Time to Upgrade

[Dilvish]

I'm thinking of upgrading my CPU/Motherboard/RAM/OS

 

Current system:

 

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ CPU (socket 939)

Asus A8N-SLI Premium Mobo

2x1GB Kingston PC3200 DDR400 RAM

EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX+

Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic SoundCard

Silverstone Zeus 560W PSU

Thermaltake Tsunami Mid-Tower Case

WD Raptor HD

CD and DVD drives

Windows XP Home 32 bit

 

Do these seem like decent choices?

I like to play games but I'm not a real overclocking enthusiast.

 

Core i7 920 (with stock cooler?)

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - $280

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...5-202-_-Product

 

Mobo

ASUS P6T LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - $250

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131359

 

RAM

CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1333C9 - $135

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145220

 

OS (with free upgrade to Windows 7 soonest)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM - $110

Includes free Windows 7 upgrade coupon

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116677

 

New Data HD

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM - $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136284

 

 

Edit: added more info since the links to Newegg aren't working now

[Thor.]

Well its nice but your psu is not going work well with your core7 to well, or that 9800gtx, nice choice i have two myself :thumbsup: . Maybe you should get atleast a 750 watt to be safe. Also that 9800 requires it.

[Dilvish]

When I use those online PSU calculators, It seems my 560 W psu will be okay. What calculator do you think is most accurate?

[Thor.]

I don't use a calculator, but i would use http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jspcan, to be safe its better to get more then you need, especially if you are planning on upgrading in the future.

 

personal experience

[Dilvish]

This computer started out with a 430 W PSU. I put in the 560 W when I went to 2 x 7800 GXT in SLI. You're right though. If I don't get a bigger PSU now, I will end up installing another one eventually.

[Thor.]

EDit never mind this, i thought you only had the 32bit version. didn't see you where upgrading.

[TheTerminator2004]

Bear in mind that the quality of PSUs degrades over time. So while a brand new, good-quality 530W PSU should be enough, an older one won't be as good, and might not be able to cope. Basically, due to capacitor aging, the maximum wattage decreases over time.

[Dilvish]

Bear in mind that the quality of PSUs degrades over time. So while a brand new, good-quality 530W PSU should be enough, an older one won't be as good, and might not be able to cope. Basically, due to capacitor aging, the maximum wattage decreases over time.

 

I've decided to keep the same PSU for now. I'll change it next time I buy a GPU. It's 2 years old but good quality and strong for a 560 W.

 

SILVERSTONE ST56ZF 560W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817163111