Evaluating my PC and seeing where to upgrade

tom91x91 · 13 Oct 2010 at 13:43

This is my PC from around late 07 i think, its been out of action for a few months due to a buggered hardrive but im getting a new one today to reinstall windows 7.

gigabyte p35 ds3p motherboard

4gb of 6400 Geil ram - tbh this is good ram, but i dont think it will work in a lot of newer motherboards amirite?

C2D e6400 (i think it was running at stock when i last had the computer up, but it reaches about 2.8ghz fairly easily. Have an Artic cooler on it too.

9800gtx 512mb

corsair 520w psu - i beleive these were very good psus.

Gaming is generally done at 1680x1050 on my current monitor, most games at the time (07/08 games) ran flawlessly, i think current games will be ok running at medium settings.

Where would you upgrade first? I know theres no point sticking with the old C2D technology so will probably need a mobo and cpu/ram upgrade soon? I dont have a lot to spend right now (200-250 quid) but maybe more in the future.

Thanks to any suggestions.

Admiral Huddy · 13 Oct 2010 at 13:51

Nothing wrong with the C2D at the mo. You'll do well to get yourself a second hand Q*** and ramp the speeds up to at least 3.2Gz for a bargain upgrade. Then add something like an ATI 5770 or even a Geforce 450/460.. This depends if you are thinking of upgrading your monitor anytime soon.

tom91x91 · 13 Oct 2010 at 13:54

ok so for now you think this should still be ok for occasional gaming? I will most like get a new monitor around christmas but my current one is fine for now.

Admiral Huddy · 13 Oct 2010 at 14:01

I'm saying if you stick with the 1680 res gaming, you'll be fine with the cards i suggested.. i.e the ATI 5770. But if you decide to go for a 24" 1920 monitor in the near future and decide to game at that native res then you may need to spend a little more now.

Having said that, the 9800GTX is fine, you may have to drop some of the settings in some games, then see what ATI come up with in the 6* range but I would certainly look at getting a quad and Ocing

ps - i've only just upgraded from an 8800GTX to an ATI 5870. Although the benchies are great, in real world gaming, it hasn't made much difference if i was totally honest.

tom91x91 · 13 Oct 2010 at 14:03

ok cheers mate will do

tom91x91 · 13 Oct 2010 at 19:06

ok ive got about 120 to spend right now, im thinking about getting a cheap quad and can anyone reccomend an inexpensive cooler that will cool it well enough.

Thanks