How to upgrade an ancient system

[Adam-r]

Hi all

I think I probably already know the answer to this but here I go.

My current system is old and a recent purchase of Cities:Skylines has shown that it just isn't up to it anymore.

Proc: Intel core2duo quad 2.4GHz
Mobo: MSI P6N
4Gb (4x1Gb) DDR2 ram
128Gb SSD drive
Nvidia 8800GTS gfx

Now, obviously I'd like to upgrade in one go but having an account (the OH) forbids this so I need to do this month by month.

I'd like to upgrade to something along the lines of an i5 processor and a decent graphics card. I'd like to get a motherboard that will last a while as I'm not one for upgrading everything every year.

Now how would you all go about it? Obviously not many of my components will be moved to my new build, save for the case and perhaps my 550W PSU.

I'd like to keep a system running at all times if at all possible. So what order would you buys the bits??

 

[Adam-r]

The SSD is a 6Gb/s sata drive. I think the disk drives are too.

Yes I'll need a license for OS.

The CPU is a socket 775

Hope this helps?

 

[Adam-r]

What res are you gaming at?

I turned everything down quite low and it hung after about 20 mins.

Not sure on resolution, not huge I dont think as its only a 17" screen.

Sorry for the vague answers, I've been out of touch for a while with my PC.

 

[Adam-r]

What brand and model is your power supply?

What's your budget?

Budget is modest, say 4/500 spread over a few months.

Not sure on the model but if memory serves it was a reputable brand.

 

[Adam-r]

The PSU is one of those areas you don't want to skimp on because if it goes it can take a whole lot with it of you're unlucky.

Considering your budget I'd go Pentium K and Z97 board and over clock it. Get RAM when you purchase the CPU. Then GPU later when you get more funds. I'd do you a spec but I'm on mobile at the minute.

Edit - the Z97 board will also give you the option to upgrade to an i5 later on

The Z97 chipset looks to the board of choice so far. How extreme do I go? Asus deluxe range or keep it cheaper?

 

[Adam-r]

Would something roughly in line with this be a good start?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus TUF Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £129.95
1 x Intel Pentium K Anniversary G3258 Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Savage Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/8) £46.99
Total : £246.53 (includes shipping : £8.00).



I can add a decent gpu at a later date and still use the 8800GTS I have?

 

[Adam-r]

I think you might be getting over-excited!

If your budget is £400 to £500 for mobo, cpu and gpu I wouldn't go overspending on the mobo - you'll find more 'performance per pound' on the other parts.

I'm sure somebody more wise than I on these forums can put together a spec for you.

I do get carried away. Once my man maths kicks in there's no stopping me

 

[Adam-r]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £89.99
Total : £99.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).



I don't see the need to spend more on that fancy Sabertooth at your budget. You could get a board for less still, but with the PentiumK I'd suggest to keep options open for an i5 Broadwell

Well spotted, cheers for that

 

[Adam-r]

I would absolutely not bother changing anything until you've put a better GPU in that. I bet you'll be more than happy with the performance increase you'll get from that alone, I'd be very surprised if many games are smashing your CPU enough for it to be a problem @ low resolutions on almost all modern games.

Someone else has mentioned that to me also. When I've looked at my system the cores are getting to 80/85C under 100% load which I think is quite high. Maybe I should consider a GPU and a better cooler?

 

[Adam-r]

270 or a 960, 24" monitor to start off. Should be a very different experience.

Then PSU, Pentium K + cheap Z97 board + RAM when they're on special.

Do you have any specific suggestions? I'd like a new display for sure.....

 

[Adam-r]

You might have to upgrade the missus if she's stopping you buying hardware

She's the voice of reason. So I'm told.

 

[Adam-r]

And so it begins.

The first purchase has been an antec 750w modular psu

Next step is a GFX card and monitor.

 

[Adam-r]

So after the PSU went in (it has a lovely white LED on the fan) I fitted an MSI Radeon 280X 3G graphics card.

I went with a fresh install of windows 10 and so far so good. I left Cities Skylines installing before work this morning so will report back on performance and also take advice on what to upgrade next!

 

[Adam-r]

Nice. Hopefully that'll see away most of your performance gremlins - let us know!

Testing tonight!!

Make sure you upgrade to 8+ GB RAM.

And can you overclock the CPU?

Its a Q6600 CPU so hopefully I can get ~3GHz

 

[Adam-r]

So your going for Crossfire or SLI?

Even overclocked your Q6600 will bottleneck two 280X.

Not sure it's worth buying 8gb to 16gb of memory for an old DDR2 system if thats what Quartz is suggesting.

No just a single GFX.

 

[Adam-r]

Really? He would need 4 identical 2GB stick sof DDR2, either PC6400 or PC8500, which even second hand may well cost more than 8GB of 2400MHz DDR3.

I myself would rather save that expense, because a G3258 with an H81 motherboard and 8GB of DDR3 will play many games and run plenty of applications better than the old Q6600 LGA775 system with DDR2.
Investing in a G3258, with a Z97, and 8GB of DDR3 is now what I feel the OP should be considering, but that will be after he states his current PC monitor and case.

Another option could be an LGA775 compatable all in one CPU cooler. It could help overclock that Q6600.

An all in one cooler that is compatible with 775 and 1150 is certainly on the list. From my thread in the watercooling section it appears that the raijintek triton fits the bill nicely.

I'm currently using an old 17" tft monitor so it ain't great and I think that's where my next purchase lies. Pretty gutted I missed out on the Asus panel @149. They are now out of stock.
I'm not throwing anymore money at ddr2 so 4gb will have to do!

 

[Adam-r]

Well I've just had a quick play around on cities:skylines (which was the £23 purchase that started all this) and it works a treat. The resolution isn't fab as my monitor is naff, but all the other settings are maxed and its completely stutter free.

I want to try it with something a bit more dynamic, like a racing/flight sim/cod/bf

I'm hoping there are some Easter deals to be had on monitors over the weekend

 

[Adam-r]

I would recommend some patience, a good IPS monitor would be my recommendation.

I see you got the PSU for a good price, personally a 550w to 650w would have been more than enough, but if the Antec was cheaper why not.

Still wondering what case you have though, some of the newer cases have superb dust filtering and cooling ability, usually quiet too, with 240mm radiator support.

Certainly nothing wrong with upgrading an old rig until all that is left to upgrade is the CPU/motherboard/memory.

I begged a case off a mate who was upgrading. It's got dust filters, space for a 240mm rad on top and even baffles to accept a full cooling loop.

A massive improvement on my old one!

 

[Adam-r]

The next upgrade has been a new monitor.

I went for the Asus 27" that was on offer for 149 on here.

Wow.

Now I'm sat too close to it. What a difference it's made!!

I need to set it up properly as there is some grainy type blacks when I zoom in on cities skylines.

I also did a clean install with Windows 10 and things are much happier in the camp

 

[Adam-r]

So actually, after thinking my system was great, it isn't.

According the fraps I'm running Cities:Skylines @ 11fps

Looking at the CPU usage I'm at 98%. So thats where the bottle neck is!

The next thing is to overclock the Q6600 but I need a better cooler. I'm waiting for the Raijintek triton to be in stock.

Anymore ideas???