Dual AMD Motherboard?

[Yawgm0th]

Get the heatsink and wait for it to come. You won't want the retail heatsink; it sucks.
If you don't have a good PSU, you'll want to order a 400W. If it isn't at least 350W, don't even waste time with it. Otherwise, try it, but be prepared for the situtation in which it doesn't work.
You still need a video card if you don't have one.... What exactly are you using this for computer, anyway?

[JuliasKils]

When I wake up (as its 4am here) I'll peek inside and see if I need a new power supply, and if so I'll get both the power supply and heatsink.

These two are alright?

Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-148-008&depa=0

Heatsink

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-037

And I'm currently typing to you on the computer I'll be upgrading so it does indeed have a video card haha the problem isn't that it doesn't run, the problem is I run a lot of applications.. mainly rendering in Photoshop and encoding movies, do a great deal of web design/developement. My previous 850mhz with 600mb something of ram could barely hold out.. then I got this new box with the faster processor but my damn ram wouldn't fit.. didn't realize there were different types of ram.

In any case, thats why I was considering the full solid upgrade and why I'm more than eager to get anything this box needs to run at optimal speed. I very rarely play games, I just need something powerful enough for me to work with tons of rendering, encode while I sleep and be able to handle another full day. I generally run about 4-5 heavy applications at once (switching inbetween them to complete various tasks) so I'm hoping the 768mb of ram (not sure what dual channel is but sounds good) and 2ghz processor plus the tweaks will allow me to do that.

[Yawgm0th]

The HSF and power supply look good. Go ahead and buy them. :D

That's 512MB of RAM, actually. And I wouldn't throw another stick in with it, if that's what you were thinking. Maybe another two PC3500 of very similar (or identical) quality. If you wanted the extra RAM, although it wouldn't really improve performance too much, buy the same thing again. That will give you 1GB of dual channel (I'll save the explanantion; dual channel = faster). However, I think you would be content with just 512MB. You won't see too much difference with more.

For video card, if your current one is pretty bad (which certainly won't help you), I would suggest getting this Radeon 9600:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-305&depa=0

It's not expensive and won't give you the insane performance that many gamers like, but it will do everything else fast and it should run all games. I have personally purchased the card from that exact same link and used it on a system similar to your current one, and I was quite pleased.

However, if you don't do too much gaming, it's likely you won't see much benefit from getting that card, or any other. The choice there is entirely yours; I can't even recommend either way.

[JuliasKils]

I knew your recommendation was 512mb, the two sticks :lol: , I just meant I already had 128mb of ram and since the thing had three slots then the more ram wouldn't hurt. I bought the power supply and heatsink, I'll get them same day hopefully.

[Yawgm0th]

Actually, the 128MB will probably hurt. Just buy more of the same RAM or leave it out.

[JuliasKils]

I'll leave it out then, didn't know it would hurt. How can I tell my cpu's temperature and incase you didn't get my email could you explain more about the IDE hard drive such so I can put my slow drive on the different channel? Not sure how to do that.

[Yawgm0th]

The BIOS should display the temperature before boot. It will either flash across the screen, or be accessable from one of the BIOS configuration screens.

[JuliasKils]

Good stuff, thanks for the knowledge. I imagine the motherboard book will have the BIOS info. Thanks again. Tomorrow looks like the big day!

[JuliasKils]

If I have to install my power supply upside down.. will that have any impact on the computer? Sounds strange but the supply doesn't line up with the case properly, but if I turn it upside down I can get all but 1 screw in and it is very secure. Only thing that bothers me is that the fan is upside down.. not sure if that will have a signifigant impact on its functionality or not. A quick yes or no anyone, please. Thanks.

[Yawgm0th]

If the fan is still on the correct side, meaning by the vent on the case made specifically for the PSU fan, than it should be fine. There no such thing as upside down with a fan; just backwards and forwards.

[JuliasKils]

Well there is another fan on top of the power supply.


See the fan on top? Thats what I mean. Instead of facing the top of the box it is upside down. The other fan near the switch is facing correctly though, besides the words being upside down :lol:

[Yawgm0th]

I don't think it will matter. If it overheats or something you can problably RMA back to Newegg.

[JuliasKils]

Alright.. got it to boot up but it takes a long time detecting my IDE drives. Then when I enter BIOS and go to check on the drives all of them are slaves. Did I hook my IDE cables up incorrectly or is there something I'm missing?

[JuliasKils]

Good gawd.. the CPU is running at 96 degrees.. I turned it off as I'm not sure what the problem is but I don't want to burn it to the ground.

[Yawgm0th]

Is it running at 96 degrees celcius? I really doubt it...
Even if you left the heat sink off.....
Are you sure it wasn't 96 degrees Fahrenheit? That's about 36 Celcius, no big deal....