A Little Upgrade

vestanpance

I'm going to try and upgrade my pc (haven't done something like this before) so that it can play some of the more recent games (Crysis, Bioshock etc) at hopefully at least medium settings. What I have in it currently is:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3800+
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 7600GS 256mb
RAM: 1024MB PC2700 DDR

My plan is to change the CPU to AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (seems to be the best processor for socket 939)
GPU to 8800GT 512MB (when Komplett get them in stock)
RAM: Add Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 2048MB
My PSU is 420W, will this be ok?

Does this sound like it is enough to run Crysis? I'm on kind of a limited budget and I'd just like to make a few changes and then look at getting a new rig in a year.

Also, possibly a stupid question but with the CPU can I use the heatsink and fan off my current one or do I have to get them as well.

Thanks for any help.

Mr. Presentable

I don't think the CPU upgrade is worth it. I'd get a better cooler and OC the 3800 - there's people on here that got great results from that.

vestanpance

I have to say that I know very little about overclocking, I have AI Booster but when I change the settings to 110% the pc dies and I have to go into the BIOS to re set it back, the most I can change it to is 103%, is this normal?

TerrorFirmer

The CPU upgrade would definitely be worth it, dual core is really a necessity at this stage for gaming purposes, the 4200+ is a fairly good chip and should see you through those games no problems at high settings paired with an 8800gt. You can use the same heatsink. Though it's a fairly limited upgrade, given that you can't go beyond it. What brand is your PSU, model?

uberpixie

Def go for CPU upgrade ++

If you have a half dacent 420w psu you should be fine, not a very high power draw on the 8800GT.


Mate has a socket 939 X2 and is getting very good mileage out of it.

The upgrade you are considering will tie you over nicely for the next year.

the_syco

vestanpance wrote: »

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3800+
GPU: Nvidia Geforce 7600GS 256mb
RAM: 1024MB PC2700 DDR

My plan is to change the CPU to AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (seems to be the best processor for socket 939)
GPU to 8800GT 512MB (when Komplett get them in stock)
RAM: Add Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 2048MB

I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to upgrading, but are you sure your mobo supports both PC2700 and PC3200?

Also, how much is your budget? For €287 you could get these, and a Club3D GeForce 8800GT 512MB for €237.99, which works out to €525 (plus about €10 for shipping).

Or, you could get a PNY or Point of View card from Overclockers.co.uk for €245.26 (price in euro using xe.com including 21% VAT), with the €287 upgrade, for €532.26 (plus about €20 - €30 for shipping).

I'm unsure how Overclockers are like now, but it's where I got my PoV 7800GT two years ago this xmas. Also, it doesn't say when the 8800's will be in stock.

vestanpance

I had the PSU power slightly wrong, it's 460W, it's an E Tech MPT-460.

Budget wise I was looking at around €500, I'm not sure about upgrading the motherboard as well as I've never dont this before and wouldn't be too confident about changing that.

I'm not too sure about the RAM, I just assumed that I could put any type of DDR into it, the motherboard is an ASUS A8N-Sli if that helps.

Sqaull20

If your going to be getting a new rig in a year then I wouldnt spend too much.

From playing crysis on a xps710 with quad core 2.66ghz,768mb 8800gtx,2gb ram...I cant play crysis at high quality at 1280x1024 without dropping to under 20fps when the action gets going...Im getting about 30fps at high quality at medium quality its very fast never dropping below 40fps...

On a Dell vostro E6550 2.33ghz,Ati x1950pro,2gb ram its unplayable at high quality,medium at 1280x1024 is unplayable,even 1024x768 is unplayable,I have to knock it down to low quality to play it smoothish...

You will need a new pc to play Crysis at medium/high imo as no socket 939 cpu is capable of playing Crysis the ways its meant to be played,scratch that even a brand new €2500 custom built pc will not let you play Crysis at high quality/1680x1050 without dropping under 30fps now and again....

My advice spend as little as possible and get a x2 4200+ like Havok said and add a 8800gt,I would get the 256mb one from komplett for €180,going 512mb isnt worth it for your system as your going to be throttled at high res..

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=343127

TerrorFirmer

ddr is backwards compatible no worries there. If you aren't keen about changing the board - Which is very easy by the way, honestly - then just go the 4200+, GT and ram route. Will tide you over till next year easily.

Though I really think it's worth it to change the board, and go Intel. Core 2 Duo overclocks like crazy so you can get massive performance from little cash , and ddr2 ram is much cheaper then ddr to boot.

Even if you're not an overclocker, C2D is so friendly that you need zero knowledge to score a modest overclock that brings a cpu from medicore to good, which bodes well for the budget build. And when I say this, I literally mean a child could do it. For say, a 500mhz overclock, which is a massive increase given the relative clock speeds of core 2, all you have to do is change one value in bios, save and exit.

You said 500's your budget? Even here, I included a processor decent enough to hold its own even without overclocking and a board with good future proofing, and all the parts are decent quality:

[IMG][/img]

Sqaull20

Interesting you have the HD3870,do you think the 8800gt 256mb will outperform it?

Gonzo

Whats the story with Crysis? Is it just badly optimised or is it really that powerfull of a game engine? Ive seen benchmarks with the very latest and expensive rigs with dual 8800gtx's and its still not really playable at the highest resolutions?

TerrorFirmer

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Interesting you have the HD3870,do you think the 8800gt 256mb will outperform it?

No, the 256mb won't, and although the 512mb Gt is better, the 3870 is seriously appealing at just 199...

Sqaull20

HavoK wrote: »

No, the 256mb won't, and although the 512mb Gt is better, the 3870 is seriously appealing at just 199...

True...

Does he need a new psu though?

A 8800gt ran on a 250watt shuttle and the 3870 from what Ive seen has lower power consumption than a 8800gt

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=534311

Should that €70 euro be used on a better cpu like an E6750?

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=338082

Or even the new G92

TerrorFirmer

Shuttles have incredible psu's though. E-Tech? I've never heard of them and all I can find about them online is people having grief. Go into Maplins and you can see brands that you've never heard of that look good on the box, 700W psu's for 50 euro, then you look at the specs and see stuff like 15a total on the rails. I'm sure E-Tech is one of these brands.

vestanpance

Thanks for the help lads.

If I can stretch the budget a little would you suggest I go for the 512MB 8800gt instead of the Radeon or would I see much difference for that extra €70?

TerrorFirmer

Would recommend it dependent on what size monitor you have, the power of both cards relative to each other would really only come in question at a minimum resolution of 1440x900 and in most cases, higher then that, so if you're using a 17" or 19" monitor then the 3870 will serve you well.

Though if money really were no option then I would opt for the GT, but just keeping your budget in mind...

vestanpance

I've had a long think about this and decided to go with replacing the motherboard, I've also changed the budget (the XBox will have to wait) and I've put together something that I hope will see me ok for a while, from what I've read it looks like I can always upgrade again next year rather than buying a new rig. What I've put together so far is:



Have I put anything bad in there? Unfortunately the sky is not the limit with Christmas almost upon us and I would say that €850 is probably the most I could stretch to.

My monitor is a Samsung 22" LCD Syncmaster 226BW TCO03, 1680x1050, 2ms, 3000:1.

TerrorFirmer

Great, but...there's nothing there?

vestanpance

Made a mess of posting the link, not sure how to do that so it will have to be copy and paste until I figure that out.


Asus P5K-E/WIFI-AP, P35, Socket-775, DDR2, WIFI, ATX, GbLAN, PCI-Ex16

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB, BOXED w/fan

OCZ Gold DDR2 PC5400 2048MB KIT, w/two 1024MB PC5400 XTC, CL4-4-4-12

Hiper PSU 730W Black, Type-M, 80mm Fan, ATX/EPS, 4xSATA, 2xPCI-E, 24pin

Gainward GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express 2.0, 2xDVI/HDCP, 256bit

Total: 823.01

TerrorFirmer

Looks fine, except no need for a 730w psu in that build, the 530w Hiper would be fine, if you want to save a few extra notes. Even the 670w hiper is cheaper and more then enough.

Few things could change to save more cash, like getting a cheaper processor and overclock, good board for that. If you're not overclocking, I'd probably get a cheaper board and a better processor for the same price.

vestanpance

Cheers Havok, thanks for the advice, if I drop down the PSU I might use the savings and go for an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz 1333Mhz Socket LGA775, 4MB, BOXED w/fan, I also think I'll have to check out this overclocking thing.