Upgrade advice needed

gitbags · 18 Nov 2011 at 12:55

I've been out of the loop for a couple of years now and could really do with some help. My current rig is:

pII 720be @ 1.4v/3.6ghz
2gb ddr2 800mhz
Gigabyte ga-ma790x-ud4
ati 4870 512mb
win xp 32bit

I'm looking to upgrade but would prefer to get at least another year out of my current mobo before a full upgrade to a different socket. I mainly use it for gaming (@1680x1050)

I was thinking of picking up 4gb ddr2 while i still can and adding an ssd hdd, as well as windows 7. Then In the new year retiring my gfx card for something newer. Is this the right way to go? Or would I be better off saving up for a new build?

Any advice/ideas are welcome.

Cheers

shadow_boxer · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:13

If your after a boost with regards to gaming, I'd go more RAM and graphics card now, then at a later date add in SSD or CPU/Mobo/RAM. OK the RAM won't be carried over to any new build but the graphics card will. DDR2 prices will remain fairly steady for the foreseeable future so you shouldn't really lose out too much when it comes to selling it later. Also would make the jump from XP to Windows 7, perhaps when you go for an SSD or core components.

GTO656 · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:28

Yes I agree aswell, GPU and RAM are the weaknesses in your system.

mickyflinn · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:31

Whats your budget for potentional upgrades such as a gpu?

gitbags · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:33

Thanks for the reply. I've just edited my first post as I forgot to mention I was on xp 32bit. Wouldn't that affect the maxium memory I could use? gfx and RAM.

Cheers

gitbags · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:34

Budget is about £3-400 all in.

Cheers.

mp260767 · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:38

do you have any particular problems with the system as it is ?

also, what psu are you running ?

gitbags · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:47

A little slowdown here and there nothing major, oh and a gfx card that likes to tell me its not plugged into its socket every now and again. It's mostly Down to the fact I fancy some new electronics and the other half has banned me from buying any more Hifi or headphones.

As for the psu its a coolermaster green power 600w.

cheers.

shadow_boxer · 18 Nov 2011 at 13:56

Well if you can reuse your current CPU cooler (assuming it's an aftermarket one with socket 1156 fittings) then for £400 you could get this. CPU is OEM and offer for today only.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
(£129.99) £155.99
(£129.99)
MSI GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card MSI GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £137.99
(£114.99) £137.99
(£114.99)
Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Asus P8Z68-V LX Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £19.98
(£16.65) £19.98
(£16.65)
Sub Total : £329.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £67.89
Total : £407.34

fowler002 · 18 Nov 2011 at 14:27

if you can hold out a couple of months would be a good idea with the new graphics card due out quite soon, not the best time for upgrading the graphics card.

mp260767 · 18 Nov 2011 at 14:51

gitbags said:
A little slowdown here and there nothing major, oh and a gfx card that likes to tell me its not plugged into its socket every now and again. It's mostly Down to the fact I fancy some new electronics and the other half has banned me from buying any more Hifi or headphones.

As for the psu its a coolermaster green power 600w.

cheers.

have you been able to test another card in the mobo to see if its the mobo or the gfx card with the problem of asking to plug it in ?

also as fowler mentioned new cards are out soon so i'd refrain from getting one for the moment.

gitbags · 18 Nov 2011 at 15:56

mp260767 said:
have you been able to test another card in the mobo to see if its the mobo or the gfx card with the problem of asking to plug it in ?

also as fowler mentioned new cards are out soon so i'd refrain from getting one for the moment.

Unfortunately not. But I'm pretty sure its the card as since I cleaned the card's contacts with a fiberglass pcb cleaner it's been behaving it's self.

As for a new one, as you and fowler have suggested I planned on holding out till new year. Should have a little more money by then.

thanks for the build suggestion shadow_boxer, I'll refrain from a full upgrade for now though I think.

Thanks a lot guy's you've been most helpful thus far. So general consensus is gfx (wait a little longer) and ram. Although as I asked before won't extra ram under xp 32bit be wasted? :confused: