£250 upgrade budget.

Range

Range

Range

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Joined
5 Feb 2009
Posts
534
Current spec;

Processor; Intel(R) core 2 duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40ghz
Ram; 3GB DDR2
250GB HD
Bios Phoenix - AwardBios v6.00
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT


Basically got £325.

First question is, Is it worth me upgrading? Can I make a huge difference with £300?

Second, what should I get for my upgrades totalling £300 max.
 
Last edited:
a second hand Q6600 is around £75.

and a GTX460 is £120 - £135

maybe add a big heatsink for £30 and overclock the Q6600
 
Don't want anything second hand, prefer to buy knew. What about a new mobo/ram/psu also? Like what would i need for an upgrade
 
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £114.99
(£97.86) £114.99
(£97.86)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £76.36
(£64.99) £76.36
(£64.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £61.09
(£51.99) £61.09
(£51.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £58.24
(£49.57) £58.24
(£49.57)
Sub Total : £264.41
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 : £47.93
Total : £321.84

what is your current PSU?

sell off your cpu/mobo and ram.
 
Radeon HD6850 1024mb ~ £141.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866

Brilliant card, performs as well as the GTX460 and is cheaper :D

Q8300 ~ £112.79:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-269-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567

Will overclock to around 3.0Ghz and give you a good boost in performance.

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro ~ £18.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=1395

Will let you attain aforementioned overclock, and do so quietly.

Total: £273.77

Out of interest, what PSU do you have currently? If you bought the above, you wouldn't need a new mobo or new ram.
 
stulid said:
Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Asus GeForce GTX 460 Direct CU TOP 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 PC-Game £114.99
(£97.86) £114.99
(£97.86)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 640 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £76.36
(£64.99) £76.36
(£64.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £61.09
(£51.99) £61.09
(£51.99)
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £58.24
(£49.57) £58.24
(£49.57)
Sub Total : £264.41
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 : £47.93
Total : £321.84

what is your current PSU?

sell off your cpu/mobo and ram.
Click to expand...

Why not just upgrade his current spec?

No point going down AM3 or Socket 1156/1366 atm as SandyBridge and equiv. are round the corner.

Dropping a quad in there and upgrading the graphics (see my above post :p) will give him the boost to last several months more.
 
 
stulid said:
he said he didnt want second hand AFTER i had already posted the Q6600 suggestion, so how was I to know????
Click to expand...

True, I didn't read post stamps very well.
And the 1024mb 460 you linked to is underclocked, so it will performs even worse than the HD6850 - I think the extra pennies would be well spent towards the better performing, newer card, don't you? :p

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...ercolor-radeon-hd-6850-review-conclusion.html

That compares an overclocked GTX460 to a standard HD6850 and for the most part the two are identical.
Key thing to note, the HD6850 is a good £15 cheaper.
 
Range said:
I mean, that £321 quote Stulid told me looks good. Whatever say I dont buy now could be completed after Christmas.
Click to expand...

I really wouldn't buy a new PC now.
AMD are bringing out a new line of processors, which will not be compatible in AM3 socket mobos (such as Stulid is speccing).
I wouldn't go down the Intel route yet either, as they too have a new line of processors, again not compatible with current sockets.

I would just drop a quad and new graphics card in your current PC (as suggested by both Stulid and I originally) and hold out for a few more months / a year and see where things are then :)
 
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