Summer upgrade advice

Chi_D

Chi_D

Chi_D

Associate
Joined
19 Apr 2006
Posts
8
Location
Nottingham
Hi, I'm looking to upgrade around June/July (Possible early B day treat :))so I thought I'll start looking for some components.

My current system:

Amd+3200
gigabyte Mboard
17" LG monitor <-- will use as dual monitor
Seagtgate 160GB <--keep
Geforce 5200fx
Thermaltake Case Tsunami <--looking to keep
Thermaltake 480W butterfly <--Not usable for upgrade?
2gig Ram curical brand
Win XP


My main usage would be gaming and applications like Zbrush, 3ds max, Photoshop and Painter. I'm looking for a mid-high range PC and would like some advice on components please:

Cpu - Quad pro 6600?
Mboard - No idea yet
Graphics - No idea yet (Should be able to handle UT3, Gears of war 2 etc)
Ram - No idea yet
Power supply - No idea yet (to fit in my Tsunami)
Monitor - 20"-22" plus
Win vista - I don't have internet at home, does this require internet to install?

Im not sure about doing any overcloacking since I don't know much about doing that yet. Thanks in advance.
 
your PSU might still hold it's own - I've gone through 939 to C2D with the same 480watt PSU, running an e2180 @ 3.2, 4 HDDs and a 9600GT.

If you're going single card graphics, I'd try your current PSU out before deciding it's bin-worthy. People telling you that you *need* a >480W power supply are talking cobblers, it's all down to the quality of the PSU and the components you're using ;)

Vista requires an internet connection to activate, you get one month to do this. IIRC.
 
Hi, I'm looking to upgrade around June/July (Possible early B day treat )so I thought I'll start looking for some components
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We can't tell you what to buy in June/July, the prices change far too often.

Q6600 looks fine now but by June/July who knows, the Q9300 might be £80 to compete with newly price-competitive Phenom X3 (which it isn't now)!
 
I've just had a quick read on the hothardware site and says the Phenom X3 8750 is roughly on par with Core 2 Duo E6850 or E8400, and cheaper than the Q6600 and Q9300 (in dollars as of 23rd April). Whats the performance difference between these CPUs?

What new Graphics card are being released this summer? I'm looking around the £200 mark, possibly 9800 series.
 
I've just had a quick read on the hothardware site and says the Phenom X3 8750 is roughly on par with Core 2 Duo E6850 or E8400, and cheaper than the Q6600 and Q9300 (in dollars as of 23rd April)
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X3 8750 has 3 cores so it can't be compared to Q6600 and Q9300 (both of which are relatively faster no matter how many cores are used).

It also has craptastic power consumption that makes it look very average even if it can just about match Conroe clock for clock. The advantage of the X3 over the E8400 is negated by much higher power consumption and dubious use of the third core, it badly needs to drop in price to be competitive.

You really need to decide how many cores you need before you choose between any of the CPUs, seems like you are speed-reading and throwing questions out hoping to get an answer that even if you do get won't have the background knowledge to understand!
 
I don't have much internet time at university; I know there are many people in this forum who know their tech stuff and so I appreicate any info from you guys. I think dual core is enough but the applications like 3ds max and zbrush would benefit more from the quad and future apps and games.
 
3ds would benefit from a quad as would video appz - thats why i decided to step up with the extra cost for a quad.

when you save 2mins rendering a single HD frame the value becomes apparent.

check out tom's hardware guide for a really helpful comparison chart. it helped me loads - as did scanning these forums!

peace!
 
so I appreicate any info from you guys. I think dual core is enough but the applications like 3ds max and zbrush would benefit more from the quad and future apps and games
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Yes, in your case a quad would make sense. Right now Q6600 is hard to beat but by June/July I'd take a good look at the prices of Q9300, Q9450 etc.
 
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