Looking to upgrade my computer, need some advice!

[caballero]

<p>Alright, im wanting to upgrade to windows 7, so i can use some more memory, im also wanting to upgrade my CPU to something that will run this game, along with alot of the newer games alot better than it does right now. Heres what im using and a couple questions for afew of the items.</p><p><strong>Motherboard: </strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5KPL-CM   </strong><a href="http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5KPLCM/#overview">http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/In...KPLCM/#overview</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Is this motherboard able to use anything besides DDR2 Memory? or would i have to upgrade the motherboard if i wanted to get better memory, like DDR3 or 4 or whatever is out nowdays?</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>CPU: Intel core 2 duo CPU E8400 @3.00ghz 3.0ghz</strong> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041&cm_re=intel_quad_core-_-19-115-041-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-041-_-Product</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">I was looking to upgrade to a quad core(more is better right?) and this is sort of in my price range. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Video card: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">I just bought this for Rift and have been happy with it.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Memory: 4 gigs</strong></span></p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220558">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16820220558</a></p><p>This is the memory i was looking to upgrade to, but can my motherboard use it?</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>OS: Vista home 32 bit(served me well these past years, but its time to upgrade to Windows 7)</strong></span></p>

[caballero]

<p>And when i do upgrade, could i upgrade the OS, and memory first and see an improvment, or is the CPU bottlenecking me?</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>Moving to Windows 7 may not net much of an improvement over Windows Vista in and of itself, I think 7 might have better Aero management so if transparent glass is left on you might not lose as much FPS but we're talking an insignificant amount, 2-3 FPS or so.  If anyone has a different opinion please share! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>  Increasing your ram from 4GB to 8GB might not net you better performance than what you should be getting now either, but it would definitely help with loading times and reducing the stutter that may be caused by other applications requesting memory space or when data is being paged/dumped etc.</p><p>Now, moving from an E8500 to Q9550 might actually decrease your performance potential.  They are fairly evenly match clock for clock but the quad core is clocked lower and the additional cores will not be fully utilized by EQII at this time.  Best bet is moving to a better type of processor altogether like an i5 or i7 series CPU from Intel. </p>

[caballero]

<p>hmm, im not to sure what areo Aero Managment is haha</p><p>as for the CPU o was looking, and i found some I7's for the same price, and one for cheaper. Would the best bet for a big performance boost just be from a straight CPU upgrade over windows 7+ more memory?</p><p>Here are the other 2 cpu's</p><p>Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950</p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211&cm_re=intel_core_i7-_-19-115-211-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-211-_-Product</a></p><p>and</p><p>Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600</p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071&cm_re=intel_core_i7-_-19-115-071-_-Product">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5-071-_-Product</a></p>

[Smirk]

<p>look at the i5 2500k if you're on a budget</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p><cite>Smirkna@Splitpaw wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>look at the i5 2500k if you're on a budget</p></blockquote><p>I'm getting one myself!  Someday... <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Smirkna@Splitpaw wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>look at the i5 2500k if you're on a budget</p></blockquote><p>I'm getting one myself!  Someday... <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p></blockquote><p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7YSsEFqTk&feature=player_embedded" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT7Y...player_embedded</a></p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>Not much of an AMD guy anymore myself.  What would you recommend on par with the i5 and i7 sandy bridges?</p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Not much of an AMD guy anymore myself.  What would you recommend on par with the i5 and i7 sandy bridges?</p></blockquote><p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr1uV3-pA&feature=related" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr...feature=related</a></p><p>lol</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p><cite>Peogia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Not much of an AMD guy anymore myself.  What would you recommend on par with the i5 and i7 sandy bridges?</p></blockquote><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr1uV3-pA&feature=related" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr...feature=related</a></p><p>lol</p></blockquote><p>Are those even out yet? </p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Peogia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Not much of an AMD guy anymore myself.  What would you recommend on par with the i5 and i7 sandy bridges?</p></blockquote><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr1uV3-pA&feature=related" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Yr...feature=related</a></p><p>lol</p></blockquote><p>Are those even out yet? </p></blockquote><p>I wish I'm still waiting for them it's suppose to be soon but who knows if there will be delays</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>AMD has always had reasonable price points, hopefully this one does too!</p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>AMD has always had reasonable price points, hopefully this one does too!</p></blockquote><p>Do u think this ram would work with my cpu if I under clocked it?</p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...N82E16820233170</a></p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p>I would assume it should.  Unless its something AMD specific I am unaware of, I've used mismatched memory modules of all different speeds, even higher than my motherboard supported at times, and as long as I clocked it to something the slowest module could handle, it would work just fine.  I'd assume that logic would apply even if a slower module isn't present and downclocking shouldn't cause a stability issue.</p>

[Smirk]

<p>amd got nothing that performs on par with the 2500k/2600k in games atm, specially if you count in overclocking</p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I would assume it should.  Unless its something AMD specific I am unaware of, I've used mismatched memory modules of all different speeds, even higher than my motherboard supported at times, and as long as I clocked it to something the slowest module could handle, it would work just fine.  I'd assume that logic would apply even if a slower module isn't present and downclocking shouldn't cause a stability issue.</p></blockquote><p>I emailed AMD and this is what they said</p><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;">Thank you for contacting AMD Global Customer Care.  The memory controller on the 1100T is only rated up to 1333Mhz RAM.  Anything over that and you run the risk of burning out the memory controller and voiding the warranty on the processor.</span></p><p>guess that means I can't begin up grades until bulldozer comes out<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p><p>I had these 2 boards in mind to go with the ram</p><p><a href="http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/Crosshair_V_Formula/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AM...hair_V_Formula/</a></p><p><a href="http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/SABERTOOTH_990FX/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AM...BERTOOTH_990FX/</a></p><p>I am not sure if my old ram would work on these boards</p><p><a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986479&CatId=3413" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...&CatId=3413</a></p><p>its ddr2 and they say ddr3 but I think the pins are the same 240 I think this is the slowest ddr3 went to</p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p><cite>Peogia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I would assume it should.  Unless its something AMD specific I am unaware of, I've used mismatched memory modules of all different speeds, even higher than my motherboard supported at times, and as long as I clocked it to something the slowest module could handle, it would work just fine.  I'd assume that logic would apply even if a slower module isn't present and downclocking shouldn't cause a stability issue.</p></blockquote><p>I emailed AMD and this is what they said</p><p><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif;">Thank you for contacting AMD Global Customer Care.  The memory controller on the 1100T is only rated up to 1333Mhz RAM.  Anything over that and you run the risk of burning out the memory controller and voiding the warranty on the processor.</span></p><p>guess that means I can't begin up grades until bulldozer comes out<img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></p><p>I had these 2 boards in mind to go with the ram</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/Crosshair_V_Formula/" target="_blank">http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AM...hair_V_Formula/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3Plus/SABERTOOTH_990FX/" target="_blank">http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/AM...BERTOOTH_990FX/</a></p><p>I am not sure if my old ram would work on these boards</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986479&CatId=3413" target="_blank">http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...&CatId=3413</a></p><p>its ddr2 and they say ddr3 but I think the pins are the same 240 I think this is the slowest ddr3 went to</p></blockquote><p>No what I think they meant is that you can't run it above 1333.  You would have to downclock the memory to 1333 or lower.  Most motherboards, especially brand name ones with modern firmware, should let you manually clock your memory or have a method to do so.</p>

[Brorimed]

<p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Moving to Windows 7 may not net much of an improvement over Windows Vista in and of itself, I think 7 might have better Aero management so if transparent glass is left on you might not lose as much FPS but we're talking an insignificant amount, 2-3 FPS or so.  If anyone has a different opinion please share! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p>  Increasing your ram from 4GB to 8GB might not net you better performance than what you should be getting now either, but it would definitely help with loading times and reducing the stutter that may be caused by other applications requesting memory space or when data is being paged/dumped etc.</p><p>Now, moving from an E8500 to Q9550 might actually decrease your performance potential.  They are fairly evenly match clock for clock but the quad core is clocked lower and the additional cores will not be fully utilized by EQII at this time.  Best bet is moving to a better type of processor altogether like an i5 or i7 series CPU from Intel.</p></blockquote><p>Win7's memory handling is far superior to Vistas. That alone is enough to leave vista behind.</p>

[Brorimed]

<p><cite>Peogia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>its ddr2 and they say ddr3 but I think the pins are the same 240 I think this is the slowest ddr3 went to</p></blockquote><p>Pins are NOT the same</p>

[Peogia]

<p><cite>Bromrim@Runnyeye wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Peogia wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>its ddr2 and they say ddr3 but I think the pins are the same 240 I think this is the slowest ddr3 went to</p></blockquote><p>Pins are NOT the same</p></blockquote><p>How so?</p><p>they both say 240pins</p><p><a href="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3986479&CatId=3413" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicati...&CatId=3413</a></p><p><a href="http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233170" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...N82E16820233170</a></p>

[TSR-JoshuaM]

<p><cite>Bromrim@Runnyeye wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>TSR-JoshuaM wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Moving to Windows 7 may not net much of an improvement over Windows Vista in and of itself, I think 7 might have better Aero management so if transparent glass is left on you might not lose as much FPS but we're talking an insignificant amount, 2-3 FPS or so.  If anyone has a different opinion please share! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p><p>  Increasing your ram from 4GB to 8GB might not net you better performance than what you should be getting now either, but it would definitely help with loading times and reducing the stutter that may be caused by other applications requesting memory space or when data is being paged/dumped etc.</p><p>Now, moving from an E8500 to Q9550 might actually decrease your performance potential.  They are fairly evenly match clock for clock but the quad core is clocked lower and the additional cores will not be fully utilized by EQII at this time.  Best bet is moving to a better type of processor altogether like an i5 or i7 series CPU from Intel.</p></blockquote><p>Win7's memory handling is far superior to Vistas. That alone is enough to leave vista behind.</p></blockquote><p>As far as I know, most of that was addressed in SP1 and again in SP2 for Vista.  Not sure how they stack up comparitively anymore, in their current states.</p>