I've not built a PC for quite some time now and my current set up is a dell studio with the following specs:
m-atx case
core 2 duo - 3gig
350w PSU
4gig DDR2 RAM
7900gs GPU
I've been getting back into games these last few months and I think the graphics card is holding the PC back. I know the cpu is not lightning fast by latest standards but its been mainly used for office tasks and has served me well for the past 3 years. It seems a bit over the top for me to spend £600 on a complete new rig at the moment.
I haven't overclocked a cpu for years and realise that these wolfdale chips can be overclocked quite significantly. Unfortunately this board doesn't come with any OCing settings. I was considering swapping the motherboard, getting 8gig of DDR3 ram and a new graphics card and having a bash at some Ocing. I cant seem to find any decent micro ATX 775 boards that are decent overclockers. Do any exist? If I could source something appropriate I figure I could upgrade a fair bit on a budget of something like £130. (new mobo, RAM & GPU)
The problem is you reach a point where you're spending that much its worth just ditching the CPU and motherboard and moving up to an i5 or better. Any suggestions? Perhaps just a £70 graphics card and a full upgrade in 12 months?
m-atx case
core 2 duo - 3gig
350w PSU
4gig DDR2 RAM
7900gs GPU
I've been getting back into games these last few months and I think the graphics card is holding the PC back. I know the cpu is not lightning fast by latest standards but its been mainly used for office tasks and has served me well for the past 3 years. It seems a bit over the top for me to spend £600 on a complete new rig at the moment.
I haven't overclocked a cpu for years and realise that these wolfdale chips can be overclocked quite significantly. Unfortunately this board doesn't come with any OCing settings. I was considering swapping the motherboard, getting 8gig of DDR3 ram and a new graphics card and having a bash at some Ocing. I cant seem to find any decent micro ATX 775 boards that are decent overclockers. Do any exist? If I could source something appropriate I figure I could upgrade a fair bit on a budget of something like £130. (new mobo, RAM & GPU)
The problem is you reach a point where you're spending that much its worth just ditching the CPU and motherboard and moving up to an i5 or better. Any suggestions? Perhaps just a £70 graphics card and a full upgrade in 12 months?