Upgrade reccomendations

[elkodust]

Hey guys, Im sitting here with a bit of a dilemma and I hope that you can give me a bit of advice. I am looking to upgrade my sff machine a little bit. This is where I stand:

Sugo SG03
4 GB DDR2 RAM
Asus p5e-vm do
E7200 @ 2.53 ghz
5770 1gb
700W ABS PSU

Im not looking to to make a massive upgrade, as I dont really have THAT much money, I just want to see a bit of a performance boost. I just started gaming somewhat competetively and have a bit of money, but it can be an incrimental thing if necessary.

My main idea so far is that, on top of having poor airflow, my SG03 is fairly banged up, and cable management is a bitch. So I was thinking of getting my hands on a NZXT Vulcan with fans, and potentially an aftermarket cooler in order to get better temps and potentially overclock ( I know very little of this overclocking business) my CPU a bit, and leave it at that.

Another idea thats been suggested to me, but Im not sure about, is a potential processor upgrade. If I did this, I most definitely would not have enough for a new case or anything, as I would think about buying a quad core. If I would go and pick up a quad core, would I really see a substantial increase? Or am I in the sort of situation where Im just going to have to start saving up for a much later and larger upgrade? If it is that kind of situation, I would probably just go with the vulcan, my sg03 is in pretty shitty condition anyways, with it being my first build and all.

What do people on here think of the vulcan? I really liked the SG03 because I could take it on a plane in the sugopack. That definitely isnt happening with this one, is it? It isnt terribly important if I cant.

Sorry for the wall of text!

 

[450]

If your board supports it, and you don't mind spending the money, a Q9550 might be a worthy investment. It's $150+tax at Micro Center.

EDIT: I haven't used one personally, but you might want to take a look at the Da Box 100: https://www.lan-gear.com/fr/products.php

 

[tvih]

Well, I'm not sure if any incremental upgrade will work out that well. A better GPU would probably end up being limited by the E7200 CPU. On the other hand, a good LGA775 quad still costs quite a bit, yet it would probably only be noticeable in more CPU-intensive games. Still, a Q9550 could be a nice option as 450 pointed out. It most definitely wouldn't hurt the system's performance.

As far as SG03 cable management goes... I agree that it was a bitch at first. But you know what I did? I bought a Nexus Value 430 PSU. It's so short that it doesn't need the support bracket to hold it properly in place. Removing that combined with the short length of the PSU itself means you can easily tuck unused cables to the empty space on top of the case, behind the optical drive. After I did this, cable management was an absolute breeze. I don't have a picture to share at this time, unfortunately.

Also, if you haven't done that already, adding a second front fan does help with airflow quite a bit. I have two Nexus 120mm Real Silent fans, one of which is attached to a H50 radiator, and temps are a-ok. Though my passive HD 4670 has a 80mm fan tucked next to it, because in prolonged gaming it has a tendency to overheat. But that's because it's passive. Getting a GTX460 today probably, so will see how the temps are with that. Not expecting any problems, though.

Overall I think the SG03 is a very nice case, but since it's still larger than I need, I see a Lan Gear ITX case in my hopefully not too distant future. All the components except the ITX board (and of course the case) are already ordered, and will serve with the SG03 build until the case is released

 

[elkodust]

Well, I'm not sure if any incremental upgrade will work out that well. A better GPU would probably end up being limited by the E7200 CPU. On the other hand, a good LGA775 quad still costs quite a bit, yet it would probably only be noticeable in more CPU-intensive games. Still, a Q9550 could be a nice option as 450 pointed out. It most definitely wouldn't hurt the system's performance.

As far as SG03 cable management goes... I agree that it was a bitch at first. But you know what I did? I bought a Nexus Value 430 PSU. It's so short that it doesn't need the support bracket to hold it properly in place. Removing that combined with the short length of the PSU itself means you can easily tuck unused cables to the empty space on top of the case, behind the optical drive. After I did this, cable management was an absolute breeze. I don't have a picture to share at this time, unfortunately.

Also, if you haven't done that already, adding a second front fan does help with airflow quite a bit. I have two Nexus 120mm Real Silent fans, one of which is attached to a H50 radiator, and temps are a-ok. Though my passive HD 4670 has a 80mm fan tucked next to it, because in prolonged gaming it has a tendency to overheat. But that's because it's passive. Getting a GTX460 today probably, so will see how the temps are with that. Not expecting any problems, though.

Overall I think the SG03 is a very nice case, but since it's still larger than I need, I see a Lan Gear ITX case in my hopefully not too distant future. All the components except the ITX board (and of course the case) are already ordered, and will serve with the SG03 build until the case is released

Ah okay, thanks for the ideas. the game is more cpu intensive, its Team Fortress 2, which, running off the source engine, is very cpu intensive. But then again, I dont mind seeng just an overall upgrade.

I do have two fans running in the front, but they are somewhat shitty. Maybe I should look into replacing them.

If your board supports it, and you don't mind spending the money, a Q9550 might be a worthy investment. It's $150+tax at Micro Center.

EDIT: I haven't used one personally, but you might want to take a look at the Da Box 100: https://www.lan-gear.com/fr/products.php

Okay, Ill look into that. And while I definitely have looked into it, aside from being completely sold out, the da boxes are fairly expensive. I could just get the processor you suggested for that money.

 

[tvih]

Ah okay, thanks for the ideas. the game is more cpu intensive, its Team Fortress 2, which, running off the source engine, is very cpu intensive. But then again, I dont mind seeng just an overall upgrade.

Haven't checked the multiplayer side of things on the Source engine recently, but the single player stuff works fine even on an old single core. I'm not sure you'd see much of a difference. What kind of frame rates are you getting currently?

I do have two fans running in the front, but they are somewhat shitty. Maybe I should look into replacing them.

Yeah, fan quality does matter. I forgot to mention that my two front fans are both undervolted. The one attached to the H50 is at 7v, the other one at 5v. Both are basically inaudible. At 12v they spin at 1200rpm, so right now they're spinning rather slowly. Yet things run nice and cool.

 

[fr500]

Ah okay, thanks for the ideas. the game is more cpu intensive, its Team Fortress 2, which, running off the source engine, is very cpu intensive. But then again, I dont mind seeng just an overall upgrade.

I do have two fans running in the front, but they are somewhat shitty. Maybe I should look into replacing them.





Okay, Ill look into that. And while I definitely have looked into it, aside from being completely sold out, the da boxes are fairly expensive. I could just get the processor you suggested for that money.

TF2 is not that CPU intensive, my brother plays it fine with an e7200 and a 9800gt.

That said, I play it too with a C2D e8400 overclocked@3.8Ghz and 8800GTX SLI and runs aeons better.

Best bet for TF2 is a high clocked dual core like the e8400 or and e7500 (basically your CPU but with a higher multiplier), pretty sure you can OC your CPU to 3.5Ghz and be fine. Multicore rendering is not very efficient on source games (but you should enable it anyway). You GPU should suffice for it even at 1080p. If you want a nice performance boost you could go for a GTX460.

I thinkg the SG03 should do fine, maybe you can fit a Corsair H50 in front to keep your CPU cool and overclock the CPU.

 

[1_legged_sheep]

Ventilation first then worry about the rest. Vulcan case would be pretty nice, especially if you LAN. Plus once you have good airflow you could OC that 7200 to 3.4-3.6ghz on air pretty easily.

Eventually you will need to ditch the socket 775mb and cpu, but for now I would get a nice base going first.

 

[latinadonis]

i would have to agree with fr500, if you get an h50 you can overclock that dual core quite nicely even in an sg03, should hopefully get you some better fps. The other alternative would be to upgrade the mobo/cpu but that depends on how much you're budget is to start i.e. get a nice mobo + am3 based amd quad core cpu, then when money is better, upgrade the ram...and if cpu prices keep dropping upgrade to an am3 based hexacore

 

[fr500]

Also keep in mind more cores won't help in TF2

 

[Skott]

If you are going to go with a quad core in a SG03 definitely get an H50 for cpu cooling. Also if you are using the stock SS case fans switch to something like the Scythe S Flex fan F model. Pushes a lot more air and is pretty darn quiet to boot.

For new cases you may want to consider DaBox and that new V354 thats suppose to release soon. The Vulcan is not bad but like all cases its not perfect neither. It will fit a H50 as well. Too early to say how the V354 will be but early info suggests its going to be good. Of course, if you are thinking a whole new case you will probably be better off saving more money and getting new mobo, cpu, and ram when it allows. Keep using the 5770 in the new box and then upgrade it when money allows again. Just some ideas anyway. Good luck.

 

[elkodust]

Hmm, Ive never done watercooling before, mainly because it was crucial that I be able to take my computer on a plane, and I heard that loaded up a watercooled machine wouldnt meet security standards. I got my hands on an xps now, so I have a laptop for work, so its not really a big deal anymore.

How difficult is the whole thing? Will it still be somewhat portable? I would like to keep it easy to move to lans. Is what I heard about it failing security standards true?

Also, my SG03 is in pretty poor condition. And I still have cable management issues like before. Also just the whole removing the psu to do anything makes it a pain. I would just like to replace it in general.

EDIT

Woah, look at this deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.456518

Should I splurge and go for this?

 

[tvih]

Woah, look at this deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.456518

Should I splurge and go for this?

Well, it's not a BAD deal... but the Athlon IIs just aren't very fast processors. Of course they're cheap, but even a dual core Intel Core i3 530 that you can get for the (normal) price of that quad is basically as fast - faster in some things, slower in some.

Still, it IS faster than your E7200 for applications that properly support more than two cores. Not such a big difference in most games, though.

 

[ekuest]

for TF2 your current cpu should be fine. a 5770 definitely aint bad either. as long as youre not running higher than 1920x1080 you really shouldnt need to upgrade. i would suggest a case with better airflow/more room for a cpu cooler, and get an H50 (or a nice low-profile cooler like the axp-140 if you want to take it on planes) and overclock a little. that way when you do feel pretty limited in the future and do a real upgrade, youll have a nice case and cooler that you can use with your badass new parts.

 

[elkodust]

for TF2 your current cpu should be fine. a 5770 definitely aint bad either. as long as youre not running higher than 1920x1080 you really shouldnt need to upgrade. i would suggest a case with better airflow/more room for a cpu cooler, and get an H50 (or a nice low-profile cooler like the axp-140 if you want to take it on planes) and overclock a little. that way when you do feel pretty limited in the future and do a real upgrade, youll have a nice case and cooler that you can use with your badass new parts.

Mmkay, I went through with it and order the Vulcan along with a 200mm fan. Im going to wait on cpu cooling for a bit.