Upgrade: confused

Boozebeard

Boozebeard

Boozebeard

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Joined
22 Jan 2010
Posts
1,480
Now I bought my system pre built almost 2 years ago, not really knowing very much about computer hardware.

Mobo: ASrock 4CORE1600P35-WIFI
CPU: Intel Q9450 2.66ghz
Graphics card: 9800 gtx
RAM: Corsair value select 667mhz (8GB)

I play a lot of games but also use programs like 3ds max, zbrush and photoshop; mainly for creating game assests. It performs fine for the latter tasks but it's starting to struggle playing newer games.

Now I think upgrading my card is a given, probably to an Asus 5850 if they ever come back into stock. What I need help with is my cpu really.

So my CPU is struggling, espiecally with games that don't use the multiple cores. I know it would fly if I was able to overclock it properly. Problem is I can't get it much higher than 2.8ghz or my system freezes and a horrible noise comes out of the speakers. Seems to me that the RAM is the obvious culprit (although I'm sure I haven't got all that great an ocing board aswell). Being only 667mhz means I can't set the divider lower.

So this leaves me with a problem aswell as various soloutions

Soloution 1 - Buy faster DDR2

Could replace all of my ram with faster DDR2

Pros: should be able to overclock my current cpu to decent levels
Cons: ddr2 prices are really high right now and don't feel like value for money

Soloution 2 - Buy DDR3

My board supports DDR3 1333

Pros: Would be able to overclock even higher and would probably be cheaper
Cons: My board only supports up to 4gb so would lose 4gb of ram

Soloution 3 - Buy new mobo that supports more DDR3

Could buy a new mother board that would allow replace all 8gb of my ram for ddr3

Pros: lots of fast memory
Cons: More expensive and would have tp replace when I upgrade my cpu.

Soloution 4 - Buy new mobo cpu and ram

I could just rip out the whole lot and upgrade it all.

Pros: New fast CPU that I can OC really well. Wont need to upgrade again for a while and when I do I can probably keep the RAM and possibly even the mobo.
Cons: Expensive

I get a student loan payment on the 19th so I will use that. I think my max budget would have to be £500 including a graphics card but of course the lower the better

Please can I have your thoughts and product recomendations.

Thanks.

PS if i did go for soloution 4, how much do you think I could get for my old parts? (my 9800gtx has one if these if it makes any difference)
 
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Problem:
1. Gaming performance

Cause:
1. Graphics Card

Not Cause:
1. CPU
2. RAM

Action:
1. 5850

Dependencies:
1. PSU
2. Case?

While ur at it:
1. Clean out the dust
2. Don't overclock your CPU
3. Add extra case fans if possible
4. Improve your cable management
5. Add go-faster stripes
6. Defrag your HDD (mydefrag)
 
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DireEmblem said:
Do you have a current budget, outwith selling your current components?

Given that we could probably give better opinions.
Click to expand...

Boozebeard said:
I think my max budget would have to be £500 including a graphics card but of course the lower the better
Click to expand...

I don't really know how much I could sell my current stuff for but basically want to aim for < £500 unless I could do something drastically better for abit more.
 
Ok... my bad.

As such get a 5850 if your PSU can handle the load, and follow billy's comments.

Your cpu/ram should be fine for a little longer, which should allow you to save up for a better system.
 
billysielu said:
Problem:
1. Gaming performance

Cause:
1. Graphics Card

Not Cause:
1. CPU
2. RAM

Action:
1. 5850

Dependencies:
1. PSU
2. Case?

While ur at it:
1. Clean out the dust
2. Don't overclock your CPU
3. Add extra case fans if possible
4. Improve your cable management
5. Add go-faster stripes
6. Defrag your HDD (mydefrag)
Click to expand...

I got an antec 1200 with an 850 modular antec psu. Do you really not think my cpu is a problem? I was playin the settlers 7 demo and core 0 was at 100% (it wasn't really using any other cores though :( )

The go-faster stripes are pretty tempting though :cool:
 
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OCing your CPU will help with 3dsmax and photoshop and will improve you gaming experience too. Depending on your screen res, the 9800gtx should still be up to most stuff on medium settings.

My Q9450 does 3.4Ghz on stock voltage (1.25V) and 3.8Ghz at 1.35V so you've got a lot of potential for improvement without spending a penny. I'd suggest that given you are running 8GB of ram that the northbridge voltage is probably the root cause of the lockup at small overclocks. It is free, so its worth a shot - plenty of info out there.

billysielu said:
I think so, I'm not into overclocking personally.
Click to expand...

Just becuase you dont overclock, doesnt mean he shouldn't. Increasing the CPU speed will see improvements across the board in his use of applications - changing the GPU wont.
 
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Ok, i'll try upping the northbridge voltage later and see if I can get it higher I'm pretty sure my ram won't like it though.

I game at 1920x1080 btw.
 
billysielu said:
I disagree. I think the graphics card is what's holding back the gaming performance.
There's no reason not to try your suggestion first though :)
Click to expand...

I second it, overclocking CPU can help, but not as much as a GPU, a better GPU will likely put less load on CPU as the GPU won't stress so much
 
New graphics card will give the best gains but that quad badly needs clocking. Unfortunately your 667mhz ram is going to hold it back badly. To get the best out of it you will need 1066mhz ram and even then that will depend on how high your Asrock board will go on the fsb.
 
pastymuncher said:
New graphics card will give the best gains but that quad badly needs clocking. Unfortunately your 667mhz ram is going to hold it back badly. To get the best out of it you will need 1066mhz ram and even then that will depend on how high your Asrock board will go on the fsb.
Click to expand...

So what route would you recomend going down?
 
To answwer you...................

Upgrading the RAM to at least 4GB (this is your max dual channel DDR3) from this selection

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=8&subid=1516

your board will support 1333Mhz RAM according to your link

Take a bit of time to overclock the CPU and possibly the RAM as well. The guys here will help and you have numerous guides in this forum to help you along.

The GPU may be old but it's a good card at the moment but you can upgrade to the ATI newer model route which is all the rage these days.... :)

The reason I suggest DDR3 is that it's about on par with DDR2 prices at the mo
 
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Games wise.... only some games are written to take advantage of multi core CPU's so any massive CPU change will not make a difference :)
 
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