How/What Should I OC?

aSSet · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:25

Hi everyone. I just noticed that Assassin's Creed is coming out for PC so I want to do an upgrade/OC to enable to me to play it well.

Below are the minimum requirements:

Supported OS: Windows XP / Vista (only)
Processor: Dual core processor 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better recommended)
RAM: 2 GB (3 GB recommended)
Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0–compliant video card or DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (512 MB video card recommended) (see supported list)*

Here is my current spec:

Asus M2V Motherboard
A64 3800+ AM2 Single Core @ 2.4GHz
Sapphire Radeon x1600 pro 256mb PCI-E
1GB no-name RAM
X-Power 400w PSU

Now, I have a budget of around £110 (low, i know, but not much cash around atm) to basically be equivalent (hopefully better) than the minimum spec. Now I'm definitely gonna get 2gb of decent RAM but what else should I buy, a new CPU or GPU, and whatever I don't upgrade, what should I OC?

Thanks.

jak731 · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:29

the best buy i think will most likely be a GPU for you as the x1600 will greatly limit what games you can play. is it 110 inc ram?

aSSet · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:36

jak731 said:
the best buy i think will most likely be a GPU for you as the x1600 will greatly limit what games you can play. is it 110 inc ram?

Yeah... maybe something like an x1950 pro 512mb would do the job at around £75 and then 2gb of ram for like £40/£50?

And then OC the CPU after buying a new heatsink. How do you predict this would perform?

jak731 · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:40

how about something like this Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £21.99
(£25.84) £21.99
(£25.84)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ 2.10GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £34.49
(£40.53) £34.49
(£40.53)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Sub Total : £106.47
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £20.08
Total : £134.80

£20 over, and im not sure if the 2900GT or the x1950pro is better, both 256MB

aSSet · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:41

jak731 said:
how about something like this Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £21.99
(£25.84) £21.99
(£25.84)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+ 2.10GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £34.49
(£40.53) £34.49
(£40.53)
HIS ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99
(£58.74)
Sub Total : £106.47
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £20.08
Total : £134.80

£20 over, and im not sure if the 2900GT or the x1950pro is better, both 256MB

That seems like a great solution.

Thank you for the awesome advice and quick replies.

jak731 · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:43

wait for confirmation to see if its the best purchese before buying though as im not as clued up on AMD based PCs as i am on intels. also im not entirely sure if your PSU will run a 2900GT as the 2900 core has a reputition for being very powerhungury

aSSet · 24 Jan 2008 at 18:44

Okay then, will do.

Thanks.

aSSet · 25 Jan 2008 at 16:51

bumpage.

Monkeynut · 25 Jan 2008 at 17:18

Would be better to just clock your existing CPU and get this:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
£21.99
£25.84 inc VAT

OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply
£39.99
£46.99 inc VAT

The X-Power PSU I think wouldn't take the 2900GT, an you can clock your CPU anyway.

aSSet · 25 Jan 2008 at 17:20

Monkeynut said:
Would be better to just clock your existing CPU and get this:

HIS ATI Radeon HD 2900 GT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) £49.99

OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2
£21.99
£25.84 inc VAT

OCZ StealthXStream 600w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply
£39.99
£46.99 inc VAT

The X-Power PSU I think wouldn't take the 2900GT, an you can clock your CPU anyway.

and a new heatsink...

Hen_Dawg · 25 Jan 2008 at 18:12

If you need to wait more than a week and the OCZ RAM goes up in price, look at some 5300 stuff so same a few quid and spend the savings on a better GPU

e.g.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-095-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=144

neon.uk · 17 May 2008 at 11:24

Is it me or does it look like the game needs a dual core?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+

OcUK ATI Radeon X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £49.99
(£58.74) *EDIT* I found this beauty on OCuk in the clearance
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail £36.99
(£43.46)
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2-5400C4 TwinX (2x1GB) £24.99
(£29.36)

unfortunately it's total is £141.26 with shipping. You need to upgrade CPU, RAM and GPU and these seem like good options for price performance close to your budget.