[SOLVED] Packard Bell IXTREME 2712 mobo/gfx/RAM Upgrade

[Dealmaster13]

After receiving some money from my parents as a Christmas present, I've decided to invest most of it into upgrading my current system, as it is lacking a powerful graphics card and RAM, with the Windows Experience Index rating my Memory (RAM) at 4.1 (surprisingly this has changed from the original 3.1 it rated my memory at, before I clicked 'update my score'), my Graphics at 4.9 and my Gaming graphics at 5.3 (My CPU and 2 identical hard drives are decent enough receiving 5.9 and 5.8 points respectively).

I bought the Packard Bell barebone PC from PC World last summer with the following specifications:

Packard Bell IXTREME 2712
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor (regretably not the SLACR ver)
RAM: 3GB (1X2GB PC2 5300 and 1X1GB PC2 5300 - strangely only clocked at 266MHz according to CPU-Z) only 2 RAM slots available
Hard Drives: 2X Seagate 360GB (720GB total)
Graphics Card: 8600GS (unfortunate I hadn't seen the benchmarks for this particular card before hand; I have the very odd GS, NOT GT, GTS or 8400GS)
Operating System: Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Monitor: 6 year old Compaq 1280x1024 15"/17" (nb. I bought a barebone)
Chassis Dimensions: 195x420x415(mm)

Motherboard:
The exact model of my motherboard has been really difficult to find, however I believe, after opening the case, has the specs listed below.
Foxconn PT8907MB-2.0-8ERS2H

I think it only has a single PCI-E x16 slot (unsure of which version) which is occupied by the nVidia 8600GS, and a couple of unnecessary PCI x1 slots or something of that sort, one of which has a free TV tuner connected to it (it came with the Packard Bell barebone package already installed - no idea how it works unfortunately). It also supplies 2 RAM slots both limited by the PC2 5300 specification (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I am looking to upgrade my PC for gaming, light photoshopping, programming and general mulitasking (most of which are achievable thanks to the existing Q6600).
Thus, I want to upgrade my graphics card and RAM. Before I do this, I should really be thinking about replacing my mobo as well; as it severly limits the components I can buy.

What I'm looking to buy:
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3/R/P or ASUS P5Q-E/PRO (budget <£150)
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4670 or 4850 or 4870 (budget <£200)
RAM: 3GB/4GB of PC2 6400 or PC2 8500 (nb. I have Vista 32-bit) (budget <£50)

With a new high-end graphics card, I will probably need a new PSU, especially considering that my current FSP250-60HEN only supplies 250W. Unfortunately I have absolutely no knowledge of which PSU to buy other than to look for one with particularly high stability, enough energy output and low price (budget <£50)

What I need:

• Information on exactly what my motherboard provides in terms of PCI slots and RAM speed compatability
• I need advice on which products I should buy, if not the ones I listed above
• If buying new PC2 5300 RAM will improve loading speeds of general everyday programs

Please note that I am quite new to PC building, decide to use the upgraded build for light overclocking, hence the motherboard choice (however if there is a significant difference in price between the UD3/P5Q boards and another recomendation; I am willing to go with your suggestion), and will not be thinking about getting a Crossfire/SLI setup in the near future.

Thanks a lot, and looking forward to your replies.
Oliver

PS. Happy New Year!

[linderman]

BRAVO >>>>>.Oliver


very well written ........... nice background research and very concise objectives!

You have your situtaion well at hand; the only real difference of opinion I have is the comment of your needing a good quality but cheap (50 pounds) power supply ......... when you want to use high quality parts its a must to be as demanding and rewarding of quality and cost for the power supply as any other single part of the PC with NO EXCEPTION ................ the power supply is the foundation of your high rise office building (computer) use a crappy foundation and it will all come crashing down no matter how nicely built !


on to the meat and potatoes:

Your Q6600 as you know has plenty of life in it especially with the right motherboard, ram and power ........... it can hit 3.4 ghz on air cooling

what I personally would do if I were in your shoes is prioritise my purchases

A) power supply (corsair 750 watt or 650 watt >>>>> OCZ 700 watt)

B) video card = ATI 4850 (no less) or 9800 GTX+ <<<<< check prices

C) Corsair or OCZ DDR2-800/PC2-6400 ram in the 2 x 2 gig stick variety with CAS latency of 5-5-5-15 (not 5-5-5-18) and the ram should be rated at 2.1 volts !!

D) motherboard as you have described (dont overlook the sweet price of the GA-EP35-DS3L or GA-EP35-DS4 ) they will scream just like their P45 brethren!!

E) zalman 9700 CPU cooler (for overclocking)



I put these parts in the order I would buy them if you cant splash $$$$$$ for them all at once ........... you motherboard will run faster with that memory until you can throw a new motherboard at it .......... that memory is backward compatible and will run at 667 mhz for sure ............ if you are lucky it may run at 800mhz ?????



enjoy and dont heistate to ask questions .............. check ebuyer.com too as well as maplin.com

[Dealmaster13]

Originally Posted by linderman

BRAVO >>>>>.Oliver


very well written ........... nice background research and very concise objectives!

You have your situtaion well at hand; the only real difference of opinion I have is the comment of your needing a good quality but cheap (50 pounds) power supply ......... when you want to use high quality parts its a must to be as demanding and rewarding of quality and cost for the power supply as any other single part of the PC with NO EXCEPTION ................ the power supply is the foundation of your high rise office building (computer) use a crappy foundation and it will all come crashing down no matter how nicely built !


on to the meat and potatoes:

Your Q6600 as you know has plenty of life in it especially with the right motherboard, ram and power ........... it can hit 3.4 ghz on air cooling

what I personally would do if I were in your shoes is prioritise my purchases

A) power supply (corsair 750 watt or 650 watt >>>>> OCZ 700 watt)

B) video card = ATI 4850 (no less) or 9800 GTX+ <<<<< check prices

C) Corsair or OCZ DDR2-800/PC2-6400 ram in the 2 x 2 gig stick variety with CAS latency of 5-5-5-15 (not 5-5-5-18) and the ram should be rated at 2.1 volts !!

D) motherboard as you have described (dont overlook the sweet price of the GA-EP35-DS3L or GA-EP35-DS4 ) they will scream just like their P45 brethren!!

E) zalman 9700 CPU cooler (for overclocking)



I put these parts in the order I would buy them if you cant splash $$$$$$ for them all at once ........... you motherboard will run faster with that memory until you can throw a new motherboard at it .......... that memory is backward compatible and will run at 667 mhz for sure ............ if you are lucky it may run at 800mhz ?????



enjoy and dont heistate to ask questions .............. check ebuyer.com too as well as maplin.com

Thank you very much, and it's such an honour to be praised like that only being 15 :).
Right, after reading your recommendations, I've had a rethink on how I should prioritise my new hardware and their prices. To be honest, before I carry on, I'd like to point out that I may just have overshot my budget there with my original list; so I may need some further trimming down on my product specs.
I'd also like to clarify that I live in the UK, so will be looking at UK auction and PC hardware sites - the sites that I am familiar with are: Ebay UK (my mum has an account there), Arianet (really sweet offers and great range of products), Scan (for top quality).
Since posting here, I've also received a reply from a Packard Bell Support member who has possibly found the motherboard I currently have. Can someone please confirm this, because what is of real interest to me is the fact that is states the board really does support DDR2 800 RAM; if that's the case, I might decide to leave upgrading the board to another time and be able to splash a greater proportion of my budget on the more important hardware, namely being the graphics card - however the fact that the board might not supply a PCI express 2.0 slot could be of a worry to me.

New questions:

• Could my motherboard be limiting the capabilities of my CPU and RAM? (please note that my motherboard's overclocking capabilities/options, not saying that it would've had any, have been locked by Packard Bell)
  The reason I ask this is because CPU-Z states that my Q6600 non-G0 stepping CPU runs at 1.6GHz (which is really quite alarming), 266MHz FSB x 6 multiplier AND that my PC2 5300 is stuck at only a frequency of 266MHz, where as my friend's Dell build with PC2 5300 RAM runs at a much higher 333MHz.
• I've had a look at the Corsair PSUs on www.aria.co.uk and unfortunately, they seem to be surprisingly expensive. It's quite late and I've got to go to London early tommorow morning, so I'm afraid I can't do much searching for quality PSUs until I get back.
  Sorry, but I didn't quite get your arrows thinking that you were pointing out that Corsair's were better than OCZ's :p.
• How much of a difference is there in terms of performance between 667, 800 and 1066Mhz RAM modules? I.e. if my current motherboard supplies 800, should I just buy 2x2GB sticks of them, and see a great improvement (note my m/b only has 2 RAM slots)? My boot time and game load times are adequate for my needs, but I was just thinking, that with RAM being so cheap compared to most other PC components, I think I might as well upgrade that first.
• When looking at graphics cars, I really am looking for 'bang for the buck' gfx cards, as they call it in the US ;); which is why I've chosen the 4000 series to take a look at rather than any nVidia cards. I'm not a really, really hardcore gamer, however I often do get frustrated when my fps drops below 20 in just 1280x1024... the 8600GS even averages only 15 fps in NFSPS and NFSU - it's ridiculous. Unfortunately I didn't add in the Samsung 22" monitor into the equation, however I can leave that to a later date. So, is the 9000 series really much better than ATI's 4000 series when looking at cost as well?
  A while back, I found a really swish website listing extensive details on a wide range of graphics cards in table format allowing you to compare their Tflops etc. - unfortunately I've never been able to find the site since - I thought it was on Tom's Hardware, but couldn't find it. I'd greatly appreciate it if someone gave me a link.
• Are you confident that a DS3L will do just fine? The thing is that I want to make sure when fitting out these new parts, I choose really quite future-proof hardware so that I don't have to face another upgrade. It's significantly cheaper, which is obviously a plus side (£69 opposed to £129). Did it receive as much praise as the new Ultra Durable 3 models did (again, sorry but I don't have the time to check)?

New hardware choices:

• 650-750W PSU (really need recommendations here, as I don't know much about PSUs)
• 4670(£63)/4850(£115)/4870(£180)/9800GT(£95)/9800GTX(£115)
• 2x2GB PC2 6400 (need recommendations on model), or 2x2GB PC2 8500 (very slight price difference)
• UD3R/UD3P or DS3L
• Cheap air cooler(s)

• Is there any specific PSU (model required) I should look at that really is sub-£50
• Which graphics card shall I go for? (overclocking and dual-card setup not in mind)
• Which model of RAM do you recommend? I have Vista 32-bit, so is 2x2GB worth it?
• Which Motherboard should I buy, considering my want to make it future-proof?
• Is the Zalman 9700 as cheap as it gets? I remember reading a top £15 air cooler in my PC magazine - I'll relook it up sometime soon.

Again, thank you very much for your time, and I hope you've had a great holiday thus far ;)
Oliver

[linderman]

Hello:

unfortunatley I response wont nearly match the look of yours; not even closely. Hope you will find it of value anyway!


A) Corsair / OCZ / Crucial are all equal in my book Gskil, Patriot are darn close

B) your current video card is killing your performance ......... however your current power supply will not power a good card ............. thats a guarantee !

C) the ATI 4850 is the best bang for the buck and faster than the 9800GTX ....... sometimes on rare occurences you can find a super deal on the 9800 GTX which makes it worthy of a second look !

D) power supplies = Corsair 750 TX or 650TX / OCZ 700 watt / Coolermaster real power pro 650watt or 750 watt / Thermaltake Toughpower 650 watt or 700 or 750 watt

E) I think you slower FSB speed of your Q6600 is not because of the stepping ...... but rather the slow ram you have

F) I would not mess with 1066mhz ram ........ its only true purpose is for extreme overclocking ........ 800mhz ram will satisify 90% of Q6600 owners. In fact plenty of motherboards wont run with 1066mhz ram ...... not worth the risk in any way, shape, or form !!

G) yes the EP35 chipsets boards are equally as good and high performance as the newer P45 ............ in fact I like some of the P35 versions better!

[Dealmaster13]

Originally Posted by linderman

Hello:

unfortunatley I response wont nearly match the look of yours; not even closely. Hope you will find it of value anyway!


A) Corsair / OCZ / Crucial are all equal in my book Gskil, Patriot are darn close

B) your current video card is killing your performance ......... however your current power supply will not power a good card ............. thats a guarantee !

C) the ATI 4850 is the best bang for the buck and faster than the 9800GTX ....... sometimes on rare occurences you can find a super deal on the 9800 GTX which makes it worthy of a second look !

D) power supplies = Corsair 750 TX or 650TX / OCZ 700 watt / Coolermaster real power pro 650watt or 750 watt / Thermaltake Toughpower 650 watt or 700 or 750 watt

E) I think you slower FSB speed of your Q6600 is not because of the stepping ...... but rather the slow ram you have

F) I would not mess with 1066mhz ram ........ its only true purpose is for extreme overclocking ........ 800mhz ram will satisify 90% of Q6600 owners. In fact plenty of motherboards wont run with 1066mhz ram ...... not worth the risk in any way, shape, or form !!

G) yes the EP35 chipsets boards are equally as good and high performance as the newer P45 ............ in fact I like some of the P35 versions better!

Thank you very, very much for your thorough response. I will definitely look into those recommendations you've listed, and create a final list and prices.
Before I leave, could you please answer two things:
IF price in not a worry in terms of buying RAM, is it more beneficial in any way, other than overclocking, to buy PC2 8500 over PC2 6400 - is there a slight speed benefit?
DDR2 6400 RAM 5-4-4-15
DDR2 6400 RAM 4-4-4-15
I cant find much cheaper RAM than those^^^
If the 9800GTX was 20% more expensive than the HD4850, (which it is), which card would you get?

[linderman]

the only way DDR2-8500 ram is faster or better is during exteme overclocking ...... DDR2-800 ram will peform flawlessly all the way to 450mhz FSB / 900mhz on the ram speed

after that point ............. DDR2-1066 is needed

the 4850 is a better choice ......... once in a great while I will hit a special or a refurbished 9800 GTX+ which is $25.00 to $30.00 cheaper ............ thats the only way I would prefer the 9800GTX

otherwise stick with the ATI 4850

both of your ram choices are excellent

[Dealmaster13]

Originally Posted by linderman

both of your ram choices are excellent

I have decided to ditch my plan to buy a new motherboard and it was forcing the rest of the components I were to buy to a lower quality due to my tight budget as well as the fact that I would then be forced to buy a new version of Windows (I really don't want Linux, being a gamer) - costing a further £50 as my operating system is 'tied' to my PB mobo.
According to rily of the PB forums, since my motherboard is capable of running both fast DDR2 800 RAM and my preffered 4000 series graphics card I should be fine.
Sticking with the PB mobo means I wont be overclocking at all, for a good while and that I wont need any 1066MHz RAM or extreme cooling (I've already got some really nice Cooler Master CPU cooler, already installed when I bought the barebone).

This helpfully leaves me with the following products to buy (in order of priority):
A fast and reliable 2x2GB DDR2 800 memory kit
A quiet, cheap and reliable 650-750 PSU
A very fast 1GB ATi Radeon HD4000 series graphics card or extremely cheap 9800GTX+/GTX260
A very cheap, high contrast 1680x1050 20"-22" well branded monitor
If my budget allows, a very cheap yet effective cooling system and some gaming peripherals

I have to be able to buy all of the above in hopefully under £300 (very tall order); I may just be able to get my mum to push the budget to £400, however I'd rather not.

Now, to look through a multitude of reviews for exact components:

RAM:
Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400 CL4, DDR2, 800MHz, 240-Pin Unbuffered DIMM, 4-4-4-12 256Meg x 64 - £51.99 inc P&P

PSU:
OCZ ELITE XSTREAM 800W POWER SUPPLY - £69.90 inc VAT

Graphics Card:
ASUS 1GB RADEON HD 4850 PCI-E 2.0 RET - £146 inc P&P

Monitor:
If parents agree:
22" Arianet Widescreen LCD Monitor With DVI - Piano Black - £91.94 inc VAT

OR

RAM:
CRUCIAL BALLISTIX 2 x 1 GB 240-pin Non-ECC DIMM DDR2 DDR2 PC2-6400 - £25.75 + P&P

PSU:
OCZ SXS 500W ATX Power Supply SLI Crossfire Low Noise - £44.80 inc P&P

Graphics Card:
ATi Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-E2.0 - £114.94 inc VAT

Monitor:
Samsung 20” Widescreen TFT - Gloss Black - £112.64 inc VAT

What do you think? By the way, thank you so very much for your time so far.

[linderman]

2 x 1 gig memory is cutting the cheese too thin for gaming

the OCZ 500 is also not up to the task of running your anticipated upgrade

the 4850 is a VERY good choice

[Dealmaster13]

Originally Posted by linderman

2 x 1 gig memory is cutting the cheese too thin for gaming

the OCZ 500 is also not up to the task of running your anticipated upgrade

the 4850 is a VERY good choice

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that my motherboard can't increase my CPU clock and DDR2 RAM frequency, just by getting DDR2 800 RAM; is this true? I really hope not.

Below are my specs taken from CPU-Z:


I take it that 2x2GB is a must?

Is there a particular increase in performance from using 2x2GB instead of 4x1GB?

If I buy 2x2GB RAM, with my 4850 using 1GB, will I have the full 3GB left depite having 32-bit Vista?

Will I get a significant performance increase by switching from 2+1 single channel to 2+2 dual channel?

If I buy PC2 6400 RAM, what speed do you think it will run at?
Are my motherboard's RAM slots fixed at a speed of 266MHz; or is the link above with specs on my motherboard true in saying that it can take DDR2 800 modules, if so, why don't my DDR2 5300 modules run at their optimum 333MHz speed?

Is 333MHz and 400MHz even possible?

What speed will DDR2 800 RAM run at; if 266MHz, shall I get quality 533 RAM instead?

Is my motherboard capable of supporting a 1GB 4850? Why I ask this is because if you read this topic which has a guy asking why his motherboard does not support a 4850 card, despite the required PSU.

What are the chances that my operating system is fixed to the motherboard? I'll ask rily about this as well.

If a new motherboard and has to be bought, then I may as well buy a new PC, which is not going to happen .

Are you sure the 500W PSU is not enough; I guess its lifetime may be shortenned by the unexpected loads - so is the £25 more Elite really worth getting?

Thanks again for your input, I really do appreciate it, and hope you can answer my bombardment of questions. I hope I can get this build just perfect for my budget ;)

[linderman]

DDR2-800 ram is backwards compatible ....... which means it can also run at 266/333/400 speeds

the reason to get this ram is because it will be brought forward with your future upgrading / new system overhaul ............... lesser ram like DDR2-5300 or DDR2-667 would not be desirable to bring forward as they would not be up to spec with future plans

4 x 1 gig set-ups do not achieve the same level of performance as 2 x 2 gig .......and their is not enough of a savings to make 2 x 1 gig attractive ..........

with a 32bit OS ................ you can "use" 3.5gigs ............ although I have never see more than 2.5 gigs to 2.7 gigs max actual used .............. and to achieve this; required insane method to load the system with applications and tasks ......... something nobody except HAL the computer would do in real life use!!

during intense gaming though it is very common to see 2.0 gigs of ram used ...... especially with VISTA ........ hell; vista use 1/2 gig of ram doing NOTHING ....... its always running "things" in the background which the user is not aware of. which is the reason alot of Vista gamers have gone back to XP .............. other have take the time to learn to control Vista maintenance and have it performed when they are not gaming.

yes ........ your OS is tied to the machine >>>>>> without a doubt

upgrade in chunks !! as you have $$$$$ it aint gonna happen overnite

but each step is one step closer!

DONT MESS WITH BORDERLINE POWER SUPPLIES !!!!! get the "elite" model now and bring it forward ! you buy a borderline one now and you will need another when the motherboard upgrade happens ! arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I am researching the 4850 / your motherboard question you posted .......... although I see no reason why your system wont run that card !

its a real performance wack that you cant get dual channel operation on the ram sticks (hopefully a matched pair kit will fix that !!)

the stock FSB setting for your board and CPU is 266 X 9 ...........although if your board was capable of overclocking you could set your FSB at like 300 x 9 and maybe more

[Dealmaster13]

Thank you very much, I'll definitely take your 'upgrade in chunks' method into consideration and buy future proof components.

the stock FSB setting for your board and CPU is 266 X 9 ...........although if your board was capable of overclocking you could set your FSB at like 300 x 9 and maybe more

So is my Q6600 definitely stuck on 266x6 until I buy a new motherboard or is it because (as you've said earlier) my RAM is holding it back?

How much slower will my 1GB 4850 be considering (I think) my mobo only has PCI-E X16 1.1?

Is a modular PSU significantly less reliable than a non-modular one?
I'm thinking of getting the OCZ 780W ModXStream Modular PSU - £62 or OCZ 600W GameXStream SLI Ready PSU - £57 if they ever come into stock again or OCZ Technology 700W Active PFC GameXStream SLI Ready - £78

I found out that the EXS was second hand... no wonder it was so cheap

[linderman]

the OCZ 700 or 780 would be the one to choose


I am pretty sure its your ram holding your cpu back ............

I know your ram supports DDR2-667 memory ........... so it has room for speed improvement


you need to load the system to see which multiplier is will raise to .......... the cpu changes multipliers when its resting the multiplier lowers >>>>>>>. google for "Intel Steed-Step"

BTW: according to that motherboard link you supplied in post # 9 ............... your board does support DDR2-800 memory at full speed !

also ............. no video cards are actually "doing" anything yet with the PCI express 2.0 capability ............. even fellas with a motherboard capable of 2.0 they are still running in 1.0 standard whether they know it or want to admit it ! you board is capable of running one card just as fast as anyone elses

cant increase the speed of your motherboard until you have a board capable of overclocking ....... but thats OK ....... save that for last

[Dealmaster13]

You need to load the system to see which multiplier is will raise to .......... the cpu changes multipliers when its resting the multiplier lowers >>>>>>>. google for "Intel Steed-Step"

Thank you very, very much - in fact you've pretty much made my day - while playing Fallout 3, the CPU multiplier jumps to 9; great!
Unfortunately though; my RAM speed is stuck on 266MHz (I think), maybe it also jumps whilst playing a game, but I haven't caught it in the act yet (game auto pauses when switching windows).
I have decided to put RAM at the bottom of the list as I'm still not confident that my RAM will run flat out (at 400MHz).
Also, many people have told me that 2x2GB is not a very good setup as the extra RAM may even slow down your system somehow, or it's 'not worth the upgrade'; i.e. they prefer 1+1 or 2+1 (strange - single channel).
I'll do some more research on that soon; but for now, I'll have to revise for my French GCSE >.<
Thanks again for your replies!

I also forgot to point out that the site states:

System Memory

* Two 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DIMM slots.
* Dual Channel DDR2 400/533/667/800
* Supports up to 3GB RAM

Is that a problem? Can I physically install and run 4GB RAM, i.e. will it just be like Vista and display it as 3GB, yet maintain dual channel and full speed specs?

[linderman]

hmmmmmmmmmmm ............... no .............. it will not support 2 x 2 gig sticks

ewwwwwwwww................. I hate such decisions .......... I guess I would buy a matched pair of DDR2-800 high performance spec ram and only run one stick ..........
save the other stick for once you get your new motherboard


the only other choice is to buy 2 x one gig matched pair .............. but later when you upgrade motherboard ....... you would then be forced to sell of those 2 x 1 gig pair or run 4 x 1 gig configuration ..................... either way there is no win -win situtation

that HP motherboard is a real boat ancor !

[Dealmaster13]

How about the decision to buy one 2GB now, and a matched speed and latency 1GB now (3GB total), and a 2GB possibly later? Or would my PC barely use all 3GB and therefore I should go for 2x1GB?

[linderman]

the problem with buying any single stick of memory is being assured later you can purchase another EXACT same module to make a matched pair .......... most manufacturers dont give any details when they switch brands or specs of the little memory chips which reside on each memory stick ........... the chances of this type mis-match later is VERY high.

I would at the least buy the dual channel kit and just run the one stick for now ...... seems to me to be the best option for a predictament which has no perfect solution

[Dealmaster13]

Right. I was just thinking of planning to save some money now by buying 3GB rather than 5GB.
After buying the 2x2GB - is it worth it to purchase a further 1GB for a total of 3GB? I hear that Dual Channel increases performance by an insignificant amount (i.e. an increase of 50% in memory size > an increase of 100% in memory bandwidth). Is this true?
Also, many forums state that the OCZ PSUs have problems with their weak rails; so I think I might get a hefty 750W TX instead, which would probably cost £10 more. Can you add to that? Are the XStreams really unreliable? I wouldn't like to spend the extra money only to find out that the OCZ would've been just fine.

Or is the 650 TX enough for my needs? £80 750W or £60 650W?

[linderman]

the TX650 is just fine ! and yes ........... I am not a big fan of the OCZ supplies ...... they are mid grade ............ not junk but not high quality either ......... I think for the money the TX is a far better choice!


2 gigs of ram will be fine for now ............... when you finish your upgrade ............ pop in the other two

[Dealmaster13]

Is it likely that the 2x2GB kit I might buy, will match another 1GB stick (quoted with the same specs and all that) if I buy them both at the same time, but from different sellers?

[linderman]

its worth a shot ............ I think it will work for your board