Upgrade time!

nlr · 13 Aug 2010 at 21:15

Is my pc still a capable machine or should I make a new build?

Finally I decided its time to upgrade how can I improve and upgrade this build for better gaming performance?

I don't have a budget but money isn't an issue.

Antec 900
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 Intel X38
Q6600 @ 3 GHZ
OCZ SLI-Ready Edition 4GB 1066MHz Dual Channel
Samsung SpinPoint 500GB SATAII Hard Drive 16MB Cache 7200 RPM
PowerColor HD 3870 XT X2 1GB GDDR3 256bit
Antec TruePower Quattro 850W Modular PSU

coughs · 13 Aug 2010 at 21:26

That computer is a beast and is very capable in the gaming world.

I would just go for a SSD for the OS and a new graphics card (9800 GTX/5970) and maybe even overclock your cpu to 3.6? I think that would increase your performance dramatically

pooley · 13 Aug 2010 at 21:36

coughs said:
That computer is a beast and is very capable in the gaming world.

I would just go for a SSD for the OS and a new graphics card (9800 GTX/5970) and maybe even overclock your cpu to 3.6? I think that would increase your performance dramatically

+1

coughs · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:03

Get a OCZ Vertex 2E.

franco_22 · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:05

If you're going to upgrade atleast wait for the new GPU's and processors to come out (few months).

Just upgrade your graphics card the rest is fine.

nlr · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:05

coughs said:
That computer is a beast and is very capable in the gaming world.

pooley said:
+1

franco_22 said:
If you're going to upgrade atleast wait for the new GPU's and processors to come out (few months).

Just upgrade your graphics card the rest is fine.

Are you sure as it's 3-4 years old?

pooley · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:17

the q6600 is still a very capable cpu when overclocked @ 3+ghz. apart from the gpu the rest of the rig is fine for gaming.

nlr · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:26

May I ask whats wrong with the gpu and what games would it struggle to play?

What gpu do you recommend?

setter · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:33

The card is a bit old now, though very good in it's time, however something like an nvidia 470/ati 5850 would be a great improvement, the rest of the system is very good, clock the q6600 a bit more and your sorted for a while yet, tbh, i had a 3.8ghz q6600, a 3.8ghz q9550 and my current i7 at 4ghz, virtually no difference in gaming, only thing was i7 allowed me to add another gtx 275 for sli, but with a single card they ran pretty much the same.

dfour · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:35

The 3870 x22 has only 640 shaders and 32 rops to its name when the 5870 has 1600 shaders and 32 rops. You cant directly compare nvidias shaders.. sorry cuda cores againt ati's as they are setup differntly. A 460 1 gig/5850/5870 woudl destroy the 3870 x2 everywhere.

Palit sonic 460 1 gig £180
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-001-PL&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

His icooler turbo 5850
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-003-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411

His 5870 £289

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1502

nlr · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:42

Should I also get a SSD and a new 32mb cache HDD or is it unnecessary?

as I currently have 500GB Hard Drive 16MB cache?

pooley · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:43

for a gpu take your pick from a gtx 470/480 or ati 5850/5870/5970.

nlr · 13 Aug 2010 at 22:49

Thanks for your help, is the antec 900/Noctua NH D14 sufficient enough for an overclock?

and I aint experienced in overclocking and I was wondering is it capable getting 4ghz with a this chip

gurusan · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:20

unlikely. 3.4-3.6GHz can be expected with a decent cooler though

setter · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:25

4ghz is extremely rare on a q6600, best i ever got was 3.8ghz, albeit that was on a p45 asus p5q deluxe board with a lapped TRUE and cpu and 2 x 2000 rpm fans, plus over 1.5 vcore. Chip was a 1.2750 vid cpu, not exactly a golden example.

koooowweeee · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:29

yep still good apart from the graphics card

Redmint · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:36

nlr said:
Thanks for your help, is the antec 900/Noctua NH D14 sufficient enough for an overclock?

and I aint experienced in overclocking and I was wondering is it capable getting 4ghz with a this chip

Nice VID. <1.2V is pretty rare, you might get 3.8GHz+ if you're lucky.

OpenToSuggestions · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:39

Please explain why you have the crazy wattage psu

.

I have an OCZ Vertex and it made my pc (e6600 4gb rig at the time) feel like new - it really did. I really recommend buying one (imo get the Vertex 2E 60gb it is faster).
Stick your cpu up to 3.2-3.4ghz and get a new graphics card as yours is poo.

A £130 ssd and a £170 graphics card will make your rig feel like new. The ssd's are very much a must and you really will wonder how you ever managed with a loud, slow, clunky mechanical hard drive!
(Note: Whilst the ssd is a must imo, it won't make games 'play' any better, just load faster).

setter · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:42

Dont think thats the proper vid, the screenshot shows the rig running at 1976 mhz, 329x6, the multiplier dropped down from the default of 9, (speedstep/c1e enabled), if put under load the true vid could be anything from 1.200 to 1.32500 which is the highest for the q6600.

pooley · 13 Aug 2010 at 23:46

setter said:
Dont think thats the proper vid, the screenshot shows the rig running at 1976 mhz, 329x6, the multiplier dropped down from the default of 9, (speedstep/c1e enabled), if put under load the true vid could be anything from 1.200 to 1.32500 which is the highest for the q6600.

good spot