whats next

[hardc0re_tid]

im looking to upgrade my rig after christmas (ive made a deal with my better half that i wont spend a penny on my rig until after december) due to games such as bioshock etc

so far as it stands:

Asus P5B Deluxe
Intel C2D 6300 @ 3.15 under a Arctic Freezer Pro
2 GB Geil 6400 ULL
MSI 7900GTO 512mb at stock i think
Audigy 2 5.1
520w OCZ modstream
1x WD Caviar 80gb OS Drive
1x 7200.10 250GB Game Drive
1x 7200.10 250GB Music and video
all tucked away in a black thermaltake shark
19" Acer AL1916w which is away getting fixed
XP Pro/Vista Ultimate

i have thought about going for the following upgrades:

Essentials

Intel C2D 6600 or greater and new cooler.
8800GTS/X or greater
new soundcard, X-Fi? (are CL making good ones that work now?)

Bonus's

2x 7200.10, will raid 0 for games (still pondering on the idea)
maybe a new monitor
new OS drive <100GB
tv tuner thats media center compatable

im looking at spending in and around £600-700

whats your thoughts guys. i know 4 months is a long time away and technology will have improved so what should i look out for nearer to the time

 

[Twinblade]

I was thinking first off a step up to Quad Core rather than a new C2D chip, considering they arent that expensie anymore it seems silly not to.

8800 GTX/S is definitely worth it if your going to be playing Bioshock, and if you have the cash it would be silly not to. Also, what about looking at a new case?

 

[semi-pro waster]

It is a bit too far away to be entirely accurate but I'd be probably looking towards quad core - the Q6600 with the G0 stepping seem to be very overclockable. A new graphics card and probably monitor will take up a fair portion of the rest of the budget.

If buying new hard drives then the Western Digital AAKS series are maybe a shade better than the 7200.10s but there isn't a huge amount in it.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

thanks for the input guys, i hadnt thought about quad core, is anything quad compatable, or can use all 4 cores? can the P5B accept quad?

whats wrong with the shark, ive had no bother with it, just some new fans and all was good, 120mm ambers all round, 2 in the front, 1 in the back. nice and cool and will house an 8800gtx.

i could keep the acer monitor for a bit longer, if it comes back working, if not ill go for a 21" dell, are they still good ones to go for?

as i said the drives arent essential, if i could get a new soundcard that would be great as ive a yamaha 6.1 av receiver, only running 2.1 atm off the audigy which IS getting quite dated. hows the Asus?

 

[semi-pro waster]

The P5B Deluxe is supposed to be quad core ready but you may need to flash the bios to the latest version if it isn't already.

Crysis and Supreme Commander are the best known games capable of using quad core but others should be in the pipeline.

I'm not too sure about soundcards and Vista at the moment, maybe have a look in either the Sound or Windows sub-forums.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

can i run xp and have dx10, or is it just vista thats dx10 compatable, i seen on here a while back that there was rumours of a dx10 compatabilty driver for xp

BFG 768mb 8800gtx and a Q6600 2.40 kentsfield comes in at just under 540 inc vat and p&p

looks like i could potentially need a new psu due to the 8800. any recomendations? pref 600w+

EDIT -

taken from Asus' site

Compatible with all FSB1333/1066/800/533MHz CPUs except Quad Core

 

[semi-pro waster]

It appears Asus aren't at all sure what their motherboard is capable of because it also says "Intel® Quad-core CPU Ready" and "It also can support Intel® next generation 45nm Multi-Core CPU. With new Intel® Core™ microarchitecture technology and 1333 / 1066 / 800 MHz FSB," plus with the comment on the User Review section of OcUKs website I'd be more confident of it support quad core with a bios flash than of it not.

Still only Vista that is DX10 compatible as far as I am aware.

//edit as for the PSU, the Corsair HX 520w and 620w are both very highly thought of.

 

[jack21]

im looking to upgrade my rig after christmas (ive made a deal with my better half that i wont spend a penny on my rig until after december) due to games such as bioshock etc

so far as it stands:

Asus P5B Deluxe
Intel C2D 6300 @ 3.15 under a Arctic Freezer Pro
2 GB Geil 6400 ULL
MSI 7900GTO 512mb at stock i think
Audigy 2 5.1
520w OCZ modstream
1x WD Caviar 80gb OS Drive
1x 7200.10 250GB Game Drive
1x 7200.10 250GB Music and video
all tucked away in a black thermaltake shark
19" Acer AL1916w which is away getting fixed
XP Pro/Vista Ultimate

i have thought about going for the following upgrades:

Essentials

Intel C2D 6600 or greater and new cooler.
8800GTS/X or greater
new soundcard, X-Fi? (are CL making good ones that work now?)

Bonus's

2x 7200.10, will raid 0 for games (still pondering on the idea)
maybe a new monitor
new OS drive <100GB
tv tuner thats media center compatable

im looking at spending in and around £600-700

whats your thoughts guys. i know 4 months is a long time away and technology will have improved so what should i look out for nearer to the time

You have a healthy budget in mind so I dont think there would be any problems. 4 Months is long time though you change your mind as well.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

You have a healthy budget in mind so I dont think there would be any problems. 4 Months is long time though you change your mind as well.

too true, im wanting to buy now, but with £7.05 in the bank its a no go. jan cant come quick enough. an 8800gtx is a definite, whether to go quad is a different matter. 3gig 6850 w/ 4mb cache or a 2.4gig Q6600, in and around the same price. which is the more overclockable. i know the quad would pay off in the long run.

cooler

im thinking of going down the titan cooler route over watercooling, simply because id rather have top components over a quiet system. noise doesnt bother me and the music is always on anyway.

any other cooler out there that compares with the titan?

 

[cells]

I never understand people who buy great rigs and then play on a terrible monitor


For 600-700 id say definitely get yourself a good monitor, they make a massive difference.

If you have the space go for a dell 24” screen. They can be had brand new for £400 now and dell usually does good deals around crambo so id guess under 350 by dec will be possible!

Then the rest of the moneyies for a new GPU, depending on whets out make your decision then.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

I never understand people who buy great rigs and then play on a terrible monitor


For 600-700 id say definitely get yourself a good monitor, they make a massive difference.

If you have the space go for a dell 24” screen. They can be had brand new for £400 now and dell usually does good deals around crambo so id guess under 350 by dec will be possible!

Then the rest of the moneyies for a new GPU, depending on whets out make your decision then.

the acer isnt that bad. its done me well for oh, a year! until it decided to start ghosting and blurry. £400 for a monitor, yes its a 24"er and has a good reputation but i couldnt afford it along with the rest of the kit im looking at.

no doubt about it, i could get it, but then id more than likely have to skimp on the rest.

l

Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey£369.99
(£434.74) £369.99
(£434.74)

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 768MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail£294.99
(£346.61) £294.99
(£346.61)

Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)£77.99
(£91.64) £77.99
(£91.64)

Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy Efficient 95W Edition" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail£159.99
(£187.99) £159.99
(£187.99)

Total : £1,073.84

over a grand on 4 items is a bit steep. thats with no cooler for the cpu either.

is another 2gb of ram an essential yet or is 2gb enough for the mean time

 

[Twinblade]

I don't know if you have considered this already, but with the GTX being quite large 27cm long I believe you need to make sure its going to fit in your current case along with everything else, otherwise a new case is also in order.

When I mean fit, you need to make sure it fits, and allows enough room for the HDD to sit nicely in their bays, especially considering you have 3, or potentially more.

The quad core you noted is definitely worth it in the long run, and as for a cooler, the Tower is a nice one, I also like the Silent Square Pro from Asus, and others like the Noctua (sp) ones. I suppose its down to choice. I am currently using the Freezer Pro 7, but will be chaning that when I can be bothered to order a quad.

Don't worry about the monitor, providing yours comes back ok, stick with it. That can be upgraded at a much later date should you feel the need to.

 

[hardc0re_tid]

I don't know if you have considered this already, but with the GTX being quite large 27cm long I believe you need to make sure its going to fit in your current case along with everything else, otherwise a new case is also in order.

When I mean fit, you need to make sure it fits, and allows enough room for the HDD to sit nicely in their bays, especially considering you have 3, or potentially more.

The quad core you noted is definitely worth it in the long run, and as for a cooler, the Tower is a nice one, I also like the Silent Square Pro from Asus, and others like the Noctua (sp) ones. I suppose its down to choice. I am currently using the Freezer Pro 7, but will be chaning that when I can be bothered to order a quad.

Don't worry about the monitor, providing yours comes back ok, stick with it. That can be upgraded at a much later date should you feel the need to.

the 8800 will fit, the hdds slide in side-on and are on rails. you can see this in the lower RHS - http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/xoxide/ttsharkb1.jpg

okay then, looks like ill go for an 8800gtx, Q6600, 620w corsair or maybe the ocz gamestream, ive got a modstream and havnt had a problem. i take it you mean the tuniq tower? i have been looking at the thermalright xp120 extreme, one guy using one an a Q6600 with no probs.

 

[melbourne720]

graphics card is probably the only thing you can upgrade that would make a big difference. 8800 GTS/GTX, but if you're waiting till after xmas, then G92 -> 9800GTX is what you should be saving up for!

 

[hardc0re_tid]

graphics card is probably the only thing you can upgrade that would make a big difference. 8800 GTS/GTX, but if you're waiting till after xmas, then G92 -> 9800GTX is what you should be saving up for!

much of a difference between the G80?

EDIT - ill go for the 8800GTX, by the time im buying the kit they will be down in price anyway along with the rest of the components. may even buy a new sound card and speakers for my receiver and upgrade to 5/6.1