Possible upgrades

:(Rhodri:)

:(Rhodri:)

:(Rhodri:)

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Joined
7 Sep 2007
Posts
1,222
Location
UK
Hey all, need some help with regards to upgrading my current rig a bit for my 3rd year of uni. (I do computer animation, so looking at speeding up render time as well as gaming performance).

My current rig is as follows:

Q6600 @ 3ghz, with thermalright fan.
4gb OCZ gold ed. RAM
Primary harddrive = 2x 120gb WD 7200 Raid 0
BFG 680i Mobo
BFG 8800GTX OC
Corsair 650W modular.
logitech g5 mouse (could do with replacing as roll wheel's dying)

Obviously being a student, I'm rather low on funds, so looking at doing things cheaply (but willing to pay a bit extra if large jump in performance).

Sooo what I've been toying with is keeping mobo etc. and getting a Q9550 as they seem to be resonably priced - but will I see much difference form a Q6600?

Also would a SSD help wth render/bootup times over RAID 0?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated with an e-cookie :)
 
The q9550 is a good CPU, but only about 20% faster than your current one. In my mind £170 should give you a better performance jump than that.

As you have a Q6600 and a thermalright, have you considered clocking it to the max (i'm sure you are very much in the safe-zone at the moment).

To really help rendering times I think a proper upgrade is the best option, but obviously very expensive. An i7 920 overclocked to 4GHz + 6GB RAM + X58 mobo will set you back a cool £420 minimum.

To improve gaming performance, your current CPU is fine - but a new graphics card like this would give you a nice boost in framerates.

As for a new mouse - I have a G5 and I upgraded to this. Its absolutely brilliant. I also hear the Razer mice are very good.

An SSD would definately help with boot times, but i'm not sure about rendering, I'm certain a decent RAID 0 system would be just as good for your needs there, certainly not worth the £200+ for the upgrade.
 
wow thanks for the fast replys guys. I was expecting the q9550 to be a much larger jump so no point going there. As you said an i7 would be awesome just can't afford to rip out mobo etc. at the moment so may well wait a gen or two on cpu's.

That ATI card is very tempting mind. My 8800GTX has done me proud (never had a card last me so well!) but is starting to show his age a bit now...
 
Agree with general concensus, the only thing remotely worth looking at is the gfx card, and thats only if youre struggling with games, dont upgrade for the sake of it (wish I could listen to my own advice at times, lol) either the 4890 or if you prefer to stick with NVidia a 275 is the equivalent, nothing in it in terms of performance and not much in price now NVidia have dropped their prices, whichever you prefer, just remeber either way to uninstall you old drivers fully incl a driversweep
 
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