The Itch... Should I Scratch It?

jcb33

jcb33

jcb33

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Joined
11 Apr 2003
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Notts
Hey all,

I have that annoying itch again... the itch to upgrade, however I am not doing bad as my current PC is almost 4 years old, and I have not actually upgraded it once:

AMD X2 4800+ 2.4Ghz S939
Asus A8r32-MVP Delux Mobo
2x 1GB PC3200 OCZ DDR1
2x 300GB Maxtor 7,200RPM SATA HDD
ATI X1950XTX 512MB PCI-E
Cooler Master Praetorian 730
Enermax eg701ax-ve 600W PSU

I generally use it for browsing the net, a little 3D work (Practice in 3Ds Max) and some gaming. L4D2, and Dawn of War 2 currently being the most demanding games I play. The system does allow me to do what I want still, however it is starting to struggle as it gets older (No Surprise)

Now there are a few games coming out this year that I like the look of Supreme Commander 2, Command and Conquer 4, Stalker 3, RUSE, SW:TOR, Etc.

I know I will most likely be able to run all of these however not to a very high standard, probably low – med settings (Which saddens me, just a little). However having said this most of my gaming time is now spent on consoles, having decided to invest in a 360 about a year ago.

I understand that an "upgrade" is somewhat out of the question, as whatever I throw at my system it will be bottlenecked by something else, thus I will need to replace most of the components. Any who here come the questions:

1) Considering my use of the PC do you think its worth indulging my itch and investing in new hardware, or should I ignore it until I really get back into PC gaming?

2) Would I be better off overclocking my current system, instead of upgrading?

3) If I were to upgrade would my PSU and case still be sufficient both power and space wise for todays hardware?

4) Would it be worth upgrading my hard drives, or just leaving them, taking into account their age?

5) Most importantly if I were to upgrade what hardware would you guys suggest, based on my use of my PC etc?

P.S I am currently running Windows XP MCE, however have invested in Windows 7 Home 64Bit, but have not yet upgraded to it as I am unsure if my current hardware will agree with it.

Thanks for any help and advice!
Jcb33.
 
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Your CPU is worth over £100 on a certain well known auction site!!

For around £400 you could do quite a nice upgrade with a new PSU.You could re-used your drives and case.
 
CAT-THE-FIFTH,More like £40 for his cpu
Well if your pc does what you need to then why upgrade?
How about a new gfx eg 5770 and a ssd?
 
Reading between the lines ... I would say you have converted to 360 for gaming full time and only use the dear old faithful PC really in a secondary role.

I would wait a little longer... save the pennies in your pocket for the time being. When you finally see the light and have thrown the 360 out or donated it to family or whatever come back and start over.

We all (well most of us) are thinking about the tweak and new system most of the time to be honest.

RESISTING THE TEMPTAION IS HARD!!!!!
 
do it

30135-itch_scratch.jpg
 
Well I have been thinking about this, and am still rather tempted looking at some of the games that are coming out soon (Mostly RTS I admit), What would you guys think of the following setup?

Intel Core i5 750 2.66Ghz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £149.99
VTX ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £112.99
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £99.99
Gigabyte GA-P55-US3L Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 Motherboard £80.99
Corsair H50-1 High-Performance CPU Watercooler £63.99

Total £ 519.70

+ Existing Case, PSU and HDD's:

2x 300GB Maxtor 7,200RPM SATA HDD
Cooler Master Praetorian 730
Enermax eg701ax-ve 600W PSU

What do you guys think of this spec, and will my PSU be able ot be used for the Mobo + Graphics?
Also how is this motherboard for overclocking, I have looked at the RAM and CPU and they seem good for around 4Ghz with a decent cooler. Would I be better off saving some money on the cooler and getting 6GB of ram?

Thanks!
Jcb33.
 
If I may pop my head in here. I'm due an upgrade myself (E8400, 8800GTS, 4GB RAM and other bobbins). I have sporadic binges on PS3 or PC depending on game and then neglecting both for a while when the real world takes hold.

I've been thinking of similar upgrades at a similar budget and I'm now leaning towards buying a full OC'd system from OCUK. Its the Aliens themed one. I don't need a full system but for a little bit more than what I was going to pay anyway I get the case and drives etc.

Its not top spec but will do what I need - worth a look perhaps?
 
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