Upgrade socket 775 rig or not?

freestyla · 30-03-2011 08:06AM #1

I d need little turbo in my present rig to be able to play new games at max details on 1440x900 resolution.
Or whole new rig?

Abit P35 Pro S775
Intel E8400 @ 3.30Ghz
Corsair XMS DDR2 4x1GB
ATI HD4850 1GB
Zalman 650W
G.Skill Phoenix Pro 60GB SSD

Got that SSD last year which helped a lot in applications and a little bit in gaming, but still must go on.

Option 1:
I guess it's not enough to upgrade only CPU what you think? is quad-core must for new games?
Q9950 is over 300eur!
would Q8400 bring any boost over present E8400? this is 170eur only.
Btw whats the difference between q9950s and q9650? Latter is a bit cheaper.

Option 2:
Or is it GPU change only? New HD6870 or GTX460 for around 200eur? I never pay more than 150-200eur for GPU since changing it every year or so.

Option 3:
New rig. But then I would have to buy bigger monitor with higher resolution and whole that would need around 800-900eur I think and that would be not possible until autumn

mobo, CPU, memory and GPU but what socket and how many cores to go for if I want to have it for 2-3 years ?

Help much appreciated.

Saadyst · 30-03-2011 09:10AM

I have a similar spec system at core. Same motherboard, but with the amazing Q6600, 4 gigs of ram etc. I had a 4870 was really was fine for what I needed it for, but upgraded to 6950 recently.

I have no problems running games at 1920x1200 at close to, or max settings. Granted I mostly play Source based games, Dragon Age 2 or Dawn of War 2 etc.

So first of all, what are you playing? I would suspect a new graphics card would be sufficient, but as always, depends on what games.

seyeM · 30-03-2011 09:36AM

Definitely don't go the Quad socket 775 route unless you get a good deal second hand. For just over €300 + delivery, you could get an i5 2500k, P67 motherboard and 2x2 gigs DDR3 RAM. And you could recoup some of that by selling your existing hardware, so at most €200 net cost for the upgrade.

Going from a 4850, I'd recommend going to at least €220 6950 2GB to see a good performance leap. This cost could again be offset by the sale of the 4850 - should fetch around €70 second hand.

freestyla · 30-03-2011 12:11PM

I m playing GRID, DIRT and CS Source. COD and NFS series only offline sometimes.
I also use virtualization and HD streaming in LAN.

Basically GPU upgrade would be enough for those games at 1440x900.
Would HD6950 or GTX560 work in this P35 motherboard? Then could buy new mobo, CPU and memory in few months..

Am i being stupido now or.. can't find trading forum, buy and sell.. ?

thenightrider · 30-03-2011 12:15PM

If you are looking for some were to sell your stuff go to adverts.ie its linked to boards.ie

tman · 30-03-2011 12:15PM

freestyla wrote: »

Am i being stupido now or.. can't find trading forum, buy and sell.. ?

http://www.adverts.ie/

You'd be lucky to find anyone willing to part with a 6950 or the equivalent though tbh
Also be sure that your case will actually fit one of the gigantic bastards! (mine is around 30cm long)

PogMoThoin · 30-03-2011 12:45PM

I spotted this:
http://www.adverts.ie/hardware/quad-core-q6600/523817

Saadyst · 30-03-2011 12:57PM

freestyla wrote: »

I m playing GRID, DIRT and CS Source. COD and NFS series only offline sometimes.
I also use virtualization and HD streaming in LAN.

Basically GPU upgrade would be enough for those games at 1440x900.
Would HD6950 or GTX560 work in this P35 motherboard? Then could buy new mobo, CPU and memory in few months..

Am i being stupido now or.. can't find trading forum, buy and sell.. ?

Yeah, I've the same motherboard and 6950 works fine.

tman · 30-03-2011 12:57PM

You'd be better off saving the money for a better graphics card or a complete upgrade imo, the E8400 isn't exactly a slouch!

/edit
That was directed at PogMoThoin's post

PogMoThoin · 30-03-2011 01:29PM

No need for a complete upgrade when a quad and a new gpu will keep him gaming for another year or more. He's already got 4GB ddr2 and a mobo that takes a quad. An upgrade kits costs €250+ and is not that much faster than a q6600 in what he's got.

freestyla · 30-03-2011 06:43PM

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I spotted this:
http://www.adverts.ie/hardware/quad-core-q6600/523817

Very tempting! not sure if going for that old stuff even its quad. and this one is suspiciously cheap tbh. but again its G0 stepping

PogMoThoin · 30-03-2011 06:49PM

freestyla wrote: »

Very tempting! not sure if going for that old stuff even its quad. and this one is suspiciously cheap tbh. but again its G0 stepping

Its all its worth, I sold a b3 stepping for 80 last yr:
http://www.adverts.ie/hardware/intel-core-2-quad-processor-q6600-8m-cache-2-40-ghz-1066-mhz-fsb/286746

freestyla · 30-03-2011 07:55PM

Cheers guys.
I think will go for new setup in few weeks. Should get 200eur for present stuff + 300 own money and get smthg like this>

Core i5 2500K
Kingston 2x2GB 1333mhz CL7 ---> changed to Corsair Dominator - 2x2GB 1600MHz PC3-12800
MSI P67A-C43 (B3) ---> changed to Asus P8P67 PRO
Nvidia GTX460 768mb or 1gb

Then going for bigger screen and possibly new GPU later this year.

Jonny7 · 31-03-2011 12:34PM

freestyla wrote: »

Cheers guys.
I think will go for new setup in few weeks. Should get 200eur for present stuff + 300 own money and get smthg like this>

Core i5 2500K
Kingston 2x2GB 1333mhz CL7 ---> changed to Corsair Dominator - 2x2GB 1600MHz PC3-12800
MSI P67A-C43 (B3) ---> changed to Asus P8P67 PRO
Nvidia GTX460 768mb or 1gb

Then going for bigger screen and possibly new GPU later this year.

If you sell the 8400 on ebay with european shipping, you can get a fair bit for it, same with any other parts - individually

Or just lump it to the bargain hawks on adverts.ie for an easy sale

Tea_Bag · 02-04-2011 11:10AM

freestyla wrote: »

Cheers guys.
I think will go for new setup in few weeks. Should get 200eur for present stuff + 300 own money and get smthg like this>

Core i5 2500K
Kingston 2x2GB 1333mhz CL7 ---> changed to Corsair Dominator - 2x2GB 1600MHz PC3-12800
MSI P67A-C43 (B3) ---> changed to Asus P8P67 PRO
Nvidia GTX460 768mb or 1gb

Then going for bigger screen and possibly new GPU later this year.

where are you buying from?
all that for under 500 with shipping looks like a bargain.

actually, its a good deal but you didnt specify if that includes a CPU cooler (a must for the 2500k) and a HDD etc.

freestyla · 03-04-2011 06:18PM

Tea_Bag wrote: »

where are you buying from?
all that for under 500 with shipping looks like a bargain.

actually, its a good deal but you didnt specify if that includes a CPU cooler (a must for the 2500k) and a HDD etc.

don't remember exactly now, will look at the prices again in few weeks when its actual again. was lookin at komplett, elara, hardwareversand.
HDD i have already.

i m lazy to google now.. why aftermarketcooler is must for 2500k ?

tman · 03-04-2011 06:45PM

freestyla wrote: »

i m lazy to google now.. why aftermarketcooler is must for 2500k ?

It's not, the stock cooler will be perfectly fine if you're not overclocking (and will still handle some slight OCs)
A lot of the posters here seem to think that a 2500k is a waste of money unless you're going to OC it to 8 Jiggawatts...

Tea_Bag · 03-04-2011 06:50PM

it is.

isnt that the point of the K series? you may as well save a few bob and get the standard i5 if you're not into overclocking. overclocking on the i5k seems to be dead easy anyway. trying to OC my athlon X3 (unlocked to phenom X4) is a nightmare to get anything over .3ghz gain. ive to play with my voltages in 50mhz increments.
that may be because it already has a powerdraw of 132.5W under full load though.

Solitaire · 04-04-2011 12:11AM

What do you expect with an unlocked Phenom?

:P

Anyway, i5-2500 is a waste of money, as the K version is slightly cheaper most places

On the other hand, for those who don't care a fig about OCing the next model down (i5-2400) is barely any slower and a good bit cheaper (€150+ vs €180+) while using only 55W at full whack (3.2GHz). Sounds good to me

freestyla · 06-04-2011 07:34AM

Ordered Asus HD 6850 DirectCU from debs.ie.. lets try boost S775 rig with that.. maybe no need for quad-core this year yet.. I have only 1440x900 screen. I hope its 26cm length fits my case.

Upgrade socket 775 rig or not?

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