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Upgrading Aging PC

J

jmitchy

n00b
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
5
Hi, first time poster here!

I'm upgrading my generic PC for gaming (WoW, Second Life, COD4, Crysis are games I plan on playing most). I want my system to be able to handle these fairly well, at medium to high settings and Ultra settings for maybe 10 minutes to get the wow factor for a little while and still be able to move around.

I realized that the first thing I needed to do was upgrade the power supply from my 450 W PSU to at least a 700 W PSU. The next logical step was a graphics card so i got the Saphire Radeon Toxic HD 4850 to replace my GeForce 7100GS. I have yet to install the upgrdes, but I will this week.

What component should i upgrade next to see the most improvement? Are my current Motherboard (Asus P5VD2-X) and CPU (Intel 4300) adequet? I'm upgrading one component at a time for budgeteing reasons, so I need to know where my worst bottleneck is.

My 19 inch KDS monitor gets the job done, but I'm thinking of upgrading to a 22 inch Dell Dell SP2208WFP ( I like glossy screens).

Thanks in advance for yor help!

Joe


Windows XP (5.1.2600) Home
NVIDIA GeForce 7100 GS
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo 4300 @ 1.80GHz
Motherboard Model: P5VD2-X
Installed Memory: 2,046.36 MB
Monitor KDS K-92bw
PSU: OCZSSX700W
GPU: ATI
 
Is it too late to return the PSU? I recommend ditching that OCZ GameXStream PSU. It's based off the FSP Episilon PSU design which has out of spec ripple, or voltage fluctuations, at high loads that can damage or kill your system. Granted, you may not reach such high loads but why pay for a PSU that can kill your system?

So get a replacement PSU like a Corsair 450VX or Corsair 550VX. Either of those PSUs will be more than enough for your current rig.

The E4300 is more than sufficient for most games IF you overclock to 3Ghz. So see if you can overclock the E4300 to 3Ghz or so.

Other than replacing the PSU ASAP and overclocking the E4300 to 3Ghz, that's all you need to do.
 
If that board can't OC, you can upgrade that if you like. Recommendation on a replacement will need a budget, first. ;)

If you can't change/return your GXS700 order, then don't worry about it. Simply make sure you don't load that system up to the full potential of that PSU. ;)
 
get a new psu and a ATI 4850 vid card
maybe a good aftermarket heatsink
you can get the e4300 to 3.4ghz or so thats what i had mine at.
and its a plenty fast cpu
 
Thanks for the reply. Is there a 700 w power supply you reccomend? I may want to upgrade to a quad core cpu in the future, basicly I want to have a future proof PSU.
 
The Corsair 700W from buy.com is a great deal right now. If you want modular, then get the Silverstone ST70F.

However, do note that even a quadcore with an HD4870 doesn't use 500W at full load. So, unless you plan on upgrading to a dual GPU vidcard or some other crazy config, you really don't need 700W, even for future expansion. A Corsair 550W/520W/620W/650W would be more than enough.
 
Thanks! I might wand dual 4850 video cards down the road, as I imagine it will be a better option then upgrading a single card. So i'll be checking that out!

Now I have to learn how to overclock, this will be an adventure for sure!
 
Hmm, yeah my Mobo doesn't look too overclocking friendly, I could go to $200 or a few bucks over if need be.
 
You won't need a dual video card setup for the resolution(s) you're playing games at. One HD4850 would be good enough for most games on both your 19 inch monitor and the 22 inch you're planning to get later on.

If you want a cheap overclocking-friendly motherboard, consider the Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3L.

If you could afford to get one now, choose one of the Corsair power supplies. They are some of the best quality, affordable PSUs around. If you want to fit both the motherboard and PSU within your $200 budget, consider the Antec Earthwatts EA650 as well. It's available at Buy.com for under $70 shipped.
 
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