reduce how far you can get. If you want 4GB of RAM (recommended for top-end games, but will you really be playing those?) it'll be better to go with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184 but really, on any reasonable budget, I'd stick with the 2GB. The reviewers on newegg are, in all honesty, retards. They haven't got a clue what they're saying. Your memory usage with Vista will only be insane if you use Aero and all the other features Vista offers, whilst playing games. Disable Aero before you go in a memory intensive app and you'll probably be alright. As with XP, I'd recommend you have 4GB if you were a gamer, but unless you get gaming grade components elsewhere, it's pointless. Getting a motherboard that can support 8GB of RAM is not expensive at all, getting the 8GB might be! Seriously though, don't bother, 4 gigs is all you'll need for a very long time.
Ok I just want to clarify one thing, and I greatly appreciate all of the help that I've received from this site, you guys are the most 1337 mofos I've ever talked to online. But just to make sure that RAM the Corsair 4GB will work with that mobo correct? If so I think I'm going to order it. I have enough money for everything and even though it comes out with shipping a little over budget I think I'll be able to deal with it! with the shipping and the upgrading RAM it costs $508.52. But, after the mail in rebates its $443.52. For now I think I will stick with xp just because I don't have the money to get vista just yet. But with me having a very small HDD only 20GB, I run off a 150GB external mostly. When I do have enough I plan on getting a bigger HDD with vista. Thanks Again.
A leet mofo eh, that's not one I've heard before! The 4GB of RAM will work on pretty much any board that supports 2GB memory modules (which is practically all modern motherboards, but not many older ones). Fortunately, the Gigabyte one I posted (reminder: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128045) can support that combination. Your decision to stick with XP initially is good, since while it means you have to install the OS again, it lets you see how the same system performs under two different operating systems. If you're happy with how the system performs with Vista, then keep it.
Yes leet mofo , it was the only thing i could think of. I could have called you all uber nerds.. but I'm jealous of your skills, and would be no where without any of your help. Also thank you for such an early response, I have to cash my check at the bank when it opens, its 6:54AM my time, before I can order it. Since I got the okay on the new RAM I'm going to order it as soon as the money is in my account. Now I didn't buy a new hard drive with this build.. would I still have to reinstall the OS? Thanks again
Well I purchased the PC, and once again thanks to everyone that contributed to the thread. You have made my life much easier . I will officially have a better PC then all of my friends, but if I have any questions upon installation I assure you that you'll hear from me. Or if anyone is popular on the OCing thread I promise you, you'll hear from me once its set up properly, and in working order.
Ok, well I was just going over the order that I made on newegg and was looking over the video card. There are a few reviews on the card that says they were using the crossfire support.. which I believe means using two of the cards at once. Would the card work just fine with only one of them? I realize that its only 256MB, but also know that that isn't everything when it comes to video cards. My question is with only one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102700 would I still be able to do everything that I would like, and also does the mobo that I am ordering http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128077 have crossfire support?
That motherboard does not have crossfire support, but trust me when I say you don't need to use crossfire, nor should you want to. It's not at all cost-effective. That single card on its own is plenty good enough.
Your motherboard doesn't have crossfire support, also crossfiring two of those cards is fairly... useless. For the price of those two card you could get a 3850 which is MUCH better. I mean MUCH better.
