Upgrade, yes or no?

ScoobyDoo · 30 Jan 2013 at 21:19

I havent upgraded my system in years!!, im currently running a Core2Duo 6300 at 2.2ghz on a gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard with 8gb DDR3 Ram, 3 x 1tb drives.

I mainly use my PC for internet and photo editing, Adobe lightroom mainly.
The system has been running stable for years, im just about to upgrade to windows 8 but before i do so, is it worth a system upgrade.

I was thinking of just changing the motherboard, CPU and maybe get a SSD drive. Would i see much benefit or is it worth sticking with what ive got.

Im looking at spending around £300.

Worth upgrading or not??
If you think its worth upgrading, please spec..

Thanks.

[WU-TANG]GZA · 30 Jan 2013 at 21:24

Yes I would say it is worth the upgrade.

Can you go to £350? If yes, I'd go for the below. If not and try to get a 60GB SSD boot drive for less:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
Total : £354.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).

joshcowin · 30 Jan 2013 at 21:38

i would reccomend the gigabyte z77 board aswell,very nice and easy and has what you need

ScoobyDoo · 30 Jan 2013 at 23:47

I can stretch to £350, the upgrade recommend looks perfect, will get this ordered over the weekend. Thanks

JimboJet · 31 Jan 2013 at 00:06

Will your ram work with the new setup, you may have to add some to your order? Your sig says you have PC6400 Ram, whereas your post says 8gb DDR3. I think you have PC6400 DDR2 and I'm pretty sure you can't use that in the new mobo (besides its slow compared to the current ddr3).

From Gigabyte Website:

GA-P35-DS3R (rev. 2.1)
other version : rev. 2.0rev. 1.0
Print
Supports ® Core™ 2 multi-core and Intel 45nm processors
Supports DDR2 1200(OC)* memory for outstanding system performance.
Revolution energy saving design with GIGABYTE Dynamic Energy Saver(DES) technology.
Ultra Durable 2 motherboard features High Quality CPU Power design with Ferrite core chokes, Low RDS (on) MOSFET and Solid Capacitors.
Ultimate graphics performance with PCI-E x16 interface
Integrated SATA 3Gb/s with RAID function
Features high speed Gigabit Ethernet
Audio controller from ALC 889A codec, featuring 106 dB Signal to Noise ratio and supporting for Blu-ray.

....And then there's the question of operating system.... I suspect you're on Windows XP, you may wish to consider Windows 7 (or 8 whatever that is!?)

troops · 31 Jan 2013 at 00:52

You could wait for Haswell but i dont think it offers much over a 3570k.

ScoobyDoo · 31 Jan 2013 at 13:20

I've got 2x4gb pc1066 ddr3 ram, will this be ok with the above setup?

I've got windows 8 ready to install.
Do you have to format and partition the ssd drives or are they ready to go and I can install windows 8 straight onto it

My sig is out of date, need to change that.

Gibbo3771 · 31 Jan 2013 at 13:23

ScoobyDoo said:
I've got 2x4gb pc1066 ddr3 ram, will this be ok with the above setup?

I've got windows 8 ready to install.
Do you have to format and partition the ssd drives or are they ready to go and I can install windows 8 straight onto it

My sig is out of date, need to change that.

That ram will be fine, it's just a little bit slower than the standard we have atm but you should not see a masssive difference between 1333 and 1600.

Not sure if the drives come patitioned and ready to go, wouldn't take long to do it anyways. Only a few clicks and hits of the keyboard.

ScoobyDoo · 31 Jan 2013 at 14:47

Great news i can use my current ram, saves a few pennies