Upgrade advice

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mov

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mov

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Hello all,

I purchased a gaming PC from OCUK some time ago now and in those years it has been a very sturdy rig. More than fit for purpose and in many respects still good for what I do now. With the passing of time, and the accumulation of junk, it has started to slow down. I'm looking for some advice as to the best "bang for buck" improvements I can make to it at this point (or perhaps the best advice is "save up some more and buy a new cheap rig"). I don't have stacks of cash to burn and I would be making purchases perhaps after Christmas which could mean price changes/sales, etc.

My current setup (essentials):

Intel Q6700 overclocked CPU
4gb RAM
AMD 4800 series graphics (I think its a 4850 1gb)
1tb hard drive. Standard 7200rpm
Windows 7, 64

The current issues are general slowdown which could probably be rectified by a format/windows reinstall and a chronic problem with graphics card heating which does not seem to be getting better with age or general cleaning/tweaking.

Things I'm scared of because I'm not overly confident in hardware replacement (though I think I could do it):

RAM timings and adding more RAM - if my current RAM is overclocked or has had its settings tweaked in BIOs, what does adding more RAM do?

Graphics upgrade: Is it just going to be bottle necked by my CPU at this point? Would adding a 7800 series do anything meaningful?

SSD: I think this would probably give the biggest wow factor (along with more RAM). But I've got all my stuff on the 1tb drive. Is shifting the OS over to the new SSD easy or is there a good potential to break stuff?

I don't play the most demanding games in the world anymore (WoW), but I'd like to be able to fire up Witcher 2, for example, have it look pretty but not have my PC shutdown because my graphics card just can't handle it without overheating.

I also have noticed general slowdown and lengthened startup times.

I want my system to last another two-three years if a cheap upgrade will do it. Question is: Can it or shall I start saving?
 
I'd probably format and see if you can fix the GFX overheating for now. If required, you can easily pickup a decent GFX cooler for very little.

In the meantime, start saving. :)
 
Buy an SSD and put your OS on that. That will give the most noticeable increase in speed. Get a new GPU, you cases easily beat a 4000 series for not much money at all! Maybe double up on ram too. It's so cheap these days!
 
system

he could upgrade gfx card, but then in year or so the cpu will probably start letting him down and so will ram so then he would need new cpu, and new mbaord to put it in and new ram and before you now it you have a new system.
 
A graphics update will do something but the GPU will be limited but the rest of your system. An SSD will provide the most impressive improvement so change those then start saving and use the new components in your next build.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice - all seems very sound. I agree that maybe 2-3 years would be quite optimistic. Usually I change out a system every 3 years or so, but money is tighter this time around!

I thought an SSD might be a good all round performance booster (and something I could put in a new build). But then that could be £100 I could plug into a new system. It's a tough one.

I think I'll probably go with a format and general tidy up and try and fix this GPU problem, as initially advised. Then I might weigh up whether I can last another year with current set up whilst I save, or if I have to get the smaller upgrades to keep me going!

Thanks all.
 
Not all old motherboards support the latest video cards out of the box
If you get a new one just to find out that your bios has to load default settings to boot
Or other problems
First check on the web, google the motherboard and the video card and check for compatibility problems
If you use your computer for games SSD makes little o no improvement in a old system
If you surf the web and are active in applications SSD is a wonder
Fixing the video card with money is a waste of cash a hd4850 not worth 30pounds
Get a second hand card they are going for less buck because people are upgrading
 
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