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sjcf1

sjcf1

sjcf1

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Joined
19 Aug 2009
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972
Location
West Yorkshire/Birmingham
Hi,

Friends got a computer. E1400 @3.2 ghz stock heatsink, 3gb memory and a 4730 graphics card. He wants to improve the framerate on bad company, would he see a benifit by upgrading the processor to a higher spec one, or a new graphics card, and if so, what should be go for?

The budget is £200-300, depends what he can save up after his car insurance.

Thanks In advance
 
Hi there, do you know what the make and model number of the motherboard and PSU are?

Also, do you know what the configuration and speed of the memory is?
 
stick with the 768mb version (of the 460), the asus top is cracking value at £118 iirc
As Andi's bout to say stick in best CPU your mobo suppports, Q660 will no doubt be recomendation if your board supports it, if not then whatever the best chip it does support
 
Found out that he's got a MSI MS-7528, and 3gb RAM in 2x1GB 667mhz and 1x1gb 667Mhz, and 400w PSU, also he's got a collection of older hard drives and a 1tb F3 in there aswell.

I was thinking a 460, any chance a higher end processor could be fitted to it, thi9nk that would give him more performance.?
 
sjcf1 said:
Found out that he's got a MSI MS-7528, and 3gb RAM in 2x1GB 667mhz and 1x1gb 667Mhz, and 400w PSU, also he's got a collection of older hard drives and a 1tb F3 in there aswell.
Click to expand...

Is that the G31M3-F?

If so, then it will support much faster CPUs such as certain 65nm and 45nm Core 2 Quad CPUs. IMHO, the best option for upgrade is to keep the current board and RAM and drop in a Q6600 G0 steppping (~£80 second-hand) and receive a big performance boost. Make sure it is the G0 stepping, as the older B3 stepping does not work with that board.

You might also want to check whether the current RAM is running in Single or Dual Channel mode using CPU-Z (memory tab).

As for a GPU upgrade - it all depends on the PSU. Is that 400W a generic (ie no-name) unit or does it have a brand and a model number?
 
something like this? depending on psu.

buildt.png
 
cmndr_andi said:
Is that the G31M3-F?

If so, then it will support much faster CPUs such as certain 65nm and 45nm Core 2 Quad CPUs. IMHO, the best option for upgrade is to keep the current board and RAM and drop in a Q6600 G0 steppping (~£80 second-hand) and receive a big performance boost. Make sure it is the G0 stepping, as the older B3 stepping does not work with that board.

You might also want to check whether the current RAM is running in Single or Dual Channel mode using CPU-Z (memory tab).

As for a GPU upgrade - it all depends on the PSU. Is that 400W a generic (ie no-name) unit or does it have a brand and a model number?
Click to expand...

Yes the RAM's running in dual channel mode. Its a 400W cooler Master PSU. I think he'll go for the Q6600 and couple that with a 460, or a 5850 if they come down in price. Might even persuade him to get a better cooler to go with it.
 
Do you know the model name/number of that Coolermaster 400W PSU, as they are not all great?

Assuming it is a decent one then I would strongly suggest he waits a week or so to see the performance and pricing on the new AMD HD 6000 series (the 6800 family is supposed to be revealed this week).
 
Yes, I think he'll be doing that anyway, until he passes his test and finds out the insurance. Do you recon the 5000 series graphics cards will come down in price much.
 
Theres a thread in the gfx forum, with the prices confirmed as well as the number of units theyre getting and what they match up against, tbh I wouldnt bother waiting, theyre getting a max of 50 units of each so theyll sell out fast cos theyre new, as such I cant see this driving down the price on the 5 series, thats just my personal opinion, when you look at what theyre pegged against in NVidiass line up and the price, as I say personally Id just go for a 460 now
Edit: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18197841
 
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