Upgrade suggestions?

[Tempast]

Sup guys, just wondering what you guys think I should upgrade, if I plan to upgrade.

 

So far I got my rig as a christmas present from my mom about 2 years ago, because she knew our old computer was a piece.

 

So what I have now is

 

Pentium Dual Core E5200 2.5GHz processor (Definately upgrading, this things old)

8 GB of Corsair DDR2 RAM.

ATi Radeon 4850 (thinking of overclocking instead of getting a new card)

Gigabyte EP43-DS3L motherboard (need a new one. This thing is old and not for gaming at all. ONLY ONE VID CARD SLOT WTF)

Corsair 650 watt power supply.

 

It's a decent rig, and can play Crysis on medium-high settings with about 27-40 FPS and maximum with about 10-27 FPS.

 

I'd like to know what you guys think I should upgrade :D

[Illiad86]

Why you complaining about one PCI slot? :P Most games don't even harness SLI/Crossfire...just paying extra for a slot you'll most likely never use. Just buy one nice graphics card for $250 instead of paying $900 for two and being ticked off that you aren't getting godly FPS lol.

 

You got a good setup there...but yeah upgrade the CPU hehe...Pentium Dual Core :P Motherboard as well :) Not a bad motherboard, but if you want to get a new CPU, you'll have to get a new one. I'd suggest AMD motherboard/processor because they are a good price/just as good as Intel...but it's all your preference.

 

Overclocking graphics card...hmmm....what kinda cooler does it have on it? If you want to overclock it, I'd get an aftermarket cooler if you have a crappy stock cooler on it. I'd also put high quality thermal compound on it. Nearly every graphics card I've gotten either has this thermal "tape" or this stuff that feels like a pencil eraser...ergh. Graphics cards already run very hot...overclocking will create more heat. Last time I overclocked a graphics card was my old 7950GT...had to zip tie a 80mm fan on the heatsink (was a passive cooled card) :P Not going to even try it with my 5770 lol...the coolers they put on these things...*sigh* I had to take off the stupid plastic shield that's around the fan and heatsink because it was running too hot.

 

Not bad though, cheap upgrade :D

[Tempast]

Thanks for the reply. The reason I want two PCI slots is because I need a new motherboard anyway, may as well get one with two for the future, and I was thinking of getting two cheaper cards, or one expensive one, then later when they drop prices just get another.

 

My case is an Antec 900 gaming case, it has pretty good cooling, but I want liquid if I get the processor I want. I'm currently looking at an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Quad Core Processor 3.4GHZ and possibly overclocking by 30-40% in the future (of course I not as soon as I get it :O)

I just need to figure out if I need to upgrade my motherboard if I get that processor.

 

 

EDIT: The box for my EP43-DS3L motherboard says it supports Intel duo and quad core, but no where does it say it supports that AMD processor. Is there a way to find out, or do I just need a new motherboard?

 

Would just a cheap Asus work for now?

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46944&vpn=M4A77TD&manufacture=ASUS

[DarkeWolf]

motherboards dont accept the CPU by the name of the manufacturer, they take them by socket type. Amd and intel make all kinds of different socket type CPU's, so you pretty much have to be careful to make sure that the CPU/mobo upgrade are compatible. But for instance a socket A Intel is the same as a socket A amd, as far as that goes. But, of course, you have to make sure that the mobo will support the new cpu as far as its clock speed and whatnot ;)

 

Edit- a little bit of hunting for the model number of your mobo turned up the manufacturers compatibility list ;)

http://www.giga-byte.lv/products/mb/cpulist/ga-ep43-ds3l_10.html

[Illiad86]

Thanks for the reply. The reason I want two PCI slots is because I need a new motherboard anyway, may as well get one with two for the future, and I was thinking of getting two cheaper cards, or one expensive one, then later when they drop prices just get another.

 

My case is an Antec 900 gaming case, it has pretty good cooling, but I want liquid if I get the processor I want. I'm currently looking at an AMD Phenom II X4 965 Quad Core Processor 3.4GHZ and possibly overclocking by 30-40% in the future (of course I not as soon as I get it :O)

I just need to figure out if I need to upgrade my motherboard if I get that processor.

 

 

EDIT: The box for my EP43-DS3L motherboard says it supports Intel duo and quad core, but no where does it say it supports that AMD processor. Is there a way to find out, or do I just need a new motherboard?

 

Would just a cheap Asus work for now?

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46944&vpn=M4A77TD&manufacture=ASUS

 

cheap hehe...that's a nice board for the price ;) But, you'd have to get that and spend about another $200 (or less, depends on how godly you want your processor) on a CPU as well.

 

The board you have currently supports the Core 2 line of processors (one's before the i5s, i7s) If you want...you could just upgrade your CPU for now to a Core 2 Quad Q9550 for now and wait on the motherboard. Those are still very good CPUs. But, if you want to eventually get a Core i7, you'd have to get a new motherboard because they changed the socket type when those came out.

 

It's all your preference...I'm still on an ancient AMD Athlon dual core with 4GB of DDR2 800 :P If your computer does what you want it to do, it's not necessary to upgrade all the time. I'm happy with my dinosaur computer :P It plays all the games I play and will be able to play many newer games :)

[Tempast]

Sorry for my late reply. The processor I am thinking of getting for the new board

(http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46281&vpn=HDZ965FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD)

And the motherboard

(http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46944&vpn=M4A77TD&manufacture=ASUS)

The board says DDR3, is it safe to use my Corsair DDR2 ram?

And will the board support my ATI Radeon 4850?

It should support the processor.

[Vindekarr]

My suggestion is a new CPU.

 

A friend of mine summed it all up nicely: QUAD CORE! QUAD CORE! QUAD CORE!

 

No, really, that's a very very nice rig, but the CPU is the weak link. I'd recomend a mid range I-7 CPU quad core. They arent too expensive, but they're reliable as anything and they give great performance for their cost.

 

I will also now state that by jove do NOT buy another AMD. They pale in comparison to Intel for performance and for value for money. An expensive AMD is as good as a cheap Intel. I-7 is your friend for a mid range PC.

 

I've got an I-7 340 quad core that though not overclocked, does 2.93 GHZ and only set me back a about 400 AUD, which included installation and a change of fans.

[Thor.]

Don't go by intel they are way to expensive, i suggest go with something like AMD.

 

Something like this.

 

Six Core, Six Core, Six Core :tongue:

 

the price is right. Check link, its at 3.20ghz :thumbsup:

 

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6052729&CatId=4432

You may need to upgrade to a new Motherboard but you can get one a decent price these days.

 

As long as it supports Socket am3 you are alright.

 

Motherboard suggestion

 

its even crossfire ready if you want to.

 

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4444096&CatId=5534

 

Lol right now I'm jumping for joy ever since TigerDirect.ca moved into town lol, Its a system builders dream

 

priced it out for you, 500$ max.:thumbsup:

 

I noticed you have ddr2 hmm looks for another mother board, i think that one supports it though.

[Tempast]

AMD or Intel is definatly a preference, I've had many people root for both, but AMD is alot cheaper. I heard six cores is slower for gaming than duo or quad because like only 1% of software (video editing) uses more cores. Six cores is aso ALOT more expensive than duo or quad. Almost double the price. The links I posted fit perfectly into my price range. $500 is alot for a 17 year old D:<

[Thor.]

It has a feature to reduce the cores when needed to 3, also turbo boost can overclock it to a whopping 3.6ghz.

 

using the default settings.

 

Its a must have for gaming doesn't lag at all.

 

Simple tweaking it even more can go as High as 4.2ghz.