£350 upgrade?

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Mainly for playing starcraft 2: and i checked it doesnt really require more than 2 cores. so this is current spec:

Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.00GHz (800FSB) - Retail
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency Dual Channel
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
LG GSA-H66NBAL 18x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
Corsair VX 450W ATX Power Supply
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI

Also want some more HDD space so i am thinking this:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel
Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6500 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Cooler Master GX 550W Power Supply Cooler Master GX 550W Power
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ)
Sub Total : £277.39

Total : £325.93 (+ PnP)

what ya think?
Thanks :)
 
I'd keep the RAM & the PSU & get these instead.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £164.99
(£140.42) £164.99
(£140.42)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £135.11
(£114.99) £135.11
(£114.99)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.11
(£34.99) £41.11
(£34.99)
Sub Total : £290.40
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 : £52.48
Total : £352.38
 
You don't need a new power supply. 450w is more than enough for your upgrade.

The 5770 is poor value now due to the price of the faster GTX 460.

If you are going to buy another dual core cpu then don't buy it new. Get a second hand one off the bay. You can get a E7500 for around £40.
 
The CoolerMaster GX 550 is not a good power supply. It cannot deal with heat, it will not deliver it's full rated wattage at 40 degrees or above. It probably won't be a problem for you, but I hate recommending power supplies from this series, so I'd suggest you get something else, probably something like one of these:
OCZ StealthXStream II 500W £50
Antec Earthwatts EA-430D Green 80Plus Bronze £55

Don't see a problem with anything else.
 
Just clock the nuts off the E2180? Most get to around 3.2GHz at least - that would give you a marked improvement.

I'd then be looking at a GTX460 or HD6850, a matched set of 4GB DDR2 (sell current stuff to help funding), and the F1 HDD :)
 
how about this:

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ)

Sub Total : £292.29

Total : £354.60 (inc pnp)

just want someone to double check although i have already but the RAM and CPU be fine with the current MoBo?
http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?fMTYPE=LGA775&pMODEL_NAME=IP35-E
seems good to me!

Thanks!
 
It's not worth it to get the Core2 CPU and DDR2 memory new at retail price. You'd better off either getting a 2nd hand Q6600 (around £70-£80) and add another pair of same 2x1GB rams (or at least same timing and voltage) to your existing one. If not this, you'd better off selling your current CPU/motherboard/RAM and go either AM3 or 1156 build instead.

Also, the "Starcraft II doesn't really require more than two cores" part...if you are refering the the results from the review done by bit-tech, their test was carried out on a stock speed i7...so for slower platform/CPU, you should really have at least 3 cores for the game.
 
Last edited:
The CoolerMaster GX 550 is not a good power supply. It cannot deal with heat, it will not deliver it's full rated wattage at 40 degrees or above.
Don't see a problem with anything else.

Mine is fine, maybe you have had a dodgy one or maybe read about a bad batch?

Personally i would upgrade the cpu and mobo, as buying new with old tech is just going to end up costing you more long term, unless you buy 2nd hand.

Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) -
£140.99 (£119.99)

Palit GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with HAWX2 £119.99 (£102.12)

Asus P7H55-M Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £64.61 (£54.99)
Patriot Viper 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS34G1600LLK)
£58.74 (£49.99)

Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £41.11 (£34.99)

keeping case psu and optical drives. comes to about 430, and you can make some of that back with selling old ram, mobo, cpu and gfx card.
 
Clocking the nuts off an E2180 is better than stock but its tiny cache hampers gaming significantly. A used E7xxx or Q6600 from MM makes good sense. One of those oc'd plus a 460 and you're sorted.

If you insist on new then an Athlon II X3 or X4 makes good sense plus a DDR2 AM2+ mobo so you can use all the rest of your existing kit. SC may not need more than two cores but are you certain there won't be other games coming along in the next 12 months that you might want to play and which need more than a dual-core?
 
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