Upgrading my PC

lcg · 21 Jan 2010 at 12:55

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my PC, which I built in November 2007. I'm looking to spend around £300 on doing this.

As you can see my specs are low,

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500, ASUS P5K AiLifestyle, 2GB DDR2, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB, Corsair 500W power supply.

I would like to upgrade to a Quad Core (I'm considering the Q6600), increase the RAM by 4GB, and upgrade the graphics card to an ATI 5770. I don't do much gaming, but I did buy GTA IV in the Steam sales, so I would like my upgraded machine to at least play that relatively well.

What recommendations do you have? What would be the best upgrade I could do with this budget? Do you think there is any need for me to upgrade the motherboard? - I believe the P5K I have is low end one - it isn't the Deluxe version.

Thank you in advance.

skippy2421 · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:13

May i ask what are you going to be mainly using this pc for? As there's no point in going for a heft GPU if you wont use it. 4 gig of Ram seems a good start however.

lcg · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:20

skippy2421 said:
May i ask what are you going to be mainly using this pc for? As there's no point in going for a heft GPU if you wont use it. 4 gig of Ram seems a good start however.

I'll be using it for browsing, work, watching movies, and some programming and gaming. I'd like a graphics card that can handle games like GTA IV.

skippy2421 · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:28

so 4 gig of ram you're looking - £70.
perhaps a 5770 as you suggested - £120
aftermarket cooler for your CPU - £25/30
Then overclock your existing CPU, should manage a good 3ghz, however this is dependant on your board and unfortunately i'm not familiar with it so i can't tell you how good it'll be for clocking however should it clock ok i would go with the option above. No point in buying a new CPU for your uses i don't think.

stulid · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:31

You should first goto the ASUS website and see what the max CPU your board can take(probably need a later bios).

The graphics card you want is good

Your psu will be ok too.

4gigs of ram should be minimum these days.

lcg · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:35

stulid said:
You should first goto the ASUS website and see what the max CPU your board can take(probably need a later bios).

The graphics card you want is good

Your psu will be ok too.

4gigs of ram should be minimum these days.

Yeah, I've checked before, and it can take a Quad Core. I'm just not sure whether it's best to leave it as it is, or try to find some more money for a motherboard upgrade.

skippy2421 · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:39

Well should you wish to upgrade the cpu etc. there is this option as well. I'm not sure how the 4770 will hold up in GTA IV tho, i imagine it'll play it pretty well you just wont max it. Just another possility, it gives you a better CPU but won't be as powerful in the graphics department should you go the way of keeping your current CPU

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 620 2.60GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £81.99

Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMV4GX3M2A1333C9) £74.58

VTX ATI Radeon HD 4770 512MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £73.99

Asus M4A78LT-M LE AMD 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £57.99

Sub Total : £245.57
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £44.64
Total : £299.71

Just another avenue for you to consider.

stulid · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:46

Well if you can find a quad for a good price then I say go for it.

But you could always get the graphics card now, plug it in and see if your happy with your new performance, if not change the other bits.

stulid · 21 Jan 2010 at 13:53

I not sure about getting a whole new motherboard just to get a slow AMD quad core.

A 4770 is a slow card these days.

Get an extra 2gb of ram
Get an intel quad
Get the 5770

Much faster than above, same costs too.

skippy2421 · 21 Jan 2010 at 14:13

stulid said:
I not sure about getting a whole new motherboard just to get a slow AMD quad core.

A 4770 is a slow card these days.

Get an extra 2gb of ram
Get an intel quad
Get the 5770

Much faster than above, same costs too.

well in response to the slow quad core comment i'd like to point you here it's a great little chip. Quite happily goes toe to toe against S775 socket CPUs, only one that might show a real advantage would be q9550 and they're not cheap. Plus AM3 gives him a future upgrade route aswell.

admittedly the 4770 might not be the quickest card, however it will play the game ok. It's a compromise really, it comes down to the OP's priorities i suppose. I still personally think overclocking his CPU and throwing in new RAM & GPU is the best bet for him plus will only cost 200 if his mobo allows decent clocking.

lcg · 22 Jan 2010 at 10:21

Thanks for your suggestions skippy2421 and stulid. I think I will be using my current motherboard, and buying the Q6600 and the HD5770, and either 2GB DDR2 or 4GB depending on the amount of money I have.