Refreshing backup PC for friend's kids...

jabokai

jabokai

jabokai

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31 May 2008
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Aberdeen
Hi.

I have a backup PC, which is several years old but still "okay". I'm away to build myself a new main one so my current main will be my new backup and I want to refresh the old backup for my friend's kids. They're console kiddies so are used to a decent level of graphics but have never had a full PC... bearing that in mind, what should I do with the following -

Motherboard - EVGA nForce 780i SLI
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3Ghz Wolfdale
Memory - 4 x 1Gb DDR2
GPU - 1024Mb Radeon HD5870
PSU - Zalman ZH600-SE

Case, fans, CPU cooler, DVD-RW are all good and will be reused. New HD will be added.

If I wanted to spend £200 - £350 giving it a bit of a boost, what would you recommend? I'm thinking maybe CPU, Mobo and RAM - the GPU is okay I feel. But what would be the best bang for buck in the price range I have and would it be worth doing, or just stick with what I have?

Thanks in advance.
 
For £350 you could get yourself an i5 build, ie. mobo + ram + CPU(8gb dd3, mobo, i5. + custom cooler), that would offer the most significant upgrade, but then you'd be held back on the GPU.

That said, the 5870 isn't a bad card by all means, so may do them fine, and i suppose it's really a question of what they play. I'm using a HD4670 in the current i5 system, and it is ample for what i play, albeit i'm not playing the latest and greatest titles, but it's coping just fine.

By comparison(that i5 system isn't mine), as i usually play from a Core 2 Duo system with the same CPU, 4gb of memory(again same) but runs with a HD4870(generation behind the one you listed), and by no means does it come close to the performance of the i5 system.

As far as i'm concerned you've got two options.. (you're not obligated to agree, lol)..

1. i5 + ram + mobo (or appropriate AMD CPU combo)
or
2. GPU upgrade + new ram

Number 1 would be my choice, i think the 5870 will be ample if the kids aren't expecting high/ultra on the latest and greatest titles..
 
Is this question serious? - you're prepared to give an old but half decent build (better than current gen console capability) away for free and consider spending another £350 to upgrade it? I hope your friend appreciates you :-)
 
My "friend" is my ex and she spent a lot more on us than she could really afford when we were together... this is just a way to give something back. ;)

So yeah, it's serious... are you suggesting though, that I should leave it as is? Would the CPU/Mobo/RAM bottleneck the GPU? I upgraded the GPU in my current rig, hence why the backup has a slightly different era to the other items (it had a 8800 GTX).
 
The 5870 is better than the 6870 it just sucks a bit more juice.....fair compromise. Yes it's better than current gen consoles. Giving it a good core to help potentially rival next gen consoles makes sense if that's what you want to do.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Toshiba SSD HDTS212EZSTA 9.5mm 128GB Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £67.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £60.00
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £47.99
Total : £355.97 (includes shipping : FREE).



Mobo is B grade so look into that and there is only maybe the one left. It's a very good mobo for the money and has sata3 for the SSD (makes it nice and snappy) USB3 obviously and has overclocking options for the i5K.
 
That more than answers my question - very nice of you!

I think on it's own the spec is still very capable in terms of a lot of older games or for casual gaming purposes. Other factor is what resolution will be used in games and is a monitor included in that set up? If you start to consider mobo/cpu/ram upgrades then the GPU would start to look increasingly more like a bottleneck to the rest of it. But you could get for example for around £350 AMD based 6 core cpu / mobo / 8gb and a HD7850...
 
jabokai said:
My "friend" is my ex and she spent a lot more on us than she could really afford when we were together... this is just a way to give something back. ;)

So yeah, it's serious... are you suggesting though, that I should leave it as is? Would the CPU/Mobo/RAM bottleneck the GPU? I upgraded the GPU in my current rig, hence why the backup has a slightly different era to the other items (it had a 8800 GTX).
Click to expand...

What size screen are they using and what games are they playing?

I'm not yet convinced a 5870 won't cut it.
 
Resolution and typical games? (would help to know, i won't judge) 7850 would be nice and all, but if the kiddies are still running on an old 17" LCD (for example) and playing WoW... (again for example), then you may not need to go that far in the graphics department and see more noticeable improvements by investing a beefier processor...

Don't listen to me though, lol.... my first upgrade to a 3dfx card blew my mind, i'm easily pleased and settled with most graphics upgrades...
 
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