Comments on: Gaming http://gregbaker.ca/blog/2008/07/10/gaming/ Tales from Greg and Kat, in NC and elsewhere. Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:17:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brian http://gregbaker.ca/blog/2008/07/10/gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-6498 Brian Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:17:59 +0000 http://gregbaker.ca/blog/?p=277#comment-6498 The fact that they can make a fanless 8600 blows my mind. I remember the original 8000 series cards were double thickness because the heat sinks and fans were monsters. You'll probably want good air circulation in your case if you go fanless--I had to throw a PCI slot fan into my media pc to keep the fanless 7600 cool; of course it's stashed in a cabinet with very little flow around the case. You may want to check on the memory, too--my 939 board uses DDR, while most of the new AM2 boards went to DDR2, and now there's also DDR3; all incompatible, of course. Industry conspiracy or technological progress....you decide. The fact that they can make a fanless 8600 blows my mind. I remember the original 8000 series cards were double thickness because the heat sinks and fans were monsters. You’ll probably want good air circulation in your case if you go fanless–I had to throw a PCI slot fan into my media pc to keep the fanless 7600 cool; of course it’s stashed in a cabinet with very little flow around the case.

You may want to check on the memory, too–my 939 board uses DDR, while most of the new AM2 boards went to DDR2, and now there’s also DDR3; all incompatible, of course. Industry conspiracy or technological progress….you decide.

]]> By: Greg http://gregbaker.ca/blog/2008/07/10/gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-6496 Greg Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:14:25 +0000 http://gregbaker.ca/blog/?p=277#comment-6496 Yes... maybe a video card like this: http://frontierpc.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=20766569 Yes… maybe a video card like this: http://frontierpc.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=20766569

]]> By: Greg http://gregbaker.ca/blog/2008/07/10/gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-6494 Greg Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:22:07 +0000 http://gregbaker.ca/blog/?p=277#comment-6494 Sonofabitch! That motherboard isn't an AM2 socket! I have no idea what made me think it was. Looks like a new motherboard is in order too. Maybe: http://frontierpc.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=211NC-AS-M2V-MX+SE As long as they haven't also changed the RAM sockets (I'm pretty sure about this one), what I have is fast enough. And a PCI express slot opens up my graphics card options a lot too. Sonofabitch! That motherboard isn’t an AM2 socket!

I have no idea what made me think it was. Looks like a new motherboard is in order too. Maybe:
http://frontierpc.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=211NC-AS-M2V-MX+SE

As long as they haven’t also changed the RAM sockets (I’m pretty sure about this one), what I have is fast enough. And a PCI express slot opens up my graphics card options a lot too.

]]> By: Brian http://gregbaker.ca/blog/2008/07/10/gaming/comment-page-1/#comment-6491 Brian Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:58:00 +0000 http://gregbaker.ca/blog/?p=277#comment-6491 You're lucky--it sounds like your "old" Athlon64 is at least an AM2 socket. I'm stuck with a 939, so any CPU upgrade I do at home would require a new motherboard...oh, and new memory. You might go for an 8000 series nvidia card...the 8600s are quite reasonable now. Who wants to be two generations behind at the start? Fun stuff. You’re lucky–it sounds like your “old” Athlon64 is at least an AM2 socket. I’m stuck with a 939, so any CPU upgrade I do at home would require a new motherboard…oh, and new memory.

You might go for an 8000 series nvidia card…the 8600s are quite reasonable now. Who wants to be two generations behind at the start?

Fun stuff.

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