Upgrade or start again?

RoosterJCogburn

RoosterJCogburn

RoosterJCogburn

Associate
Joined
27 Jun 2011
Posts
5
All all.

I am wondering if I should try and upgrade my current system or build something from scratch. I like my gaming so a decent graphics card is a must, and I also work a lot with photos and Photoshop.

My current PC is setup using Windows 7 and I seem to get some graphics issues from time to time - not sure if it's the graphics or the mother board. Bizarre artifacts on letters that a few reboots seem to fix. Most of the time things are fine. I also notice that I run out of memory with some photoshop plugins.

I'm using the following at the moment:

Intel Core 2 DUO E6400
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 Graphics Card
Asus P5B Deluxe DDR2 Motherboard
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz RAM
Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 PSU

And three internal HDD.



Any advice. Should I just upgrade the graphics card and add some more memory? If I upgrade, I can try and find about £600 but I'd have a happier wife if I didn't spend that kind of money.

Cheers, Russell
 
Personally, i would sell your old kit and start from scratch.

If money is tight, you don't need to spend £600. If you use your existing case and PSU you can have a decent sandybridge setup with a decent gfx for under £450.

Here's just an example until stulid gets here:

  • Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz - £162
  • MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 - £90
  • Corsair XMS3 4GB - £31
  • Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 - £128
  • TOTAL - ~£433
This would run rings around your present system - and play any game.

Additional: I would also add a 3rd party cooler (~£25 Gelid) as the SB will happily clock to 4.3Ghz with just a simple BIOS tweak - and will usually do 4.5GHz+.
 
Last edited:
Plec said:
Personally, i would sell your old kit and start from scratch.

If money is tight, you don't need to spend £600. If you use your existing case and PSU you can have a decent sandybridge setup with a decent gfx for under £450.

Here's just an example until stulid gets here:

  • Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz - £162
  • MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 - £90
  • Corsair XMS3 4GB - £31
  • Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 - £128
  • TOTAL - ~£433
This would run rings around your present system - and play any game.

Additional: I would also add a 3rd party cooler (~£25 Gelid) as the SB will happily clock to 4.3Ghz with just a simple BIOS tweak - and will usually do 4.5GHz+.
Click to expand...

This, plus if you were to sell your old kit, then you'd be looking at a really good i5 setup at a great price, you probably won't get over the odds for the old kit, every little helps though.
 
RoosterJCogburn said:
How much difference would 6GB or 8GB make as I can see it's not that much more to add?
Click to expand...

Performance wise it realy depends on what you use the system for?

If you use it mainly for gaming and general apps use then 4GB is more than enough.

Having said that memory is so cheap, if you have the spare funds, it's easier to stick 2x4GB in now rather than 4x2Gb at a later date if you think you'll need it.

But if money is tight - and you only use the machine for gaming/light apps then save your pennies and get 4GB.
 
Last edited:
Plec said:
Yes - you will need to re-install windows with a completely new chipset/system.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Still running on the Win7 x64 bit build from me E6600.

Yes, I was surprised it worked as well! Apart from the Asus utilities failing to install, everything else works as expected.
 
IPAddis said:
Not necessarily. Still running on the Win7 x64 bit build from me E6600.

Yes, I was surprised it worked as well!
Click to expand...

Yeah, ive read that win7 is far more accomodating with this - but it's very hit and miss and some people can get problems further on down the line even if the initial install seems to go well.

Hopefully, your's will carry on behaving itself.

For the above reasons, I would still recommend a fresh install for a new chipset/new system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom