Upgrading Gaming/Backup computer

[aero]

Hey there,

I bought a custom made computer from a store 3-4 years ago and been upgrading it a couple times since. I mostly use the computer for browsing, playing music and movies, playing some games, using it as a big backup for useful data. Yesterday I bought a big HDTV for living room and will be plugging my computer on it and will most probably be playing more games than before. I also want to setup a RAID 1 with 2 HDDs to keep the data thats worth more to me. I think my mobo and CPU are alright and I don't wanna pay 800$ to upgrade my **** computer so I need to upgrade what i currently have, here's my current setup.

Mobo: ASUS P5P43TD PRO
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz
RAM: 2x2GB DDR3 1600(?)
GFX Card: some crap, i definitely need to upgrade, PCI-Express
PSU: Seasonic 650W SS-650HT

I don't have a budget but am trying to keep it as low as possible, i want to order from NCIX or NewEgg but canadian version of newegg and that good (I dont want to order from US stores which will cost me a lot of shipping, i live near Montreal in Canada).

So my questions are as follow.

First of all I want to upgrade my RAM so should i go with 16 or thats abusive and 8 is enough? I want to be able to play a new game, put it in background and still be able to watch HD video and use other apps and what not, but i don't use any professional program or whatever. My mobo says dual channel so i should go with either 2 x 4GB or 2 x 8GB DDR3 right? also it says "4 x240-pin DIMM, Max. 16 GB, DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066/800 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory
Dual Channel memory architecture" What do they mean by O.C. can i just put 1600 on it without having to overclock anything?

For the graphics card i seen Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 Windforce 820MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card for 140 CA$ am I OK with this card for a couple more years to play full details ? I can pay more than that but don't wanna go over 250$ really ... I'm not a hardcore gamer, just want to to play nice games on my new big *** TV with all details on, i can put some at medium if needed lol.

For the RAID setup, I can't seem to find anything cheap for that .. i only wanna do RAID 1 with 2 HDDs for the moment but if a 4 port controller card is not really much more I'll go with that for sure so i can upgrade to RAID 5 later on if needed. Any suggestions?

I also wanted to know if 650W is enough for a big graphic card which i will be buying, plus 5 HDDs and the usual other stuff ?? Is there a program to test our power supply also?

Is a (cheap)UPS worth it or just a surge protected powerbar is enough to keep me from losing stuff?

Thanks a lot to everyone who will help or even try to help me with all of that hehe!

Let me know if more info is needed I will ask questions when needed.

 

[tiraides]

What games do you plan on playing? What resolution is your new HDTV? Depending on those two answers, an HD6850 may not be enough on its own.

What about the case? What do you have?

It would help us to know what specific RAM and hard drives (brand and model) you're using. Have you thought about using an SSD as your primary drive?

Humor us: What's the most that you want to spend (including shipping, VAT, and other charges) on ALL of your upgrades?

 

[Dangman]

Yesterday I bought a big HDTV for living room

Is the TV 720P or 1080P?

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz

Start thinking about overclocking this CPU. It's relatively slow by today's standards for certain games out there (BF3, Skyrim, SC2, etc) and will handicap most high-end and even some mid-range GPUs out there.

First of all I want to upgrade my RAM so should i go with 16 or thats abusive and 8 is enough? I want to be able to play a new game, put it in background and still be able to watch HD video and use other apps and what not, but i don't use any professional program or whatever.

8GB of RAM is more than enough for your needs. However, RAM prices have been going up a tad. So 16GB of RAM isn't out of the question if you can afford it.

My mobo says dual channel so i should go with either 2 x 4GB or 2 x 8GB DDR3 right?

Wrong. You can use all four RAM slots and you'll still have dual-channel.

What do they mean by O.C. can i just put 1600 on it without having to overclock anything?

You basically have to OC the CPU and RAM to get that 1600 speed.

For the graphics card i seen Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 Windforce 820MHZ 1GB 4.2GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI Display Port PCI-E Video Card for 140 CA$ am I OK with this card for a couple more years to play full details ?

If your TV is 1080P, not a chance. If your TV is 720P, definitely. However, regardless of what TV you have, that GPU isn't a good choice since the faster HD 7770 costs the same and offers higher performance. Still not enough to get max settings though if it's 1080P and games like BF3 and Skyrim. Maybe mostly medium settings depending on the game with a few high options enabled. The HD 7770 is the highest-end GPU I can recommend for you as your CPU pretty much handicaps all the GPUs above that HD 7770. Hell, it probably handicaps the HD 7770 a tad.

For the RAID setup, I can't seem to find anything cheap for that .. i only wanna do RAID 1 with 2 HDDs for the moment but if a 4 port controller card is not really much more I'll go with that for sure so i can upgrade to RAID 5 later on if needed. Any suggestions?

Do note that RAID 1 isn't a backup of your data at all. All RAID does is guarantee uptime in the event of a HDD failure. It doesn't protect against accidental or malcious corruption, infection, removal, deletion, or destruction of data. If this PC is your sole source of that worthwhile data, RAID 1 won't help you at all. If you really you want backup, setup a seperate server, an external hard drive, or even a cheap $100 NAS. Any of those would be a far far better backup than your RAID 1 plan.

I also wanted to know if 650W is enough for a big graphic card which i will be buying, plus 5 HDDs and the usual other stuff ??

You do have an old PSU but it's still sufficient for your needs.

Is there a program to test our power supply also?

Nope. You have to use a digital multi-meter to see PSU voltages.

Is a (cheap)UPS worth it or just a surg

 

[aero]

I dont have any games in mind atm, but I'd want to play the latest shooters around in full details if possible, someone told me because of my CPU i couldnt get all the results you normally get with a better CPU if i choose the best graphic card possible (idk if that's true, just sayin).

My new TV is a 47" 1080p LCD.

My case is a mid tower ATX.

I plan on hooking the tv from living room to computer in bedroom via hdmi, it needs to be playing perfectly.

I can pay a little more if results really do show but if not fuck it, can probably put up to 250$ like i stated.

 

[aero]

oh just seen last reply, will read that and reply again after lol

 

[Dangman]

I dont have any games in mind atm, but I'd want to play the latest shooters around in full details if possible, someone told me because of my CPU i couldnt get all the results you normally get with a better CPU if i choose the best graphic card possible (idk if that's true, just sayin).

It's true.

My case is a mid tower ATX.

That doesn't help us. Find out the model number of your case. Failing that, find or take a picture of it and show us.

I can pay a little more if results really do show but if not fuck it, can probably put up to 250$ like i stated.

$250 for ALL of the upgrades?

 

[aero]

Start thinking about overclocking this CPU. It's relatively slow by today's standards for certain games out there (BF3, Skyrim, SC2, etc) and will handicap most high-end and even some mid-range GPUs out there.

I will definitely have a look at that, since i don't know anything about overclocking, i think with just a software and a bigger CPU fan that would be ok?

If your TV is 1080P, not a chance. If your TV is 720P, definitely. However, regardless of what TV you have, that GPU isn't a good choice since the faster HD 7770 costs the same and offers higher performance. Still not enough to get max settings though if it's 1080P and games like BF3 and Skyrim. Maybe mostly medium settings depending on the game with a few high options enabled. The HD 7770 is the highest-end GPU I can recommend for you as your CPU pretty much handicaps all the GPUs above that HD 7770. Hell, it probably handicaps the HD 7770 a tad.

So i would be looking at Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 OC 1.1GHZ 1GB 4.5GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card ( http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=68499&vpn=GV-R777OC-1GD&manufacture=Gigabyte ) in rebate at $120CAD, even better lol. That sucks to know i can't even get the most out of the games already. If i can overclock my CPU a bit i could get a better GPU though. Enough? I don't know.

Do note that RAID 1 isn't a backup of your data at all. All RAID does is guarantee uptime in the event of a HDD failure. It doesn't protect against accidental or malcious corruption, infection, removal, deletion, or destruction of data. If this PC is your sole source of that worthwhile data, RAID 1 won't help you at all. If you really you want backup, setup a seperate server, an external hard drive, or even a cheap $100 NAS. Any of those would be a far far better backup than your RAID 1 plan.

Yea I'm pretty clueless in what is the best, but yea i need to not lose those files. I can't really have another computer running since i'm limited in space and i don't see how an external hdd or NAS would help me from losing stuff hardware wise. I kinda like the idea of a seperate NAS with all my stuff in it but is it really data-losing-proof?

 

[aero]

It's true.

That doesn't help us. Find out the model number of your case. Failing that, find or take a picture of it and show us.

$250 for ALL of the upgrades?

Nah that was just for the graphic card, then again I'm not really limited in cash, just trying to pay the less possible like anyone.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/20120726224642.jpg/

 

[aero]

would go with Mushkin Enhanced Silverline Stiletto 8GB 2X4GB PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit ( http://ncix.ca/products/?sku=55544&vpn=996770&manufacture=Mushkin Enhanced&promoid=1254 )

Never heard of Mushkin before but reviews are good

 

[Dangman]

I will definitely have a look at that, since i don't know anything about overclocking, i think with just a software and a bigger CPU fan that would be ok?

Software overclocking of those older mobos and CPUs is virtually bad. You would have to go into the BIOs if you want to OC well. Yes you would need a 3rd party HSF for overclocking. I recommend the Coolermaster Hyper 212+.

So i would be looking at Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 OC 1.1GHZ 1GB 4.5GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card ( http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=68499&vpn=GV-R777OC-1GD&manufacture=Gigabyte ) in rebate at $120CAD, even better lol. That sucks to know i can't even get the most out of the games already. If i can overclock my CPU a bit i could get a better GPU though. Enough? I don't know.

Not really. The CPU overclocking is just a short-term solution in your case and still wouldn't be enough for the HD 7770. If you really want max details, you're gonna need a new CPU + mobo as well.

Yea I'm pretty clueless in what is the best, but yea i need to not lose those files. I can't really have another computer running since i'm limited in space and i don't see how an external hdd or NAS would help me from losing stuff hardware wise. I kinda like the idea of a seperate NAS with all my stuff in it but is it really data-losing-proof?

If you really want data-loosing proof, you basically need two other copies of your data stored on different mediums and/or seperate sources. I.e a seperate NAS and external HDD (whcih is perferably stored somewhere not in your home) really would lower the chance of data loss. With that said, most NAS support RAID 1. So get two drives + that NAS and you'll have RAID 1 which will keep that data available in the event of a HDD death and the lower chance of accidental or malcious corruption, infection, removal, deletion, or destruction of data.

EDIT: You're gonna need a new case as well. That case won't provide enough cooling for most modern hardware. Even the cheap NZXT Source 210 Elite case or the Coolermaster HAF 912 cases would outcool that case you have.

 

[aero]

This is gonna cost me an arm lol. I'll look tomorrow I'm depressed now haha

 

[silent-circuit]

You just need another $250 in budget, really. Considering how much you're getting for it, it's still a deal.

You can re-use your PSU at least and get a i5 2500K (tigerdirect has it for $180 shipped right now I think?) and a cheap Z77 board (Biostar is good for a budget brand). $300 maybe, with the RAM.

So $175 for a used Radeon 6950 2GB to go with the above, $50 for a case. $475 or so total. $500 if you get picky with the case.

Not bad for pretty much a whole new machine, and you can probably sell the current CPU/motherboard/RAM/GPU/case for $100 to sometime to use as a HTPC or something.

 

[Dangman]

The OP is a Canuck. So his budget is gonna have to be a bit higher to get the parts you mentioned.