Need an opinion on this comparison

[adrianse]

Thinking about picking this up off CraigsList. It would be an upgrade to my Alienware Area 51 which I have had for over 5 years now and only upgraded occasionally. I'm a gamer and just want to really know if this system would be much of an upgrade when compared to my existing one.

Here it is:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit (memory)

SILVERSTONE ST75F 750W (power supply)

Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum (case)

MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Doesn't come with a hard drive, which is fine. I'll use my alienware one which has Windows 7 installed. No monitor, I'll use what I have.

Here is my old system:
Alienware Area 51
2.40 gigahertz Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
1000.10 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1S ATA Device
Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5K-E Rev 1.xx
3328 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+ [Display adapter]
Windows 7 Home Premium (build 7600)



Thanks!

adrianse

[ssu101]

i'm no expert or anything, but isn't the one you plan on buying clearly a downgrade?

[Nikon]

your alienware is most definately more powerful than that computer. and you would not be able to simply plug in the other HDD, you would have to re-install windows, else face severe stability issues.

compare the specs:
alienware other
2.4ghz quad core > 2.4ghz dual core
3+gb ram >2gb ram
9800gtx (x2?) >8800gts

[Nuclear Krusader]

Not only is the mobo from Most Stunning Investments, but it's also an nForce chipset, which is nowhere near as stable as an Intel chipset.

[glc]

Keep the Alienware.

[adrianse]

Thanks guys, that's what I needed to hear. Any reccomendations on what I could do to upgrade what I have to make a significant improvement? I would prefer to keep the motherboard so we're talking a processor reccomendation and maybe a RAM upgrade.

Thanks,

adrianse

[Nuclear Krusader]

Which version of Windows are you running? As in 32- or 64-bit.

[glc]

Nuc, with 3328 mb showing usable, it has to be 32 bit.

You don't need a processor or ram, you need a modern video card. You can easily overclock a Q6600 with proper cooling, it should hit 3 GHz with no problems.

[adrianse]

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium which is 32 bit I believe. Can you give me a card reccomendation that is much better than what I have but at the price break area where it would be worth it, but not the newest of course.

Thanks

adrianse

[Nuclear Krusader]

D'oh, G, you're right.

What G suggests is pretty much all you can do. Buying more RAM is useless, as the OS won't see/use it.

[David M]

What is wattage of your existing PSU? This is one of the factors that will determine which graphics cards will work.

[glc]

Need a dollar number for a video card.

David, if it's handling a pig 9800GTX, it should handle anything within a reasonable price range.

[David M]

Originally Posted by glc Need a dollar number for a video card. David, if it's handling a pig 9800GTX, it should handle anything within a reasonable price range.

True.