To upgrade.. or not to upgrade...

Solari

Solari

Solari

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Joined
14 Nov 2002
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Kent
I'm toying with buying a new setup to keep me out of the pub :cool: I originally built this machine for gaming but I sort of lost interest over time.

I'm wondering if it's really worth spending a small fortune on a new i7/quad rig or whether I should just do something like upgrade the graphics card in my current setup?

I'm currently running this on XP Pro SP2:

Corsair HX520W PSU
Gigabyte 956P-DS3 Mobo
2GB Geil DDR RAM
Core2Duo E6300 with Arctic Freezer Pro 7
HIS x1950 Pro ICEQ3
Iiyama Visionmaster 19" CRT (I know it's old but it works!) + Belinea LCD monitor.
Western Digital Caviar SATA HDD (Can't remember size!)

Will I see a massive difference by spending, say, 1400GBP on a new setup? (I'd probably get a nice huge dell monitor too while I'm at it). Also, is there anything big on the horizon that will drag prices down - should I wait until mid-Jan or so? :)

I suppose Vista 64 bit would be best with a new rig but I'm a bit concerned about running older software. Compatibility mode on Vista is a complete joke from my experiences so far :(
Cheers!
 
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No you won't see a difference if you're just a casual user.

£1,400 seems like a real waste to me, considering your situation.

All you need is a new GPU (ATi 4870/4850) & just o.c. your 6300 CPU.
 
Chimerical said:
No you won't see a difference if you're just a casual user.

£1,400 seems like a real waste to me, considering your situation.

All you need is a new GPU (ATi 4870/4850) & just o.c. your 6300 CPU.
Click to expand...

+1

get a 4850, oc your 6300 & get another 2gb of ram

then consider a new build this time next year
 
New GPU, mabe monitor too. You should be able to OC your cpu with that cooler a bit. If your willing to go for vista 64bit then upgrade ram too, if its just XP 2gb should be fine for now.

No real need for i7 setup, can make big gains without it and still leave room to upgrade to i7 if your still not happy.
 
Cheers chaps, that sounds much more sensible :)

I'm not sure about overclocking the CPU as the airflow where the box is sitting isn't amazing. I wish I'd got a Tuniq 120 but I really can't be bothered with ripping the mobo out to fit one now so will stick with the FP7 (it's not as good as I'd hoped and I tried refitting a few times in case I'd messed it up). IIRC in the summer the temps were hitting 60*C under 100% load which isn't *that* bad?

I'm going to get back into gaming so I won't really be a casual user like I have been for the past year or so - I want to be sure I can play all the latest games with decent resolution :)

I'm a bit edgy about ATI's drivers from past experiences. Are there many issues these days? What's the nVidia alternative like?

Ta!

EDIT: How about this...

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB Retail (overkill?)

Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey

I have no clue what RAM I should go for... I have an idea that the Geil I have is faulty as I have started getting random lockups even after I reinstalled. Haven't got around to doing memtest as I'm away from home right now :( So - a complete new set of RAM is fine.
 
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Ben M said:
go to the pub.

drunkeneness>hardware.
Click to expand...

Seriously, I need to leave the beer alone... I've been on the lash every night this week, and last night was the firm's Christmas party - free champers all night means very drunken me... and hangovers are much more difficult to deal with when the weather is hot! :D

Occasional pub visits = more money in my pocket and me not getting myself into bad situations or making a tit of myself ;)

Back on topic - do I have a hope in hell of running GTA4 with my current CPU and a top end GPU? I'd also really appreciate advice for RAM. I'd go for 4GB and Vista x64
 
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I dont thin it matters what system you have as GTA4 runs like a dog on most systems at the moment!

I have the same CPU as you, got it running 100% stable at 3ghz, 40 idle and about 52 load. Ordered a new gfx card myself to keep the system a bit more up to date. The 6300 is a great little chip.

Update the RAM, get Vista and a new card :)

edit: also what case have you got, maybe get a case with better air flow?
 
GinG said:
I dont thin it matters what system you have as GTA4 runs like a dog on most systems at the moment!

I have the same CPU as you, got it running 100% stable at 3ghz, 40 idle and about 52 load. Ordered a new gfx card myself to keep the system a bit more up to date. The 6300 is a great little chip.

Update the RAM, get Vista and a new card :)

edit: also what case have you got, maybe get a case with better air flow?
Click to expand...

The case is a: Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

It was a bit of a pain in the bum to build in this case to be honest, IIRC the Freezer fan faces outwards directly on to the fan at the back which is blowing air out so perhaps there is some inefficiency there if those fans both run at different speeds. :)
 
Hell your systems a lot better than mine!

I'm waiting for denab next year.

Since you mentioned £1400 like above, why not just get a new G card like mentioned above and get say a PS3 for GTA4?
 
A 4870 X2 is probably a bit more than you ll need, plus it will be a bit bottlenecked by your CPU, especially if you dont end up clocking it higher.

I would think just a single 4870 will be fine for you. are you using the CRT or the LCD at the moment? a 22" or 24" will definitely get you playing a bit more ;)
 
RaV said:
I would think just a single 4870 will be fine for you. are you using the CRT or the LCD at the moment? a 22" or 24" will definitely get you playing a bit more ;)
Click to expand...

I was thinking about getting the X2 card in preparation for an upgrade next year, but then again, by the time I want to upgrade, that card will probably be old hat. Thanks for the sanity check :)

Using the CRT at the moment. I'm reluctant to get rid of it but I'm getting a new desk and I want to reclaim some space. I really like the look of the dells but this whole input lag thing is worrying me - I used to play stuff like TFC, RTCW and the like so an extra 60ms on top of any latency could be a big issue if I want to play FPSs again. :confused:
 
Well, this is going to be my belated Christmas present to myself (hopefully come the January sales!)... I decided I want to move away from crappy onboard sound too.. Not sure about what speakers to get yet though! I thought a quicker HDD would be nice too (in fact, I'm tempted to get 2 and RAID 0 them - as long as I have a ghost image of a clean install I'll be fine as I always back my stuff up to an external drive).

NEC MultiSync® LCD24WMGX3 Professional Gaming 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black
HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ)
Asus Xonar DX 7.1 PCI-Express Sound Card
Razer Copperhead Anarchy Red 2000dpi High Precision Gaming Mouse - Retail
Razer Destructor Gaming Surface
Razer Tarantula Advanced Gaming Keyboard - Black


Roll on the sales and thanks for advice! :D
 
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On a previous note your FP7 is facing the wrong way, it should face the front of the case.
This will also knock a few degrees off those temps.

Might want to invest in some new case fans also.
 
Dsteviedee said:
On a previous note your FP7 is facing the wrong way, it should face the front of the case.
This will also knock a few degrees off those temps.

Might want to invest in some new case fans also.
Click to expand...

Yeah I did think the fp7 may not be quite right but it made sense at the time.

I'll look at getting some noctuas for the case. Cheers :D
 
Stick with your current set-up for now and upgrade a few bits if you feel its worthwhile. Go for the i7 build when MOBO and RAM prices drop. I think the price of th actual i7 CPU's is reasonable.
 
I'd get 2GB more RAM (cheap as chips) and probably a 4850. But most of all I'd recommend that you get a nice LCD monitor. When I got my 22" LCD, it made more difference to my enjoyment of the computer than any CPU or GFX upgrade I've done. People underestimate its importance - I never will again!
 
Aye Mattus - I will invest in the screen, definitely. While I like the CRT, something bigger will be much more immersive :) As I said - fingers crossed there will be some sales in January, then I'll dive in.
 
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