please help spec me some upgrades

mythrandyr · 26 Feb 2009 at 20:47

hi guys,

you've probably seen a few of my posts regarding system upgrades by now, i'm constantly upgrading on a monthly basis and i'm always striving to get more and more performance out of my rigs.

at the minute i'm looking at buying some upgrades and i've been advised to stay away from quad core for the time being and i can understand why. Since their are not many games these days that are quad core capable i'm considering swapping out my E8500 for a E8600 since that is the highest speed core duo going at the minute and i am intent not to overclock my system, and i would'nt touch LCS with a barge pole, but this is my rigs setup at the minute, all that i am going to get by the end of the year for definate is an ATI X2 graphics card, i'm not interested in crossfire since i've had some trouble running crossfire before now:

1 X Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
1 X Asus P5Q3 Deluxe P45 Motherboard
1 X Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit TW3X4G1333C9DHX
1 X Zalman CNPS9700-LED CPU Cooler
1 X Antec Skeleton Performance Chassis
1 X Thermaltake 1200W Modular PSU
2 X Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriters
1 X Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
1 X Samsung 64GB 2.5" SATA-II MLC Solid State Hard Drive
(i'll be getting that tonight, **** it, bout time i upgraded from a Raptor X)
1 X Logitech Z Cinéma Speaker System
1 X 24" Acer LCD Monitor
1 X Cyborg Keyboard & Mouse

i know i've asked before but it's been a ****** up last couple of months and i can't find any of my old posts to check on to see what's been said but all that i am considering is upping the processor to the E8600 (until games start coming out that are quad compatible), an X2 Graphics Card and a HD monitor. Thats about it, i don't need sophisticated cooling systems as i'm not overclocking and i don't want blu-ray since i use my xbox 360 as a media centre, i will be placing the main emphasis
on system speed and gaming.

Angst · 26 Feb 2009 at 21:07

the only upgrade you could get is a 1600p monitor and a better graphics card

Kennysevenfold · 26 Feb 2009 at 21:24

mythrandyr said:
hi guys,

you've probably seen a few of my posts regarding system upgrades by now, i'm constantly upgrading on a monthly basis and i'm always striving to get more and more performance out of my rigs.

at the minute i'm looking at buying some upgrades and i've been advised to stay away from quad core for the time being and i can understand why. Since their are not many games these days that are quad core capable i'm considering swapping out my E8500 for a E8600 since that is the highest speed core duo going at the minute and i am intent not to overclock my system, and i would'nt touch LCS with a barge pole, but this is my rigs setup at the minute, all that i am going to get by the end of the year for definate is an ATI X2 graphics card, i'm not interested in crossfire since i've had some trouble running crossfire before now:

1 X Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
1 X Asus P5Q3 Deluxe P45 Motherboard
1 X Corsair 4GB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit TW3X4G1333C9DHX
1 X Zalman CNPS9700-LED CPU Cooler
1 X Antec Skeleton Performance Chassis
1 X Thermaltake 1200W Modular PSU
2 X Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriters
1 X Samsung SpinPoint F1 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
1 X Samsung 64GB 2.5" SATA-II MLC Solid State Hard Drive
(i'll be getting that tonight, **** it, bout time i upgraded from a Raptor X)
1 X Logitech Z Cinéma Speaker System
1 X 24" Acer LCD Monitor
1 X Cyborg Keyboard & Mouse

i know i've asked before but it's been a ****** up last couple of months and i can't find any of my old posts to check on to see what's been said but all that i am considering is upping the processor to the E8600 (until games start coming out that are quad compatible), an X2 Graphics Card and a HD monitor. Thats about it, i don't need sophisticated cooling systems as i'm not overclocking and i don't want blu-ray since i use my xbox 360 as a media centre, i will be placing the main emphasis
on system speed and gaming.

1 - no need for a 1200watt psu, waste of money
2 - that case sucks, just a dust magnet
3 - graphics card....

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-157-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-004-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-189-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=912

95thrifles · 26 Feb 2009 at 22:21

Agreed, but as I read it he already has the PSU, certainly no point downgrading.
Theres also no point spending the money buying an E8600 over the E8500, next to no difference
Case is very much personal choice so hakuma matata
gfx card Id get the 4870x2 for that rig, or even wait, I believe the 4900's are due out very shortly
And yeah, Id thoroughly recomend spending any excess cash on a decent monitor, mine is nice, though seems to no longer be stocked by OCUK? HP LP2475W, something like the NEC on TWO would be a good upgrade

mythrandyr · 26 Feb 2009 at 23:24

you guys have confirmed my own opinion tbh. I feel the same way in reflection about upgrading to the E8600, their is no point. The graphics card will be upgraded within the next 6 months to an X2 and i've already seen a 22" High Def Asus monitor that i want to buy for £150ish which is excellent value for money imo. I suspected that their was a new release of ati cards due soon down to the fact that OC have removed half of their listings which usually means something better is coming out and btw, that case is not a dust magnet lol, it's actually the best case that i have ever owned and i will carry on using that case until they are no longer in production, they don't actually collect as much dust as people assume btw, yeah i do have that psu already installed in my rig, when it pop's im gonna buy a zalman psu.