Advice on next upgrade?

llwayneio

llwayneio

llwayneio

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Joined
3 Nov 2007
Posts
389
Okay my current system is;
Mobo:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-235-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913
CPU:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-171-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=793
RAM:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-086-OC&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=
GPU:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008
PSU:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-150-CM&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1103

I built this in november, the cpu is overclocked to 3.2 using a blu orb II and here is some more info on the psu;


The system is currently okay for most of the games i play but with slow downs in some when playing at my native res of 1680x1050 and i want to make sure i can play new games like alan wake, elveon, far cry 2. Therfore i have come up with a few upgrade possibilities and just need peoples opinions on them. I am looking to spend a max of £300 (I can sell my 8800gt for £80 and cpu for £20), I was thinking either getting 2 cheap 3870 in crossfire and a q6600/e8400 but i was concerned that having one pcie x16 slot and one x4 would limit it quite a lot or Getting a q6600/e8400, cheap 750i mobo and a 2nd 8800gt. I realise the second one would be more powerful but its more expensive and with my current power supply will i be able to do it? Has anyone got a better idea? Or should i just wait a while and see what is around the corner? sorry for the essay question :)
 
Thing is there really is no graphics card worth upgrading to from 8800GT atm. 9800GX2 is just too expensive and sli requires a nv mobo, which I'm not sure will overclock as well as an Intel chipset. I suppose you can get 3870XT crossfire but then the 2nd PCI-E port on your mobo is only running 4x so the performance will suffer a bit.

A new CPU Q6600/E8400 is a much better idea.

The PSU has total 34A combined on the +12V rail which is very healthy and should be sufficient for a 8800GT SLI setup.

I can't really think of a game except Crysis that will struggle at 1680x1050, unless you had AA and AF at max?
 
yeh see its a dilema lol, okay then i think i will wait a bit and in the mean time upgrade my cpu, what do you think the q6600 or e8400, i know that the e8400 overclocks like a god and that will give me better performance in games at the moment but is it better to get the quad for future proofing?
 
Depends what you do. If you mainly use it for games then a faster dual core E8400 would be a better choice for now but if you won't be upgrading it for the next few years then a quad might be a better idea. quad-core support for games is poor atm but it will only get better in the future. Q6600 overclocks really well anyway.

I'd say go for quad but there are a lot of people will suggest otherwise.
 
okay so e8400 better for games now q6600 might be better in the future. hmmm tough one really, i think i will go for the quad though cos i do like to do lots of things at once like alt-tab from games while listening to music, chatting... so that would probably be the best. Although i would like overclock to 4ghz with that e8400 it sounds nice. mmmm 4ghz. lol
 
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