Where do I upgrade from here?

Jon1974

Jon1974

Jon1974

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Joined
26 Jun 2009
Posts
4
Hi Everyone,

I have been mulling this one over for a while and I cant decide what to do. Here is my current spec from memory

C2D e8400
Abit IP35 Pro
4GB DDR 2
ATI 4850
2x 250 GB Seagate HDD's in RAID + Spinpoint F1 1 TB
Vista Ultimate 32 bit

Now, I would like to upgrade to some newer technology such as SSD and a better graphics card (maybe 4890 or 2), i dont play many games however the 4850 does judder a little when theres a lot going on in DAoC, Fallout etc. I'd also like to try Windows 7 RC1 64 bit.

My question is do I go the whole hog and move to an i7 setup which means new MB, RAM, PSU - basically a new PC at the cost of over £1k with all the SSd goodies and xfire.

The other option I see is to stay for now on my trusty C2D and just change the MB to something like the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3P, grab a 4890 or 2 and some cheap DDR2 (8 or 12 GB) + the SSD etc. This will cost maybe £500-£600.

Please help!

Thanks,

Jon
 
If you Don't play much games are you sure you want to spend 100+ on a extra card when just the one will run most if not all games at a good level?
 
I think you need to identify what you want to use the PC for before you can spec an upgrade path.

If you want to do gaming, a new graphics card would do the trick. You have plenty of RAM, and while the CPU isn't state of the art, you'd have to have a good reason to upgrade it.

You'll be able to run Windows 7 fine on that setup.
 
Having said that, an SSD is a nice way to speed up almost everything, so if you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket, it may be a good option. A 4890 will give you a far bigger increase in performance but only for gaming.
 
I do play games on it although not the really new ones, the newest I have on PC is Fallout 3, rest I play on Xbox.

Whilst I dont care about playing Crysis with everything maxed I would like to be sure my rig can play any new game I throw at it over the next 12 months.
 
Hard to know what the requirements will be for those - tbh I would hold off until you need something specific. The 4890 is great value now, but in 6 months there may be a new card with better performance for the same money!
 
With a IP35 Pro you are'nt going to be able to do crossfire properly anyway as your board will only run at 16x and 4x meaning the card in the lower slot will be crucified.
 
Ok so what about this path which includes a ram upgrade as my current DDR2 is not the best.

G.Skill Falcon 64GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive £154.99

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 XT 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £140.99

2 x Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel £79.98

OcUK Value 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter £5.99
 
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