Looking for some upgrade advice

Prophet187

Prophet187

Prophet187

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Joined
10 Mar 2013
Posts
32
Hi all,

Just over a year ago I was having some lag issues gaming online with FPS games. I got a new graphics card, new tower and processor cooler as there were some over heating issues. In the end, I decided my rubbish 1.5 meg broadband just couldn't handle it anymore and that was what caused the ping spikes/lag. I clocked over 300 hours in game with no issues then one day it just decided to lag and ping spike on me.

Cut to now and this week I've finally got fiber optic broadband! So I fired up my old FPS, Bad Company 2, updated it. It fired up quick and found a server fast so I was hopeful. Then came the ping spikes! I could cry, I really could.

I think I could use a couple more hardware upgrades as my PC doesn't generally seem as smooth as it should be considering the stats and I'm hoping for some advice and recommendations. I've got some other projects coming up, not just current gaming so I'm gonna need a more powerful rig either way.

Here's my current setup:

- Windows 7 Home SP 1 32 bit
- AMD Phenom 9950 Quad Core 2.59 GHz
- 4 GB RAM (Not sure of the branding, that's one of the remaining pieces of hardware)
- ASRock A780LM Motherboard
- 2 TB Seagate Barracuda HDD 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA II
- nVidia GeForce GTX 460 card
- Corsair TX650W PSU
- Coolermaster HAF X Case

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need to move over to the 64 bit OS and I'm interested in getting a motherboard that'll let me do an nVidia SLI link with another card but I don't know what card or even how those setups work.

As far as the other component upgrades, I was looking at OCUK's Workstation PRO Bundle. Would this be suitable?

That's about everything I think. Any questions are welcome and thanks in advance for your help!
 
 
As a start, I would recommend getting a new CPU, Motherboard, RAM & Cooler. It looks like your PSU, Case & HDD should still be ok as well as your 460, could SLI also.

Regarding your Windows 7, when you purchased it, it should have come with a 64bit DVD, so that should be 1 cost you can rule out. SSD would be a nice addition also.

Do you have a budget?
 
Before you start looking at new hardware upgrades...

How old is your windows install? Are all your graphics and network card drivers up-to-date?

Are you using Wired, Wireless or Homeplugs to connect to the internet?

If all drivers are up-to-date and your on a wired connection I would try a clean install of 64bit (if you have it), would probably advise a nice SSD while your at it to see if this sorts the issue before going down the major upgrade path as I can't see why your PC would not run the kinds of games you have said... sure its not cutting edge but it does not look like the limitation to me...
 
First of all, thanks for the quick replies!

Incrauze, is that basket for me? That's some nice kit.

snips86x, my Win 7 was or is OEM 32 bit, it just came with the 32 bit software DVD. I don't have a budget as such but obviously I'm not looking for pro gamer levels. The workstation PRO package was reasonable to me and the basket above seems reasonable to me. Plus another graphics card in the mix.

gamesaregood. My windows install is only about a month old, as that's when I get the new 2 TB HDD. All drivers are up to date.

I'm connected to my router using an Ethernet cable. I can see what you mean with just cleaning up the process with an SSD and switching to 64 bit because I mentioned Bad Company 2. I only used that as an example as that was the last FPS I played seriously.

I want to return to clan gaming, I'm in a nice clan who play regular but not competitive and they're well into Battlefield 3, which has also been out a while at this point. So I need to be set up for a while in the future gaming wise.

Like I said, I'm not looking for pro gaming with the best frame rates, I just want a nice looking smooth game play experience.

The other reason of the upgrades is I'm a web developer and I'm going to be taking on a couple of large projects this year so I need my machine to be able to take on heavier loads for that too.

I hope this helps and thanks again, some great advice so far. I'm always concerned when coming to a new forum that I'll just be ignored or told to Google around or something. I always find consulting with those in the know to be much more productive.
 
Good to know. I think it's locked in to get upped to 64 bit.

I just want some further insights on the hardware upgrades. Thanks for the reply Ninja_Ferret.
 
I would be getting 8GB RAM for sure along with 64bit windows as 32bit only supports up to 4GB RAM :p

SSD will be a nice little buy too..

As for CPU maybe you could upgrade your current one to something such as the Phenom II X4 965
 
 
Ah, sorry about that. I've just ditched it for now. Hopefully if things goes well, I'll be able to hang around here more and get some knowledge as I advance my building skills. Then I'll sort it out properly.

That looks like a good build RJC. What are your thoughts on my graphics issue? SLI?

I was thinking SLI another GTX 460 as I'll get a boost while saving some cash, it'll buy me some time and give me some experience to hopefully start linking serious cards in the future.
 
You could get another 460 if you find one at a good price, or you could sell your current setup and purchase one higher end gpu like the AMD 7950.
 
Sounds like a plan. I'm sure I could get a reasonable amount for the stuff I upgrade.

I was just checking out the 7950 on OCUK, I'm not sure which brand to go for, I was thinking Gigabyte or Asus as I know them. I think my GTX 460 is Asus.

Any recommendations there? Thanks for your posts by the way. Hardware can get pretty daunting fast.
 
Can be tricky when prices change and new hardware comes out!

I have the Gigabyte WF 670 GTX which is quiet and runs cool, with Gigabyte you have a UK RMA service.

At the moment the Gigabyte card is on offer which will change tomorrow.
 
Not much difference between them really - Gigabyte or Asus are both good manufacturers, personally, though, I'd go for ASUS simply because I know they make quality products (I use and have used lots of ASUS hardware and I can vouch for it); but either way, I've heard that Gigabyte are good too.
 
I get paid on Friday so I'm thinking of just going for it! As I know the money will come back in a few days.

Plus selling on the old parts to throw back in the pot works too. Been a while since I've done that, last thing I sold was a Voodoo 3 if anyone remembers those!
 
I do strange enough, that was when I was getting into pc gaming.

You could get the card now and then see if the CPU is offer tomorrow (Weekly deals change every Wednesday around mid day~)
 
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