Cheap upgrade

times_champion · 23 Jun 2008 at 19:43

Hi guys,

I currently have a Pentium D 940 CPU, with 2gb DDR2 RAM and a 7800gtx card. As my system is a bit old now I was thinking of upgrading in the next few months but would only be able to afford a modest system. Im assuming that my 2gb RAM is fine, but could someone suggest how they would spend £300 - £400 (preferably closer to £300!) to upgrade so that I can play more modern stuf well like Mass Effect? I will only play in 1280x1024 res if that helps.

lopkinfop · 23 Jun 2008 at 20:04

if you can use the old case, power supply and hdd then a 2xxx series duel core for 50ish or a q6600 for 130 with a 100 pound IP35 pro

mp260767 · 23 Jun 2008 at 20:15

what case/psu/hard disks do you have currently ?

if they are ok then maybe have something like :

Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £69.99
(£82.24)

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail £117.99 (£138.64)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £14.99 (£17.61)

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.53GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £75.99 (£89.29)

Sub Total : £278.96
Shipping : £8.95
VAT : £50.38
Total : £338.29

virdee2 · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:28

my 3850 plays Mass Effect on full like a charm so if that is sufficient for you, you may be able to save a few notes by getting yourself a second hand 3850/3870 for about £60 -£80. Check the usual second hand websites :-)

and get a b grade mobo if you wanna save even more money, i got a b grade p5k pro and it was perfect. seemed that the only prob was that some one had opened and returned it. i saved £30 atleast.

times_champion · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:46

My PSU is probably underpowered - 400w I think (may be 350w) its a standard dell dimension case, with a 350gb HDD. I bought a 200gb external for movie files etc so i still have a fiar amoutn of space on the internal drive.

virdee2 · 23 Jun 2008 at 21:48

thats probably plenty of hard drive space to begin with atleast mate. i have a 160gb and a 36gb raptor and to be honest, i make do by backing up to dvd's. if you are happy to do that then you wont need to buy a hard drive for ages yet. - all saves you money :-)

bayo000 · 23 Jun 2008 at 23:35

check if your board supports new dual cores and if it does just get either e2xxx or e7xxx with something like 8800gt/gts or new 4xxx. Check the reviews for which gpu.
If u need mobo:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...P31 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
will do the job nicely
and as for psu this should provide enuff power
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...=&name=Corsair VX 450W ATX PSU (CMPSU-450VXUK)

times_champion · 24 Jun 2008 at 19:51

Thanks guys - I will probably go for the Asus P45 mobo, E7200 processor (is this better than the E6600 and Q6600?) and an 8800GT. I should get all these for just over £300 and then probably get a cheap PSU too. I may even get a feq quid on ebat for my old processor and 7800GTX which could cover the difference over £300!

With the set up above would I be able to play Gears of War, Mass Effect, GRID etc at 1290x1024 on close to highest settings?

virdee2 · 24 Jun 2008 at 21:31

im playing mass effect on full at that res or similar and i only have a 3850 and an E6550 at 3.5ghz, so your upgrades will easily match and beat that mate so have no fear in that game.