Upgrading Motherboard and processor

[Bobber]

Hi,

New to the board and am planning to upgrade my system. The main use I have is Photoshop CS2 for still image editing. Running Vista 64 with a MSI 7125 and ADM 3700+, 3 SATA HDs and a GetForce 6600. First I want to upgrade my 4 year old set up then move on to CS3.

I'm thinking about a Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R with a Q6600 and 4 MB RAM @1065. I plan on OC to 3.0MHz.

What I'd like feedback on is:
Anyone suggest something better for running PS CS2?
Am I over investing in the MB?
My CPU is close to a heat element and usually runs at 42 degrees C, what cooling options shoud I consider with the set up?

Thanks

[maj0r_pawnage]

Hi,

New to the board and am planning to upgrade my system. The main use I have is Photoshop CS2 for still image editing. Running Vista 64 with a MSI 7125 and ADM 3700+, 3 SATA HDs and a GetForce 6600. First I want to upgrade my 4 year old set up then move on to CS3.

I'm thinking about a Gigabyte EP35C-DS3R with a Q6600 and 4 MB RAM @1065. I plan on OC to 3.0MHz.

What I'd like feedback on is:
Anyone suggest something better for running PS CS2?
Am I over investing in the MB?
My CPU is close to a heat element and usually runs at 42 degrees C, what cooling options shoud I consider with the set up?

Thanks

damn I don't think you can run CS2 with a 3.0MHz cpu and 4MB of ram... need a little bit more power. How can you over invest :D, the motherboard is great/solid and the cpu should OC to 3GHz with no voltage increase with the stock cooler, but you may want to shell out $60 or so bucks to get an aftermarket air cooler. The quad/large amounts of ram will be great for CS2.

[martini161]

dont bother with 1066 ram, its not worth it. and make sure you go with 2X2gb instead of 4x1gb. i would recomend this kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145176
as for cooling, get an after market cooler, stock coolers suck

[werty316]

I agree as you won't notice a performance difference between DDR2-800 and DDR2-1066 so paying the extra money for DDR2-1066 isn't worth it since DDR2-800 is cheaper.

[FZ1]

I agree as you won't notice a performance difference between DDR2-800 and DDR2-1066 so paying the extra money for DDR2-1066 isn't worth it since DDR2-800 is cheaper.

I disagree...somewhat. If there was no performance difference, why would people bother to OC 800's to 1066 and above? However, most decent 800 sticks can OC pretty easily to 1066. It depends if you want the hassle of OC'ing them or just want to stick them in and have them work.

[werty316]

I am strictly speaking terms when running them at their stock clocks as well when calculating an overclock of 3.0GHz he wants out of a Q6600.

When running 1:1,
3.0GHz / 9x = 333Mhz(666MHz effective) memory clock freq.
3.0GHz / 8x = 375Mhz(750MHz effective) memory clock freq.
3.0GHz / 7x = 428Mhz(856MHz effective) memory clock freq.

If he has money to burn then more power to him but its all about personal taste and DDR2-800 is what I would go for unless he plans on doing a massive overclock, which he is not doing, DDR-1066 could come in handy.

[Bobber]

Thanks for all the comments.

The 800 looks like a good way to keep some money in the bank.

Any thoughts on cooling? I'd like to go with something 80mm or smaller. The Rosewill RCX-Z2 looks like it'll do the job. Comments?

[maj0r_pawnage]

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... %20Cooling

What about that, Its small and cheap, and will get the job done .