E5200 upgrade to?

[Korduo]

Thanks again in advance.

System currently running a E5200 with 4GB and 8800GT, what would be a good move? Don't really want to spend too much and I was thinking a E7400.

Will be doing some OCing and mainly used for gaming, won't be changing the mobo due to being a Shuttle XPC SP35P2.

Any recommendations appreciated.

 

[JonJ678]

e7400 will make very little difference. What does your e5200 clock to? Cooling in a shuttle may be pretty poor, I'm not familiar with your model.

e5200, 4gb, 8800gt is a fairly balanced system. I'd leave it be.

 

[Korduo]

Thanks for the input, I haven't played with it much, its currently running at 3GHz. If a E7400 isn't much of an upgrade then might aswell leave it, no point spending £90+.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

 

[Big.Wayne]

E5200 [@3.0GHz] with 4GB and 8800GT, what would be a good move?

I think that's a very solid base Korduo, I suppose the thing that would make the most difference is swapping out the veteran 8800GT and checking out some of the latest models!

Having said that the 8800GT is still a real meat & potatoes card even in June 2009 but *if* you got some cash burning a hole in your pocket and *if* you do play some modern high-quality type games then its maybe worth considering a GPU upgrade!

There's always Plan C which would be buy nothing and put the £100 back in the piggy bank/overdraft etc!

These forums make you want to buy stuff, run away!

 

[JonJ678]

How well will the shuttle cope with a much higher power card? I'd expect psu and cooling to become issues.

I should mention that you'll notice a definite speed increase if you put the operating system on an ssd instead, but I stand firm on leave it be. I'm on an 8800gt and remain pleased with it.

 

[Plec]

Big.Wayne has covered everything - i'm here to tempt you to spend, but, only if the need is there.

As there really is very little point moving to an e7400, expecially as you may be able to get another 500Mhz out of that E5200 , the GPU is the obvious upgrade but only 'if' some of your games are struggling.

With the above in mind, and your budget, the HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB (link) is a great buy at the moment and as a happy coincidence sits within your budget.

 

[Big.Wayne]

How well will the shuttle cope with a much higher power card? I'd expect psu and cooling to become issues.

I'm not 100% sure as I never owned a Shuttle but I have seen some ridiculously powerful Shuttle gaming systems that people have put together.

Again I'm not sure but I have a sneaking suspicion that Shuttle PSUs are special in some way as they defy conventional logic!

You have a point though about heat? I wonder how a GTX260 would fare in an environment like that!

 

[Korduo]

Thanks all, this PC/Shuttle is my sister's rig (I pass on my old bits to sis/bro for free), was originally mine, but I've moved on.

TBH all she plays is SIMS 2/3.

I was able to clock it to around 3.5, but I was using a ATI X800 (testing card) and as soon as I put the 8800GT in the Shuttle I had to drop back down to 3GHz, as the temps were too much. I may swap out the 8800GT and put a 8800GTS (dual slot) from my bro's machine and see if the temp drops.

These forums make you want to buy stuff, run away!

I got rid off all my bits and I have been running a laptop for a while, but still keep reading the forums...now caught the bug and was tempted to go i7......then the Q9550 price dropped.........

I got BIOSTAR TPower X58 (un-opened), and might send it back. Just bought a Coolermaster HAF922 today and a Be Quiet 650w last week. I'm buying bits when I have spare cash, hopefully get one PC built soon, but in no rush as there is so many options (thanks to these forums)