Upgrade or New PC?

macfanuk · 13 Jul 2010 at 22:54

I have a dilema.

I currently have a PC which is as follows:

Gigabyte P35-DS3P
Intel E5200 @ 2.5GHz
4GB Ram (2GB of which is getting unreliable)
500GB Hard Drive
nVidia 8800GT 512MB Graphics
LG SATA DVD ReWriter

I am looking for advice about whether I should upgrade what I have (and replace the dying Ram) or go for a new build such as a Core i3/i5 system.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

stulid · 13 Jul 2010 at 23:04

to upgrade that pc,

you would ideally need a second hand Q6600 for £80

4gigs of DDR2 is around £75- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-039-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

and a nvidia GTX460 1gb model is £189- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-140-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

macfanuk · 13 Jul 2010 at 23:17

stulid said:
to upgrade that pc,

you would ideally need a second hand Q6600 for £80

4gigs of DDR2 is around £75- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-039-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

and a nvidia GTX460 1gb model is £189- http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-140-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

I already have a Q6600 in another system and don't really find it much better than the E5200 I use in this system (for my uses anyway). I certainly don't think it's worth going from a 2.5Ghz dual core to a 2.4Ghz quad. I was thinking of something along the lines of the Intel E6700 @ 3.2GHz.

Thanks for the link re the Ram.

The reason I got the 8800GT is because I occassionally use my PC as a hackintosh and don't play any games so I'll probably stick with the 8800GT for now.

stulid · 13 Jul 2010 at 23:19

overclock the Q6600 to 3ghz+

macfanuk · 13 Jul 2010 at 23:21

stulid said:
overclock the Q6600 to 3ghz+

I don't want to go down the overclocking route. Thanks for your opinions though, however, I'll not be going for a Q6600.

stulid · 13 Jul 2010 at 23:26

macfanuk said:
I don't want to go down the overclocking route.

macfanuk said:
I was thinking of something along the lines of the Intel E6700 @ 3.2GHz.

?

Q6600 eats a E6750 at stock, in most programs, gaming which you said you dont do, is closer

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=60

macfanuk · 14 Jul 2010 at 10:38

stulid said:
?

Q6600 eats a E6750 at stock, in most programs, gaming which you said you dont do, is closer

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=60

Hi Stulid, It's not the E6750, it's the E6700

stulid · 14 Jul 2010 at 10:39

macfanuk said:
Hi Stulid, It's not the E6750, it's the E6700

its the closest comparison i could find, so a E6700 is slower, by a bit.

a E6700 doesnt run at 3.2ghz, http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27251 , which is why I gave the "dont want to overclock" a ?

macfanuk · 14 Jul 2010 at 11:23

stulid said:
its the closest comparison i could find, so a E6700 is slower, by a bit.

a E6700 doesnt run at 3.2ghz, http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27251 , which is why I gave the "dont want to overclock" a ?

It's this processor http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=42809

stulid · 14 Jul 2010 at 11:29

oh, the pentium named one with 2mb cache, sorry, thought you could get a the conroe core?

mp260767 · 14 Jul 2010 at 14:24

why are you looking to upgrade, whats the problem with the system you've listed ?

macfanuk · 14 Jul 2010 at 15:43

mp260767 said:
why are you looking to upgrade, whats the problem with the system you've listed ?

I've had it for a long time, some of the Ram is failing so needs replacing anyway and it's not as fast as I'd like (plus I like fiddling lol).

neoboy · 14 Jul 2010 at 15:50

Well most branded RAM has lifetime warranty so can you not just RMA it? Are you mostly using the machine for games or you use any other demanding software?

mp260767 · 14 Jul 2010 at 15:52

might seem like an obvious question but whats it not fast enough too do ?, can't think you'd notice enough difference with the e6700 to make it a worthwhile upgrade.

maybe have a look at an am3 system with something like the AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955/965 Black Edition.

if your set on intel then go for something like the Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz quad core, wouldn't bother updating to another dual core if it was me.