Sacrifice PCIe 16x slot and install NVME SSD.

Even then, that x16 PCIE graphics slot is likely PCIE 1.1, so a typical NVME drive using 4 lanes of that would get less than one gigabyte per second real world throughput. This is admittedly up to approximately 3 times faster than a single SATA300 SSD, throughput-wise.

If you really want to push it, you could run the OS from a single SATA SSD and games from multiple SSD in software RAID. Windows software RAID does not support TRIM, AFAICR, so not great either.

Ah software raid, hadn’t thought of that.

What is the max throughput of all the sata channels combined in software raid?

Seems like with processor overhead and addressing one drive then the next it may be slower than a single sata m.2?

Nvme while I probably would be able to get it to work with a boot loader doesn’t have native bios support. This mobo was one of the last before that became a thing I think.

But as said, I want to keep the 1060 in there for gaming.

I don't know if ICH7 is capable of giving all its SATA ports full bandwidth simultaneously.

TBH, I don't think it's worth it. A GTX 1060 is almost certainly wasted on something of this vintage anyway, even with the fastest socket 775 CPU possible and probably a max of 8GB RAM being supported by the motherboard (please correct me if I guessed wrong).

Any SSD that is from 2010 or later will make the machine super speedy.

darry wrote on 2024-07-06, 04:12:

TBH, I don't think it's worth it. A GTX 1060 is almost certainly wasted on something of this vintage anyway, even with the fastest socket 775 CPU possible and probably a max of 8GB RAM being supported by the motherboard (please correct me if I guessed wrong).

Not if you want to output 4K. :)

darry wrote on 2024-07-06, 04:12:

I don't know if ICH7 is capable of giving all its SATA ports full bandwidth simultaneously.

Intel ICH10R: 660MB/s SATA Limit Fact or Fiction?

I guess the limit would be the same for ICH7, because it's also using DMI bus (2GB/s) for everything connected to it.

GemCookie wrote on 2024-07-06, 11:34:

darry wrote on 2024-07-06, 04:12:

TBH, I don't think it's worth it. A GTX 1060 is almost certainly wasted on something of this vintage anyway, even with the fastest socket 775 CPU possible and probably a max of 8GB RAM being supported by the motherboard (please correct me if I guessed wrong).

Not if you want to output 4K. 😀

I’ve been running 3d’2006 in 4k mx settings with no lag 🤣. Mega fps wow….

Here is 3dm2001

I guess I amy as well talk about the build its self.

It’s a modded for 775 xeon 3.33 quad core 10x multi. Yes it will be 4k geforce 1060,6gb

Mobo is kinda a weak point of the build, but it’s what I have.

I was going to put win 10 or 11 on it but haven’t been able to get it installed so have been running win 7 64

Not sure what my direction will be in this build, but it’s just old enough that I can probably get windows xp to work on it, but also just new enough that I can probably get win 10/11 on it. So a bridge to the past and present build may be a good theme.

The 1060 prob doesn’t have xp drivers does it? Might try server 2k3…? Prob same driver problem though.

Thoughts?

ich7 doesn't offer AHCI and is limited to sata II speed, but it's ok in general.
other than using the PCIE x16 (no graphics card?) I don't see an easy better option than just using those sata ports

1060 has no XP drivers. I doubt it is any different for server 2003.

EDIT: If I am not mistaken, a micro ATX board should fit in a mini ATX case. If this is indeed the case (pun intended), about 50$ gets you a newer, faster, more expandable board/CPU/RAM combo with some faster SATA ports and/or a 2 PCIEX slots.

You could probably sell the one you currently have and be out of pocket for not much more than a fast food combo meal.

Sphere478 wrote on 2024-07-06, 16:02:

The 1060 prob doesn’t have xp drivers does it? Might try server 2k3…? Prob same driver problem though.

Someone got 2D acceleration working on a GTX 1070 by modifying the .INF file for the Nvidia 368.81 driver. This most likely won't be adequate for your use case, however.

GemCookie wrote on 2024-07-06, 17:10:

Sphere478 wrote on 2024-07-06, 16:02:

The 1060 prob doesn’t have xp drivers does it? Might try server 2k3…? Prob same driver problem though.

Someone got 2D acceleration working on a GTX 1070 by modifying the .INF file for the Nvidia 368.81 driver. This most likely won't be adequate for your use case, however.

And if XP is not an option, using a board/CPU that limited brings nothing to the table compared to
a slightly newer cheap board/CPU/RAM combo (as mentioned in my previous post).

To be honest, even on modern PCs any of the later SATA SSDs with DRAM will be indistinguishable from NVMe drives in most usage scenarios (outside of very specific storage heavy situations). On an old PC like that, running old games... I'm sure even at SATA 2 speeds a newish SATA SSD will be so fast that you'll never be noticeably storage limited.

darry wrote on 2024-07-06, 17:17:

And if XP is not an option, using a board/CPU that limited brings nothing to the table compared to
a slightly newer cheap board/CPU/RAM combo (as mentioned in my previous post).

Some time ago, I was thinking of upgrading the GPU in the Core 2 Quad desktop in my signature. It can still do everything I want, and I don't have the cash to spend on a new, worthy replacement - I simply wanted to output 4K to my 4K television set. I only passed because I realised I don't use the TV that much.

GemCookie wrote on 2024-07-06, 18:25:

darry wrote on 2024-07-06, 17:17:

And if XP is not an option, using a board/CPU that limited brings nothing to the table compared to
a slightly newer cheap board/CPU/RAM combo (as mentioned in my previous post).

Some time ago, I was thinking of upgrading the GPU in the Core 2 Quad desktop in my signature. It can still do everything I want, and I don't have the cash to spend on a new, worthy replacement - I simply wanted to output 4K to my 4K television set. I only passed because I realised I don't use the TV that much.

And when the day comes when you do need to upgrade (due to performance needs or hardware failure), you will likely have plenty of inexpensive options.

Combine a 50ish $US 4th gen Core i5 CPU + board + 8GB RAM combo with a GTX 970 for another 50ish $US and one has a good cheap upgrade for Windows XP/Vista/7/10 and/or Linux use (EDIT: And possibly Windows 11, depending on your degree of dedication).