Upgrade Advice

evulboo · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:34

Hey guys could u spec me an upgrade to the core 2 range, needs to be cheap as poss but upgradable for the future.

Current rig:

478 2.8 prescott
4x 256 3200 twinmos
audigy 2 platinum
agp aopen 6800gt
2x sata 80gp seagate
pioneer dl dvdrw
samsung 913n
hiper type R 580watt

All i do is game on this pc which is starting to show its age. Champ manager, fear, CoD2, Oblivion, mmorpg's etc

so im guessing a e6300, 1 or 2gb ram, mobo, maybe new gfx card depending on motherboard and a new hsf

I haven't got a strict Budget but cheap is good for me atm

Many thx

Boo

xirokx · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:46

honestly my opinion is to sit tight for a few months and save for quad core....

Its the same ole argument "how pc tech is forever changing" and by the time quad core is out something new will take its place blah blah....

However as long as you can play the games atm and get by then dont waste ya money and pounce on quad core when its out

CrazyMonkey · 15 Oct 2006 at 16:57

If you are upgrading your graphics card to pci-e, if you are considering selling your card then give me a pm or email or something im looking for a agp 6600-6800 card for an older system that still goes and a new gfx card will give it that boost and allow it to play some more games

Sir Random · 15 Oct 2006 at 17:20

Have a look at the Conroe cpu/mobo/ram 'bundles':
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Intel_LGA775_Bundles.html

If you find one that suits your needs, then all you need is a PCI-E gfx card.

You could also go for a mobo that supports AGP, so you can keep using your 6800GT, but that would restrict any future gfx upgrades.

evulboo · 15 Oct 2006 at 17:51

double post

evulboo · 15 Oct 2006 at 17:52

Cheers, yeah the cheap bundle looks good enough for me but i have no idea what graphics card to go for, what would be best suited for 1280x1024 gaming at near high quality? 7900gs?

@ CrazyMonkey yeah i will be selling my old parts but we cant discuss it outside of MM

@ xirokx there is no point in waiting for me to do an upgrade as there is always something around the corner and you could wait a life time to upgrade if u stick by that rule

xirokx · 15 Oct 2006 at 18:00

how much u looking to spend on a gpu

evulboo · 15 Oct 2006 at 18:04

Not much really but around £150 - £200

Sir Random · 15 Oct 2006 at 20:12

You can get the 256Mb X1900XT for ~£170.

evulboo · 15 Oct 2006 at 20:45

So does this look like a good choice

REFERENCE DESCRIPTION QUANTITY PRICE COST

CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN) 1
£107.99 £107.99

MY-057-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400UDC) (MY-057-GL) 1
£84.99 £84.99

MB-061-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI) 1
£91.99 £91.99

HS-003-SY Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755) (HS-003-SY) 1
£29.99 £29.99

GX-053-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO) 1
£144.99 £144.99

Subtotal £459.95
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £8.95
VAT £82.06
Total £550.96

Quixote · 15 Oct 2006 at 22:44

That looks great, although if you drop down to a 7900GS & use the money from selling your old GFX, you may be better served by 2GB of a more value based RAM. I don't know if / how much you intend to overclock, so just something to think about.

CrazyMonkey · 16 Oct 2006 at 08:45

Looks great to me although 2 gigs is better than one

but dont use all 4 slots on the mobo tends to hinder overclocking!