£500 to spend

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 11:22

Well, I have £500 to spend, because I am a nutter in regards to my hobby with computer components and have some money to burn...

I have no idea what to buy, really it is just for the sake of buying.

Please take into account, my current spec.

thanks

semi-pro waster · 15 Sep 2007 at 11:34

Gotta say, this sounds like a dumb idea if your system does everything you want currently, you would be better to save for when it doesn't. However if you really want to spend the cash then for £500 there are a few ways to go. You could go for a Q6600 and an 8800GTX as your motherboard apparantly supports quad core with 1066mhz FSB (source) but you might need to sell off some of your old parts as that may be slightly over budget. You could buy an 8800GTX and 4gb Ram plus an aftermarket cooler. Or some variation including hard drives, new keyboard etc.

Finally your signature is a bit too long, there is no word wrap now so you need to manually put in the returns to keep it under 400pixels long.

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 11:57

oh well

Currently my system doesn't do everything I want, in regards to certain games I still get slowdowns. I think this is cpu bound, but I am undecided whether immediately going to quad core is the best thing to do.

Also, would a good hdd, serve me better for loading times? at the moment I am using a maxtor sata2 160gb 8mb cache hdd, and it screams at me.

I did think about a GTX, but I don't want to go down that route just yet, I am moreso leaning towards maybe ram, cpu and hdd for vista maybe.

semi-pro waster · 15 Sep 2007 at 12:10

You should be able to clock your current CPU higher, 2.4ghz isn't that much considering but perhaps an aftermarket cooler such as the Tuniq Tower or Noctua NH-U12F would help.

A decent hard drive such as the Western Digital AAKS drives with 16mb cache or the Seagate 7200.10s should help with loading times a bit through advances in drive technology more than anything else.

You aren't having much luck with this signature thing, you have up to 4 normal lines of text space to paly with. The FAQ gives you all the details needed.

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:01

!"$@%&*! the signature then

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:04

I know a 2.4ghz clock isn't much because I get a dramatic rise in cpu temperature, with already using a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

willhub · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:10

Secret_Window said:
I know a 2.4ghz clock isn't much because I get a dramatic rise in cpu temperature, with already using a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

Tuniq Tower or Noctua NH-U12F will do much better than the AC Freezer 7 I think.

What CPU do you have, you should not have high temps at 2.4 tho even with that Cooler.

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:12

I have a core 2 duo 6400, I am at 47ish at 2.4ghz. But as soon as I step it upto around 2.6ish I am eating through the high 50's.

willhub · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:15

Secret_Window said:
I have a core 2 duo 6400, I am at 47ish at 2.4ghz. But as soon as I step it upto around 2.6ish I am eating through the high 50's.

Try reseating the cooler and applying some AS5, whats the stock for this CPU.

Whats your Idle temps?

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:17

idle temps is 47 as mentioned above at 2.4ghz. Already using AS5, and stock clock speed is 2.13ghz with around same temps as above.

BillytheImpaler · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:19

Was your current spec in your signature?

gamesaregood · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:20

Sorry if iv missed this somewhere but whats your current spec?

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:32

Yes, here is my current spec:

Core 2 duo 6400
2GB Corsair ddr2
Nvidia 8800 GTS 640
160gb maxtor hdd

gamesaregood · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:37

Ok

I would agree with the above, a nice WD AAKS Hard Drive would be a nice Upgrade from the Maxtor... Also If your running Vista Consider Upgrade to 4GB of ram Maybe?

willhub · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:39

Secret_Window said:
idle temps is 47 as mentioned above at 2.4ghz. Already using AS5, and stock clock speed is 2.13ghz with around same temps as above.

Something is wrong there.

My E6600 CPU is at 3.2Ghz, 1.45V and idle temp is only 28 degrees, your idle should be much much lower :eek:

Rackerz · 15 Sep 2007 at 14:50

Will, what cooler are you using?

And Will is right, that is quite a high temperature at stock especially with the Artic Cooling. What's your room temperature like?

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 17:36

I'm using Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler. My room temperature does get pretty high I suppose, not that I notice anymore

willhub · 15 Sep 2007 at 17:56

Rackerz said:
Will, what cooler are you using?

And Will is right, that is quite a high temperature at stock especially with the Artic Cooling. What's your room temperature like?

I'm using an OCZ Vindicator.

I tried 3.4Ghz the other day, midle idle temps were around 30-34 degrees and load about 59-62, at load my voltage is 1.47V. at idle it's 1.56V.

Secret_Window · 15 Sep 2007 at 20:17

Well I just sucessfully overclocked to 2.8ish, but in cs source I started to get purple gfx on walls. So I don't think that is a good indication that it is running stable.

This is why I wanted to get a cpu, rather than overclock my current one and risk the overheating, why not have something already quick at stock speeds?

The problem, that you can all clearly see with one eye, is why not keep pushing my current cpu. I would, but it would mean I'd have to spend more money on adequite cooling, is that would you say better, than going for an entirely new cpu?

willhub · 15 Sep 2007 at 20:30

purple textures is a known bug, usually happens with AA set in the NV/ATi control panel

Notice regarding image hosts and attachments. See here.

£500 to spend

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