Upgrading 2 rigs

rebel28

rebel28

rebel28

Associate
Joined
20 Mar 2005
Posts
101
Im looking to upgrade two rigs at the moment, specs are as follows (im almost embarrased to post these :P )

Rig 1
Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (939)
Corsair 2GB DDR
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (939)
HIS Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3
Thermaltake PurePower 560W

Rig 2
amd athlon 4000+ (939) (yes single core :eek:)
1gb DDR corsair ram
asus a8n sli deluxe mobo
ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3
Thermaltake Purepower 480W


Ok so I want to upgrade both using the same componenets and re-use as much as possible. Here is what i had in mind.

CPU: Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient SLACR 95W Edition" 2.40GHz - 167
MOBO: Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 (Socket 775) - 115
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 X 2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz - 43 (or the 8gb pack for £80.. worth it?)
Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 - 77 or Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W ATX2.2 Modular - 107 (If needed?)


Those 3 are for starters, im not sure what kind of power supply im going to need here? I think the 560W might cut it but the 480w may be too low?



Im hoping the two graphics cards wont need replacing as im really trying to keep the price down as much as possible!
And with the possibility of DX 11 in the autumn id at least try to hold out till then ;)

I dont plan to overclock these right away so stock cooling should be ok at the moment.
When I do overlcok will likely go with the Scythe Kama Angle as it looks to be pretty good and im not confident enough to try water cooling yet.

Mmmm its 3.15 am and im working night shift so i can't think of anything else right now, so thats it. Have at my specs and tear them apart and suggest replacements if you think theres better. Bang for buck is essential and also both are mainly for gaming. Lots of FPS like Call of Duty 4 and also World of Warcraft. Also importantly the new Total war (Empire?) as it seems to be fairly demanding ..... ok now im just rambling :D
 
what res are you gaming at?

will you consider overclocking quite soon?

total budget?

how about

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £115.99
(£133.39) £231.98
(£266.78)
Kingston HyperX 8GB (4 X 2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX8500D2K2/4G) £69.77
(£80.24) £69.77
(£80.24)
Biostar TSeries TA790GX 128M AMD 790GX (Socket AM2+) DDR2 Motherboard £67.99
(£78.19) £135.98
(£156.38)
Asus ATI Radeon HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail (90-C1CLP0-J0UAN00Z) £52.99
(£60.94) £105.98
(£121.88)
Seasonic Silverpower 500W Power Supply £50.43
(£57.99) £100.86
(£115.98)
Sub Total : £644.57
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £98.26
Total : £753.33

i know you wanted to stick with yoru current graphic cards, but the 4670 will be a massive boost and wont cost you too much when compared to some of the high end cards.

i went for a PhenonII X3 based system as not all games need quad cores but they are starting to use more then 2 cores.

i also went with AMD as the AM2+ route seems to have more life left in it then LGA775.

new PSU as im assuming yours are quite old.
 
Last edited:
I say you can keep your PSUs since keeping the same GFXs. Both are enough (Watts) for even the ATI 4850 unless lucking some features e.g. PCI-Express power connector, etc.

4GB = 64bit OS for maximum benefit
 
Last edited:
The first rig has a 22" widescreen and the second only a 19" but would hope to upgrade the 19" to a 22 or 24 widescreen at a later date.

The reason I went intel was from what i've read they perform great at stock and are massively overclockable.
I also considered the Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5200 "LGA775 Core 2" 2.50GHz - £69 for this reason. Id be looking to overclock within a month or 2, when the next paycheque comes rolling in i guess.
Can the AMD provide the same kind of overclocking as the Q6600 or E5200?
I have a lot of this information but of course its at home :rolleyes:

Budget is kind of flexible i guess. Obviously the lower the better but if that extra £50 or £100 is going to extended the life by a year or 2 then I can justify it. Over all im hoping not to spend more than €500 which is about 460 sterling
Another thing, the case on rig 2 is a NZXT Nemisis which is to be fair, a bit crap. So i might consider an Antec 900-2. But ill leave that out of the budget.

The PSU's are a thermaltake butterfly 480w and 580w, not more then 2 years old and have been rock solid. If im not upgrading the graphics cards then as Hp said hopefully i wont need to upgrade these (saving about 200) - But is it worth holding out for Dx 11 cards in what i hear will be 6-10months time?

*EDIT*
I am also not factoring in the price of vista here but will be 64bit to take advantage of 4gb+ ram
Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (is Ultimate worth getting?)
 
Last edited:
i'd go with the something like the Asus M4A78 PRO AMD 780G mobo, AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition processor and the kingston memory if its still on special offer.

don't bother with Ultimate.

case wise have a look at the antec 300 gaming or coolermaster elite 335.

i'd stick with the graphics cards and psu's for the time being.
 
Thanks for the reply!
Is there a paticular reason people are recommending the Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition over the Quad Pro Q6600 other than the fact that games dont make use of the extra cores?
A friend has the 6600 and has it over clocked and it goes like the wind. Runs multiple copies of WoW at a time for multiboxing etc. Whilst games may not make use of the extra cores now they may in the next few years?

This is pretty much my only sticking point right now as i've decided on most of the other things so a good reson why one is clearly better than the other would be awesome! :)
 
45nm processors are now available & would be better overall. The Phenom II's are the affordable CPUs of the new gen & really perform well
 
Last edited:
So i have been doing lots of reading and looking and humming and im looking at the following. The only thing I cant help but notice is that by the time I add in vista Im almost getting into the same price range as a pre-built system that would include graphics cards, PSU's, Cases and more :(



Also am I right in saying that motherboard wont take DDR2 ram?
 
rebel28 said:
Im looking to upgrade two rigs at the moment, specs are as follows (im almost embarrased to post these :P )
Click to expand...

Don't worry ... I've just upgraded my 939 single core XP3800 to a 720X3 and next task is to upgrade the PC my children use from a 754 single core XP2600 :-)

In the past this PC has had "hand me downs" from the main PC so I think I'm going to go for 7750X2 for this one so can move the X3 if I ever decide to go X4 and I'll get a new gfx for my main PC so this one can inherit a 3850.
 
One is my dads comp and the other is mine. So not really both for me :P

Its amazing how old my system looks now, single core and all that, when i built it i thought it was pretty top notch.

I just read this months Custom PC (am i allowed to mention them here? :confused:) and it looks like the E8400 is a demon of a CPU and overclocks like anything, even giving i7 systems a run for their money. The amd x3 720 got a bit of a slating so again i have much to think about ... decisions decisions :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom