Can I beat my current system for cheap

[EchoMatrix]

Thinking of spending $200. Currently have Dell XPS 720 with Q6700 OC to 3.4 with 6400 DDR2 Ram. Since I want to wait to builda new system when the next Intel comes out, this may be a while. If I wanted to spend about $200, can I get my system up to normal specs? Ill keep my GTX 570 and I think its limited now by my system

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
about 200. Case and Power dont count becasue I need to buy them anyway
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word
CPU/Mobo/PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
CD rom and all the wires and Hard drives
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
week or so
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support?
for this cheap build to last me? just basics
.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what
OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Guess I gotta buy. Going 64bit

 

[Tsuyoi]

You won't be able to upgrade anything for $200, since to touch the Ram or Processor you'd have to replace the MoBo, which is already over $100 by itself. Also, what Intel processor are you waiting for? Ivy Bridge? If so don't bother. The only real advantage it brings is better on-board graphics, for laptops and workstation computers. Since you have a 570, there's no point, a current i7 would run you fine for years.

 

[Forceman]

About the only thing you can do for $200 to upgrade that rig is to try to find a used Q9550 to drop in instead of the Q6700. A new motherboard, CPU, and RAM will be closer to $400.

 

[E4g1e]

Thinking of spending $200. Currently have Dell XPS 720 with Q6700 OC to 3.4 with 6400 DDR2 Ram. Since I want to wait to builda new system when the next Intel comes out, this may be a while. If I wanted to spend about $200, can I get my system up to normal specs? Ill keep my GTX 570 and I think its limited now by my system

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
about 200. Case and Power dont count becasue I need to buy them anyway
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word
CPU/Mobo/PSU
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
CD rom and all the wires and Hard drives
6) Will you be overclocking?
yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
week or so
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support?
for this cheap build to last me? just basics
.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what
OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Guess I gotta buy. Going 64bit

Actually, you will not be able to upgrade the CPU at all on that Dell system because their BIOS updates support only the CPUs that were offered at the time of the original system purchase. This means that the 45nm LGA 775 CPUs did not exist yet at the time of manufacture, and Dell never offered an XPS 720 with anything but 65nm CPUs. Plus, you will also need to replace all of your system's RAM since the XPS 720 uses DDR2 RAM (newer CPUs and motherboards require DDR3 RAM).

And with that limited $200 budget, you will not be able to make the proper CPU/mobo/RAM/PSU upgrade at all. You either get an extremely weak CPU or an extremely shitty PSU. In fact, the CPU that offers a worthwhile upgrade over your system's current CPU already costs $190 or more by itself; all of the cheaper Intel and AMD CPUs below $190 (for just the CPU) do not offer a sufficient increase in performance to justify the cost. That leaves you absolutely no room at all whatsoever in that $200 budget for a new motherboard, RAM or PSU.

As for the other required components, a new motherboard that can accommodate the new CPU costs at least $130, and a new PSU that can handle the high power demands of that GTX 570 costs at least $100. So, assuming Newegg prices, the cost of your upgrade (which includes just the CPU, mobo, RAM and PSU) would cost far higher than $200 - in fact, a whopping $500-ish. (You can spend much less, but then you will be pissed off at the lack of sufficient performance improvement over your current Dell system - and you may even be pissed off that the new "upgrade" turned out to actually be a downgrade.)

 

[cyclone3d]

You could always get an SSD.

 

[Tsuyoi]

His current processor, MoBo, and RAM would make an SSD pointless. Currently it's not his HDD holding back his load speeds....

 

[EchoMatrix]

True, but SSD wouldnt hurt on loading times. so I guess the bottleneck is my Mobo/CPU/memory.

It would just be the Memory/CPU/and Mobo for $200. PSU has to be bought anyway as well as the case, so I dont factor that into the equation. Not really worth it compared to i7? I figured the quad channel memory might be worth the wait a few months.

And its true about not upgrading the processor anymore. Pretty much got the best one I can get. I guess I could sell off some parts for a few bucks.

Thanks all

 

[E4g1e]

It would just be the Memory/CPU/and Mobo for $200. PSU has to be bought anyway as well as the case, so I dont factor that into the equation. Not really worth it compared to i7? I figured the quad channel memory might be worth the wait a few months.

Still, the least expensive CPU that is a worthwhile upgrade from your current system would cost nearly $200 by itself - and that would leave no room at all for either the memory or the motherboard. With that in mind, the total cost of your planned upgrade would still be way more than $200 - closer to $350, in fact.

 

[Dangman]

It would just be the Memory/CPU/and Mobo for $200.

Unless you live near a Microcenter, you won't get a noticeable performance increase for that much cash as others have noted. You can certainly upgrade for that much but it would not be a justifiable purchase unless you're using bonkers logic.

PSU has to be bought anyway as well as the case, so I dont factor that into the equation.

Sooo how much money do you have for the new case and PSU? When wil you buy the new case and PSU?

Not really worth it compared to i7? I figured the quad channel memory might be worth the wait a few months.

The Ivy Bridge CPUs supposedly have a 20% performance lead over current SB CPus. Quad-channel RAM may not actually provide a performance benefit.

 

[EchoMatrix]

Well I wanted to buy a new computer when Ivy came out but since any case or PSU bought now will fit the new components, from what i see, i didnt really figure in the cash. I'd say money is no object, but if I could spend like $200 after selling the parts in the future I'd be happy with a big performance boost. But it does look like it will be worth it.

thanks anyway guys! hopefully my current system wont crap out. Currently my PSu is making weird clicking noises. Not happy about that...