System upgrade, what to buy?!

black-ops · 28 Jan 2010 at 11:36

Ok so my plan is to upgrade from quite a low range rig atm.

Currently got:
Nvidia 8800
Gigabyte P35
Intel 7200 @ 3Ghz Dual Core
4Gb Ram

I am looking at upgrading these as my powersupply should survive a whole upgrade and the hard drives are fine, The power supply is 600W
So,

I am thinking of going AMD with an Intel GPU, any ideas and are these quite good?

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail [HDZ955FBGIBOX]
Gigabyte GA-MA785GT-UD3H AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard [GA-MA785GT-UD3H]
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5770 PCS+ 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [AX5770 1GBD5-PPG]
Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (GV34GB1333C7DC) [GV34GB1333C7DC]

Or should I just stay with the intel board and upgrade gpu and cpu, with more ram taking me to 8gb.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 LGA775 "Yorkfield" 2.50GHz 6MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (OCZ2RPR10664GK)

Stupot_ · 28 Jan 2010 at 11:39

Option 1. Don't throw money at a dead socket, the AMD build will do you nicely for games and general use.

black-ops · 28 Jan 2010 at 11:47

Ok sure, I am thinking of going for something which will run battlefield bad company "decently" at around highish, based upon speculation of it requiring Quad core do you know of any alternatives you could possibly suggest?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 28 Jan 2010 at 11:57

Upgrading you current rig is the best value for money option. 4GB of RAM is enough RAM IMHO.

I would get the Q9400 and overclock it a bit:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-270-IN

If you can get at least 3GHZ to 3.2GHZ out of this processor I don't see the need upgrade your CPU for the next 18 months or so TBH.

Get an HD5850 1GB and only get the extra RAM if you need it for non-gaming purposes.

Also these RAM kits are far better value for money if you choose to upgrade your RAM:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-192-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-174-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

If you do choose to go the AMD way I would suggest the following motherboard:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-366-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1481

It can do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X.