What's my first upgrading step?

Deadbeat

Deadbeat

Deadbeat

Soldato
Joined
26 May 2009
Posts
5,415
Ok, my first proper build has lasted me exactly a year now, and I'm looking to gently tweak the system over the coming months in preparation for Deus Ex 3, MechWarrior and similar new releases. Certain components may be obtainable now, others I'll wait until closer to release dates to get, but I'm not entirely sure what I should go for first - so this is actually my first "what do I need to upgrade" thread! Yay!

Current setup:

MSI X58M motherboard - this is my inclination, especially since it's now listed as a B-grade OcUK product

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz @ 3.60GHz - this is the other likely candidate, I can't even find it on OcUK any more - is it that out of date so fast? I originally had it at 4.00GHz, but see limitations below.

XFX ATI Radeon 4890 XT - Again, can't find it on OcUK any more. Still, I know it's good for it's level and I've never had any issues apart from slight overheating when I fiddled with the PCI bus - or, at least, the temps crept up over 120C, which made me nervous (possibly groundless worry).

Patriot Viper 6GB 12800 RAM - I'm glad this one's still about, I was about to cry over how dated my system must be. Not a big concern, I think.

In addition I've loapded in some generic 9600rpm 500GB Samsung hard drive and a H50 watercooler for the CPU, though I'm using stock fans for the rest of the system which is why I'm most concerned with my mobo - I know the X58M has mosfet cooling issues, whatever that means, and it seems good air flow is the only cure without resorting to watercooling blocks. If there's any real bargains about now I could stretch to maybe £150 at the end of November, but from the end of January onwards I'll hopefully have about £300 a month to focus on one component at a time before the Easter release dates hit.

Go!

p.s. I'm actually going to bed ow, but I'll be reading up in the morning :)
 
SSDs are overrated especially at there price and your CPU is fine, the ram is ok i would defiantly upgrade the GFX and not worry about everything else for a while.
 
They are overrated mate, who cares if windows loads 10 seconds faster is that really worth £200? They dont make anything actually run better just a few seconds down on loading times for hundreds of pounds, even a cheap one (£150 is a cheap one!) Your lucky if u can install windows and 4-5 games and all u get is the games load 5 seconds faster thats £150 well spent.
 
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Being able to start a round and get that bit further across the ma,p before anyone else has the level loaded is £150 well spent to a lot of people
 
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-429-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1692

Hear good things about this mobo.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-099-MS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

Heard great things about this GPU.


The graphics card in any rig tends to date fastest, because all the major GPU companies redresh their lines every 6 months or so. Or at least 12 months...

For example about 11 months ago, my FTX 275's were top end, now soon to be two gens behind....

Cheers

Von
 
I didn't say they were crap, just overrated :). For now the cost far outweighs what you get from it, if it actually made the system perform better id kinda accept it i guess but as it is its a gigantic waste of money. For the cost of an SSD you could get a second GPU, a top end CPU, a 27" full Hd monitor any number of amazing things that would dramatically increase your PCs performance and your pleasure in it. Or for that money windows can load 10 seconds faster.
 
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Your PC looks far from dated Deadbeat. CPU and RAM is more than fine. The only things you should consider is maybe a new GFX card and/or an SSD. A i7 920 and 6gb of RAM you already have a great platform of a system to play with. :)

I completely disagree with Gantoris. There is no other upgrade you can perform that gives real world noticeable difference like an SSD does. Boot time improvement times are often given for SSD performance because they show real world improvements and are easy to benchmark. The point of them is that those speed boosts are passed on to ANYTHING that requires loading. So basicly it means you get improved EVERYTHING. Sure they are not that cheap yet but I have seen some good deals of late on OCUK that have brought SSD's from 'enthusiast' to much closer to mainstream. Obviously SSD's arn't at a price point where they can be used as storage drives but the 60GB, 80GB and 120GB are now very attractive upgrade options for your OS and games.

Don't give up on your current rig yet Deadbeat it's got plenty of life left in it. Stick a new GFX card in there and an SSD boot drive and you have a mighty fine spec that will last you a couple more years easily.
 
Gantoris said:
SSDs are overrated especially at there price and your CPU is fine, the ram is ok i would defiantly upgrade the GFX and not worry about everything else for a while.
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ill informed

as far as cost vs performance

lets see a top end gpu @ £450

could get 4x 60gb cruical c300's
or simmler for that

upgrading from a 4890 to a gtx460 is no more than a side step tbh
you would maybe gain 3-4 fps and dx 11
for more money than an ssd would cost ;)

the sensible move is an ssd
 
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Whos talking about a £450 gpu? even £150-200 which is the cost of a low/mid range SSD would get you a fine gpu which imo would improve "real world" performance and enjoyment of a PC far more than an SSD, assuming of course gaming is your thang. Jesus, its not like normal HDDs are even that painfully slow i mean come on ive never clicked a game and thought "Omg 7 whole seconds to get to the menu! how can i make it faster!!".

As i said i don't think SSDs are crap just nowhere near worth the cost for what they actually give you, heres my problem for me its about gaming and there are games out at the moment that take up 14gb+ space installed on an HDD windows itself + other vital applications you will want to put on there can easily take 10-20gb depending on what you use. For me to even bother at all it would have to be at least 120gb SSD which would set me back at least £250-300. Now lets be realistic, i have seen the difference in loading times you can go look on you tube and see hundreds of people showing it of and were talking mere seconds £300 to make something literally seconds faster.

Or for about £100 you could get windows and maybe 2-3 games max installed on there, thats £100 to have 2-3 games load a couple of seconds faster, what is the point? i just cant see it.

As for the OP his GPU is going to start giving him under 20 FPS on DX11 if he wants all the gfx maxed out will a SSD help him with that? no it wont but bang a nice new one in there or crossfire the one he has and hes set for another year at least.
 
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This system is dying for a SSD, will make the system so much more responsive and snappy to use.

your current GPU while lacking DX11 is still fast.
 
Thanks for the info - I reckon I'll pick up a SSD some time soon, but I'm still interested in switching out the motherboard for a better fit. The X58M is big enough for all my stuff, but it'd be nice to spread things out a bit more.
 
I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Gantoris doesn't even own an SSD or has even ever used a system with one. Or he's the 1st owner of an SSD to bag them I have ever come across. :|
Watching youtube vids of an SSD at work hardly qualifies somebody to pass judgement and give advice.
BTW "£150-200 which is the cost of a low/mid range SSD" is also factually wrong Gantoris.
A lower end SSD is around £99. Where you have come up with this idea that SSD's are overrated I have no idea. Buy one, try one even and see for yourself before passing judgement. ;)

I fitted a new cheap SSD to my mothers ageing PC about a month ago. She was over the moon with her little spend. for about £100 she went from having a PC that was slower than a snail to a PC that's now slick and responsive and much faster in general than when she bought her PC 3 years ago. You try telling my old mum that SSD's are overrated. Sure a simple reformat and clean install would have given her back most the speed she had originally but nothing close to what she now has.

Upgrades are all about speed improvements. whether it's GPU, CPU, RAM or HDD. The SSD gives the greatest speed improvements any PC can have from updating just one component. It's really that simple. Nothing overrated about them at all.

If you think they are all about shaving a few seconds off your boot time you are greatly mistaken. They run much, much more deeper than that. :)
 
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The i7 920 was replaced by the 930 but that does'nt mean the 920 is out of date as it's still a fantastic cpu.

The mosfet cooling problem with your motherboard is that it does'nt have any heatsink on them, just the bare chips. When overclocking and overvolting you put more load on them and they get hotter. One of the Thermalright or Enzotech mosfet coolers would be a good investment there as you could then get your 4Ghz overclock back.

The 4890 is around 5830 performance so really not much to gain without spending a lot of money on something like a 480GTX or 5970. Alternatively you could buy a second 4890 for crossfire but only really worthwhile if your card is struggling at your current resolution.
 
I have more than a sneaking suspicion that Gantoris doesn't even own an SSD or has even ever used a system with one
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A friend of mine has a 120gb Revodrive and i use his PC a lot, as i said i dont find it crap im just somewhat dissapointed with what it actually does vs the price. His windows loads pretty fast as and a few games are a couple of seconds quicker to load, thats cool but £320 of cool? no i don't think so.

A lower end SSD is around £99
Click to expand...

Yes and you can fit 2 games on there + windows, what is the point in that?

Upgrades are all about speed improvements.
Click to expand...

The OP specifically stated he wants to be able to play games, to be precise Mechwarrior and Dues Ex 3 when they are released. My entire point is an SSD will NOT help him there at all in any way whatsoever, he will just get a slighly faster boot speed but the same below 20fps if he wants to play on 1900x1200 on full gfx.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Gantoris doesn't realize how fast a 4890 is
Click to expand...

I know exactly how fast it is but its still showing its age and will not run the next generation of games maxed out http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/175?vs=164 Thats a comparison of a 4890 vs a 5850 (£200) a definite improvement no? Since the OP wants to play games i challenge you to explain to me how he is better spending that £200 on an SSD over a new GPU to archive that goal.
 
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