Upgrade - low budget

Egon

Egon

Egon

Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2003
Posts
6,801
Location
Darlington
OK folks, I just checked my order history, I built my current rig in 2007! :eek:

Got older, had kids, different priorities etc. I've upgraded bits here and there as I've gone along so this is what I have now:

*Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3P.
*Q6600
*4GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400
*Radeon HD5700
*Xonar D2x
*128GB Vertex 2e SSD
*2TB Seagate Barracuda
*550W Seasonic

I'm well out of the loop with current builds, I also don't play as much as I used to, the odd thing here and there, but 1 game on the horizon is Witcher 3, so I want something that will make this playable. This isn't a gaming machine as such, just needs to be capable.

On my shopping list I was originally thinking:

*new modular PSU
*MB, CPU & RAM


I have everything else. Will I get away with the current GFX card? Currently have a 2x 22" dual monitor setup.

Budget £200 - is that ridiculous (sounds like it to me)? £300 at a push, but I reckon I could convince the missus if it was closer to £200 :)
 
Personally I'd suggest a GPU upgrade over a CPU upgrade. As that GPU is out of date.

You should be able to play it on a Q6600 I think.

Unfortunately DDR2 RAM is not so cheap so getting some more compatible RAM may take some searching on the MM and other second hand areas :)

For the GPU maybe something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Radeon R9 280 Gaming 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
Total : £159.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Leaves money for another 4GB of compatible RAM :)
 
OK, so I might need to factor in a GPU too.

Any thoughts on an upgrade to MB, CPU & RAM? Intel preferred
 
Try clocking your Q6600 first with a GPU recommended (that 280 is a great choice by andreas) if you haven't already, or even look on the MM for something used. 280X can be found for around £110!


7950 (essentially an R9 280) for £100 with warranty http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18665843
Then if the overclock isn't enough I suppose you could try and pick up a 2500k with board + ram for around £200, though that might be tight
Do you have a heatsink + fan (aftermarket)?
 
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There's a G3258/Gigabyte Z87 D3H/8Gb DDR3 bundle in the MM for £120. You could probably knock him down from that as I think it's a tad too high. You will need to be quick though. That would be a solid base to work from and you could drop a i5/i7 in at a later date. Add in a card from the MM as well and you come in around £220-240 for basically a whole new system and a very big upgrade.
 
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