What can/should i upgrade (current spec listed)

adam0bmx0 · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:15

Well PC seems to struggle a bit here and there, and would generally like it to be a bit quicker. I play games like BF2, CS:source.

Current spec is this;

Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 "LGA775 Allendale" 2.00GHz (800FSB) -

GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA663)

Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black

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

Samsung SpinPoint T HD320KJ 320GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM

Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK)

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

Does that seem ok? I bought it a year or 2 ago now. Everything is standard and not clocked as i dont know how to do it nor had the time to find out.Running windows XP aswell.

Any suggestions for better but cheap parts to speed up/improve things?

Adam

coupe69 · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:20

Do you have a budget?

I'd be tempted to overclock that E4400 for an instant free performance boost, it really would be rude not to

neon.uk · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:23

Get a nice 4GB PC6400/8500. As above, that processor can be overclocked quite easily. The only other obvious upgrade would be a new GFX card.

siumatfung · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:29

yeh 4Gb of DDR 6400, GTX 260(price dropped ones maxi core for 160ish i think) ,Wolfdale CPU but yes budget

adam0bmx0 · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:49

Can i run 4GB of ram with XP, thought i'd need Vista? (which is somthing i dont want to change really)

Budget around 150 for whatever would get me the most bang for my buck. Eaither a new processor, or combination of GFX card and proccessor.

I thought my GFX card was good? was pretty expensive when i bought it! (I dont follow PC parts as you might of guessed.

)

J.B · 18 Mar 2009 at 21:55

I would say RAM but 32 bit XP wouldnt be able to address all of it, so depends if you have 64 or 32 bit.

If your confident that CPU could probably be overclocked a bit, you could buy a custom cooler for it.

Personally Id go with a new CPU or RAM. The 8800s were good in their day, they still pack a reasonable punch but dont expect to max any new games out.

knightrider. · 19 Mar 2009 at 02:40

I'd got for a CPU that at least has more die cache. An E8400 if you can, or E7200 even. After that I'd go graphics card, since XP runs pretty well with 2GB anyway.