$250 upgrade question. hmmm....

[Negative Decibel]

Ok, I'm very happy with the computer in my sig, however I am selling my old athlon xp box to my neighbor for $260, and I want to put that money back into my current machine. The question is, what do I buy??

I use my computer for gaming, music, and school. My school work is not too demanding, working on my BA in business management, so the most I usually do is write papers, do research, and occatisional spreadsheet, or powerpoint; nothing too big

The only other components that are not currently listed in my sig are my displays (22" Benq LCD @ 1680*1050 and a HP p1110 21" CRT (resolution varies)), Saitek Eclipse II keybord, Logitech mx518 mouse, logitech Z4 2.1 speakers, and a cheep Xi-Fi extreme audio sound card. I am totally open to any suggestions, but I have started to do some homework. Here's what I have come up with so far
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz - $269

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115043
i'm not sure if I can run this cpu in my current motherbord, if any one knows off the top of thier head. if not this one, I might go with the q6600 OEM for $184...

CORSAIR TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX - $105 (and a $30 MIR)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145194
I all ready have the same sticks in my box, I'll have to ditch my 2gigs of corsair dominator 6400-C4Ds to make room, taking me from 6GB to a nice even 8GB of all matching sticks; not to mention that I will have money left over for something else too.

EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 - $200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130376
I would think that there might be a noticeable improvement from my current gpu; not much, but possible. i would have $50 bucks leftover with this.

Those are the big things I was thinking of. I would like some suggestions on some better speakers that are within my budget (if they are worth it, I don't have any problems with spending all $250 on speakers) I don't think I can afford much of an upgrade as far as my display goes, but if you have any suggestions please let me know. I could use a new mouse, as my buttons are a little wonky. The other item that I was looking for was a nice headphone/mic set, for gaming. (I just started playing TF2, and it would be nice to be able to communicate better with my teammates.)

 

[PsychoFanatic]

If you want to have any noticable impact on your GPU performance why not go all out and get a 4870/GTX 260?
they can be had from 220-300

4870:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131113

GTX 260:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127361

and if you decide to upgrade the CPU go with the Q6600 you can usually get a MUCH higher OC out of it vs. the Q9xxx series.

if you at 6 GB already its not really necessary to upgrade in your situation my recommendation would be a new GPU if you game.

 

[Negative Decibel]

both of those gpus are very very tempting...

 

[Dangman]

The Hd4870 or GTX 260 cards are the only upgrades you can do that'll provide a cost-effective performance increase.

As for TF2: A cheapo $30 mike is more than enough for TF2. You must be on a good server if people are using mics. At least that's my experience so far: good servers = mic usage, bad servers = no mic usage and you lose.

 

[tiraides]

A new graphics card would be the most beneficial upgrade for your needs. However, if you also want to upgrade your RAM to 8GB, you could sell your old video card (after upgrading, of course) and then use the money to purchase another (identical) 2x2GB kit of RAM.

Since you can't run multiple monitors in SLI mode -- and SLI would be overkill for either monitor by itself -- you could get any video card that you want. I say get either the HD4850 or the HD4870 (whichever you could afford, as you may have to use some of your own money to get the HD4870).

 

[Rydawg5143]

Danny plays TF2? Its all i play, any1 else? steam ids?

 

[engiNURD]

css here... and pokerstars fake money, lol. been playin wii more lately, though.

anyhow, no, a Q9300 will NOT work on an nForce6 series board. nForce6 does not support Yorkfields, only wolfdales, IIRC.

what to upgrade depends on what you do. since you use your system for gaming, upgrade the vidcard. then you can sell your old vidcard and upgrade something else. i'm assuming you game on your CRT? if so, then you don't even need the HD4870, just the HD4850, since you can lower your res on a CRT without it lookin so bad. that'll free up more money for something.

lets see... pickup the hd4850 for $160AR, leaving you with $100. Sell your old GTS for $75, giving you $175. Pickup the Q6600 OEM. Selling the E6600 for around.... $100? or so, then you can get more RAM... sell the old RAM and you can get... a better CPU HSF. Sell that weak Zalman and go buy a new game to play on your newly upgraded system.

 

[Negative Decibel]

The Hd4870 or GTX 260 cards are the only upgrades you can do that'll provide a cost-effective performance increase.

As for TF2: A cheapo $30 mike is more than enough for TF2. You must be on a good server if people are using mics. At least that's my experience so far: good servers = mic usage, bad servers = no mic usage and you lose.

yeah, I'm thinking that either the Hd4870 or GTX260 would make the most since. and, yeah, even in a lot of servers there quite a few people that use the mic just for bitching about the nerfed pyro, snipers, and spamming annoying music. There has been severel good servers where the players get very tactical and I feel like that it would improve my gameplay if I could easly communicate back with them... lol

A new graphics card would be the most beneficial upgrade for your needs. However, if you also want to upgrade your RAM to 8GB, you could sell your old video card (after upgrading, of course) and then use the money to purchase another (identical) 2x2GB kit of RAM.

Since you can't run multiple monitors in SLI mode -- and SLI would be overkill for either monitor by itself -- you could get any video card that you want. I say get either the HD4850 or the HD4870 (whichever you could afford, as you may have to use some of your own money to get the HD4870).

I might have a trade going for that 2GB of ram, so, that 8GB is looking nice too.

Danny plays TF2? Its all i play, any1 else? steam ids?

SteamID:: negativedecibel
I am a member if the [H]ard|Forum group as well. See you in game!

css here... and pokerstars fake money, lol. been playin wii more lately, though.

anyhow, no, a Q9300 will NOT work on an nForce6 series board. nForce6 does not support Yorkfields, only wolfdales, IIRC.

what to upgrade depends on what you do. since you use your system for gaming, upgrade the vidcard. then you can sell your old vidcard and upgrade something else. i'm assuming you game on your CRT? if so, then you don't even need the HD4870, just the HD4850, since you can lower your res on a CRT without it lookin so bad. that'll free up more money for something.

lets see... pickup the hd4850 for $160AR, leaving you with $100. Sell your old GTS for $75, giving you $175. Pickup the Q6600 OEM. Selling the E6600 for around.... $100? or so, then you can get more RAM... sell the old RAM and you can get... a better CPU HSF. Sell that weak Zalman and go buy a new game to play on your newly upgraded system.

Thanks for the info on the incompatability of the yorkfield. As much as I love the sound of 8GB of ram, I am leaning more twards upgrading the gpu first. You mapped out a very nice upgrade path which includes most of the upgrades i'm considering.

Oh, btw, most of my gaming is played on the LCD not the CRT. I play a lot of FPS, and I love having a widescreen for that. The only time I use the CRT for gaming is usually if it's an older game that has major issues with forcing it to run widescreen. Primarly the CRT is used just for extra desktop space; foobar2000, 4:3 movies, vista side bar, monitor temps, and such. (it's older (got a really good deal on a local pickup) and the convergence is slightly off depite several hours of tweeking; I just gave up on perfection. Sometimes when I get bored, I fiddle around with the settings.)

Thanks for the help guys. I'll definately look into upgrading the gpu first, although, I am still looking at the possibility of upgrading my speakers if I can find some good ones.

 

[Dangman]

Danny plays TF2? Its all i play, any1 else? steam ids?

Didn't I mention that in your thread a few weeks back about the slowdowns during TF2? Thought I did, lol.

Anyway, steamID: dangman4ever

I play TF2 occasionally. Been beta-testing Red Alert 3 for the last week or two. And before that, been playing C&C 3: KW.

 

[hossdaddy]

I would second upgrade your gpu first. I had that gpu (8800gts 640) and upgraded to the 4850 and the difference was incredible!!! Its the best thing I have ever put into the pc. It crushes everything I throw at it, including CRYSIS! i get 45 fps on high! (1440x900 res) looks amazing.

On another note I would make sure your mobo is updated to the most recent bios version to ensure maximum cpu compatibility.

 

[PsychoFanatic]

anyhow, no, a Q9300 will NOT work on an nForce6 series board. nForce6 does not support Yorkfields, only wolfdales, IIRC.

That is incorrect a BIOS update was released that supports 45nm about a year ago actually that provided the microcode update

as long as you have BIOS version P31 or newer you should be set.

 

[engiNURD]

That is incorrect a BIOS update was released that supports 45nm about a year ago actually that provided the microcode update

as long as you have BIOS version P31 or newer you should be set.

Hm... then eVGA needs to update their CPU support list. I remember they could only support 45nm Wolfdales, but not Yorkfields, which is why they came out with the nForce7 series. Their CPU compatibility list confirms this, but if there's a new BIOS out, they should update this list:

http://www.evga.com/support/mbcpu/nForce_Intel_CPU_List.pdf

*** NVIDIA nForce 6 MCP supports QX9650, but most current nForce 6 motherboards do not.

EDIT: Oh yah, found this post on their forum, too... I guess the guy is a mod? iunno... whatever...
http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.asp?m=485778
I tried looking for P31 BIOS notes, but eVGA's site is bleh. It only let me see P32, and P32 says it improved OC'ing for 1333FSB quadcore CPUs, which implies that they're supported, but I can't be sure.

 

[PsychoFanatic]

Hm... then eVGA needs to update their CPU support list. I remember they could only support 45nm Wolfdales, but not Yorkfields, which is why they came out with the nForce7 series. Their CPU compatibility list confirms this, but if there's a new BIOS out, they should update this list:

http://www.evga.com/support/mbcpu/nForce_Intel_CPU_List.pdf



EDIT: Oh yah, found this post on their forum, too... I guess the guy is a mod? iunno... whatever...
http://www.evga.com/forums/fb.asp?m=485778
I tried looking for P31 BIOS notes, but eVGA's site is bleh. It only let me see P32, and P32 says it improved OC'ing for 1333FSB quadcore CPUs, which implies that they're supported, but I can't be sure.

Really now? surprising i would've assumed a wolfdale update would've also mean't a yorkfield but if not then i stand corrected.

but yeah also they released the 7 series MCP to add tri-sli and PCI-E 2.0 compatibility mainly and of course so they could work with 45nm, but that wasn't the main thing behind it.

 

[soundguy]

steamID: soundguy92 (kinda obvious i know )

i occasionally play TF2 here in AUS when theres a free weekend, but mostly CSS

[H]ardforum group? sweet...

anyway, i would definately say 4850 or GTX260, defiantely upgrade the GPU from that old 8800GTS 640 MB, then maybe if you can sell your e6600, get a Q6600, or even a Q6700 since they've gone down in price...