Upgrade current rig or sell and buy new?

ColdAsIce

ColdAsIce

ColdAsIce

Soldato
Joined
26 May 2006
Posts
6,212
Location
Edinburgh
My current setup is the following:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140
3850 Pro GFX

Max Res 1280 x 1024 (Which I am happy to play on)
I also have another 2 gig of ram installed but it isn't Crucial ballistix, just some shop bought kingston stuff.

I have been playing the new AVP game and Dragon Age, but finding it frustrating how sluggish the games are running.

So is the motherboard got life in it yet that would be worth me upgrading or would it be more sensible to sell up and purchase a motherboard that supports the intel core i5 series?

My budget would be quite tight, I don't have hundreds to splash out on.
 
The mobo is the best bit of your rig. For what it's worth this is what i think. As you are so far down the performance ladder you would need at least a new cpu and gpu. Spending a shedload of money on a new 775 cpu at this stage of the game would be silly. Saying that, 1156 is going to have a short life as well. A roadmap on here last week showed it getting replaced next year so you would go from one dead end socket to another. You could try for a cheap second hand Q6600 to get the most out of your current board and then do a full rebuild next year when the new sockets are released. Alternatively, sell your current stuff and go for a new AMD AM3 rig now as the mobo's are likely to support the 6 core cpu's with a new bios when they are released.

Graphics wise, a 5750 would be a good upgrade from your 3850Pro and will consume less power and run cooler.
 
Thanks for the advice, it is funny how things move on. I remember when I bought this motherboard, I thought would be setup for the future upgrades.
 
ColdAsIce said:
Thanks for the advice, it is funny how things move on. I remember when I bought this motherboard, I thought would be setup for the future upgrades.
Click to expand...

It's not bad, put a higher grade C2D in there, or clock your CPU (they go insanely high) and get a 5750 or 5770 and you'll be sorted.
 
ColdAsIce said:
My current setup is the following:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz
Intel Core 2 Duo E2140
3850 Pro GFX

Max Res 1280 x 1024 (Which I am happy to play on)

My budget would be quite tight, I don't have hundreds to splash out on.
Click to expand...

I couldnt cope with anything less than 1680/1050 and would probably upgrade the monitor before anything else.

Id say the gfx card is next on the list. I'd look for a 2nd hand 8800gt at about £40 delivered. 4850s are about £50, but it would need a dual slot cooler - dont get the original single slot cooler.

You could swap the cpu to an E5200 at about £30 second hand [e5300 would be better with that memory actually]. Even with 667mhz memory, you should still get close, or past 3.5ghz. I dont think spending £85+ on a q6600 or any other 775 cpu is worth it without 6400 memory.

I think buying 4gb of ddr2 is a waste now. Prices are too high on an old standard - though, perhaps it will hold its value long enough to sell on later. I might consider seeing what two more 1gb sticks of ddr2 is going for. Running 4 sticks probably wouldnt limit your overclock much more than having 5300 does in the first place.

Monitor first.
GFX 2nd
CPU 3rd, simply because e5200s are only £30.
Memory or new hard drive 4th, depending on how slow your current HD is. I think you might benefit more from a modern HD than >2gb mem, if its >3 years old.
 
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