Upgrade GPU/CPU/CASE on older MB

hcclnoodles

hcclnoodles

hcclnoodles

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18 Jun 2007
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34
Hi There,

I have a build thats a few years old now


motherboard: GA-P35C-DS3R
Graphics: ASUS EN GTS250
CPU: Intel e6750
Case: Lian Li (cant remember model but cost £80 4 years ago)

The system is struggling somewhat with the new games and multiple VM's but more than anything, its so damn noisy.

I wanted to maybe upgrade the case to something super quiet and the graphics to a GTX570 level (or equivalent) and if possible up the CPU to a quad with higher clock (I need the cores as I run VM's)


My question is this. ..

Given the current motherboard,

1) will a GTX570 level card work ok with that mobo?
2) what would be the best quad CPU i could get for that mobo (i think its socket 775, but as you can tell im not an expert on these things :))
3) Ive been looking at the Corsair Obsidian 550D quiet case ... will my mobo and other bits fit ok into this?


Id like to have this quiet enough that i could leave it on in my bedroom (where my desk is) overnight without keeping me awake ... I understnad this case is quite good for sound proofing


Im reluctant to build an entire new system when all i really want is more cores, better GPU and quieter


any advice from the gurus on this site would be greatly appreciated :)

cheers
Gary
 
tamzzy said:
sounds like an oxymoron lol

what's your budget anyway?
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ha, yes it does a bit doesnt it :D but the thing is, when i bought the system, i didnt get the best CPU or GPU avaialble to me, so im sure there is the possibility of getting a lot better for that mobo?

im looking to spend

* £100 on case (as i say, i like the sound of that corsair one, but not sure if the mobo will fit)
* prob around £100 on CPU, but it seems 775 CPU's arent sold on OC anymore? and as such they may be a lot cheaper than that or am i missing something?

* £200 ish on a GPU (ideally of GTX570 quality and deadly quiet)
 
depending on what you can get hold of, either a q6600, q9450 or q9550 are the best you can look at.

could always look at the q8200/8300's but they don't clock /perform as well as the previous mentioned quad cores.

for the socket 775 processors your going to have to search about, can't link to sites due to forum rules but search on the first 3 processors i mentioned and see what you find.

with the graphics card, long as it has a controllable fan on it you should be ok, can use apps to control the speed etc when not gaming.

would you consider the ati 7850's ?

what's wrong with your current case ?, might be worth posting a pic of it if you can.

would you consider updating it and keeping it or do you want a new case ?
 
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I guess the other aspect is bottlenecking, I'd be of the opinion that a 570 wouldn't be able to spread it's wings as far on a C2Q platform like it would on an i5 or newer.

That in mind, I'd probably scale back GPU aspirations unless you plan on upgrading board/CPU at some point in the future.
 
pastymuncher said:
If all you are keeping is the mobo then replace the lot. It's pointless spending money on upgrading such a old system.
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I understand what you are saying, but a decent new mobo will cost £100 + then I will have to upgrade my memory as well, thats another bulk of cash, thens theres the fact that the newer mobos will have to have the newer CPU's etc

I only have £400 ish to achieve the following

* give me some more cores (ideally at a higher clock) so that i can dedicate some cores to running my VM's (they take a minimum core each and with only 2, its doesnt leave me a lot for my main system)

* give me a bit more oomph in gaming than my GTS250 does (getting on a bit now) and something quieter

* a nice super quiet case to put it in to


A whole new system will cost me a fair bit more.

I dont want to set the world alight, i just want to meet the above requirements :D
 
couple of bundles for £400, no case as its possible your current one could be worked with, or do you want to get rid of the case anyways ?

following is really just to give you an idea.

first is a quad core i5 ivybridge with a 6850 graphics card, 2nd is a 6 core bulldozer (with a better graphics card)


1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £189.95
1 x MSI HD 6850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Kingston HyperX RED Limited Edition 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3B1RK2/8GX) £43.99
Total : £409.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

more cores, not as quick tho:

1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x AMD Bulldozer FX-6 Six Core 6100 Black Edition 3.30Ghz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail with FREE Deus Ex & Dirt Showdown PC Games **£15 Cashback** £115.99
1 x Asus M5A97 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
1 x Kingston HyperX RED Limited Edition 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3B1RK2/8GX) £43.99
Total : £394.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).
 
lian li usually make pretty decent cases, i wouldnt just change it cuz its not quiet, its more the fans in the case, rather than the case per se
 
Thanks, the case doesnt have any sound proofing at all, just metal thin panels, I tried buying 'quiet' case fans but it still pretty noisy .. I do suspect that the ASUS GTS250 is the major cause of that noise, but the whole thing makes a bit of a racket ... I have a mac mini which I have on all the time and id like to achieve similar noise levels (at non gaming idle) to that of the mac-mini, or at least a lot nearer than I have right now


I suspect the case could help a lot in that respect so im feeling it may be a significant part of achieving the quitness I desire


May I ask, HOw much better are the HD6850 and GTX560Ti than my current GTS250? ... Im assuming, given that the GTX you have quoted is £149 it will be a lot better but what about the HD 6850?

Also, which of those cards would run the coolest and quitest ?


ps, thanks for all your advice on this guys ...its a bit of a minefield for me as I havent dabbled in customs for years :)
 
Thank you for those links, thats a great site is that

so with regards to the case, will my GA-P35C-DS3R fit ok in the Corsair Obsidian 550D? and I assume power supply dimension standards havent changed in the last 5 years?
 
ok, after some testing last night, I have established that 99% of the noise coming from my box is the ASUS GTS250 ... its is unbelievably noisy, i stopped the fan momentarily and the whole system became very very quiet, that card quite simply has to go (i even tried a driver update to no avail)

So I have a slightly amended question If I may, would somebody be able to suggest a GPU that is better than what I currently have (GTX560ti level) but will be deadly quiet at idle? I know that the new Sapphire 7950 is supposed to be almost silent, but that is a little out of my range .... the key thing here is noise

any help would be greatly appreciated :-)
 
mobo etc will be fine in the corsair.

had a look at the reviews and the Gainward GeForce GTX 560Ti "Phantom" (£170) seems to be the sort of card your looking for, number of recommendations based on how quiet it is.

keep in mind with your current case if there just metal panels the noise might be due to hard drive or case panel vibration etc.

thought of getting some acoustic sheeting, i know people say it doesn't stop ALL noise but it does stop a fair bit and should add a bit of rigidity to the case panels, there are also some ghetto style fixes that do a similar job :).
 
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hcclnoodles said:
ok, after some testing last night, I have established that 99% of the noise coming from my box is the ASUS GTS250 ... its is unbelievably noisy, i stopped the fan momentarily and the whole system became very very quiet, that card quite simply has to go (i even tried a driver update to no avail)

So I have a slightly amended question If I may, would somebody be able to suggest a GPU that is better than what I currently have (GTX560ti level) but will be deadly quiet at idle? I know that the new Sapphire 7950 is supposed to be almost silent, but that is a little out of my range .... the key thing here is noise

any help would be greatly appreciated :-)
Click to expand...

told you it wasnt the case that needed changing! ;p lolz
 
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