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CPU upgrade next? Opinions?

PhatEd

PhatEd

PhatEd

Associate
Joined
17 Jan 2005
Posts
298
Location
Telford
Hi folks.

I'm after a little advice on the next best upgrade to make to my system. It primarily used to run Flight Sim X and would like it to run a bit smoother than it does currently. I have heard that the game is fairly CPU dependant but would like to know if I would benefit more from a GPU update first. My current spec is below.

Thanks in advance

AMD Athlon 64 3500+
2Gb OCZ DDR 533Mhz (4 x 512Mb)
ASUS 512Mb 7600GS Silent
MSI K9N Ultra Mobo

Cheers
 
-iceblade^ said:
to be honest, you're probably better off going with c2d and a mobo overhaul, as that's looking to be a socket 939 system...
Click to expand...

The DDR speed should have gave it away :).

---===---===---

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-198-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=803

I'd go for this from looking at the prices. Nothing to do with it being the black edition. It's just at the right speed for the right price for me and I think you'd benefit a lot from the extra grunt of the additional CPU. I certainly enjoyed going from my 3700+ San Diego on my Socket939 system. I could never go back to single core so I think you'll enjoy this upgrade :).

Also you should be able to overclock that CPU from 2.6Ghz up to 2.8Ghz at least and maybe even 3Ghz+ dependant on the cooler used.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=6&subid=803&sortby=priceAsc

That is the list if you want to spend or save a few quid.
 
does you mobo support phenom?

if yes it might be worth considering the new steppings are out soon...

if not the black edition 5000+ with a good cpu cooler, and a new graphics card (HD3870XT or 9600GT for the most performance per buck) are the first to change!

RAM might be worth considering how cheap it is... You could buy 4GB of DDR800 at good timings for cheap.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Unfortunately my board doesn't support the Phenoms but not to worry. I am looking at doing the upgrade as cheaply as possible really which was why I was wondering if there will be a noticeable diffrence in gaming with just the CPU upgrade.

Secondly, am I better going for the 5000+ black edition which I realise is mulitplier unlocked but only has 2 x 512kb L2 Cache or would going for the 5600+ with 2 x 1Mb L2 cache make much difference?

I hadn't really considered looking at the 9600GT cards as I was focusing mainly on low end of the 8800 range. Will I be sacrificing much by going for the 9600GT?
 
If you can overclock the 5600+ to same levels of the 5000+ then it would be better, not by much though. The complexity of overclocking the 5600+ is also higher and harder especially if your mobo aint that good, the 5000+ is plainly simpler to overclock and is almost quaranteed to reach a 3GHz+ clock.

The 9600GT is a bit slower than the 8800GT, if you can afford a GT then by all means get it, its an excellent card as well. Mainstream card prices have fallen a lot and you get amazing performancefor your money. If you dont use much AA/AF then the 3870XT is also a good choice. It really depends on your needs.
 
Foxconn P35AX-S Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £44.99
(£52.86)
OcUK GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £87.99
(£103.39)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK)
£24.99
(£29.36)
Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £121.99
(£143.34)

Sub Total : £279.96
Total : £338.65
 
^^ Obviously the above would be your best bet towards a solid FSX machine. Though I'd be under the impression that your budget is a bit more limited than £340 + Delivery?

Realistically you're going to need more CPU and GPU power for FSX. However, it'll be the CPU holding you back more at this stage. With the service pack 1 supporting multicore CPU's you should see a significant difference shifting to dual core. If your board supports it, an overclocked 5000+ BE would serve very well. Then all you need is a HD 3850/9600/8800 type card to be able to crank up the visual settings a bit more.
 
Yeah your right in assuming that £340 is a little more than I am looking at spending. I think that the CPU is going to be the next logical upgrade then so I can start making use of the dual cores in FSX.

Thanks for all the advice guys :)
 
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