upgrade advice please

V1sual

V1sual

V1sual

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Joined
29 Oct 2012
Posts
20
Hello,

Just looking at the specs of my pc and thinking about a few options to increase my gaming potential.

I use the pc now purely for gaming, when i bought it 3 years ago it was used for many different things throughout uni but now ive finished uni i only game on it as I use a laptop for my day to day browsing.

The specs are as follows:
Windows 7 professional 64 bit
Corsair AMS2 DHX 4GB DDR2-800 SDRAM (2x2GB)
AMD Phenom II X4 920
ASUS M3n72-D NVidia nForce 750a SLI AMD K10
NVidia Geforce GTS 250 (1GB RAM Edition)
Seagate Barracuda 500GB 300Mbps
WD Caviar Black 750 GB - 600 MBps - 7200 rpm
LG CD / DVD RW
Creative SB Audigy SE Sound Card
550W PSU
some cheapo case

The caviar black is about 6 months old after a hdd failure. Got all games on the WD and operating system on the Seagate just fyi.

I cannot really afford to just throw it out and start again even though i would love to start another build from scratch with all the latest tech ive been reading up on.

As far as gaming is concerned what would the bottleneck be in my system?

Been looking at just getting a graphics card, either a 550TI or 660TI but not sure if this would be overkill if the rest of the system cannot take advantage of them, especially the 660.

I had a read of overclocking but after playing games with everything default and looking at my temps on everest the cpu is already getting upto just shy of 60 degrees. If i remember rightly i read that this cpu should not really get above 55 to remain stable and it is already at that level now stock.

Only got the standard cpu cooling fan so maybe this is worth upgrading? or not as the case maybe as its never crashed on me? Every fan slot in the case is filled btw.

Ram side I believe the mobo can support ddr2 1066 ram but i have read people seem to have problems on this board with it / putting in 8gb so stick with the 800 and only 4gb?

Obviously not looking for any extreme gaming but would like to explore higher details levels etc, I play at 1920x1080

Thanks in advance for your comments.
 
Lets say up to £300 dont really want to spend too much. Was thinking about just doing the graphics card so that if in say another year I decide to do a fresh build I can simply transfer it without any wasted components. Just dont know how much real world difference it would make leaving the rest. Interested to hear the options available.
 
That does look good. Think i will need a cpu cooler or not? running 45ish on idle and upto 60-63 gaming or will it not really matter stock so no headroom currently for ocing the cpu? Any recommendations?
 
Ah I see i will need a new case to fit that HSF due to the psu currently being at the top. That case linked does look good but was thinking to go for a full tower so I can use it for when i eventually start a fresh system probably around 12-18 months from now. Was thinking full tower so i dont have to buy a mid now and then a full when i start a new higher end build in future. I dont ever move the pc now so it can be any size.
I know it will be overkill for what i currently have in there but will save me money in the long run. Will be running it on air cooling so dont need to be paying extra for water cooling compatability etc.

Any recommendations here as I always seem to overlook cases when reading up on the latest tech so best to ask you guys. Budget is not set and im unsure with cases if more £ = better so a few options would be great. Will be getting that graphics card and cooler if I can sort a case im happy with :)
 
Just wanted to thank you guys for the cpu cooler recommendation. Bought myself the cooler listed and a new Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced full tower case to fit it in and keep those temps down. Will OC current card and cpu to last another several months. Cheers :D
 
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