future upgrading

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 11:15

hi
recently finished my first build, and am pleased with it. my question is this
if i want to upgrade in the near future what parts can i upgrade. i use the computer for games, music and internet. i am thinking of putting a blue ray player into one of the bays, there is room for 2 more hard drives. any suggestions
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 LGA775 "Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB)
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express)
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Corsair VX 550W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-550VXUK)
Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel
Pioneer DVR-216DBK 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
thanks in advance

mjones1 · 3 May 2009 at 11:22

You can upgrade everything you listed.
And you can add 2 more hard drives if you wanted to.

wrayvon · 3 May 2009 at 11:40

Wait, you have just built it and your already asking about upgrading?

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 11:48

hi
just wanted to know how much upgrading i could do, not will do.

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 11:50

larryddd said:
hi
just wanted to know how much upgrading i could do, not will do.

There is a lot of upgrading you COULD do, but it will probably be out of your price range.

Cristian · 3 May 2009 at 12:01

for now, that's more than okay and you'll be able to play anything on full detail.
in the future you can start considering about an upgrade to the gpu.

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 12:20

hi
thanks for your quick replies, the cost of future upgrades is not a hurdle.

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 12:22

larryddd said:
hi
thanks for your quick replies, the cost of future upgrades is not a hurdle.

I say you should upgrade your Graphics card, that is the real low point of your system right now.

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 12:38

hi
can you recommend a good graphics card that will fit in with the rest of my build. thanks

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 12:40

larryddd said:
hi
can you recommend a good graphics card that will fit in with the rest of my build. thanks

One question is, does the PSU have 6-Pin connectors on it? If not, how many Molex connectors are free to use?

Edit: Right now, I'd choose http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-120-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat= since it's on special.

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 12:49

hi
without looking inside i believe it does have 6 pin connectors and there are 2 molex connectors free. the price of the graphics card is just a bit more than i paid for the one i had. thanks

Cristian · 3 May 2009 at 13:24

true, but there is quite a bit of difference.
and you can sell the old one for a decent amount of money as they are still popular at the moment.

larryddd · 3 May 2009 at 13:50

hi
thanks for the info. couple of questions about crossfire which i know nothing about.
1 can you link 2 of my graphics cards and is it worth it
2 i believe i would need a different motherboard to do that

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 15:36

larryddd said:
hi
thanks for the info. couple of questions about crossfire which i know nothing about.
1 can you link 2 of my graphics cards and is it worth it
2 i believe i would need a different motherboard to do that

Yes, if you had two of your graphics cards you could link them together with Crossfire. And I would say it is somewhat worth it, if you was going to buy right away, buy the graphics card I linked earlier as it is a good deal.

And yes, you would need another motherboard to be able to do it. This motherboard - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-058-DF&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1155 would be able to work with your current system, plus give you the option of using Crossfire if you wish to.

reflux · 3 May 2009 at 15:39

Am I missing something here? Why on earth are people recommending a Radeon 4850 as an upgrade from a Radeon 4850?

Neither has the OP mentioned his screen resolution; CrossFiring two 4850s would only be worth it at 1680x1050 and above.

Audigex · 3 May 2009 at 15:41

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5

;-)

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 15:42

reflux said:
Neither has the OP mentioned his screen resolution; CrossFiring two 4850s would only be worth it at 1680x1050 and above.

I naturally assumed someone with Quad Core would shell out the money for a big resolution screen. It's what I'd do xD

reflux · 3 May 2009 at 15:43

Audigex said:
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5

Balls. Missed that

Regardless, upgrading from a 4850 to a 4870 doesn't sound a great idea to me. They aren't that much faster, but then I suppose that 4870 is veeeeeeeery cheap.

Cristian · 3 May 2009 at 15:44

people are recommending a 4870 as an upgrade from 4850.

le: oops sorry other people seem faster.

Silenced · 3 May 2009 at 15:45

reflux said:
Balls. Missed that

Regardless, upgrading from a 4850 to a 4870 doesn't sound a great idea to me. They aren't that much faster, but then I suppose that 4870 is veeeeeeeery cheap.

Lol, I was just thinking to myself, "Who recommended 4850?" And yea, I recommended it because it is amazingly cheap. I have a HD4870 right now, and I'm tempted to buy that one, if it was to be knocked down by another £20ish I would probably buy it, just because it is so cheap.