can i upgrade for sub £400?

Overlag

Overlag

Overlag

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
11,038
Location
Romford/Hornchurch, Essex
Hi there all. I kinda looking at a spec me thread on a budget. I only want to upgrade if its going to be better than my current rig. My current rig is suffering more and more BSOD's due to its DDR1 dying, and since DDR1 is so expensive now i think it would be better to just take the plunge.

Current specs
AMD X2 4400 (1mb)
Asus A8N SLI premium
2gig Corsair ram.
8800gtx 768mb (i have 2 of these but no compatible PSU/case)
620watt Enermax Liberty (where did Enermax go?)


so can i get a noticeable speed improvement by moving to coreduo/quads for less than £400? or should i just wait till i save some £££?

General plan is to keep the PSU, GFX card, HDD's etc so only really need CPU, MB, Ram, and maybe a case (antec 900-2 or P182?). If i can get a SLI board and PSU i might use both gfx cards, but i doubt its worth it?
 
k9f96d.jpg
 
I like the suggestions siumatfung made. If you can manage the extra, the Nine Hundred case is worth it. I have it, and it keeps temps very low. It also means you have no worries about shoving that huge new card in there. The great thing about a good case is it will last you about three upgrades if you get a good one.

(Unless you're like me, and have your eye on the Black Kandalf with built in watercooling that you cannot convince your girlfriend you need)
 
arnt AMD's very slow now? I thought intel had come back as the king?

the plan is to get the Antec 900-2, cant really have anything smaller (i have 5 diff HDD's) and the PSU still only has 2 SLI plugs so not worth spending more on. Savings there can buy the bigger case. The 750watt version of that PSU comes with 4 SLI/PCIexpress connectors but i doubt i can run SLI without the rest of the rig being "mega".

thanks for the idea keep em coming :)
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-192-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793


£126.99 inc


Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-281-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

£112.99 inc


Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS

£81.98 inc


OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-9200C5 Low Voltage Dual Channel (OCZ2B1150LV4GK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-170-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

(£50.43) inc

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

£44.99 inc

Sub Total : £369.52
Shipping cost based on delivery to:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 15.00% VAT : £55.43
Total : £424.95

Just over budget, although not an sli board. IMO opinion sli is not worth while.
 
Last edited:
CyZMyAssBaby said:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-192-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793


£126.99 inc


Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-281-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

£112.99 inc


Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-650TXUK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS

£81.98 inc


OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-9200C5 Low Voltage Dual Channel (OCZ2B1150LV4GK) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-170-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

(£50.43) inc

Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

£44.99 inc

Sub Total : £369.52
Shipping cost based on delivery to:
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : FREE
VAT is being charged at 15.00% VAT : £55.43
Total : £424.95

Just over budget, although not an sli board. IMO opinion sli is not worth while.
Click to expand...


under budget once psu is removed. I must admit this is roughly what i was looking at, dualcore rather than quad and maybe a bit of overclocking. SLI i had pretty much ruled out already as most games i play are always going to be CPU limited rather than GPU limited. I suppose without the PSU i could get the deluxe Asus board too. hmmm Thanks :D
 
The mother board is a stonker of a OC. The memory will allow more than enough head room as the modules are rated at 9200 (1150Mhz) Low voltage. The 8400 can reach 4Ghz OC as well depending on other factors.

As you removed the PSU It may be worth considering the E8600 over the E8400? £27-00 extra. The E8600 can and has reported to hit the 4.2Ghz and above OC.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-193-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=
 
Last edited:
siumatfung's spec isnt too bad but will need a ddr3 mobo or ddr2 memory to match up.

with the intel spec i'd swap the processor to the 8500/8600 as mentioned and get a decent aftermarket cooler like the titan fenir.
 
so the only real difference between the p5q-e and the p5q-deluxe is 8phase power vs 16phase?
 
sli is a waste of time your better of ebaying both to get a single card that will perform better. I think 8800GTX's still fetch sub £100 on the bay.

No new PSU will be required regardless, the galaxys are fine and bunging an adaptor or two on for extra graphics power if you were to use SLI would be ok.

Also are you an experienced overclocker? If not most of the above suggestions will be useless. You wont need anywhere near that kind of expensive Motherboard and can save a tenner at least on the ram. Then just throw all the savings equally into CPU and GFX for a real performance difference.

In fact an experianced OC'er would get the better stock performance first over any assumed overlclocks.
 
Overlag said:
arnt AMD's very slow now? I thought intel had come back as the king?
Click to expand...

They were AMD have significantly closer with there newer phemon 2's thou so its no forgone conculsion.

the intels just edge it on performance but AMD offer better future proofing/upgrade path as the chips can be used with AM 2+ and AM3 sockets and DDR 2/3 memory.
 
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
£137.99

Asus P5Q-E Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£112.99

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
£94.99

OCZ Blade Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-9200C5 Low Voltage Dual Channel (OCZ2B1150LV4GK)
£57.99

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775/LGA1366)
£33.34

Sub Total : £380.26
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)
VAT is being charged at 15.00% VAT : £57.04
Total : £437.30

looks good to me :D i guess i need some Artic silver paste?
 
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 940 Black Edition 3.0GHz (Socket AM2+) - Retail
£132.99

Asus M4A78T-E AMD 790GX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
£98.99

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black (No PSU)
£94.99

OCZ Reaper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C6 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3RPR13334GKK)
£47.99

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775/LGA1366)
£33.34

Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound
£4.59

Sub Total : £359.03
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £55.62
Total : £426.40

There's basicly the AMD version of that spec
except don't have free delivery yet.

You can also upgrade to a x4 955 for a direct price comparision or drop to a x3 720 to stay at £400
 
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