need info regarding upgrading my computer

[O-car]

So, I'm thinking about upgrading my computer. The kind of stuff I mostly do in it is I play some games, and graphics work as well. I was wondering if someone who knows about these things could help me find what I should buy.

I'm looking for
a new motherboard
processor
graphics card

not sure if I should get a new power supply. I've got a 300w one now and I've got 1gb ddr memory. I'm looking for something thats good and fast and performs well, but at the same time is affordable.

Hope you can help

 

[Áļéאָ]

Depends on how much you are willing to spend. And oh... you dont need an upgrade. You need a new computer. The only thing you can really keep is your HD( s) and Optical Drive( s). And any Pci card (like snd card, if u got a good one, tvtuner etc)

So what you really need is Motherboard CPU Memory Gfx card. With Sound Card "optional" and a new Hard Drive also recommended.

For CPU, best choice is (or will be) A Core Duo E6420. Should be released very soon. Its the same CPU with E6400 but will have 4mb L2 Cache instead of just 2. Also it is very overclockable which means you will be able to get it up to 3ghz no problem.
Motherboard, just get any 965 chipset mobo from Asus. Will ensure stability and performance of your system. (965 is a goo allround chip)
Memory. For now 1gb is enough, which also means it wont cost you much. But I strongly recommend getting a decent 2Gb Kit. 250-300 euros price range. Ocz/Supertalent/Corsair/G.Skill are all good brands. Also make sure you get Pc6400 (800mhz) modules. Just get a good brand within your price range and make sure its the one with the best timings (in that price range).

For Graphics card, the only one i can recommend atm is Nvidia 8800Gts 320mb. Fair Price for a really fast gfx card.

 

[Joe Star]

I've got a 300w one now

I would definitely recommend a new power supply with the system Alex recommended, at least a quality 500W which would give you lots of headroom to overclock. Go for a good quality 1 as I had a cheap 1 blow up after 8 months.

For Graphics card, the only one i can recommend atm is Nvidia 8800Gts 320mb. Fair Price for a really fast gfx card.

I've been watching that 1 too coz my 6800GS is gettin rather slow. Im only worried about the lack of memory and how it would affect dx10 gaming. As far as I know its impact on dx9 is only with ultra high resolutions (not a prob with my 19") and AA but is there any info on what its impact might be on dx10?

 

[Áļéאָ]

meh, from what i believe since i pretty much get every single good pc game 320mb wont be a problem at all for another year. After all in one year from now you cant expect to play with a gfx card in full detail every single game. Personally I find that a good computer can last ~3 years for gaming, but gfx cards need upgrade every ~1.5 year. 250-300euros&250-300euros. Lasts ~3years with good gfx detail. Getting a top range gfx card for 600 (like the 8800gtx) will proly last a few months more but it wont last more than 2 years.
As for the psu yeah... between 500 and 600w in order to keep you also covered in the case of gfx card upgrade. And something like Tagan/Enermax/OCZ

 

[O-car]

I think I've found a decent deal. It's got the INtel Core2Duo E6400 processor. 2gb DDR2, creative 7.1 sound card(not sure of the full name of it), 19" monitor.400watt fortron psu. not sure what I will do about the gfx card. it's got a msi geforce nx7600gs 256mb card. think i might get a better one.

is it much better to have a 500w psu than a 400w one?

 

[Áļéאָ]

much. And if this is a pre-built system... expect bad things such as crappy RAM, most proly some stupid Samsung HDs (dunno why, but most companies use samsung...) and a crappy mobo. I think it's a mistake, but it's your choice. Keep in mind that all the above mentioned mean that even with a good gfx card you will loose a fair amount of performance in games. Can be even 20-25%. Even the Core duo E6420 that will cost the same as the E6400 costs now (and thats in just a couple of weeks from now) will give you a 5% boost.

 

[O-car]

the mobo for this system is an msi 945 p neo3-f intel 945p lga775. Ram is from Corsair. Haven't decided yet if I'll buy this yet. gonna browse around to try to find something affordable but good. what is your opinion of the ATI Radeon RX1950Pro 512mb?

 

[Áļéאָ]

Not worth it. Huge perf diff between the 1950pro and the 8800gts 320.
And the mobo is low end. Corsair is a good brand, but what are the timings and whats the bus speed?

Look, its not a bad system, its just that since we are talking about a gaming rig, you cant go with "entry level" products. A system like that will let you down in a year. Or maybe even less (new games coming out, starting this summer, will require much more from your system) 945 mobo is entry level. same can be said about the PSU (its the least you can have on a system nowdays) and I suspect that memory is also low end DDR2, The system Im suggesting isnt even high end, its med. moderate cost. CPU is ok, but its a drawback having half the L2 size of the new 6420 that wont even cost more!

Maybe Im just really wrong about all this. After all I'm the kind of guy who buys high-end computers that cost a little bit too much.

 

[Joe Star]

what is your opinion of the ATI Radeon RX1950Pro 512mb?

Definitely not a good idea with dx10 just around the corner

 

[Áļéאָ]

Dx isnt the major problem. The 8800gts is up to 50% faster on games. And as new games are coming out and drivers improve the gap will grow bigger

 

[O-car]

they are too pricey for me though, an as for that 6420, we don't seem to have that one in Iceland

 

[Joe Star]

That's because it aint out yet . Btw Alex, in your opinion should I wait around for the 8600gts and 8600gt? They were my original target but the 128-bit memory bandwidth + 256MB(same as my current card) are kinda putting me off. Your thoughts?

PS: SOrry for hijacking your thread O-car

 

[Áļéאָ]

Only time can tell. Personally Im more excited about the new ATi cards. Out in one month and 65nm GPUs. Sounds good to me. Mid Range model have DDR4. I think. The x2800 or 2900(dunno which one) will deff have. Imho the best time for a new card will be june-july. Also theres a 8800Ultra about to be released (its already added in the latest drivers by nvidia) which proly means the other 8800 models price will start droping. And with the ATis coming out... About time. the 8800GTX costs 600euros since its release!! (think thats more than 6 months now) Thats just stupid should have been 400-450 by now. Lack of competition is never good

 

[Joe Star]

Yeah me too. When is ati finally releasing them anyway?? They've been procrastinating since January

 

[Áļéאָ]

Launch event is in in Tunisia 20something next month. Apparently the reason behind the late release is that ATi (amd) decided to go for 65nm on the R600. They started with 80nm.

 

[shokz]

So what you really need is Motherboard CPU Memory Gfx card. With Sound Card "optional" and a new Hard Drive also recommended.

For CPU, best choice is (or will be) A Core Duo E6420. Should be released very soon. Its the same CPU with E6400 but will have 4mb L2 Cache instead of just 2. Also it is very overclockable which means you will be able to get it up to 3ghz no problem.

Memory. For now 1gb is enough, which also means it wont cost you much. But I strongly recommend getting a decent 2Gb Kit. 250-300 euros price range. Ocz/Supertalent/Corsair/G.Skill are all good brands. Also make sure you get Pc6400 (800mhz) modules. Just get a good brand within your price range and make sure its the one with the best timings (in that price range).

For Graphics card, the only one i can recommend atm is Nvidia 8800Gts 320mb. Fair Price for a really fast gfx card.

Agree with all of that.

The Gigabyte DS3 is one of the best motherboards around and probably the most popular and for only £80, pretty much has everything and it's a great clocker. There are memory issues but those issues are pretty much fixed in the latest bios updates, aswell as added support for Intel's Core 2 Quad processor, so if you have experience or can get a friend to upgrade to a newer BIOS, you've got the option of going C2Q when they become more affordable and multi-threading becomes the norm in gaming.

The NVIDIA 650i series motherboards are in the same price bracket of the DS3 and worth considering too, basically a 680i motherboard but with a few less features and performs exactly the same if not better than the 680i, but for £100 less.

Now might be a good time to buy some memory, as the prices on some of the kits crashed in January. 2x1GB DDR2 PC6400 800MHz with 4-4-4-12 timings can now be had for around £100-117. For the PSU I would also recommend a Corsair.

I've been watching that 1 too coz my 6800GS is gettin rather slow. Im only worried about the lack of memory and how it would affect dx10 gaming. As far as I know its impact on dx9 is only with ultra high resolutions (not a prob with my 19") and AA but is there any info on what its impact might be on dx10?

I think the memory only becomes an issue if you intend on playing at an uber high res (beyond 1600x1200) with everything on.

I'm looking for
a new motherboard
processor
graphics card

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £80
Intel Core 2 DUO E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FS Retail - £150
GeForce 8800 GTS OC 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - £200
Corsair HX Series 520W Modular PSU - ATX12V v2.2 APFC - £70

There is always another time for memory.

 

[Daz]

i've got that mobo with that processor too both have been great. I also invested almost £200 () in getting 2gb worth of DDR2 RAM.

 

[Áļéאָ]

Yeah. At least with DDR3 boards coming out soon prices will start to drop for DDR2. But then again... we'll have to deal with DDr3... heh

 

[rpvankasteren]

So tell me: should someone want to replace his machine, is it best to wait until july to get it? Keeping in mind that graphics are not the deciding factor, but the speed in video encoding (although even there a standard E6420 with 1.5 or more likely 2GB 5300 DDR2 will be fine).
I was thinking of getting replacements at the end of the month, really, processor price drop and all, but if I can get a lot better graphics for the same money (below €250/£170 preferably)... might be worth waiting. I'll be keeping my 17" CRT, though.

 

[Áļéאָ]

Wait for the new core designs. Conroe was good, but.. for.. like 6 months ago (proly even more) Its getting bit "old" now the price for them has been stable since (very small drops) and new core designs will be out before too long. the cost for conroes is still relatively high. Hell, we might be even able to get boards with DDR4 support ~summertime. (might) Esp for video encoding a machine with 4 cores will be a must. I'd wait if i were you/ Deff wait. I'm doing the same thing actually. Another plaus is that with AMD/ATi R600 the cost for a good gfx card will (most likely) go down the hill. I mean... the 8800gtx costs 600euros and its been out for a veeeery long time. + Never b4 a top range gfx card cost that much. 500... maybe, and not for more than 2-3 months. G80 has been out for what? Almost a year? heh
Thats what lack of competition does for ya Not to mention the Dx10 driver problems. A Dx10 gfx card with no Dx10 games to play, and no driver to let you play dx10 games. Thers a Dx10 driver available, but its more like a beta.