PC Upgrade - Your thoughts!

duffers20

duffers20

duffers20

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Joined
11 Aug 2005
Posts
160
Hi,

I'm currently thinking about upgrading the core components of my pc. My current spec is shown in my signature.

I would also like to add that my current PSU is a Seasonic S12-500 (think thats its name, its the 500Watt one anyway).

This is my proposed new components:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

MOBO: Asus P5K3 Deluxe WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA1065)

GFX: BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD753LJ)

CPU HSF: Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

I would like to use my existing sound card (PCI Audigy 2ZS), one of the hard drives and (if possible) my power supply unit. I paid almost £100 for the PSU not that long ago and I would like to use it with the new components. Do you think that it will be powerful enough or would you recommend a more powerful model?

Also I've been reading that the performance gains when using the 9800GTX over a 8800GTS isn't that great so this is why I've opted for the 8800GTS.

Really I'm looking for your thoughts on this before I go ahead and buy the parts! One of the main reasons for upgrading is because I got Crysis not that long ago and want to play it in DX10 and also I've almost finished 5 years of university so I thought I'd treat myself!

Many thanks,

James
 
Thanks for your reply!

Is that the 8800GTX or the 9800GTX? They aren't that much more expensive (around £30 to £50 more) but I don't want to waste money on a card that is going to give only a very slight performance gain (from the benchmark tests I've read which were conducted in the most recent edition of Custom PC).

I'll need to have another look into some benchmark results and also I need to make sure my PSU will be powerful enough for the new hardware.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

The monitor I'm using just now is a Dell 19" widescreen (1440x900) and I don't plan on changing that for a while now so I think i'll stick with the 8800GTS 512Mb model I listed.

Thanks for the PSU advice, I did think that it would be ok, just wanted to make sure.

I'm not totally upto date with what ram to use with the Q6600 as I'm not too sure what the FSB is and whether its worth while going for 1:1 etc. I was planning on having a go at overclocking it to around the 3ghz mark if I can so will 6400 ram be ok for that? Also, what are people's thoughts on the motherboard I picked out? I've always had Asus motherboards with zero problems in about 6 years so would like to carry on using them. Also I liked the idea of the one I picked out being passively cooled so it would be nice and quiet.
 
the mobo you spec'd shows as DDR3, i'd change it for a DDR2 one like the P5K.

PC6400 will be fine with the Q6600, at its default speed the Q6600 will over the 3ghz you're after :).
 
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