I've been thinking of upgrading, mostly so I can get a faster machine and use my current machine as my server. My game server compiles are taking like half an hour on the current test server, its getting brutal to test stuff.

I'm looking into these:

mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18778
cpu: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=21227
video: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=23715

1st: Are these compatible with each other? I'm still new to the PCIe stuff and the AM2 stuff.
2nd: Any major features I should look for that are missing?

Videocard wise I'm not too fussy since I don't play that many games, just as long as it will work with 2 VGA adapters since my monitors are not DVI.

Those are decent, but why are you getting a uATX board instead of a full ATX? On that board, you'll only be able to run one vid card as you only have one PCI-E16 expansion slot.

Yeah I thought of going SLI, but I'm also trying not to spend too much, specially for Video considering I don't play much games. Then again, room for future expansion is not a bad idea, I'm looking at this mobo now instead:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=18545&vpn=M2N32-SLI%20DELUXE%20WIF&manufacture=ASUS

That's not bad. The other reason I mentioned that, is if you have an ATX case and get a uATX or mini-ATX board, the header pins won't match up right for the case and the case lights, and other functions might not work.

What he said... I remember rewiring my front power/light connectors on my atx case for uATX motherboard... I'd rather get an MSI motherboard, but I'm not familiar with their am2 support, or "incompatability" issues that MSI might have on current boards.... Nice processor, and nice videocard, you might find that ati x series cards are little better for gaming, however, server stuff, all you need is basic "INTEL" video, like a 770? or 720, whatever chipset it is.... as most server stuff is not graphics intensive and mainly dependant on CPU/memory and hard drive performance... I think skimp on the videocard and invest in a good raid/backup setup, then worry about graphics later on!

This will be my actual workstation, my current workstation will be the server to replace the AMD 2000+ that currently powers my entire network.

Was not aware of the pin differences though, good to know. So the 2nd board I posted should be fine then?

The first board would've been fine. The socket AM2 is the same socket no matter what Mobo.

yeah trying to restrict my shopping to same site, much cheaper for shipping. And I'm in Canada so I'm more restricted when it comes to all the discount stores that are in the US. Border taxes would rape me.

I ended up ordering those parts with the 2nd board I posted, I can't wait now. Tired of those 10+ minute compiles. :D

I feel like I've registered a few days late for most of these thread discussions, but RS your choices seem pretty good. Best of luck with your new system.

yeah trying to restrict my shopping to same site, much cheaper for shipping. And I'm in Canada so I'm more restricted when it comes to all the discount stores that are in the US. Border taxes would rape me.I don't get it, if you order from a store in the US, Canada charges you a sales tax anyway? If so, that is bs.

Well border taxes yeah + the shipping cost would be bad since its farther to go. Though with the dollar's state right now, I could *maybe* get away with it. But stuff is still double the price here anyway, so dollar being high is not making much of a difference.


Oh and my motherboard and cpu came in :D Just need to wait for video card then I need to find a time to put this all together. I'm debating on taking a day off, since if I don't it will take me like a week. I only get a few hours per day to myself.

Basically its a huge swap.

Current server hardware going in my current workstation case, will give it to my sister since she has a crappy compaq
Current workstation hardware going into newly purchased case which I need to mod (it does not have enough fan holes)
New hardware going in current server case.

Just finished the upgrade. Damn is this nice! Dual core is simply FTW.


Here's a "Benchmark"

On the new PC I'm doing a file transfer and an installation at same time, cpu is barely taking a hit.

On server I got 3 VMs running and a UO server compile took only a bit over 2:30 minutes. (they used to take about 10 minutes under these conditions)


http://www.iceteks.com/forums/uploads/post-17-1194748050_compilejpg.jpg

Congrats!! Glad you like it!!