Upgrade spec (and advice)

kjab3068

kjab3068

kjab3068

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Joined
13 Feb 2003
Posts
278
Location
Cambridge
Hey all,

I'm thinking about building myself a new setup, I have been out of touch with processors, etc for a bit now and was wondering if anyone could help me spec up a new setup. I play a few games, but no FPS or *really* graphics hungry ones, more MMO and strategy

Stuff I might need are;

Processor +/- mobo as I'd imagine my old one isnt a suitable one (gigabyte DS3 running a C2Duo 2.4GHz processor)
RAM (currently 4x 1Gb DDR2 PC6400)
Graphics card (old one was a 7800 I think)

Otherwise I'm ok on HDD's, monitor/input peripherals, etc

Budget is around 3-400 but I may be able to stretch to 500 if necessary

However, another question would be is it worth upgrading, and are current processor/ram setups much better than a C2D 2.4GHz with 4x1Gb RAM?

Thanks a lot in advance

Neil
 
2w2fwx2.jpg


bit over but worth everypenny:D
 
Mine :)

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
GX-145-XF_60.jpg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 Zalman Cooled 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £147.98
(£128.68) £147.98
(£128.68)
CP-238-AM_60.jpg
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £97.99
(£85.21) £97.99
(£85.21)
MB-355-AS_60.jpg
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £70.99
(£61.73) £70.99
(£61.73)
MY-042-GS_60.jpg
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM) £67.99
(£59.12) £67.99
(£59.12)
CA-186-CM_60.jpg
Coolermaster eXtreme Power 650W Power Supply £43.99
(£38.25) £43.99
(£38.25) Sub Total : £372.99 Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50 VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £57.37 Total : £439.86
 
Thanks for the spec examples, I currently have an Antec Sonata 3 and was using the stock PSU (earthwatts 500W), or I have a Hiper Type-R (560W) - that should suffice, right?

Any real technological advantage of the intel over AMD (quad core vs tri, right?)
 
I'm guessing that your CPU is the E6600 (you can check using cpu-z).

This CPU is actually rather good. If I was you, get a good CPU cooler and clock the heck out of it (3.6GHz is achievable). If I was you, i'd get a really good cooler like this or this (plus fan) and then keep it and transfer it to a future build.

Also, to overclock switching to some higher density, higher speed RAM is a very good idea. It will obviously be faster, also having only two sticks compared to four puts less stress on the northbridge - so you can overclock better.

Then use the remainder of the budget on a graphics card, the 5850 should be announced tomorrow, so thats worth a look. Also, the 4890 or GTX 275 are good bets (hopefully the prices will fall after the launch).
 
Thanks cmndr, Yeah I just checked my email order reciept and it is an E6600 (which I ordered in Dec 2006!)

I currently have this CPU cooler (Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B Heatpipe CPU Cooler (478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA755)) on it, only problem with that is that it's a tight squeeze into the case, so its been getting a little hot recently.

Your suggestion of new RAM & graphics sounds pretty good to me - Should I replace the CPU cooler that I have?

Thanks!!
 
Scythe Ninja is a pretty good cooler, If I were you - stick with it and see how far you can overclock on it. You may need the new RAM to hit the top CPU overclocks, but you could always give overclocking a quick try with your current setup, aiming for 3.0GHz is a good starting point. If you need any info on overclocking i'd be happy to help (I was doing some pretty heavy clocking on an E4400 not too long ago).

Edit: Should have asked this earlier- what is the exact name of your motherboard? There are a few types of Gigabyte DS3 u see. U should be able to find the model name in the CPU-Z motherboard tab.
 
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