upgrade overdue , havent got a clue

nozz

nozz

nozz

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Joined
10 Dec 2002
Posts
55
Hi i havent upgraded anything for an age , heres what i have now

xp sp3
silverstone TJ06 case
jeantech 700W Storm psu
seagate 250 gb sata2
abit ip 35
c2d @ 3000
3gig ddr2
gtx 460

this has served me well for years with a few graphics upgrades .
im looking to repace at least mb cpu and ram and move to windows 7.
Totaly out of the loop now so any advice , mobo that will last a few
upgrades ,entry cpu + fan , and ram , dont mind overclocking .
Maybe a new hd but can do that down the line ?

Budget not fixed £400 ish .
 
Depends what you want to do with your "new" PC.

My first thoughts are -

Consider changing the PSU. I might be wrong, but your PSU is a bit of a "cheapy". It's probaly working fine, and you might not even consider replacing it. If it's a budget PSU, and it's done a bit of work, I'd replace it with a decent quality unit.

For £400(ish), you are not going to be getting a powerful gaming setup (uprgading the GTX460 to something decent is going to blow a large hole in your budget). I'd concentrate on the MB/CPU/RAM. Again, that could quite easily cost you £400 if you are looking for something good for overclocking (an i5-K + decent MB, cooler, RAM and Windows 7).

If you forget overclocking, a good upgrade would be to get an SSD, modest MB + CPU and some DDR3 (4 or 8GB, depending on budget). And as I said, a new PSU wouldn't be a bad idea, although you might want to do that at a later date. An SSD for your system drive (you can use your existing HDD for extra storage, if required) will make your new PC very fast. It really will feel like an upgrade. The only compromise is that your budget will mean that you aren't buying a new graphics card at the moment, and you might end up with a slightly less powerful CPU.

I'm sure you'll get more specific advice from other forum members, but these are just general thoughts.
 
 
That's a decent starting point (if you`ve got gaming in mind), but you'll be keeping your graphics card and PSU unless you spend more. The overclocking capability of the CPU may be restricted by the cooler, but that can be upgraded at a later date too.

There may be cheaper AMD based upgrade, but I`ve been using Intel for the past few years, so I wouldn't like to recommend anything.
 
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1 x "Recon Sniper M" Intel Core i5 4670K @ 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Quad Core Gaming Bundle £434.99
1 x Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days £0
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Total : £444.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).




keep your 460, hdd and case for now, sell your other parts and buy a new, decent psu. Then next payday grab a samsung ssd and you'll be set till you can afford a better GPU :D

Though to be fair, Dervious' spec is waaaayy cheaper, but the motherboard OC are offering on the bundle I listed is sweet as a nut.
 
As you can see, your budget (and most budgets, if my personal experience is anything to go by) often get stretched when it comes to uprades. There's always the temptation to spend "just a little bit more". :D

Mind you, if you are going to upgrade, it's better to get something a bit "too good" than not good enough.
 
 
nozz said:
So what psu would you recomend for either of the above set ups .
Click to expand...

I like XFX PSUs, but I don't think OCUK sell them.

I believe they are manufactured by Seasonic, but don't cost as much. The ones I've installed have been quiet, and seem to weigh enough to make me think they are decent quality. Maybe they just stick a lump of lead inside the case !

Unless you are going for a heavy duty gfx card or big overclock, 500 - 650 watts would be wise.
 
Thanks , my current budget has just been slashed so will have to leave full upgrade for a bit .

Would an ssd and windows 7 still be worth it for now
could use my other stick of ram then , giving me a whoping 4 gb .
Can i reuse 7 when my mobo gives up later this year .
 
nozz said:
Thanks , my current budget has just been slashed so will have to leave full upgrade for a bit .

Would an ssd and windows 7 still be worth it for now
could use my other stick of ram then , giving me a whoping 4 gb .
Can i reuse 7 when my mobo gives up later this year .
Click to expand...

Yes.

Your current system will not extract all of the SSD's performance, but it'll be a nice upgrade.

You can use W7 again.
 
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