Upgrade or New build dilemna

[Redddraggon]

My Current specs are:

C2D E6400 (@ stock)
4GB DDR2
8800GTS 320mb
abit fatal1ty fp-in9 sli mobo
Vista Home premium x64

Basically after Christmas I am considering a new build for around £700 - ie everything, inc case/HDDs/drives.

But would I get anything pretty good for £700? Or would I better off upgrading the GFX card and possibly the CPU on my current system for £250 or so and waiting a bit longer and doing a more expensive complete build.

At the moment I am trying to run 2 screens at 1680x1050 (1 monitor game, 1 monitor remains on the desktop), so in some of the newer games like ARMA2 my computer really struggles.

What do people recommend?

[shutteh]

what do u want to do with your pc?
the 320 mb graficcard is a little bit less for 2 big monitors.
is it a sockel 775 board? maybe u can get an Q9550 and a new graficcard(GTX 275 or the new ati 5xxxx-> have more ram, thats good for many displays) and u have a really good system for less money.


edit: aaaah i see u post the motherboard. checked it and cant find a compatibility to Q9550 but i think they havn't update the cpu list. maybe u can write an email to abit to check it out if u can use the Q9550.

if its possible to use the cpu u can make an upgrade to a new cpu and new grafic.
in a few month or a year we have usb 3.0 and the new sata. then u can build a new pc with a new mainboard.

[IXL]

I got, what I think, is a lovely build, which I sorted earlier this summer.

http://forum.ofc-gaming.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3661

• MSI 790FX-GD70 AMD 790FX AM3 PCI-E (x16) DDR3
• AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU
• Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3-1600 Dual Channel Memory Kit
• Sapphire HD 4870 1GB GDDR5

I got the Mainboard, CPU, RAM and GFX Card for just under £400.

Some reviews on the MB are here:

http://hothardware.com/Articles/MSI-790 ... rd/?page=1
http://www.futurelooks.com/msi-790fx-gd ... rd-review/

Its up to you tho...with regards to cases etc.

Ive got, which ive had for a few years now this, made by Thermal Take.

[shutteh]

yeah the amd cpu is extremly low priced at the moment. but the DDR3 ram is expensive :/ and with a Q9550 update he can use his system for the next 3 years.

otherwise the AMD Build is a really good choice for a cost/performance system

I bought a few month ago a I7-920, Zotac GTX275, OCZ Platinum 6GB DDR3-1600 (triple channel), MSI Eclipse SLI, 2*1TB Samsung HDD, Pioneer DVD-Burner, Sharkoon Semphim Case(really cheap bigtower).

it makes a lot of fun to play with it or to work with gimp, dvd converting, etc. but it wasnt low priced


Hom much cost the Q9550 in the UK? And how much cost a AMD Board + PhenomII + new DDR3 ram? and do you really need a new case and dvd disk, hdd, etc?

[LuckyCombatPotato]

Good stuff IXL, is the Sapphire HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 good money for value ?

[IXL]

Its a lovely card, esp as its DDR5, but think its been superceeded now by another model, as stock is hard to come by.

But I would say, any 4870 Card is good, as long as its DDR5. Get a Gig one if you can...

With regards to any component, I would suggest you "track" your desired item. For example, pick the RAM you want and watch the prices carefully day by day and you might be supprised how much the prices change from website to website. You can, if you time it right, get an amazing deal. Also, you dont have to buy all your bits at once, so if you see a deal on a part, get it....

[Redddraggon]

But I would say, any 4870 Card is good, as long as its DDR5. Get a Gig one if you can...

How about slotting one of those into my system? Or would I sufffer from a bottleneck because of the CPU?

[IXL]

Performance would improve, but like you say, it would be a limited increase.

In your situation, I would try to get all the parts in one go or at least plan to get all the parts eventually, over a period of weeks. You could get the GFX card now and then maybe in a while get the mainboard and CPU and RAM later. That would then be able to unleash their optimum performance.

Just check that the card will fit your case with your other components.... ( its quite long )

IXL

[LuckyCombatPotato]

think that's the new one : Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 Vapor-X CrossFireX 2 Go GDDR5
/130€

[Schlack]

Nice thread,

im currently planning a new build myself. - my no smoking money has given me a giant bulge in my pants (is that a roll of notes in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?)

Mobo, processor, GC, memory, new OS, new hard drive sound card and a partridge in a pear tree.

I have case, monitor and PSU from last year so they're good and DVD RW and old HD still ok but too small

Ill post my current thinking when i get home later and can find the links.

[shutteh]

here u can see a performance rating (only german, sorry) http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/hard ... ancerating of the actual graficcards. (if you have any question for translation, ask me)

as i bought my new pc i make a decision between the 4870 and the gtx 275. the 4870 was too hot and used to many power in the idle moment for me.
so i get the gtx 275. its enough for one 22" monitor.

reddragon: only change your graficcard and the cpu and u have enough power and no bottleneck(maybe the ram-clock but the performance is enough)

and if you want some performance ratings for cpu's: http://www.hardware.fr/articles/778-1/c ... l-amd.html
they test 131 cpu's there is the e6400 and the new i7 920, Phenom II X4 965, Q9550. So you have a good contrast.

[Redddraggon]

OK, when I built my last computer - April 2007, AMD were out favour, and it was C2D all the way, the computer before that AMD provided the best Cost/Performance - and I built myself a computer with an AMD Thunderbird 1GHz.

So AMD is back in favour now for Cost/Performance?

I'm not planning on splashing out any money until January now anyway, I've spent up for December (and I was only paid on Monday ).

I've already got myself another x64 Win7 Pro License for £30 (I have both @student.manchester.ac.uk and @postgrad.manchester.ac.uk addresses that work).

[shutteh]

yes, amd is back with a good cost/performance. the phenom 2 955/965 is a good cpu. and the way of thinking about the motherboardsockel is great from amd.
so you have high chances to upgrade an am3 board with an actuall cpu in a few years. intel have a lot of different sockels :/ 775(old), 1366(new), 1156(new),... nobody knows which one is the future

[Redddraggon]

Well it looks like it's going to be closer to Summer before I start a new build.

Hopefully give myself some more time to think about it.

[thecountcz]

i have that case in black tsunami dream