Upgrade time! Advice please! :)

neoglow · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:32

Hey up,

It might be upgrade time soon, this is what I have...

* Intel Core 2 E6600 2.4ghz overclocked to 3.0ghz
* Asus Mobo (cant remember which, something like the P32 SLI?)
* 4gb Corsair RAM
* Sapphire PCI-E ATI 4870 512mb RAM

Got a dual boot with XP 32bit and Vista 64bit, looking at getting Windows 7.
Storage wise, I always go with WD Raptors cos solid state is too darn expensive at the mo.

Machine is used for Gaming and the usual email, tinterweb, photos etc

Any recommendations for upgrades, not looking to bust the bank but give me some ideas, also any CPUs that are easily overclocked, for example my currect 6600 has been more than stable at 3.0ghz by changing the FSB value for ages on a standard H/S and Fan.

Cheers!

Drake22 · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:35

need to know approximate budget

is it q6600 or e6600 btw?

stulid · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:35

Is that a Q6600 or E6600

Guessing its a quad at that speed

neoglow · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:45

Sorry for vague-ness, I cant find the reciept for all the current parts so Im using my noggin and whatever the computer says.

No, 99% sure its 2 cores - the E6600. Not quad.
Dx Diag says 2 CPUS.

Budget, hmmmm id say around £250 - £300 ish.

stulid · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:49

Second hand Q6600 and a ATI HD5850.

kellaway225 · 2 Apr 2010 at 17:52

i have a Q6600 that i might be willing to let go - where int he south do you live?

neoglow · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:02

kellaway225 said:
i have a Q6600 that i might be willing to let go - where int he south do you live?

Thanks for the offer but will be buying new, thanks thou!

kellaway225 · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:03

okay no prob

stulid · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:06

you can't get them new anymore.

It really is the sensible upgrade choice, especially with a blazing fast graphics card.

A good spec AMD AM3 PHENOM II X4 quad setup is all of your budget.

Drake22 · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:10

what resolution are u gaming at

neoglow · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:14

Drake22 said:
what resolution are u gaming at

I try and eek out the max of 1680 x 1050 with max detail settings on games. If not, I tend to keep the max detail settings on and just lower the resolution until I find a decent fps.

Why you ask, were u going to suggest SLI?

stulid · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:22

You would need a new motherboard for crossfire.

You then got the inherent crossfire issues with two 4870.

Is your psu up to the job?

Games are loving quad core chips these days, so your still might be bottlenecked even overclocked.

Drake22 · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:29

i would probably get this:

then you can keep 4870 and see how it goes or sell it along with ur old cpu and mobo, and get 5850

stulid · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:31

That motherboard wont do true crossfire.

Drake22 · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:39

yea sorry nvm xfire
if you are happy with graphics, you could also spend £300 to get i5 750, motherboard and ddr3 ram

neoglow · 2 Apr 2010 at 18:46

In terms of mobos, are there any benefits from one mobo to the next? What I mean is, apart from getting the correct mobo for the cpu and a mobo that has a decent chipset, what else is there 'performance wise' to look for in a mobo?

Yeah sorry, I meant to put crossfire for my current graphics card and not Sli.

I have become a bit of an ATI fanboy but I guess its the age old argument of nvidia vs ati.

Oh and cheers for all the help guys and gals!