New PC Upgrade Help

Phenom

Phenom

Phenom

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Joined
21 Nov 2008
Posts
8
Hi,
I'm thinking of upgrading my PC for Christmas and was wondering whether someone could give me any advice on the items I am thinking of getting.

Here is my current setup:
Windows XP SP2
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ with Stock fan
2048Mb DDR2 RAM 800MHz PC-6400 240Pin
Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 320GB SATAII 7200rpm Hard Drive
Samsung Super WriteMaster 20X DVD+/-R LightScribe
ASRock ALiveNF6P-VSTA
NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB TC DDR2 800MHz (400MHz DDR2) on 1440x900
450 Watt ATX PSU
Galaxy III ATX Case

This is what I want:
AMD Phenom X4 Quad Core 9950 2.60GHz Black Edition (Socket AM2) - Retail
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT 512MB- Haven't decided which one yet
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2
or
OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Platinum Series DDR2

Would I also need to upgrade anything else to get the full potential out of the components such as Vista Ultimate x86, x64, new mobo, more fans or power?


Thanks in advance.
 
Any of the so called midrange cards would be a big step up from a 8400 GS.

HD 4850 or 9800 GTX+ for example, even the 9800 GT you chose would be a nice boost.
 
Well, a decent brand 450 Watt PSU (with plenty of +12v oomph) would cope with what you have and HD 4850. Winpower to my knowledge are a cheap PSU and unlikely to have much power available so you could have stability issues even with only a graphics card upgrade.

If you do upgrade it then I'd get one suitable for a new system with a bit in reserve, so something like the Corsair HX520 or VX550.

Windows I'd keep XP for now, as you should be ok with 2GB there.

Don't under-estimate the difference a higher performing graphics card will make, it may be enough to tide you over (and if it isn't, you can just take it to a new build) :)
 
Do you think I would benefit from a new mobo?
Also I'm getting 4GB not 2GB of memory does hat mean Vista Ultimate would work better than XP?

When I'm playing a game Core temp is 60-80 this seems hot and if I upgrade the GFX will it get hotter requiring more fans etc?
 
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I recommend the 4870 card :) I stuck one of these in my system a couple of months ago,And they handle anything you throw at it :)

If you going to be using 4gb ram then i would deffo suggest changing to vista 64bit ,As 32bit OS only recognise up to 2gb ram.

Vista Home Premium 64bit is just as good as ultimate,But if you have the spare cash they yea why not splash out on ultimate :)

As for psu i recommend either the:


Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLi Compliant PSU

or

Corsair TX 750W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU

And your ram i'd choose:

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Platinum Series DDR2

Simply coz it's faster :)
 
Do you think I would benefit from a new mobo?
Click to expand...
I don't see why you would, the one you have uses a full speed PCI-E X16 slot does it not?

Also I'm getting 4GB not 2GB of memory does hat mean Vista Ultimate would work better than XP?
Click to expand...
32-bit OS can support up to 4GB of RAM, that includes all memory in the system (so usually you'll get 3 - 3.5 reported. 64-bit OS supports 8GB of RAM (Vista Basic), 16GB of RAM (Vista Premium) and up.

If you'd see any benefit of 4GB/3GB over 2GB on XP depends on how you use the PC. I'd suggest 64-bit Premium unless you know a feature in Ultimate that you want.

When I'm playing a game Core temp is 60-80 this seems hot and if I upgrade the GFX will it get hotter requiring more fans etc?
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What core temp? The graphics card or the processor?

Upgrading the graphics card to a HD 4850 with a single slot cooler will dump more heat in the case, yes. Providing the case is cooled well (120mm intake and exhaust is enough) then it shouldn't be a problem but if you are concerned, get a dual slot cooler that exhausts some of the heat.

If you mean CPU, then 60 - 80 under load is way too hot, I'd question the accuracy of the sensors/software (as if they were accurate, I don't think the PC would be stable).
 
If you mean CPU, then 60 - 80 under load is way too hot, I'd question the accuracy of the sensors/software (as if they were accurate, I don't think the PC would be stable).
Click to expand...

I mean Graphics Card 60-80 this reading is from Speedfan
Please look at the following:
x55pad.gif
2mfhmo6.gif


This is during a 10 minute game of Call of Duty 4 Max Spec, then closing the game

After a few minutes when I have stopped playing it is GPU is currently at 66
 
That is quite hot but it should be stable, graphics cards report hotter than CPUs (and for a modern card, you could even consider 80 under load as low).

I'm guessing it is also passively cooled?
 
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