Looking for some Advice

Neonine

Neonine

Neonine

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Joined
3 Apr 2010
Posts
56
Hey all

I've been a long time lurker but this is the first time I've wanted to upgrade my comp since I bought my last from here so thought I'd register!

Its been a few years since I last built this machine and I am on a limited budget (anywhere from £200-£500 depending on upgrade / new system) and would like some advice.

My current computer spec is as such....

Intel core 2 6600 running @ 2.40 Ghz

Nvidia Geforce 7900 GT/GTO
2 Gig corsair xms2 ddr2 (I think its 6400, but can check later on if needed)
Asus P5w DH Deluxe Motherboard
70gig 10000rpm boot disc
2x 320gig data discs
Seasonic 600w
Thermaltake Aguila case
Win 7 32bit


So, the machine is mainly used for gaming, I have just started playing Battlefield Bad Company 2. Whilst I know I cant get anywhere near a top of the range pc for my price range I would like something that can play this game smoothly. I'm more than happy to build my own but am not adverse to pre built models (however I know for value for money self build always used to be better?)

My current thoughts are..... (take into consideration that I will install a 64bit operating system)

Upgrade Option

Ram - Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-6400C5C) [TWIN2X4096-6400C5C] for 81.99
GPU - Lots of options but something along the lines of a 5770 / GT250 I guess would fit into this budget
Hard Disk - Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) - £60

Total cost of upgrade... Probably around the £250 - £280 mark depending on GPU.

New System (I could probably get away with keeping the case, Optical drive & maybe the PSU?)


This is where my lack of recent knowledge hinders me, It seems that I should be able to get an ok i3 system, or maybe an i5 but other parts might have to suffer. I have always been an intel guy purely because I know little about AMD but am happy to try either.

So if you have got this far and arent bored yet, my questions are such.
  • Would an upgrade be worthwhile? Or am I just trying to save something that isnt worth saving?
  • If yes to an upgrade what would you recommend different to the limited options I've chosen?
  • If no what sort of spec can I get for my limited budget?

I really appreciate any help and advice that anyone can give.

Oh and apologies for the wall of text, but I thought it would be better to give more information than not enough ;)

*Edit* Typo
 
Last edited:
liking the the upgrade idea most.

get the 5770, not a GTX250, its just a renamed 9800gt.

overclock the CPU, and with the extra ram, will give your pc a good boost.

that whole lot should be around £200.
 
Like stulid said, but in 1 2 years time you will want a quad core as it seems more and more thinks are useing them.
 
Excellent, the cheaper option will please the missus :)

Out of the 5770's around at the moment are there any that stand out?

One thing that I probably should have mentioned before is that I wont be looking to purchase anything until the end of the month... Would that change things at all?
 
I agree with stulid - overclock the CPU (a cooler like this would be a good investment), buy a new GPU (this 5770 is a good one to go for) and increase your RAM to 4GB (2x2GB).

I see that your OS is Windows 7 32 bit. To address all your new RAM you will want the 64 bit version - do you have the retail version of windows 7 (as that should have it in the box)?
 
Cheers for the help all so far, I have hopefully manged to sort out the ram for less than I thought which means I can spend a bit more on a gpu.

Therefore I was looking at a going for a HD5850

Maybe

Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5850 PCS+ "CODMW2 Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (Includes Dirt 2) [AX5850 1GBD5-PPDHG2] - £234.99 inc VAT

I cant seem to find any nvidia cards to compare to that one, or indeed the spec of a 5850 for the price, am I missing something?

Oh I've also overclocked my cpu up to 3.1 from 2.4 so far with no increase in temp so gonna try to push it a bit further tonight :D That said I might be able to get my hands on a Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 which should give an extra boost. ;)
 
Neonine said:
I cant seem to find any nvidia cards to compare to that one, or indeed the spec of a 5850 for the price, am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Nope, NVIDIA cards are overpriced. At the same price point, you won't find a NVIDIA card that outperforms an ATI card.
 
Hi check you're mobo supports wolfdale cpu's ie E8600?.As some don't go upto 45mn cpu's.
Plus ifso you could need to update the bios?.yes 5770 is a nice card and 5850 even better.
You're 10000rpm drive i would give a good clean up.and other two drives you could even do raid 0 for you're games.You're E6600 would prob got to 3.5ghz with a decent cooler E8600 4.0ghz.have a look at the corsair h20 water cooler complete system ready to go.
mine's sim on my pc and had my E6700 running at 3.5ghz stable could go higher did get over 3.7+ but windows had a paddy so dropped it back as didnt have the time to fine tune then. so you have plenty to go for then year or so+? you vcould do a major upgrade when the newer mobo with pci 3.0 and usb3/sata3 becomes more main stream etc.but what you're looking at will play bbc2 very well.
 
Hi take a look at this.h50 review

gold stargold stargold stargold stargold star

Reviewed by: kenny (wakefield)

excellent water cooler from corsair it keeps my quad 6600 cool it keeps it at 38 when overclocking at 3.6 for the processor speed plus i bought it from the wonderful people here at overclockers so fast on delivery i would recomend this cooler to all
 
Hi just had a look on the asus website and it does support E8600. but you have to check you're bios? if you're bios is greater than 2103 you do not need to flash it.
Plus check that if you go 64 bit W7 that the audio will still work ok on that mobo ie it's got dolby digital etc as a few guy's in my clan have had prob's after going 64bit W7 with audio.
 
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