Yet another Spec me an upgrade thread

dntbloodshot · 3 Jun 2008 at 16:11

Finally getting a holiday in about 3 weeks and I'm going to spend at least the first part of it working on a new build. In the mean time I was thinking about ordering parts and for that I need advice for which I thank you in advance.

The main purpose is games and the budget isn't really defined let's say an absolute maximum of £500 but I wouldn't mind saving some of it, in other words I am looking for some value for money.

What I have (and don't need to buy) a 24" monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, a lian li 25B, Spinpoint F1 1TB, other assorted HDD's and a DVD writer. I also have a BFG 8800GT that I'm not looking to change at the moment. My current PSU is a 350W Vantec Ion 2 that I love, don't make me change it unless I absolutely have to.

The things I am looking to change are an Athlon 3500+ on a socket 939 motherboard with 1.256Gb of some memory that I assume won't work in a new system. Also have an Audigy 2 ZS I wouldn't mind keeping unless there have been groundbreaking advances.

Things I am not interested in at the moment: SLI solutions and things that look pretty (I will never buy a clear case).

Things I am interested in at moment: good value for money, something that clocks well (and some air cooling solution for it).

I am clueless about current motherboard chipsets and manufacturers and I have read debates about Quad vs Dual cores. I understand the argument that at the moment Dual is probably better for games, but I wouldn't mind a Quad core as I guess future titles are likely to make use of more cores.

Thanks again.

closeratio · 3 Jun 2008 at 16:21

Wow, you got an 8800GT running using a 350W supply. Certainly shows that it isn't too power hungry then.

And about the upgrade, if you're thinking of getting a completely new mobo/RAM/cpu upgrade with a cpu that clocks well, intel would probably be the best route to go down. Sounds like your RAM is probably DDR 1 as well (could be wrong though) so it wouldn't be compatible with newer mobos.

If you do go down the Intel route, go for a motherboard which uses the P35 chipset, or if you want to spend a bit more go for the X38 chipset or even the X48, depending how hardcore you are

As for the CPU, the E2XXX's clock really well provided you have a decent cooler on them. If you want to get a more expensive cpu, you could go for a cheap E6XXX series or even an E8200/E8400 depending how much you want to spend.

These newer 8 series intels using the smaller 45nm manufacturing process apparently clock really well but they are quite (though not massively) expensive at the moment.

As for quad core, like you say there's no difference between the two really in games (until they start to become optimised for quad cores) but really I think you'd be pushing your power supply a bit by running a quad core and an 8800GT on a 350W supply.

PhoenixUK · 3 Jun 2008 at 17:39

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £59.99
(£70.49) £59.99
(£70.49)
Crucial Ballistix Tracer RED 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664AR804) Crucial Ballistix Tracer RED 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT25664AR804) £69.99
(£82.24) £69.99
(£82.24)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) - Retail £112.99
(£132.76) £112.99
(£132.76)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler (Socket 478/754/939/940/AM2/LGA775) £29.99
(£35.24) £29.99
(£35.24)
DFI Lan Party DK P35-T2RS Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard DFI Lan Party DK P35-T2RS Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £79.99
(£93.99) £79.99
(£93.99)
Sub Total : £352.95
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £63.33
Total : £425.23

And wait 2-3 weeks for the new GPUs.
Possible changes: Swap E8400 with Q6600.
A bit over budget since u will be left with only 80quid for graphics.

So if you don't have that much we could get AF7 instead of tuniq, cheaper memory, OCuk IP35 mobo and cheaper CPU, that will save you about ~60 pounds leaving you with total of about 140 for new GPU.

dntbloodshot · 3 Jun 2008 at 18:42

Thanks a lot for the input, these look like very sensible choices. Is there an ETA for Nehalem boards / CPUs?

closeratio · 3 Jun 2008 at 20:53

Ii've only heard a few things about nehalem but if tit's like most other new technology, it's goin' to be pretty pricey when it comes out for at least a few months. I've heard (although I'm not sure if it's true) that Nehalem will only support DDR3 which is prety expensive at the moment, however when Nehalem does become more popular DDR3 will probably go down because it'll be being made in much larger numbers.

According to wikipedia (link here) Nehalem will also use a completely new CPU socket as well, which will probably make the new CPU's more expensive.

I suppose if you wanted to spend that much then you could wait till Nehalem's released, it all depends on how long you can hold on to you money for