Upgrade Vrs New Build

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Joined
10 Aug 2006
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704
Location
Warrington
Hey guys, just after a bit of advice and opinions really.

I was planning on building a complete new pc when the intel price drop occurs.

So for the complete new build i was thinking somthing like this:



However it comes to around £1200, which at the moment i dont have.

So I am being torn towards upgrading my current setup with these components:



I use the pc just for everyday stuff (browsing, word processor e.t.c.) and Counterstrike source. CS:S is apparently cpu dependant, so im guessing thay by upgrading to one of the core2duo's (either e6600 or e6850) and overclocking it, i will notice a benefit compared to my current amd 64 4000 @2.7ghz.

Few things im not sure about though are:

1) Is the tuniq tower a good cooler to go with, the fan on the inside confuses me as i would have thought the coolers with fans on the outside shifted more air.

2) What ram should i get, i was told to go for the pc5300 ballistix, but i was wondering if this would be able to handle overclocking the e6850 to say 3.6ghz. (Should i get some faster stuff?)

3) I play at 1280x?? in CS:S and this is pretty much the only game i play so would it be pointless me getting the 8800gtx instead of my 7900gtx.


Thanks for any help guys. (Btw current spec is in sig)
 
Associate
Joined
25 May 2007
Posts
2,118
Location
Brighton
If you going to be playing at that resolution, then this will be plenty, and of course this is a complete system...

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU
(£72.84) £61.99

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Silver
(£58.74) £49.99

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music 7.1 Soundcard - OEM
(£49.34) £41.99

Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)
(£31.71) £26.99

Samsung SH-S203BEBN 20x20 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM
(£18.79) £15.99

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM
(£43.46) £36.99

Gigabyte GA_P35C_DS3R (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard
(£96.34) £81.99

OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-5400C5 Dual Channel Vista Upgrade Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2VU6674GK)
(£117.49) £99.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
(£143.34) £121.99

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail
(£187.99) £159.99

Sub Total : £630.90
Shipping : £12.95
VAT : £112.67
Total : £835.25

In answer to your questions:

1) The Tuniq Tower is a very good cooler, and it's design works very effectively.

2) The Ballistix RAM is very good and can easily clock up to 900MHz, sometimes even over 1000MHz. Even at 900MHz, this would theoretically allow you to overclock the E6550 to 4.05GHz, and even higher using the E6750/E6850.

3) Yes a 8800GTX would be pointless, hence the 8800GTS 320MB.
 
Last edited:
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28 Feb 2007
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Somerset
If your only going to play CSS, then do you even need a upgrade, yet alone a complete new pc, upgrade when you need too, say when Crysis and the likes start coming out and decide to play them.
 
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OP
Joined
10 Aug 2006
Posts
704
Location
Warrington
Do need an upgrade, dont get 100+ constant fps even with a config. I know if i want to upgrade, not you. All im asking is opinions on what i was thinking of upgrading with or a new build.
 
Associate
Joined
27 Apr 2006
Posts
313
Location
Essex
Don't ask for opinions then snap when the discussion goes slightly beyond the confines of your expected answers. I doubt the extra 10 seconds it took you to read the response will weigh too heavily upon your shoulders ...
 
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OP
Joined
10 Aug 2006
Posts
704
Location
Warrington
I really wasnt snapping. Just cant abide people that enforce their views like that with out knowing the facts. Keep it on topic lads
 
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