• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Suggestions for upgrade

R

Ristopal

n00b
Joined
Jan 14, 2009
Messages
21
I build my rig about 2 years ago, and have been very satisfied, but it's due for some upgrades, and I'm looking into purchasing some stuff from Cyber Monday. I mainly use this computer for photo/video editing and some mild gaming (TF2 is the heaviest game I've played on it.)
This is the current setup:

Shuttle SX38P2 Pro
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3Ghz
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 4830 512MB PCIe w/Dual Link DVI
RAM: (4 GB) OCZ Platinum Enhanced DDR2
HDD: Seagate 1TB Serial ATA HD

I'm thinking of a new video card. The Sapphire radiator/fan is big and noisy, and covers the second PCI-e slot. If I anyone can suggest a card that will fit (I don't mind if it covers the second slot), I might upgrade.

Anyone who owns a shuttle, have you upgraded the stock power supply? I'm not sure what's in it now, it came stock with the barebone, but I think if I'm going to upgrade, more power would be necessary

Would more RAM be necessary? 4 seems decent right now, but I am capable of 8. Is it really worth it?

Not so sure about the CPU, Core 2 Duo seems to get the job done, but if It makes a big difference, I might reconsider.

Lastly, this is just a question about the computer. I never turn it off, just put it to sleep, It's off more than I use it as well as overnight. The weirdest thing is randomly during the night it powers itself on. I don't know if it's the OS (W7 Ultimate) or something with the rig itself. It's not the power, since I have moved and it continues to randomly boot up. This happens at least once a week, and usually wakes me up due to the loud fan on the video card. Anyone know what causes this?

Thanks in advance.
 
I think a budget of some sort would help out choosing specific parts if necessary.

Your CPU is fine but if you could find a decent price on a Q9550 or some other quad that may help with the former activity. Do you ever run out of ram? If not, I would probably stay put. 4GB is still enough for most people but if the price is right, why not. Regarding the PSU, it seems like it comes with a stock 450W PSU. It should be fine with a video card or CPU upgrade or even both; it also seems to only have one PCI-E power connector unless you utilize the molex cables. Looking at reviews and comments on that case, it seems like it can only fit video cards that are 9.5 inches or shorter because of the ATX PWR2 connector on the motherboard being in the way unless I'm wrong; someone had trouble trying to fit a GTX 260.
 
Last edited:
if what wonSR4 said is right about the video card then most 6850's will fit as there only about 8.5" long. And going to a quad in addition to a 6850 would give you some serious pep in your step in that older system.
Ram wise you should be fine with 4gb. Lastly adding an SSD for a boot drive would give you the same snappiness of a brand new system.
 
I wasn't thinking on a budget, but for a card i was aiming at around $200 or lower, but size is a big factor.
 
Is the 6850 good for drivers? The card I have wouldn't handle Ubuntu or any dual boot, I figured it was the card but maybe it was the drivers.
 
Ristopal said:
Is the 6850 good for drivers? The card I have wouldn't handle Ubuntu or any dual boot, I figured it was the card but maybe it was the drivers.
Click to expand...

AMD Linux Drivers arent as good as nVidia Linux drivers are.. At least thats what the rumor is, I haven't had a problem with either under ubuntu.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top