Upgrade Questions

konky

konky

konky

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Joined
25 Aug 2008
Posts
16
Hi, I'm planning to either upgrade or replace my pc sometime this year and I can't decide if i should build a new system from scratch or just upgrade.

My budget will be around £1000 but would prefer to spend less if possible.

Current specs are:

Processor: Intel Core i7 920 overclocked at 3.4
Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58 UD3R
RAM: 6gb triple channel
PSU: Corsair 650w TX
Graphics: ATI XFX 5870(got this recently, pc came with a 4850)
Cooler: Akasa Nero(I think, could be wrong)
Hard Drive: Samsung 1tb
DVD Drive: Samsung 22x
Case: Coolermaster Elite 335(It might not be the exact case but it's a similar model)

It's main use is for gaming and i'd like to be able to run recent and also future games on max settings or as close as possible.

Also some questions.

I've been having some problems with the cpu recently, i noticed when i run prime95 my core temps go up to around 80-90 degrees at max load. Is this too hot? In certain games the cpu runs at 100% so i'm afraid it will overheat.

The PC is an overclocked bundle that i bought from here a few years ago and i havent touched any of the settings for overclocking so it should be running at stable temperatures.

Would a better cooler fix that and possibly a better case? as i feel the airflow in my current one isnt very good.
 
Dont buy a new cooler, thats pointless.
Dont buy any more ram, 6GB is loads for a gaming PC, again a pointless suggestion, and OCUk wont honour the warranty on the overclock settings if you try adding more ram.
Keep your current PSU its a champ.


Instead buy a better case with superior airflow, as the Nero cooler is actually very good - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2010/03/22/akasa-nero-s-cpu-cooler-review/2

are you positive that its seated correctly? maybe apply a new thermal paste layer?

Do you have a nice big/quality monitor?
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
Dont buy a new cooler, thats pointless.
Dont buy any more ram, 6GB is loads for a gaming PC, again a pointless suggestion.
Keep your current PSU its a champ.
Click to expand...

yeah fair point didnt see he already had an aftermarket cooler :P

and overkill is allways fun :)
 
Thanks for the replies, I'll try replacing the thermal paste didn't think of that.

My monitor is 22" 1680x1050 and doesn't support hdmi so i might upgrade that.

Also could you reccomend a case with good airflow?
 
Thanks, also another question.

What would be the maximum safe temperature for my cpu? I'd like to have it overclocked to about 4ghz if possible but right now it runs at around 45-55 degrees when idle and 80-90 at 100% so i don't know if it's capable of being overclocked further.
 
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