After some help with new equipment

[haaammit]

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

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 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

 

[haaammit]

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 )

Tim

 

[haaammit]

Thanks for the replies

Lemin - is that mobo ok for ocing, and would I need a better stock cooler if I was to go for a small oc?

 

[haaammit]

OK - been looking at all the options and monies

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 ).

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

that's £100 over my initial (sort of ) 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