SHOULD I BUILD OR UPGRADE?

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 1:48am #1

Hi all,
I need some advice please.
I need to run some 3D cad software with a min of 4Gb RAM, but personally i think the software needs at least 8Gb.
The PC i have at the moment hangs whenever i use the program.
Is there any advice on tweaking hardware or should i upgrade or do a new build.

Here is the specs on the pc i have at the moment.
CPU: i3 Intel Core2 Quad Q8200 CPU @ 2.33GHz Bus speed: 1333 Instruction Set 64bit
RAM: 4G DDR2 single channel
Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 GTS
Mobo: Ecs MCP73VT-PM LGA775 DDR2

I just made this PC up from parts and need to sort out a solution asap.
I am thinking about what i can do here that works out the least expensive!!
I know it's a bad spec but i thought it would do the job! :-(

OPTIONS:
(1)
Should i get 2x4Gb RAM modules?
8GB Patriot DDR2 Signature Series PC2-6400 800MHz CL6 Dual Channel kit (2x4GB) Cost: 190 from Memoryc (Should the ram module frequencies match the CPU FSB?)

(2)
Should i get a better graphics card?

(3)
Should i get a better CPU?

(4)
Should i do a new build with a budget of 500-600 (borrowed cash!!)

I need to sort this out within a week or two.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks

free_man · 08-11-2014 4:24am

Hi
Your issue is RAM.
GPU and CPU seems OK to me.
As MB has only 2 slots , you are stuck with max. 8GB RAM also you are stuck with single channel.
For CAD software, more RAM you have better it is.

My suggestion is to a MB with 4-6 RAM slots and add RAM as you have spare money. LGA775 MBs have been out of market for some time now. Buy a cheapo MB from ebay and you should be grand. I can't post weblinks, search ebay for LGA775.

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 11:05am

IrlMonk wrote: »

Hi all,
I need some advice please.
I need to run some 3D cad software with a min of 4Gb RAM, but personally i think the software needs at least 8Gb.
The PC i have at the moment hangs whenever i use the program.
Is there any advice on tweaking hardware or should i upgrade or do a new build.

Here is the specs on the pc i have at the moment.
CPU: i3 Intel Core2 Quad Q8200 CPU @ 2.33GHz Bus speed: 1333 Instruction Set 64bit
RAM: 4G DDR2 single channel
Graphics Card: GeForce 8800 GTS
Mobo: Ecs MCP73VT-PM LGA775 DDR2

I just made this PC up from parts and need to sort out a solution asap.
I am thinking about what i can do here that works out the least expensive!!
I know it's a bad spec but i thought it would do the job! :-(

OPTIONS:
(1)
Should i get 2x4Gb RAM modules?
8GB Patriot DDR2 Signature Series PC2-6400 800MHz CL6 Dual Channel kit (2x4GB) Cost: 190 from Memoryc (Should the ram module frequencies match the CPU FSB?)

(2)
Should i get a better graphics card?

(3)
Should i get a better CPU?

(4)
Should i do a new build with a budget of 500-600 (borrowed cash!!)

I need to sort this out within a week or two.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks

What prgram are you running? Does it run at all? Do you have 64bit windows to take advantage of any extra ram you put in?

Any ram you buy will only be of use in this pc, if you decide to upgrade in the next few months or year you will not be able to re-use the ram. Keep that in mind if you are splashing that kind of cash on an 8 GB kit.

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 3:12pm

Cheers to responses ;-)
I want to run CADmep, when I open the drawing it is grand, panning and zooming in a 2D plan is grand but when I switch to 3D the drawing would just hang.
I had a Pentium 4 CPU in it but I had to take it out as it only used a 32bit Instruction set and the drawing would just crash. The full 4G ram was not recognised.
Ideally the more ram the better and maybe a new and better CPU in the future.
So thanks to you an idea might be to upgrade the MOBO and get two 8G ram modules. And eventually change the GPU and get a new SSD.
What's your thoughts on this?

Thanks

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 3:54pm

IrlMonk wrote: »

Cheers to responses ;-)
I want to run CADmep, when I open the drawing it is grand, panning and zooming in a 2D plan is grand but when I switch to 3D the drawing would just hang.
I had a Pentium 4 CPU in it but I had to take it out as it only used a 32bit Instruction set and the drawing would just crash. The full 4G ram was not recognised.
Ideally the more ram the better and maybe a new and better CPU in the future.
So thanks to you an idea might be to upgrade the MOBO and get two 8G ram modules. And eventually change the GPU and get a new SSD.
What's your thoughts on this?

Thanks

Yeah, ddr3 ram while expensive is probably less than half the price of the ddr2 ram you listed above. You could keep things pretty cheap

Motherboard - €37.79
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/151628/ASRock+H81M-VG4%2C+Sockel+1150%2C+mATX.article

RAM - €66.45
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article

CPU - €63.62
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/165994/Intel+Pentium+G3440+in-a-Box.article

Coming to less that what you might have spent on the ram above.

Im not recommending this, it would depend on how much you could come up with as regards budget, and whether you could reuse case and power supply etc.

The main benefit is you would be on the current processor socket, so if down the line you need a better processor thats all you need to replace i.e. good upgrade potential if required, with lots of options.

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 4:36pm

Would I not be better with an Atx form factor rather than an m-atx ?
And maybe 16G of ram?
The prices on that site are excellent, are they reliable?

Cheers

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 4:47pm

For the CPU:

http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/173606/Intel+Pentium+G3258+Anniversary+Edition+Box%2C+1150.article

Can be overclocked, the G3440 can't as far as I'm aware. The only benefit of the G3440 is that it's clock speed is slightly higher, which can be solved by over-clocking very slightly.

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 4:47pm

IrlMonk wrote: »

Would I not be better with an Atx form factor rather than an m-atx ?
And maybe 16G of ram?
The prices on that site are excellent, are they reliable?

Cheers

Sort out your budget first. Yeah ive bought off them before. There is also a discount site which will get you some money off the prices listed.

Motherboard shape/size depends on your case, and if its compatible.

Somebody will be able to recommend better parts on here, when you have a budget. i was just showing what you could get for the price of the ram you were looking at.

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 5:38pm

Great info from all the gurus ;-)
It is just your standard tower Packard Bell, would I be better off dumping it and getting something more up to date?
My budget would be 200-300, but If I need to increase that to get it right then I might be able.

I'm thinking an atx mobo with usb3, a nice CPU 3+GHz, 16gb DDR3 Ram and if it's possible within budget an ssd!

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 6:11pm

A budget of 200-300 I don't think you'll fit in an atx board, 16gb of ram, ssd and a 3+ghz processor.

If I were you, I'd go for a more powerful cpu, 8gb ram, ATX board(has usb 3.0) and an ssd.

Something like;

(my suggestion)
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Solid-State-Disk/169180/Crucial+MX100+SSD+128GB+%282%2C5%2C+7mm%29.article
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/79683/MSI+Z87-G41+PC+Mate%2C+ATX%2C+1150.article
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/165416/Intel+Core+i3-4150+in-a-Box.article

Also, do you mean a case like this:

http://image.computeuk.co.uk/cache/data/Products/PC%20Systems/101527-500x500.jpg

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 6:38pm

Yes, that's the case.
I think your advice is sound so far.
I can upgrade the ram at a later stage.
Does the m-atx have 4 slots for ram upgrade?
I'm up to my eyeballs with the kids at the moment and will check the specs out later.
Thanks

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 6:41pm

Went for an ATX instead of the mATX, sorry, put in the m. So yeah, does have 4 slots.

I have one of those cases downstairs and it seems to have plenty of room. - Going to go check now.

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 6:42pm

You could potentially get what you were looking for but the cpu is more important than having loads of ram. Especially because it's easier to upgrade the ram than the cpu.

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 6:44pm

You can get m-atx with 4 dimm slots. M-atx are often cheaper than the atx equivalent board, the only thing you are loosing is a few pci slots, 4 is enough for most!

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 6:54pm

If the case is the same as the one that I have downstairs. I would seriously doubt there's enough room for an ATX board, mATX would be the max.

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 6:56pm

http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/81331/Gigabyte+B85M-D3H%2C+mATX%2C+Sockel+1150.article

May be your best bet.

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 9:16pm

The case appears to be the same as the one I have. How did you know which case I had? ??? Was it the hardware that I specified?
I didn't think the mobo at present was an m-atx!
The honest reason why I choose atx over m-atx is that I believe there is plenty of room for airflow and extra large hardware. Maybe I'm wrong!

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 9:25pm

IrlMonk wrote: »

The case appears to be the same as the one I have. How did you know which case I had? ??? Was it the hardware that I specified?
I didn't think the mobo at present was an m-atx!
The honest reason why I choose atx over m-atx is that I believe there is plenty of room for airflow and extra large hardware. Maybe I'm wrong!

Telepathy! :O Nah, it's just that Packard Bells towers are quite limited and was curious. ^^

Hmm, the case I have downstairs that looks the same as that picture would only be able to support an mATX board. Maybe your case is larger?

Do you think it would be possible for you to measure the height of the case?

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 9:28pm

Here is a thought:
Am I better off borrowing more cash and doing a mighty better build from scratch than upgrading the present system?
The work I will get will pay back the cost of a good system very rapid.
600-1000
Any thoughts welcome

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 9:37pm

The case measures 170x400x400mm, it is smaller than I thought initially so maybe m-atx is the right ff for the case

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 9:40pm

IrlMonk wrote: »

Here is a thought:
Am I better off borrowing more cash and doing a mighty better build from scratch than upgrading the present system?
The work I will get will pay back the cost of a good system very rapid.
600-1000
Any thoughts welcome

To be honest, you are losing on the double when you borrow to pc hardware. It depreciates quickly as the tech sector moves so fast, and you are paying it back with interest.

I wouldnt go mad, you could get a decent base build for €~400. If you think you will want more performance down the line start to put 20 quid aside a week.

The base build should be much better than your old one

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 9:50pm

When you say base build are you implying a new build from the case up?

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 10:04pm

Motherboard
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/81331/Gigabyte+B85M-D3H%2C+mATX%2C+Sockel+1150.article

CPU
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/173606/Intel+Pentium+G3258+Anniversary+Edition+Box%2C+1150.article

RAM
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article

SSD
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Solid-State-Disk/169180/Crucial+MX100+SSD+128GB+%282%2C5%2C+7mm%29.article

Case
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Mini/172044/FRACTAL+DESIGN+Geh%C3%A4use+Core+1100+black.article

Power Supply
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/300+-+400+Watts/74207/Corsair+VS+Serie+VS350%2C+Non-Modular%2C+80%2B.article

Comes to ~€320.

Any suggestions from others would be welcome, havent been keeping up so there may be better parts for the money. If you up the budget, would recommend going to and i3

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 10:20pm

I have a TR2-550 PP Thermaltake Psu installed.
The mobo you suggest appears to have only 1 usb2 and 1 usb3!
I also have an i3 q8200 Cpu

Ninjah Tigah · 08-11-2014 10:24pm

2 x USB 3.0 + 4 x USB 2.0 + ( 2 x USB 3.0 + 4 x USB 2.0 via headers )

IrlMonk · 08-11-2014 10:31pm

When I checked it first it only had 1xusb2 & 1xusb3!!
I'm using my s3 here so maybe I'm not reading or writing correctly :-)

Lu Tze · 08-11-2014 11:10pm

There are usb ports on the motherboard (at the back of the computer), you connect the two on the front of the case internally to the motherboard.

IrlMonk · 09-11-2014 11:55pm

Lu Tze wrote: »

You can get m-atx with 4 dimm slots. M-atx are often cheaper than the atx equivalent board, the only thing you are loosing is a few pci slots, 4 is enough for most!

With the case size i gave do you think an m-atx would fit the case?
The spec of the mobo doesn't mention m-atx!

http://www.ascendtech.us/ecs-mcp73vt-pm-lga775-ddr2-motherboard_i_mbecs4mcp73vtpm.aspx

IrlMonk · 10-11-2014 12:00am

Here's what i'm thinking after your suggestions:
Do you think that would do the job?

MOBO:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/81331/Gigabyte+B85M-D3H%2C+mATX%2C+Sockel+1150.article

CPU:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/173606/Intel+Pentium+G3258+Anniversary+Edition+Box%2C+1150.article

RAM:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article

SSD:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Solid-State-Disk/169180/Crucial+MX100+SSD+128GB+%282%2C5%2C+7mm%29.article

Ninjah Tigah · 10-11-2014 12:28am

IrlMonk wrote: »

Here's what i'm thinking after your suggestions:
Do you think that would do the job?

MOBO:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/DDR3/81331/Gigabyte+B85M-D3H%2C+mATX%2C+Sockel+1150.article

CPU:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Sockel+1150/173606/Intel+Pentium+G3258+Anniversary+Edition+Box%2C+1150.article

RAM:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/1600+Low+Voltage/125974/8GB-Kit+Crucial+Ballistix+Sport+Series+DDR3-1600%2C+CL9.article

SSD:
http://www.hardwareversand.de/en/Solid-State-Disk/169180/Crucial+MX100+SSD+128GB+%282%2C5%2C+7mm%29.article

Aye! That oughta do it.

Adrian J Lynch · 10-11-2014 12:30am

Build

SHOULD I BUILD OR UPGRADE?

Comments