Spec me an upgrade to my current rig

Liggs · 13 Mar 2008 at 15:45

I've not really got a limit to how much I can spend, although I don't want to spend stupid amounts and I just want to get the most value for money really.

My main use for the PC will be gaming and I'd like to be able to run stuff like Oblivion and Crysis on fairly high settings and also be pretty much set for 2008 in terms of gaming.

My current rig is:

AMD 3800+ Dual Core
A8N-E Deluxe Motherboard
2gb RAM (crap ram, not sure on details but definitely want to replace this)
2 x 500gb hard drives (I will definitely keep these)
ATI 1800XT Graphics Card 256mb
I think the PSU is like 350w so that might need an upgrade.

What do you guys think?

Kearney_1988 · 13 Mar 2008 at 15:59

something along these lines would be pretty good, cound always go for the Q6600 CPU instead. and if you plan to overclock the e8400 lots then go for some 8500 RAM

OcUK GeForce 8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £109.99
(£129.24)
Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £29.99
(£35.24)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £124.99
(£146.86)
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £49.99
(£58.74)
Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Abit IP35-E (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £54.99
(£64.61)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2 (OCZ2P800R22GK) £23.99
(£28.19)
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49)
Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM Samsung SH-S203D 20x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.99
(£17.61) £14.99
(£17.61

468.92
Shipping : £10.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £83.98
Total : £563.85

mp260767 · 13 Mar 2008 at 17:17

i'd swap the GT for a gts on Kearney's spec.

if you want to raid the 2 500gb drives think you'll need the abit ip 35 as the -e doesnt have raid iirc.

would have a look at the G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) memory to make sure you get the most out of the 8400.

Bonjour · 13 Mar 2008 at 17:33

Liggs · 14 Mar 2008 at 11:54

Re:

How much of a jump in performance are we talking from what I currently have now? I'm happy to spend £400 if it's going to give me a huge boost, but if not I'll spend like £700 and just build an entirely new rig.

mp260767 · 14 Mar 2008 at 12:17

Liggs said:
How much of a jump in performance are we talking from what I currently have now? I'm happy to spend £400 if it's going to give me a huge boost, but if not I'll spend like £700 and just build an entirely new rig.

i'd go for the £700 new rig then.

go with kearneys spec as a guide, swap the ip35-e for the ip35, GT for a GTX and swap the memory for the G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) to make sure you get the most out of the wolfdale.

Liggs · 14 Mar 2008 at 13:29

Re:

OcUK GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - OEM £192.99
(£226.76)

G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PQ PC2-8000C5 (2x2GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ)
£59.99
(£70.49)

Abit IP35 Pro (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
£104.99
(£123.36)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £124.99
(£146.86)

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)
£59.99
(£70.49)

That's all I need, I've already got everything else. How does that sound?

mp260767 · 14 Mar 2008 at 13:36

don't see mention of a cpu cooler, if you have a good one fair enough if not add a Tuniq Tower 120-LFB CPU Cooler to that and you'll be set.

Liggs · 15 Mar 2008 at 16:04

Re:

I do have one, don't worry. It's a nice one I spent quite a lot on it.
Well I'm not going to be buying anything until June anyway it looks like now, so I might revise the spec then.