Spec Me an upgrade please

Dexcile` · 8 Jan 2011 at 14:06

Hi Guys,

I would appreciate some help in putting together an upgrade for my new (Low/Mid end) gaming system, I just need it to play games at reasonable speeds. I'm really rusty with my performance knowledge and the current component market, The last time I looked was in 2007 when I built my current system...

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 2X 3600 Brisbane Core 65nm @ 1.9GHz (AM2)
MB: Gigabyte M61SME-S2L (AM2)
RAM: OCZ Gold 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400 (CL 5, tRCD 5, tRP 5, tRAS 15, tRC 23)
GPU Gainward Nvidia 7800GS

Its a real Dinobot!

Winging its way to me in the post are the following parts that I will be including in the system...

OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w (this was one I already had. had to RMA it so the replacement should be coming soon)

1x Radeon HD5770 (bought from a member here)

My first question is, how badly will the system I've already got throttle the HD5770? I really need some perspective on this, I've got a feeling the system I've got is a bit of a cougar now and putting the 5770 in there will be beyond a Mrs Robinson scenario.

to stop this kind of disgusting copulation from happening it seems to me that I have two options.

I could lob the CPU and RAM out of the motherboard I've got in favour of an upgrade.
I've had a look around an it looks like the best components I could get into that board are the Athlon 7850 black edition @ 2.8 GHz and some of the faster DDR2 2x4GB modules. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

or,

I could replace the lot and go for something like a socket AM3 with DDR3 Ram. If this is the only way to go, please give me an idea of a minimum spec to go with.

Out of the 3 options what would lead me to the best value for performance?

Thanks very much for any comments, info and help.

95thrifles · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:02

IMO you'd be best getting new kit, along the lines of

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £76.79
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £60.67
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £38.99
Total : £176.45

Then when you feel the need you could upgrade the Athlon to a Phenom

Blue160 · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:07

Or go for an AM2+ board, with a Phenom II and keep your RAM.

Dexcile` · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:11

95thrifles said:
IMO you'd be best getting new kit, along the lines of

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £76.79
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £60.67
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £38.99
Total : £176.45

Then when you feel the need you could upgrade the Athlon to a Phenom

Thanks for the advice 95thrifles,

I take it dual core is over done with now then? am I right in thinking that in gaming more clock cycles are better than more cores? so a 3.2 GHz dual core would perform better than a 2.8GHz quad core? or do the newer games take advantage of the quad core systems?

Are the AMD systems better value for money than equivalent Intel systems for 3D?

is DDR3 a huge improvement over DDR2 then? how important is this in today's games?

also, how would the system you have detailed here stack up against an older Q6600 based intel system?

Blue160 said:
Or go for an AM2+ board, with a Phenom II and keep your RAM.

Yeah I suppose that is an option... although I think the RAM I have is rubbish, only 400MHz and the timings are: (CL 5, tRCD 5, tRP 5, tRAS 15, tRC 23) (Ill put that in the main post) maybe this can be altered, I've never looked into what its actually capable of to be honest. having looked into it a bit I think its currently running at half mast, I had to reset the mobo a while back and didn't bother changing anything.

Blue160 · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:16

Most games are still single threaded, but there are more and more arriving that really benefit from quads.

AMD are always better value for slightly lower performance.

95thrifles · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:21

No, most games getting released nowadays tend to be coded for at least 3 cores as a lot of them nowadays are just console ports cos of lazy developers not being bothered to recode them properly for PCs, as such youd want at least a tri core, as you obv dont upgrade v often imo youre best getting the quad in there now for that lovely term "future proofing" lol, dont forget you can OC it to get higher clock speeds

The AM2+ route isnt really an option as you really should be running 4 gig of RAM nowadays, so youd need to buy new RAM anyway, and DDR2 is more than DDR3 ATM

Yeah AMD is better value for money than Intel as it stands for low-mid end

It would be similar performance to an Intel 775 based set up, if you could source a decent enough board, cpu and RAM second hand thats an alternative, but this is new & shiny

Dexcile` · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:09

95thrifles said:
No, most games getting released nowadays tend to be coded for at least 3 cores as a lot of them nowadays are just console ports cos of lazy developers not being bothered to recode them properly for PCs, as such youd want at least a tri core, as you obv dont upgrade v often imo youre best getting the quad in there now for that lovely term "future proofing" lol, dont forget you can OC it to get higher clock speeds

The AM2+ route isnt really an option as you really should be running 4 gig of RAM nowadays, so youd need to buy new RAM anyway, and DDR2 is more than DDR3 ATM

Yeah AMD is better value for money than Intel as it stands for low-mid end

It would be similar performance to an Intel 775 based set up, if you could source a decent enough board, cpu and RAM second hand thats an alternative, but this is new & shiny

Blue160 said:
Most games are still single threaded, but there are more and more arriving that really benefit from quads.

AMD are always better value for slightly lower performance.

Your right there, I don't get a lot of time to play games so I don't invest a lot of money when I do infrequently upgrade. I don't expect it to be acceptable for long but like you say future proofing is a lovely term... so is scalable.

did you mean the 775 system would be an alternative to the one I've got or the am3 system?

I found this motherboard for £60, ASUS M4A77T, it would suite me better as its ATX rather than mATX and has more room for drives and PCI cards. Would it perform any differently from the Gigabyte M61SME-S2L? I think the chipset is better on the gigabyte board. would this make a lot of difference?

Dexcile` · 11 Jan 2011 at 17:00

In addition to this, what would the performance difference be between an amd 700 chipset and an amd 800 chipset?

Dexcile` · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:36

Incase your interested.

Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard1£75.74
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail1£63.99
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W ATX Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXUK)1£49.16
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)1£34.99
*Sub Total:£223.88
FREE SHIPPING (DPD Next Day)Shipping:£0.00
*Total Vat:£44.78
*Total inc Vat:£268.66

Can't wait!