Cheap upgrade - best "bang for buck" advice please?

surreal

surreal

surreal

Associate
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
84
Hey guys, wow it's a long time since I posted in here!

Basically my system is about 4 years old now, I play a few games but not much (bit of Skyrim, just got Far Cry 3), and it's always been quick enough for what I need but I'd like to do a bit of an upgrade and I need some advice.

Currently I have:

  • Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor
  • Leadtek GeForce GTX 280 1024MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
  • Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
  • Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK)
  • Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
  • OCZ Gold Edition 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Series (OCZ2G8004GK)

and I'm thinking maybe a new graphics card and some more RAM this time around. Looking about £100-£125 tops for the gfx card to give me enough in the budget for another 4GB RAM so what would be the best to go for that would fit in that case with that PSU? I've always had nvidia cards and was looking at the 650 range, but I'm open to other suggestions if they will be a better fit.

Card needs 2 x DVI out as I have 2 monitors.

Thanks

Dave
 
You'd be better getting a new system to be fair.

You could get away with Trinity for £200 which would be better than what you have currently.

YOUR BASKET
1 x AMD A10-5700 3.40GHz (Socket FM2) APU Trinity Quad Core Processor (AD5700OKHJBOX) £95.99
1 x Gigabyte F2A85XM-D3H AMD A85X Chipset (Socket FM2) DDR3 micro ATX Motherboard £61.99
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G186C9K) £41.99
Total : £199.97 (includes shipping : FREE).



You get free shipping too. Use your current PSU, Case & HDD.

You can run up to 3 monitors on this board too!
 
Last edited:
DDR2 RAM isn't produced anymore so prices are high..so I would try and pick up some used

Maybe graphics card too I've seen 7850s go within and under your price range too
 
Thanks for that - I appreciate the "new board" advice but I really didn't want to go down that road for a while at which point I will do it properly. This is just a bit of a boost to what I have. I'll keep an eye on the 7850 cards as you say - are they significantly past the GTX 650 performance range? I will also check out the RAM used.

Cheers guys, always good to know where to get good friendly advice!
 
Overclocking that cpu would be good on that board too. 3.6Ghz would be easy and could go quite a bit further with a decent cooler. My old Q9550 did 4.17Ghz in a P5Q Pro Turbo. Couple the overclock with your new card and you should see a very nice boost.
 
pastymuncher said:
Overclocking that cpu would be good on that board too. 3.6Ghz would be easy and could go quite a bit further with a decent cooler. My old Q9550 did 4.17Ghz in a P5Q Pro Turbo. Couple the overclock with your new card and you should see a very nice boost.
Click to expand...

Never done any overclocking - I presume there is a good guide here somewhere? The cooler I bought with this setup was:

  • Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/LGA775)

if that makes any difference?
 
It's not a bad cooler actually. Should easily get you to 3.6Ghz, maybe more depending on temps. Have a read of this thread. A lot of us put our settings in there to help people to clock Q9550's on P5Q series boards. The bios are very similar across the range of boards so have a read and try some out. Keep an eye on temps.
 
How about upgrading with a SSD?
Sure it wont make the games you play any prettier or increase your FPS but it will make the games (and pretty much everything else you do) fly along much quicker.
And you can move it over to your new system when you get around to upgrading fully.
 
Not many upgrades will make it worth your while, unless you spend around £500 at least (7850 + 3570K + Z77 + 8GB).

I'd start with a SSD, especially since you are running 4GB ram. Unless you feel you really need to upgrade your graphics card.
 
i would have to suggest a g-card the 280 is kinda a bit behind a 7850 would cover it and the cpu should hold until you can upgrade it, an ssd although it would make your loading time quickers and boot time quicker your not really going to get a performance gain
 
biuro74 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-292-MS&groupid=595&catid=683

Takie this one, won't be dissapointed :)
Try to pick used (next) 4GB set on Ebay, preferably the same specs. OCZ stopped RAM manufacturing, and they often got crashed, so you may get an occasional price.
Click to expand...

+1 i have 2 msi cards and both work great and also have good customer service, sent my 6970 away to fix a broken fan they sent me back a 7870 black knight edition one for free didnt even have to pay postage
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom