After some help with new equipment

Soldato
Joined
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Hello all from a newbie :)

Hope this is the correct section - apologies if not.

Built my pc 6 years ago - Asus A8N SLi Deluxe mobo Athlon FX55+ processor o/c to 2880MHz - 2Gb DDR400 ram - Aelous 7800GTX 256Mb GPU all housed in a nice CoolerMaster Preatorian case + 460w psu and a sataII HDD - quite a decent spec for 6 years ago :cool:

I purchased GTAIV for the PC when it came out, only to find that it will only run on a multicore cpu.

I'm looking to upgrade the mobo/cpu/gpu/ram for something a bit more pokey. I'd like to retain the case, psu and hdd if at all possible, to keep the cost down.

I used to have a decent knowledge of the kit, but not any more! What would be a decent spec for not a lot of cash (made redundant a few months ago, just had a kiddie etc etc). I also use the pc for photo editing (Photoshop) plus some limited dtp work (QuarkXPress), XP o/s with Openoffice and Firefox/Thunderbird.

I'm really only upgrading so as I can play GTAIV :o:o as my pc is more than capable for the application software, but it does sometimes lack on the game front (I can play Halflife2 ep 2 on quite high settings with not too many issues, but it can be a bit stuttery on F.E.A.R.2 unless I turn the options down) & I don't often purchase games, but like a good experience when I do.

Money wise, I suppose I could stretch to £400. What kind of stuff should I be looking at, and would I really get any noticeable gains over my current setup?

Sorry for the long and rambling post - I look forward to your replies!

Thanks

Tim
 
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £129.24

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £111.61

Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 AMD 770 (Socket AM3/AM2+) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £63.99

Total : £316.00

This would take your DDR2 ram, but i dont like 6yo psu's

EDIT :( my bad you have ddr ram, please ignore me.
 
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4tatt0.jpg


BUt your PSU may need renewing as i may be a cheap one.
 
Cheers for the responses so far :)

The psu is an Asaka AK-P460FG-BL - £47 when I bought it.

I also use two ide hdd's to back up all pictures - the idea being if one drive goes belly up, I've got the pics stored in other places. I take it the new mobos still have ide connections?

My mobo is a full one - 30.5x24.4cm. Am I correct in saying that the new ones are a bit smaller? I take it they will fit in my case ok! (Sorry for all the questions :eek:)

Tim
 
+1 for lemin idea then sell your current rig and with the money buy a better quality psu like the ocz orkvader suggested.

It should fit fine and if you dont have enough IDE connecters you can always get some sata- ide adpaters. :)
 
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AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £111.61

Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
Retail £104.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5750 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £86.94

OCZ Gold 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3G1600LV4GK) £82.24

Sub Total : £328.32
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 : £59.12
Total : £396.94

see my sig for similar setup. board and ram will OC very well, I run a 250 FSB and have had it over 300 with lower multipliers
 
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OK - been looking at all the options and monies :eek:

It would appear to get what I'm after - inc a psu, I'm looking at =+/-£460

I think I'm sold on the PhenomIIx4 955. Do I go for a pre-ocd bundle like this one , or spec it myself, and bugger around trying to oc a similar setup (for about £30 cheaper :rolleyes:).

I think I'm heading towards the pre ocd bundle. Would a GTX460 card give me a significant increase over a 5770? For a total of £560, I can get the below setup
basket.jpg



that's £100 over my initial (sort of :o) budget. Will that be *much* better than Lemin's 1st system?

/edit My monitor's resolution is 1280x1024 - a Hyandai B91A - specs are easily found online
 
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It will destroy the 5770 and be totally overkill for you resolution but it means you will be able to run everything in high and with all the eye candy turned on. Also if you upgrade your monitor later the 460 will be up to the job :)

I would just save the £30 and overclock it yourself (change the multiplier from 16* to 18* and bingo) and buy a better psu like a corsair

tx650
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
ocz modstream 600
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-031-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=
antec true power 550
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-118-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Also get better ram like
OCZ Reaper Low-Latency 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 12800C6 (1600MHz) £86:94 this week only
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-201-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

And still spend less.
 
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