Upgrade components or completely new system

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:19

Hi all

Currently have:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.13GHz (1066FSB)
Asus P5N32-E SLi nForce 680 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 MB
BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2
Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU

I have a budget of about £800 give or a take a little. I am unsure whether to try and upgrade what i currently have or just buy a new box.

Used for gaming only. Please can you give some advice of what is the best direction.

Thanks.

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:21

What res do you use?

That should handle anything that you throw at it.

Jon1818 · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:22

And also what do you primarily use your computer for?

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:25

Looking to upgrade the monitor also so 1920 x 1080 is what id most likely use.

Used for gaming such as CoD, Farcry, Crysis etc but also MMORPGS

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:26

jimbos said:
Looking to upgrade the monitor also so 1920 x 1080 is what id most likely use.

Used for gaming such as CoD, Farcry, Crysis etc but also MMORPGS

Okay, so my spec plus a monitor of your choice will be grand.

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:32

How do i see your spec Ben?

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:34

jimbos said:
How do i see your spec Ben?

Does it not display when you load the page?

here's it hosted somewhere else:

or click this
http://i41.tinypic.com/11hc9og.jpg

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:43

still cant see it im afraid, I think my work is blocking out the link.

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 13:48

jimbos said:
still cant see it im afraid, I think my work is blocking out the link.

i tried photobucket and imageshack so both much being blocked, i'll copy paste just the text instead.

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) + Company of Heroes Bundle - Retail -£183.99
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) - Retail - £172.49
Asus P5Q Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard - £103.49
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz SLI-Ready Edition Dual Channel DDR2 (OCZ2N1066SR2GK) - £34.49

-Shipping : £8.49

Total : £504.22

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:13

Thanks Ben

I was wondering tho what this pre-built system is like?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-154-OK

Was also wondering if i just upgraded my graphics card to a XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB if i would see a large increase in performance? (also would this work ok with my MB?)

mp260767 · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:23

i'd go with the 4870, then i'd get a decent cooler, something like gigabyte p45 ds3 mobo and overclock the 6400.

or u could add the 8500 with a decent cooler and overclock it, being as u already have 2gb of pc8500 wouldnt add another 2gb tbh, see how the new stuff runs with what you have.

if you get a q6600 dont bother getting 8500 memory , 6400 will be enough.

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:28

So if I grabbed the 4870 1gb, the CPU would be the next thing to upgrade??

The whole reason behind this is I find my system lags and stutters sometimes with mutiple apps running (say a game with itunes in the background) so would this hint towards a cpu or RAM bottleneck?

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:34

jimbos said:
So if I grabbed the 4870 1gb, the CPU would be the next thing to upgrade??

The whole reason behind this is I find my system lags and stutters sometimes with mutiple apps running (say a game with itunes in the background) so would this hint towards a cpu or RAM bottleneck?

It does, have a loot at task manager while it's doing this, it'll tell you which is used up.

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:47

Ok thanks

also is my cpu powerful enough to make the most of the 4870 grpx card?

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:49

jimbos said:
Ok thanks

also is my cpu powerful enough to make the most of the 4870 grpx card?

It it overclocked? If not, then overclock it you big girl!

jimbos · 16 Feb 2009 at 14:57

its not clocked as i think i only have a stock cooler.

Ben M · 16 Feb 2009 at 15:05

You can still squeeze more performance out of it with the stock cooler. I'd clock it on the stock cooler and buy the 4870 and see how that performs.