Who wants a motherboard workout?

[Crazy Buddhist]

From Wikipedia:

"PCI Express, officially abbreviated as PCI-E or PCIe, is a computer expansion card interface format. It was designed to replace PCI, PCI-X (interface card interface) and AGP (graphics card interface). PCIe is based around serial links called lanes. The PCIe 1.1 specification supports x1 (pronounced "by one"), x2, x4, x8, x16, and x32 lanes."

From Microsoft:

"Is an n-lane PCIe slot compatible with a p-lane PCIe graphics card, where p > n? Where n > p?

You cannot plug an x16 graphics card into an x8 slot. You can however, if you wish, plug an x8 card PCIe card into an x16 slot. A p-lane PCIe card will work at some speed in an n-lane PCIe slot, where n > p. This is not true if n < p."


And I can't find any PCIe x4 graphics cards so I dont know what they are talking about that being for dual graphics. plenty of x4 RAID controllers out there though. Fancy RAID? lol

[Spawn-Inc]

Also, I've decided that I would like to try my hand at a bit o' overclockin. Nothing big, just enough to maybe raise my 2.8 P4 to 3.0? or more maybe? How much do you guys think I could get on a Blue Orb II? It doesn't even get hot, on my last board at least. Under load, the Blue Orb II got slightly warm. But in this case, I'll have a closed case with airflow, unlike before. Hmmm... I guess it depends on the board too?

i see no problem in getting 3ghz from that, i have oc my old computer from 1.6ghz to 1.83ghz on stock cooling (i lapped the heatsink and cpu though, also went from a thermal pad (looked like aluminum duct tape) to AS5. and temps are still low. i forget what i changed though i don't think it was the multiplier.

specs of pld pc

pentium 4 1.6ghz ( 478 )
gigabyte 8IDX
896mb's of ram pc133 3-3-3-6 (512mb stick, 256mb stick, 128mb stick)
80gb+20gb hdd's
320watt psu

Well I don't mind if things get a bit hot, just as long as its not overly damaging, especially to the motherboard. If it only affects the cpu, then I don't mind at all. I plan to replace it this winter, end of January at the latest. I NEED dual core performance, lol I feel like such a dork still using a damned P4.

don't worry, i all (3) the pc's in my house are still p4's. once i get ram though it will be a quad!~!!!

[Zephik]

don't worry, i all (3) the pc's in my house are still p4's. once i get ram though it will be a quad!~!!!

haha, I suppose once I get dual core, I'll still be a dork because everyone else will either have quad or octo-cores! lol

Figures, I'm 8 dollars over. lol

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144123

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128054

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835100007

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812101121

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812119020

Need the power adapter for the built-in power supply with the case, but I also need the laptop to IDE converter so I don't have to buy another HDD for now. Seems like my SATA 320GB SeaGate doesn't work anymore. For whatever friggen reason I haven't a clue. Maybe it will work when I plug it into a fresh system. But it didn't work in my brothers PC or when I put it in an external case. ><

[Spawn-Inc]

can you rma it?

[Zephik]

can you rma it?

It's been months. It was probably, hmmm, maybe February when I bought it off newegg.

I'm going to see if my best friend has any HDD's he doesn't want or use. He has a pretty good collection going on. He uses most of them for storage for his laptop, has every one of them connected to a hub. lol Its pretty ridiculous if you ask me, he even carries a WD Passport around with him.

[Eclecticos]

I'd recommend this one from your List. GIGABYTE! <=-

[Zephik]

I'd recommend this one from your List. GIGABYTE! <=-

Yea, I think I'm going to go with that one. Seems pretty good.

How high of an overclock do you guys think I can get out of my 2.8Ghz P4 with that board? I have a gig of Corsair Value Select Memory by the way, nothing great, but at least its not some weird crap brand. Also, just in case you weren't paying attention, I have a Thermaltake Blue Orb II. I would venture a guess that it is just as good as a Zalman. Zalman being better with their CNPS9500, but only by so much. Probably why the price for the Blue Orb II has been raised since I bought mine for like $35. Things friggen huge, its probably bigger than the Zalman.

[Spawn-Inc]

depending on how much you can do in bios i would guess 3.2 -3.4 maybe? like i said before i got mine to run stable at (from 1.6) 1.83ghz on stock cooling. with that blue orb i could probably go to 2ghz. i think i might go try 1.9ghz and see what happens.

[Zephik]

Sweet, 3.2 would be awesome! 3.4 might make me not care a whole lot for getting a Core 2 Duo anytime soon. lol

Whats better? A low Ghz dual core or a high Ghz single core? Maybe compare the best single core with the worse dual core? Which would be better?

[crenn]

Low GHz dual core. Hands down. Although, do you really need a C2D? Could always try AMD if you need a cheap dual core PC.