Can upgrade 1 part - which do I choose

[Corax]

Hi all,

My build spec's in my signature, and I've had it running for a few years now. I've got a little spare cash to upgrade 1 part. Which do I choose?

I'm thinking RAM, but I've not been following hardware that closely for a couple of years - Am I massively behind the game elsewhere?

Thanks,
'rax

[Cricket]

Is that a single core 3.2GHz P4? And you're using a AGP video card? Then yes, you are several generation back as far as computer technology goes. That computer actually seems more like 2 or 3 years old based on what you have.

Cricket

[Corax]

It's 4 or 5 years old! Was fairly hot when I built it, but I've not upgraded anything since - that's why I'm thinking it's about time!

Am I better off going for a new chipset or graphics card maybe?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Corax It's 4 or 5 years old! Was fairly hot when I built it, but I've not upgraded anything since - that's why I'm thinking it's about time!

Oh sorry, I miss-read your first post...thought it said you had it running for a year.

Originally Posted by Corax Am I better off going for a new chipset or graphics card maybe?

If it's 4 or 5 years old I think it's time to think about building a new one. But if you really want to keep it, I really don't know what you can do to improve it...it would have been a high end build all those years ago.

New chipset? Do you mean new motherboard? You can't replace just the chipset. If you do replace the motherboard you'll need all new parts anyway...almost nothing will transfer over from your existing build.

Cricket

[Big Al 15]

The only thing you can really do without spending a bunch of money is upgrading RAM. Even if you go up to 2Gb's, that's still a nice upgrade. Anything else and your going to have to update your motherboard. How much do you have to spend?

[Corax]

Originally Posted by Cricket ...almost nothing will transfer over from your existing build.

That's slightly gutting...

For now I've got about 200GBP max to spend.

Perhaps I'd be better off putting it aside and waiting until I've saved enough for the works. I guess I'm going to need m-board, CPU, graphics, sound, and fresh RAM. I presume the other parts (drives etc) will transfer?

[Fo1k-E]

Originally Posted by Corax I guess I'm going to need m-board, CPU, graphics, sound, and fresh RAM. I presume the other parts (drives etc) will transfer?

Yeah, new motherboard, new RAM, and a new graphics card. Aside from that, I think you can keep the rest. Not sure though.

Though, my main concern for this post is to just point out you don't need a soundcard. Unless you have a $200+ USD Logitech setup for a home theater, a soundcard won't do crap. :P Today's onboard sound is good enough.

[Corax]

Okay, that's one part scratched off my shopping list!

Can anyone point me towards a few threads to guide me on what I need to consider with the rest?

Cheers for the answers btw.

'rax

[Masaki 7-11]

For about 200GBP you can get a pretty good setup, but in order to get a good gaming set up (high performance video card), you'll need to spend about 210GBP (including VAT). A good parts seller in the UK is www.overclockers.co.uk, using that website, you can make a good dual core setup with 2GB of ram and a good graphics card for 210GBP, or without the graphics card, but with a fast motherboard with built in graphics (about as fast as a low end card) for about 130GBP with VAT included.

Here's the parts list for the gaming setup:
Asus M3A Motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 4400+
OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800 (OCZ and Corsair have good ram packages for about 20GBP, just make sure you don't get the value ram)
PowerColor HD3850 256MB

And for the built in graphics setup:
Asus M3A78-EMH Motherboard
AMD Athlon X2 4400+
OCZ 2x1GB DDR2-800 (OCZ and Corsair have good ram packages for about 20GBP, just make sure you don't get the value ram)

Either of these builds will work fine with your other parts (other than ram, motherboard, processor and videocard), and have a very good upgrade path.

[Corax]

Full upgrade for 200 quid! Excellent!

I'm reading in places that AMD aren't up to the level of Intel atm though?

Are there any sites which publish comparisons so I can do a bit of research? I've googled about, but other than Toms Hardware I've not found much...

[Masaki 7-11]

At the 50GBP range, AMD provides more performance than Intel counterparts if you're not overclocking. AMD is also better for smaller budgets because you can usually get solid motherboards for less than a solid Intel motherboard. Tom's Hardware is one of the best places for comparisons, but if you look at reviews of processors, you'll also find good comparisons.

[Corax]

Thanks Masaki.

I'm starting to think that if I'm going to do this, I should save up and do it properly. I want to be able to run new games on the fresh setup, so I think I should be patient and invest.

My thoughts so far are:


Asus P5K-E WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) - Retail
Asus GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail


Coming on to RAM, I'm puzzled what the difference is between DDR2 PC2-6400, PC2-8500 etc... I thought the 8500 was faster, but the 6400 is much more expensive...?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Corax Thanks Masaki. I'm starting to think that if I'm going to do this, I should save up and do it properly. I want to be able to run new games on the fresh setup, so I think I should be patient and invest. My thoughts so far are: Asus P5K-E WiFi Intel P35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.16GHz (1333FSB) - Retail Asus GeForce 9600 GT 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail Coming on to RAM, I'm puzzled what the difference is between DDR2 PC2-6400, PC2-8500 etc... I thought the 8500 was faster, but the 6400 is much more expensive...?

The AMD setup I described above with the HD3850 will have no trouble with new games so long as you are not expecting to play them at high resolutions or max settings, the HD3850 256MB can handle games up to the resolution of a 19 inch monitor fine, at a higher resolution than that, you'll need to look at a video card which has 512MB or more (keep in mind that you want to get a good video card with 512MB, not something like the 8500GT).

The setup you have described above should fare well with new games, but the main difference in gaming performance you'll see is in CPU intensive games which are mainly RTS and some FPS games, most FPS games are GPU intensive, so even going with an AMD setup will not be a problem. If you want to invest more money into an upgrade, you'll need to get a new power supply, and if you plan on using your computer for as much as you have used you're current one, I would consider a quad-core processor.

Regarding ram, it's very rare to find PC2-8500 ram to be less expensive than PC2-6400, on overclockers UK, they have gaming PC2-6400 ram for around 20GBP (For a matched pair of 1GB modules).

[The Village Idiot]

Originally Posted by Corax Thanks Masaki. I'm starting to think that if I'm going to do this, I should save up and do it properly. I want to be able to run new games on the fresh setup, so I think I should be patient and invest. Coming on to RAM, I'm puzzled what the difference is between DDR2 PC2-6400, PC2-8500 etc... I thought the 8500 was faster, but the 6400 is much more expensive...?

Really I would save up and get the upgrade you want, getting something cheap is nice, but for my computer I just saved up for what I wanted and then bought it. As for RAM, PC2-6400 is 800MHz RAM, PC2-8500 is 1066MHz RAM, now on a budget motherboard, they will only use upto 800MHz RAM, therefore buying above that speed is useless as it will just declock it to 800MHz.

There are so many different types of RAM these days that some are special types. Such as I have SLi RAM, or something, which may perform faster than Value 8500 RAM. Example: Buy a low end BMW and you don't get much? Buy a high end Volkswagen, and you get better performance. Hopefully you get the jist of it.

[Katreat]

Late in the thread but will add my two bits.

If upgrading I would go with another GB of ram as a low cost upgrade. ATI has just come out with some kick-ass AGP video card upgrades which would help with newer games but you might not want to spend that kind of money on an out of date system.

For budget gaming builds AMD is probably a better option. They offer you more for less below the faster C2D processors. Masaki's proposed build is low cost but will play most newer games on reasonable settings. Definately an upgrade from your current system.

If going for a high power system Intel has the lead and the parts you picked out look pretty good. You will need a new PSU if your old one is not ATX 2.0 spec, the newer MB require it. The E8400 is a great chip so I assume the E8500 will be better, not sure of price difference. If this is truely a gaming build when you get close to buying see if you can afford a bit more for the video card. The new 9600 is a nice upgrade from the 8600 but you might be able to find the 8800 GT or GTS (G92s) for even less money since they are being replaced with the new 9800 series. They are both faster than the 9600. You might also look at the ATI 3870 and 3870X2 series. ATI is being very aggresive and putting price pressure on Nvidea's mid range video card options.

Most of your old drives are probably IDE. If building new you might consider investing in a SATA HD and Burner. The newer MB no longer support IDE natively. It is being phased out and the controllers on these boards are 3rd party. Supposedly they still work, but it has been problomatic for some so if you have bit extra you might look to at least upgrade your primary HD and burner.

Kat