Advice on PC upgrade from Gigabyte system

[tizmeinnit]

Originally Posted by Graham M

Almost seems like a waste of time upgrading from the machine you are already using if it works fine and does everything that you use it for with no problems

I agree . The £300 available will not give you any real world benefits. Maybe double your ram

[pop80_uk]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

I agree . The £300 available will not give you any real world benefits. Maybe double your ram

Thats my problem really, the Gigabyte G31M-S2L only supports 4GB of RAM, I am more than happy with the other components, I could just use another 4GB of RAM and was hoping that I could just upgrade the Gigabyte G31M-S2L to a Gigabyte *Something* with no fuss.

But I struggling to find out if this is possible or if an upgraded board exists.

---------- Post added at 12:57 ---------- Previous post was at 12:40 ----------

Would any of these provide the type of upgrade im looking for?

GA-G31M-ES2L
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-S3L

---------- Post added at 13:08 ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 ----------

OR

Gigabyte GA-G41MT-S2PT

[tizmeinnit]

http://www.ebuyer.com/267114-gigabyt...x-ga-g41mt-s2p this one supports 8 gig

---------- Post added at 13:15 ---------- Previous post was at 13:15 ----------

http://www.ebuyer.com/288744-gigabyt...-ga-g41mt-s2pt

---------- Post added at 13:16 ---------- Previous post was at 13:15 ----------

http://www.ebuyer.com/267510-gigabyt...d-ga-g41mt-d3v

---------- Post added at 13:17 ---------- Previous post was at 13:16 ----------

plenty to choose from and only 30 to 40 notes

[pop80_uk]

Which one would you recommend?
I am swayed towards the http://www.ebuyer.com/288744-gigabyt...-ga-g41mt-s2pt

and

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/mpar...9C630BA5CA7304

That should sort me for a while and hopefully I can just swap the motherboard and everything will work ?

[tizmeinnit]

yeah it should be a straight swap with a few drivers off the cd

[pop80_uk]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

yeah it should be a straight swap with a few drivers off the cd

Cool,
Im also buying a new case, should I get one specifically for a mATX or one which supports ATX as well

Are they phasing out ATX cards?

Im looking at the

Fractal:

Arc Midi Tower
Or
Arc Mini

Thanks

[SnoopZ]

Get a ATX case if you plan on using it with future builds.

[tizmeinnit]

Originally Posted by SnoopZ

Get a ATX case if you plan on using it with future builds.

Agreed

ATX motherboards are still very much being used and will continue to be

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by pop80_uk

Thats my problem really, the Gigabyte G31M-S2L only supports 4GB of RAM, I am more than happy with the other components, I could just use another 4GB of RAM and was hoping that I could just upgrade the Gigabyte G31M-S2L to a Gigabyte *Something* with no fuss.

I see no reason why it shouldn't take 8GB of RAM. Most motherboards lists these limitations simply because they were the most available when they were released.

[thenry]

does it then depend on which bit OS you run to allow max RAM functioning?

[jempalmer]

IIRC if you're using Windows then 64bit is required for the OS to "see" more than 3GB of RAM.

[tizmeinnit]

to be totally pedantic its 4 gig but this includes cached memory as well as graphics memory plus pci address space etc

[jempalmer]

Yes, I checked after I posted. However, to use more than 4 gig you need 64bit Windows

[pop80_uk]

Originally Posted by jempalmer

Yes, I checked after I posted. However, to use more than 4 gig you need 64bit Windows

I have Windows Pro 7 64bit so thats fine

[thenry]

yup MS limit for their own gain although its tech so theres bound to be a work around.

the official stuff of max RAM on W7 64 bit...

Starter: 8GB
Home Basic: 8GB
Home Premium: 16GB
Professional: 192GB
Enterprise: 192GB
Ultimate: 192GB