Future upgrade

Celebryn

Celebryn

Celebryn

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Joined
7 Dec 2009
Posts
236
Hello everyone!

I am looking to upgrade after xmas - or sooner if the sales hold anything good :)

I currently have this setup (used for internet and gaming/online gaming and possible future Nvidia 3D Vision use mid next year - which advises upgrading GPU and CPU)

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13GHz
ASUSP5LD2 SE/C DUAL DDR2, S-S-ATA, x16 VGA
1GBx4 DDR Corsair 667/553MHz
Gainworth NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB (would like to keep/use if possible! Would feel too much a waste not to)
Running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Epsilon 700W Quiet quad rail PSU inc case fan and CPU cooler
http://www.xsreviews.co.uk/reviews/p...-epsilon-700w/

Now, I can either buy a new tower and components (seems a waste of my current PC so not a favourite), or upgrade my current PC piece by piece. I can install GPUs, RAM fine, done a CPU once but never a MB so hoping I wont have to.

I have looked at the best my current MB can handle and I am not sure I will get much of an improvement CPU/MB wise.

The least i would like to upgrade is the GPU to something around a Geforce GTX 250 , which would probably mean a new PSU. If so which PSU do you recommend? Are they easy to install?

I dont want to bottleneck my CPU by only upgrading GPU etc.

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi, what sort of budget have you got in mind for upgrade?
tb h its going to be difficult to salvage much from that, in fact the gpu is about the only thing reasonably current, and a 250 is basically a rebranded 8800 anyway
If you prefer to do things in stages then I'd suggest a new PSU and prob case too, first, then mobo/cpu/ram and possibly HDD
If you look at the thread at the top it might give you ideas on where you can expect to be with different budgets
 
Thank you for the response.

My budget is around £400 for parts though if I was to buy a new tower I would go abit more, I would probably buy an a pre-built as I know nothing about install MB, BIOs set up etc and dont mind paying abit more to know its gonna work!

I was looking at the kits you can buy (MB, CPU, MB) and thinking about putting that in my case.

So what would you suggest instead of a 250? I could buy everything but a GPU, use my current one and save that till next year when the current higher spec ones come down in price?

The main reason for part by part was the simply fact of spreading the cost.
 
Intel® Core™2 Duo E7600 (3.06GHz) 1066Hz FSB/3MB L2 Cache
4GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR DUAL-DDR2 1066MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY
ASUS® P5QL/EPU: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 3 PCI, 2 x PCI-e x1
500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
COOLERMASTER COSMOS 1000 SILVER SILENT CASE
450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER

This is something like I had in mind. I would use my own GPU for now and I can always add the extra RAM latter if I needed it. Obviously the PSU is dubious as I need a make.

I would hope to have two HDD and use one for the OS (as its already installed and working fine) and the other for everything else.
 
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Ok can anyone tell me abit about these (Sorry I dont know how to add a picture :p):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-029-OE

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS

Would these work well together as well as offering good upgrades in the future, esp the PSU for a faster GPU later on?

Also what else would I need to buy? Tower? What assembly would there be and it is fairly straight forward? I would be using my existing GPU and HHD for now and upgrade them later as i needed.

Any input would be great for the excellent value for money (and its in my price range) and if its what I am looking for its a shame not to make use of the offer, but I need to know more, also how much of an upgrade are they to what i have now?

Sorry lots of questions!
 
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I am back and forth with this - downside for doing lots of research before buying things!

Ok, the above I can buy - here for for £276.98 (unknown if case needed, so assuming its not in one), but its come part assembled and OC'd.

Or I can buy them separately for £249.70. How much gain am I getting in this £30? Just the OC, assembly?
 
ok, i asked what extra i was gettig for the £30, though its usually more, at full price even, is it a good price? I dont want to pay for something on offer its simply over priced to start with to make it look good. Apolgies for typos\grammer, i am on my mobile
 
Hi, you posting to yourself? lol
Re the upgrades I wouldnt spend money on dual core again, its been superceeded, look at either i5 or AM3, you can get a very nice set up of both incl mobo/cpu/ram for around £300, look at the combinations of these in the two £700 builds in the thread
the PSU you linked above is excellent, and its upto you if you want to spend on new case, as you say you can continue using the 8800 for a while, I prob would invest in new HDD at same time as mobo/cpu/ram
Putting eveything together yourself is really easy, not something to worry about
 
I like to write things down as they come to me!

I am open to AMDs. Its been along time since I had one and I am unsure of what is what current with them.

Would it be possible to use my current case and just add everything to it? I really dont want to spend the money to fudge it up.

I was asking about the case as I assumed the OC'd bundles didnt come with one and was hoping someone could say yeah or nay :)
 
yes you can keep the case, I'm sure its ATX so everything should fit
So if you just replace the following parts

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail + Colin McRae Dirt 2 Full Game £125.98 (£109.55)
Mobo: Asus M4A79XTD Evo (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £83.98 (£73.03)
RAM: OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) £70.99 (£61.73)
HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD502HJ) £38.99
(£33.90)
Sub Total : £278.21
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £43.16
Total : £330.87
And use your current Case, PSU and gfx card, you could then replace these at later date when needed
 
Thats around the price I was looking for, but with the added HDD its great.

How would I move it over? Install both HDD, install Windows on new one then use Windows transfer to move everything over?

Would my current PSU power this though?
I believe this is what I currently have:

http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews.php?type=3&id=72&page=1&desc=fsp_epsilon_700w_atx_psu

The only thing i worry about is install the MB and PSU as I have never done these before.
 
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Stand offs? lol What are those?

I will have a 'How to' open on my laptop while doing it anyway.

I have to admit I have seen this package cheaper elsewhere but those G.Skill bring the price down abit closer. Just need to justify the extra £15 ;p

Edit - Stand offs for the mother board you mean?? Just a guess!

Oh still can someone please tell me if my existing PSU will powe this, I dont want to to get powered up and the PSU to damage it!
 
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Thank you both for your help.

I have not ordered any extra cooling. I do not plan to overclock but I am wondering if it will be ok as is?

Also I hope to install windows on my new HHD and transfer settings etc over from my old one and use the old one to store files like pictures, AVIs, program.exes. To do this I need to: (?)

Set the New HHD as 'master'
Set it to boot from CD drive to install W7 on the new master

Is this right?
 
Best thing to do is only have the new hdd conected when you first set it up, install windwos get it all set up then add the 2nd hdd later so you can read from it
 
I work afternoons and it would be a aggrevating to stay at work knowing its sat at home waiting!

Luckly... they just pulled up now!

Everything frozen though so will leave to warm so it doesnt condense up! I just wanna rip it apart and start now! grr
 
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