Upgrade Choices...

E

EdMacFly

n00b
Joined
Dec 19, 2006
Messages
22
Hey all!

Had my current setup for a while now and I'm starting to notice a few creaks in games such as Crysis and GTAIV. I'm a UK gamer and I tend to buy the latest games and want the best performance I can get with a less than limitless budget.

My current setup is as follows:

E6400
Asus P5WDH Deluxe
8800GT 512MB
4GB RAM
Loads of hard drives
1680 x 1050 Display

I'm looking to give the system a refresh and have a budget of around £300. I've considered a new CPU (maybe Q6600) or a new graphics card (GTX260) but can't make my mind up. I've noticed that the 8800GT is now a pretty cheap graphics card but my current system doesn't support SLI natively so that's maybe not an option unless anyone thinks there's any mileage in swopping out the motherboard. Any ideas or opinions greatly appreciated.
 
As an aside, if I were to upgrade my motherboard, as a bare minimum I require.

Onboard audio with optical out.
ESATA.
LAN.
At least four SATA ports with support for mirrored RAID.
 
Not sure I'd get both within budget. If I were to go with one of the two, which would you recommend? I was thinking that if I went GTX 260, I could use my 8800GT to do PhysX...
 
the video card and overclock the CPU... My e6400 still fighting on at 2.66 GHz with no issue in gaming.
 
What is the 8800GT not doing for you? Don't tell me you live on Crysis or Cry Far 2.
 
Well I do play a bit of Crysis, along with GTAIV, Fallout 3 and Pro Evo at the moment etc...

They all play OK but I want even smoother performance!!

I guessI should probably get an Xbox 360 going with that list of games but I have invested a lot of money in my PC and make use of it as a central Media Centre and also do a lot of work with Photoshop, Office etc.

More than anything though, can't beat endlessly tweaking and adjusting settings - something I'd miss with a console!
 
lowteckh said:
What is the 8800GT not doing for you? Don't tell me you live on Crysis or Cry Far 2.
Click to expand...

Does this mean that you think it wouldn't be a worthwhile upgrade unless I was playing these games? I've noticed that a lot of games, although quite playable, aren't butter smooth.
 
what size monitor are you using? What psu do you have model, make and age pls?
 
The 8800GT, in general, struggles with today's games at a 1680x1050 resolution. Crysis, in particular, is a graphically demanding game that is designed to utilize (or, depending on some people's point of view, torture) high-end video cards.

For that resolution, the GTX 260 or the HD4870 is a good choice... especially if you plan on playing more games like Crysis or FarCry 2. You may not be able to max out either game, but you'll have a much better gaming experience compared to the 8800GT.
 
hossdaddy said:
what size monitor are you using? What psu do you have model, make and age pls?
Click to expand...

The monitors I use either have a res of 1680 x 1050 or 1360 x 768. My PSU is a 1 to 2 year old Corsair HX620.

tiraides said:
The 8800GT, in general, struggles with today's games at a 1680x1050 resolution. Crysis, in particular, is a graphically demanding game that is designed to utilize (or, depending on some people's point of view, torture) high-end video cards.

For that resolution, the GTX 260 or the HD4870 is a good choice... especially if you plan on playing more games like Crysis or FarCry 2. You may not be able to max out either game, but you'll have a much better gaming experience compared to the 8800GT.
Click to expand...

That's more what I was hoping to hear. Thanks.
 
Funny how you come to us to convince you to upgrade.:p:D:rolleyes:

As a general rule, video cards always trumps anything and everything else for gaming performance, provided the rest of the hardware isn't half a decade old, (per se). If you're finding yourself not being able to play at your desired settings, all you need to do is look at the video card (if budgeting). End of story, no need to look/ask further.

The e6400 should do 3GHz as well. My e6420 made 3.4GHz as my first foray into bios overclocking (just mimicked other people's O/C settings). 3GHz was unexpectedly easy; don't think a voltage change was even required. YMMV of course, read up on overclocking if you don't already know how to.
 
lowteckh said:
Funny how you come to us to convince you to upgrade.:p:D:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Always the way isn't it!

Think I'll stick with the current CPU for now then and take a look at the graphics card. It's between the GTX260 and the HD4870 1GB then - Ati might just win me back over looking at prices which aren't all that great at the minute.
 
If you are unbiased between brands, hear this from an ATI user.

Screw them. This applies just to one game, but one game that shat on me is enough - BIA-Hell's Highway, level corruption that remained unfixed for 4 or so(?) Catalyst updates and don't even know if it got fixed. Fingers pointed everywhere - ATI to Gearbox, Gearbox to ATI, nothing ever got done and so I never finished the game. With that sort of irresponsibility I'm gonna have to steer you to NV as I've yet to have their stuff take a dump on me. Not to mention EVGA and BFG have uber service (and a rep here) along with step-up while ATI offers... nothing worth shit compared to them. And the 216SP GTX260 is > 1GB 4870.
 
I've probably gone back and forth between the two companies numerous times now so can't say I favour either. My only complaint of the recent nVidia cards is to do with the way they handle multiple displays.

I run my PC to a dell monitor on my desk and also cloned to a Samsung TV a couple of metres down the room. This is so that I can work & game at my desk or watch movies & game at my television. Since I replaced my x1900xt with an 8800GT I have had the annoyance of having to not only change the resolution to suit the different screens but also switch which display the videocard sees as the primary display. If I don't do this then the secondary mirrored display has image tearing issues. By all counts this is a hardware issue and hopefully something that is fixed in the latest cards.

Not the biggest problem ever but with my ATI card I only ever had to use the ATI taskbar app and select the Dell or Samsung res and the rest would take care of itself whereas I need to load up the nVidia control panel and change profiles to acheive the same with the 8800GT. Minor annoyance but still bugs me all the same!!
 
EdMacFly said:
Think I'll stick with the current CPU for now then and take a look at the graphics card. It's between the GTX260 and the HD4870 1GB
Click to expand...

Good plan, the GTX 260 is a great option for your set up. The prices have finally started falling in europe at least with the euro. I don´t know if UK prices have started to fall yet with the weak Pound.:)
 
No reason to get a factory overclocked card. Just get the cheapest there is.
 
Don't forget to OC your CPU to at least 3Ghz. ;) My E6400 reached 3.6Ghz w/ 1.45v; would hit load temps of 52ºC w/ a Tuniq.
 
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