so im thinkin of gettin the d901c...

hi guys im new by the way

right iv looked at the guide and im verry interested in what the d901 has to offer for my gaming needs and upgradeabiltiy.

what id like to know is the deffinition of the upgradeability, say if i put the best processor in it now that i possibly can... 3 years down the line when its old and there are better ones out will i be able to fit them?

or say if i spec it to the max on everything at this current time eg cpu, gpu... is there the option to still upgrade it further in the future?

 

Hi, Welcome to NBR..

Now down to the crunch.

You probably will not be able to upgrade in the line of processors as Core i7 is a totally different architecture with a different socket (onboard memory controller), you can upgrade to any Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processor which is Socket 775.

Regarding RAM, the chipset will support up to 4GB DDR2 RAM (or is it 8GB?). That limit will not change.

What's left is upgradability of the graphics processor and the hard drive.

The hard drive will definitely be upgradable, and GPU upgradability is subject to availability of compatible parts (no idea about that).

 

It is doubtful Intel will come out with any faster LGA775 quad-core processors than its current Q9650 (3.0GHz), since Intel has moved onto a new socket and new processor architectures. There is very little headroom for processor upgrades.

RAM - yes, the limit is 8GB, but you can only access 6.8GB.

The best graphics card available at the moment is 9800M-GTX SLI; my advice is to never plan on upgrading the graphics card. It is possible, yes, but you never know whether new cards will actually be made available.

 

cool thanks so im probably not going to be able to go any high than the max spec

my next question is if i buy an entry level spec d901c now

intel core 2 duo E8400 dual core
geeforce 9800m gtx 1gb ddr3
4gb ram....

then 3 or 4 years down do you think upgrading to the max spec possible ie

intel xeon x3370 quad core 3.0ghz
2x nvidia 9800m 1gb ddr3 sli
6gb ram

will give me a machine that i can still game on with graphics maxed

i know its hard to predict the future but will doing that be a wothwhile upgrade or do you think by that time the hardware will be considered outdated

 

You should be aware that getting another graphics card in three years could prove very difficult and probably even be more expensive than getting it now.
I went for an almost maxed out D901C (see sig) and I have no regrets, but if you're on a budget, a 1000+ dollar graphics card might be over the edge.
Just know that upgrading graphics cards can be very hard, especially since old graphics cards are very hard finding. If you want the SLi, you should buy it now.

Good luck with it!
XanKage

 

i might not have such a beast of a system as XanKage but im very happy with mine, though im selling it to get the New Sager when it comes out

 

The current d90 is basically at the end of its line processor wise, being that it can already be configured with the Intel Quad Core Extreme QX9650 CPU, the 2nd best Core 2 processor in existence.

High end processors generally dont have significant price changes even after several years.

If youre looking at a d90 and want relatively significant upgradeability, you should consider waiting for the refresh coming I believe at the end of the year.

 

hi i would like to buy ur computer armageddon!!! id pm you but i dont know how

 

i will only sell within the UK, im paranoid

 

thats fine i live in newcastle uk, i have the cash ready ,were about do you live do you have a contact number or something

 

i live in Portsmouth, so quite far away
sorry but as i dont know you i dont feel that confident giving my number out

 

na thats cool im at uni in newcastle and actualy live in plymouth so not that far, iv added ur msn and am verry interested!!

 

thats cool, i go to Uni as well

 

Ash, you may not want to leave your email address on a public site...

 

Asked the mods to remove it.

 

I edited the email address and made it text so it won't be picked up by spam bots. The member he's talking to can't private message until they have 15 posts.

 

yeah i forgot to do it the other way, thanx for changing it, now that he has it ive removed it

 

I thought we had a deal D:
Though I am still deciding depending on what the benchmarks of the D90xF and M98xNU are going to be when they come out...

 

crap sorry, im very forgetful
but with the wait are you sure you still want it?

 

Most likely if I can't afford the D90xF. Would be nice to see some real-time benchmarks before making a final decision then.

 

Well you're going to be waiting a long time