What would you upgrade?

Shtebenus

Shtebenus

Shtebenus

Associate
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Posts
9
Hey.

Been thinking of upgrading my PC for some time now. I've found recently I'm having to turn down my settings on newer games to make them run more smoothly. (Never good)

I currently have:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
6GB RAM
GeForce 9600GT 512mb

I've been looking into graphics cards but never really know what I'm looking at, trying to stay within the £200 mark. Been looking at the GeForce GTX 560Ti with quite a bit of interest though.
My case is quite small too so I will probably have to replace that along with a better power supply. I'm also using my 1080p TV as a monitor.

What should I be looking at? Should anything else be replaced whilst I'm at it?

Cheers.
 
The graphics card first and foremost, do you have a good PSU?

And a aftermarket heatsink to overclock yourr Q6600 closer to 3GHz.
 
stulid: I don't have a clue how good my PSU is currently. It is likely I'll need one. Anyway of finding out without opening it up, pretty lazy. Happy to do so if I have to though.

mysticsniper: SSD? Once again anyway of finding out without opening up?

Don't worry I'll be fitting these parts with a pro by my side. My first solid look into how to upgrade so don't lose faith in me just. I come to learn.
 
The only waty to find out what PSU you have is to open the side and look at the label on it.

If you dont know that you have a SSD then its unlikely you do.

Are you able to find out what case you have? get pics up including the inside?
 
philips-hepc8602-desktop-pc.jpg


That's the best pic of the case I can see.
May get it open in a bit and take some pics and show you guys that way.
 
If your current system was a prebuilt Dell/HP one for example then you probably won't be able to overclock your CPU and it'd be a good idea to get a new case, power supply and graphics card now. These are the areas where prebuilt machines are often most weak. I think you would know if you had an SSD but you could consider one for you OS? Are you using Windows 7?

Depending on budget I'd go for

1)Case, PSU & Graphics card now.
2) Windows 7 64-bit +/- SSD if your not already running Win7.
 
Last edited:
Looks like a generic foxconn motherboard for a prebuilt system. You probably won't be able to overclock it at all but you could have a go (you won't get very far with the Intel stock cooler though). If it does overclock consider a cheapish aftermarket cooler. PSU looks like a cheapish one (ideally we need to see the label in a bit more detail), but I think it's well worth the upgrade. Again the case you could upgrade now as well. Try measuring the space available for the graphics card. Ideally you need at least 9.5-10in. You'd need to make sure the motherboard mounting holes are compatible with standard mATX and ATX form factor cases. Often generic cheap motherboards aren't compatible so they may not line up.

How about this lot.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Sub Total : £196.63
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £41.83
Total : £250.96
 
Last edited:
shadow_boxer said:
Looks like a generic foxconn motherboard for a prebuilt system. You probably won't be able to overclock it at all but you could have a go (you won't get very far with the Intel stock cooler though). If it does overclock consider a cheapish aftermarket cooler. PSU looks like a cheapish one (ideally we need to see the label in a bit more detail), but I think it's well worth the upgrade. Again the case you could upgrade now as well. Try measuring the space available for the graphics card. Ideally you need at least 9.5-10in. You'd need to make sure the motherboard mounting holes are compatible with standard mATX and ATX form factor cases. Often generic cheap motherboards aren't compatible so they may not line up.

How about this lot.

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
(£124.99) £149.99
(£124.99)
OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply OCZ ZS Series 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £52.98
(£44.15) £52.98
(£44.15)
BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black BitFenix Merc Beta Gaming Case - Black £32.99
(£27.49) £32.99
(£27.49)
Sub Total : £196.63
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £41.83
Total : £250.96
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for the reccomendations!
That' spretty much exactly how much I'd like to spend.
How good is the graphics card? Just recently gotten Skyrim and disspointed I'm playing it on Medium with little AA.
 
You'd notice a huge difference. The gulf between a 9600 and a GTX560 is HUGE. At around the £150 there are really only two choices, the GTX 560 and the Radeon HD6870. Both perform at around the same level. Gigabyte is great brand and has UK warranty. AA is a bit hit, even for high end graphics cards. If you can lower that the it should perform very well indeed. You could shop around for a 1GB GTX460 if you want something a little bit cheaper. You could keep an eye out for deals on the GTX 560Ti, some resellers have had them for less than £160 which is well worth it!

Here's a review of the card in question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom