Upgrade advice -

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16 Feb 2011
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Im currently running the following setup:

Intel E6600 processor (OC 3.2ghz)
Gigabyte P35-DS4 mobo.
4x1gb Geil DDR2 memory.
Zoltac GTX460 1gb graphics card.
corsair 520w PSU.
boot drive : OCZ 120gb SSD drive.
storage : seagate 3tb drive.
windows 7 OS

Recently I've noticed its beginning to struggle with the latest games and as a result am running them on lower settings.

My last upgrade was the graphics card which was probably around 2 years ago from an even older 8800 GTS OC.What advice would anyone give me wishing to make further upgrades or is my system simply out of date and needing a full upgrade ?

I was thinking possibly upgrading the CPU if i can locate a second hand Q6600 along with possibly more DDR2 RAM and new graphics card.

advice please :D
 
What games do you play?

Personally I wouldn't bother with a Q6600, something like an i5 3570k and z77 mobo will do great ;)
 
Looks like you have everything else already. This would be a worthy upgrade and if you can get an extra £230, go for a 7950.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £31.99
Total : £303.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).


This is the right approach.

There's no point spending money on socket 775 any more. An upgrade to a 3570k will be a massive step forward and keep you happy for a long time.

A cheap way to boost your graphics would be to get another GTX460 second hand and SLI them. You get similar performance to a GTX480 from that setup. If SLI doesn't appeal then a Sapphire 7870XT is the best bang for buck single card solution at the moment.
 
This is the right approach.

There's no point spending money on socket 775 any more. An upgrade to a 3570k will be a massive step forward and keep you happy for a long time.

A cheap way to boost your graphics would be to get another GTX460 second hand and SLI them. You get similar performance to a GTX480 from that setup. If SLI doesn't appeal then a Sapphire 7870XT is the best bang for buck single card solution at the moment.

Exactly what I was thinking.

The 7870xt is not far off the 7950, so saving money. :)

does the Z77-D3H support SLI?
 
Normal D3H does not support SLI at x8 x8, theres also no point in SLI'ing a 460 since it has 1gb VRAM.

Which isn't a big issue depending what resolution you game at. I speak from experience having run SLI 460's for 18 months at 1080P. If the money is available a new single card is a better idea, but SLI 460's really perform well.
 
Thanks for all the advice. It would seem then that my pc is out dated and the best option is to update the entire system then (the bit i dreaded). Seems only yesterday i fully updated my system,how time flys!
I guess this makes sense instead to the risk of buying second hand cpus which are also out dated even if they do give a small performance boost.

The setup youve given all seems good specs and doesnt break the bank too much so will look into it.

Any advice on a cpu cooler or are the stock coolers good enough as i seem to remember in the past they were a bit rubbish. My current unit has a Tuniq cooler which i love and cpu even overclocked rarely hits 35 degrees !
 
Thanks for all the advice. It would seem then that my pc is out dated and the best option is to update the entire system then (the bit i dreaded). Seems only yesterday i fully updated my system,how time flys!
I guess this makes sense instead to the risk of buying second hand cpus which are also out dated even if they do give a small performance boost.

The setup youve given all seems good specs and doesnt break the bank too much so will look into it.

Any advice on a cpu cooler or are the stock coolers good enough as i seem to remember in the past they were a bit rubbish. My current unit has a Tuniq cooler which i love and cpu even overclocked rarely hits 35 degrees !

Are you looking to overclock & what case do you have?

These are the best coolers on the market for o/c'ing..

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler - Blue (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £69.98
1 x Noctua NH-D14-2011 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler with PWM Fans (Socket LGA2011) £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
Total : £201.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).



There are also other cheaper ones available like the Cooler Master 612s.
 
between the Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 and the Asus P8Z77-V LX2 which in peoples opinions is the best choice to go for? or are their others i should look at?
 
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