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- Joined
- 16 Jul 2008
- Posts
- 86
I made a thread asking about my graphics upgrade options, and ended up deciding on replacing my RAM, graphics cards and CPU. By this point I actually wonder - would I not be better off starting a whole new PC for the cost to performance ratio I would receive?
Current machine specs:
Asus P5N32-E SLI Socket 775 (nVidia 680i Chipset)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.67GHz
Asus Silent Square Pro CPU Cooler (big ass thing, pain to remove)
4GB (4x1GB) Corsair XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500 (read other thread for note on this)
2x BFG GeForce 8800GTX 768MB OC2 (NOT running in SLI as one card is defective)
A whole bunch of hard drives (2x 1TB, 2x 500MB, 1x 74GB Raptor 10K)
Antec Nine Hundred Case
CoolerMaster 1kW PSU
And here's what I'd be upgrading:
CPU - An E8400 (possibly OC to 3.4 if I feel lucky) - £123.36
Memory - GeIL 8GB (4x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragoon - £146.86
Graphics - 2x BFG GeForce GTX 280 OCX 1024MB (buying one at first, then another a month later) - £352.49 each (£704.98 total)
So I'm spending a total of £975.20 on these upgrades - that's some serious cash!
But a thought occurs. My motherboard is ageing a bit now and those GTX280's might benefit from a better board.
So, the question is, can I build a system significantly better than mine for £1000? The requirements are this:
* A single BFG GeForce GTX 280 OCX 1024MB (I'll add another later, so don't include the second in the cost)
* 8GB of memory (an absolute must, as I game, do software development and use VMs on my machine)
* A dual or quad core CPU, at least 2.4GHz (but more would be nice).
* A motherboard to support them. Must have at least 6 SATA ports, onboard audio is a plus.
* I need to have one hard drive (will transfer some others across).
* A DVD-RW drive (should only be a few quid these days).
* A PSU that can run this beast.
* A case to put it all in ^_^
From what I can figure the card and 8GB of RAM should cost £500. That leaves another £500 for the rest. Can it be done? Will I actually be getting a significant performance increase in comparison to upgrading my current system?
Current machine specs:
Asus P5N32-E SLI Socket 775 (nVidia 680i Chipset)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.67GHz
Asus Silent Square Pro CPU Cooler (big ass thing, pain to remove)
4GB (4x1GB) Corsair XMS2 Dominator PC2-8500 (read other thread for note on this)
2x BFG GeForce 8800GTX 768MB OC2 (NOT running in SLI as one card is defective)
A whole bunch of hard drives (2x 1TB, 2x 500MB, 1x 74GB Raptor 10K)
Antec Nine Hundred Case
CoolerMaster 1kW PSU
And here's what I'd be upgrading:
CPU - An E8400 (possibly OC to 3.4 if I feel lucky) - £123.36
Memory - GeIL 8GB (4x2GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Black Dragoon - £146.86
Graphics - 2x BFG GeForce GTX 280 OCX 1024MB (buying one at first, then another a month later) - £352.49 each (£704.98 total)
So I'm spending a total of £975.20 on these upgrades - that's some serious cash!
But a thought occurs. My motherboard is ageing a bit now and those GTX280's might benefit from a better board.
So, the question is, can I build a system significantly better than mine for £1000? The requirements are this:
* A single BFG GeForce GTX 280 OCX 1024MB (I'll add another later, so don't include the second in the cost)
* 8GB of memory (an absolute must, as I game, do software development and use VMs on my machine)
* A dual or quad core CPU, at least 2.4GHz (but more would be nice).
* A motherboard to support them. Must have at least 6 SATA ports, onboard audio is a plus.
* I need to have one hard drive (will transfer some others across).
* A DVD-RW drive (should only be a few quid these days).
* A PSU that can run this beast.
* A case to put it all in ^_^
From what I can figure the card and 8GB of RAM should cost £500. That leaves another £500 for the rest. Can it be done? Will I actually be getting a significant performance increase in comparison to upgrading my current system?
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