Upgrading

G

Gryphyn

New Member
Hi Everyone,
I was over at AOA and was directed here to post my questions on upgrading my sig board. A few answered and I thought I would see if anyone here has had any issues before doing the deed.

I will be doing a little upgrading on my sig system and would ask some advise in regards to wattages and performance for the memory and CPU.

Since the board is designed for 16g memory I will be replacing to 4g I currently am running. As I did some research I see Corsair and the other manufacturers don't support 16g on this board or for that much even 8g isn't supported. So my question is, Are any of you using or have used 8-16g on this board in the past?
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My second question is, after reading up on a few different chips for the board would I have a significant performance boost if I add a 95w or 125w chip? I would think the 6 core 95w chips would run cooler but is the performance worth adding a 6 core 125w?

Cooling is not an issue since I still have well over 250cfm in fans running 24/7 and I am able to twist em up over 400cfm if necessary during the summer or gaming.

Advise or comments are welcome and appreciated.
G
 
Hey Gryphyn, welcome to the forum.
I'm not quite the hardware expert as some of the other guys, but its nice to see some posts about hardware.
I'm surprised the SIG motherboard says that is supports 16 Gigs but other report it won't work.
Then again, I know how finicky motherboards can be with Memory types and speed.

What is the exact model of the motherboard? I want to see if there is a Memory & CPU chart online

As for CPU, I'm sure the 95watt will run much cooler than 125watt. I always prefer cooler chips and oversized heatsink/fans.
I never overclock and hope my CPU's will last 10+ years.

Is this a gaming machine or a server?
 
Gaming machine, I took my time doing the research and it has paid off. The chips, vid card and memory I installed were not just a put together mess. I have the ASUS M4A79XTD EVO because when I did my homework AMD was pushing through the 6 core and the board is compatible with the 6 core. Now since the prices have dropped to $100-$150 for them and the memory and vid card are in the same price range I will be doing the upgrades and be set for another 5-6 yrs.
ASUS has the bios upgrades and from what I see they will take care of the few issues I have read about. Hopefully timing issues don't hamper the board, the XMS I currently run is a little finicky when o/ced much. But considering I have not flashed a bios since I built it I hope the flash will enhance its performance.
I haven't done much research on vid cards for it yet so any recommendations will be of help.
Once I get it running smoothly I will probably dual boot with Ubuntu/Win7. Version suggestions?
As for oversized H/Sink? Its a massive Heatpipe with 3" fans pushing and pulling fresh air from the lower front of the case and 2 3" exhausting out the back, so in all there are 3 inlet 3" Tt fans 1 2" fan feeding the vid card with heatpipe, 2 2" fans exhausting above and below the vid card, 2 3" fans exhausting rear, 1 through the top and the Tt TR2 RX modular 850w psu moving air also.
I control the fans with a 4 pot dash panel, the vid card and CPU fans utilize the ASUS onboard controls.
Its been a great board and I am looking forward to giving it some TLC and performance :cool::D
 
Wow, smart man! You will never regret doing your research. Saves you money and time later on.
I'm glad to hear you are putting Linux on there as well.
My fastest machine also has Win7 and Mint 17 dual-boot.
I spend most of my time in Mint, but my wife still works in Windows.
You are just in time for Ubuntu 14 because its their current stable long term version. Which means you can probably stay on it for the life of your computer.
Mint 17 is based on Ubuntu 14, so they are basically the same (behind-the-scenes).

Sounds like you have plenty of fans in there, but the BIOS flash is your call.
If its having problem with Memory, then research to see if the new BIOS fixed it.
I don't overclock, but I wonder if overclocking is affecting the memory?

If you need any help running some games in Linux, please post and we'll be happy to help.
 
booman said:
Sounds like you have plenty of fans in there, but the BIOS flash is your call.
If its having problem with Memory, then research to see if the new BIOS fixed it.
I don't overclock, but I wonder if overclocking is affecting the memory?

If you need any help running some games in Linux, please post and we'll be happy to help.
Click to expand...

I have never run games in Linux, it seems like when I think I have time for games I use windows :eek: and then find it hang from time to time then I just get mad and stop. The few games I do run are old enough that they don't have problems once I get them loaded. It sure would be nice to run elder scrolls in Linux or some of my other games. Then I would enjoy my spare time lots more.:cool::)

As for the memory, I think its how I run it, it definitely gets the stress test when I am playing against a friend across the street.
The bios update is mainly for the chip and some of the Nbg functions, so I am sure it will help if I dump the 4g and get the 16g pair. I probably won't have to twist it up as much either.

I don't see any reason to up the vid card but if I could find another 5570 gigabyte card to match my current one I could pair em up since the board supports crossfire. I haven't read up on the gains in doing that but it is on my list of things to do:D

G
 
Oh, as for doing research on systems. I have been researching hardware since the mid seventies when I caught the bug. Besides if I didn't ask my uncle for advise he would string me up and hang me out with the laundry. He has a wall filled with inkjet patents hanging on his wall.
 
When you start testing games in Linux, feel free to post your success/problems.
I found that a lot of PC games have small bugs in Wine, but still run rather well.
A bunch of games run perfectly, but usually older ones pre 2007.

There are guides here on the forum for Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. All three run really well with very little bugs.
But, warning, AMD video cards are known to have driver problems in Linux.
I've read post after post after post and have decided to stay away from AMD cards.
I'm so happy that all 6 of my LAN computers have GeForce cards, but I'm slowly moving to Linux.
Still mostly Windows for now.
 
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