Upgrade advice please

WLB79

WLB79

WLB79

Associate
Joined
16 Dec 2008
Posts
45
Hello,

I bought my PC from this good website four years ago and it's seen me through pretty much every game I've wanted up till now. I've just bought Civ V and found that my PC can't handle it, even on low settings.

I'm looking for an upgrade, I was thinking of getting a cheap couple of gig RAM plus a graphics card now and then a new main board, CPU and RAM later in the year.
But if any of you know a cheaper way, like is it possible to put a decent CPU in my current board, I'd be happy for the advice.

Also do you know if Win 7 will run on my sytem?

My specs are:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB)
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
 
Problem is any new Graphics Card may be limited by the CPU you have.

I would personally look for a cheap second hand Q6600 or Q9***, add an additional 2 GB of DDR2 and add a new Graphics card. I can't suggest one because I don't know your budget.
 
Not 100% sure that the CPU is holding you back that much. A newer Graphics card is going to make the world of difference. For arguements sake let us say you might want to improve CPU performance there is a way of course. The CPU will be able to keep up if you are willing to overclock it. Now that is not for everyone true but it is a cost effective way of extending the life span of your system. You would only need a small amount of over-clocking, say about 15%.

The motherboard you are using is a pretty nifty over-clocking board, I have a couple of mates who refuse to part with theirs. The only thing I would suggest if you do go that route is to make a careful note of your temps. The E6300 was not a hot CPU compared to say the i7 range. And it is a very forgiving CPU too. But always let temps be your guide.

Now if you really wanted to upgrade I would totally suggest get a new graphic card. The 1900XT was a great card at the time but boy are you going to be blown away when you upgrade. The 460 is a really good value card right now.

Your ram is not an issue either right now I suspect. But if you do want to up your total amount of ram it is better to keep it dual channel and not just plonk an extra module in the slots. And 4 slots at stock are cool but some folks have had issues trying to overclock when all 4 ram slots are populated.
 
looking at the low end spec's i've seen, you should be able to play it with what you have.

as mentioned look at giving your processor a little overclock.

graphics wise recommended is ati 48xx/nvidia 9800, so 4890/460 768mb should do you.
 
Thanks for the help. I'd rather not go with building a new PC or ugrading everything so I'll take your advice and have a go at overclocking.

1 Day, I take it you mean with the RAM that I should buy 2x2g instead of an extra 2x1g, if so which type do you think will be best (there's too much choice for me to know where to start)

The same with graphics cards, if I went with a 460 is there a brand that is better or more reliable? and will it last a couple of years?

Also I am thinking of getting Win 7 so I can use DX10/11, could my (upgraded) pc handle it and would I be better off with the 32bit or 64 bit versions.

Sorry for all the questions, I haven't done this for four years so I'm quite rusty.
 
Not a stress mate - this forum is the best because all the members chip in and help when they can, and share what knowledge they have. Right onto your question.

Ram - spot on I mean get two 2GB sticks and run them in dual channel - flog your 2 x 1Gb or keep them as back up, and unless you are going to be benching big time your ram can be the best budget set you can find. I kid you not. It does not make any noticeable difference in real world stuff or games. So have a look at the weekly specials or even some of the amazing deals of the day. The one thing that you will notice is that DDR2 ram has got really pricey. :( Any DDR2-800 4gb kit will be perfect for your needs.

As to graphic cards. Now what I am going to say will make some lads pretty peeved, but all graphic cards come from the same four factories and are then shipped to the vendors where they slap on some branding and put their own bios into the card. This is what is called a reference card. There are some non-reference cards - but they tend to be at the top end of the price range.

So look for what ever brand suites your pocket. Because the over clocked reference version is no different than the card that is £20 cheaper and at stock. :D Warranty and after sales service is a whole different ball game. Now just a few weeks back a vendor who had offered a life time warranty stopped honoring any and all RMA's. So you take your chances with that side of things too. For me I have used most brands on the market. And I like some of the water cooled cards from EVGA, and Gigabyte because of the good service I have had in the past. But like I said at the end of the day they are all the same basically. Go for the one that is the best priced.

As to which OS I can not see any reason these days to stay with a 32 bit OS. It just does not make any sense to me. 64 Bit for the win I say. :D
 
if your upgrading to win7 go with 64bit.

on the graphics card front, main difference with most is quality of the cooler, as in the noise it generates, so have a scout about in the graphics card forum, see if there are any noticeable issues.
 
Ok first thing tomorrow I'll have a go at overclocking the CPU, I've been advised on another forum to go it the bios and change the cpu speed to 1066, is it as simple as that or is it a bit more complicated.

Again any help would be appreciated.
 
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