Upgrading

K

kegbmx

n00b
Joined
Sep 16, 2009
Messages
6
I'm currently playing with a Q6600, 4GB RAM, and 8800GT.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming 90% of the time. The goal of this upgrade is to be able to Fraps WoW with decent settings at 1920x1200 with zero studdering.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
around $600 shipping included, give or take.
3) Where do you live?
Delaware
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Mobo, CPU, RAM. Maybe video card, I'm using a 8800gt at the moment. WoW's performance is mostly based on CPU/RAM from what I hear, not sure about Fraps. Perhaps you can decide that one for me.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Reusing everything besides Mobo, CPU, RAM, and maybe GPU as said above.
The PSU is a OCZ 700w GameXstream.
6) Will you be overclocking?
If needed to meet my goal.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24 inch, 1920x1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
sometime this month I suppose
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I guess I don't NEED any features in particular, correct me if I'm wrong.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes


I was looking at this combo deal on newegg, let me know what you think. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.259528
 
Gotta wait... the new ATi GPU are out soon (September 22-24).

If you are not an ATi fan, then at the very least, prices will drop.

I like the combo, but weren't you looking for FRAPS?

FRAPS kinda relies on the GPU a lot. (and at your resolution, will need at least a GTX27x+ or a 47xx+ or one of the new ATi cards.).

please note, the FRAPS comment is based on recording CoD4 at 1280x1024...
 
I'm not a fan boy for either brand, I'll buy what ever. :p

How much will those GPU's cost? could I get an i5 and still be able to get one around my budget? or should I just upgrade my GPU?

my vista isn't 64 bit by the way, I thought I remembered seeing fraps having better performance with it..
 
The q6600 is a decent quad core (though no longer 'kicka--') and is powerful enough for gaming use.

The price ceiling seems to be 400USD for the most extremely high end (which runs circles [so far, in prerelease benchmarks from Tom Hardware] around a gtx 295) (new ATi, anyhow).

However, for 600USD...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231223

while you won't get a new GPU, selling your older parts (Q6600, 4GB RAM, and 8800GT) might just get you enough for a new ATi 5850.

The Card costs 250USD...

so:Q6600 about 100USD
8800gt about 50USD
4GB ram about 50USD./


curses, you're still about 50USD out with my reccomendation.
 
I edited the previous post, so reread it, please (sorry if you got the latest revision already!).

Since your Vista isn't 64bit, you're not getting the total 4GB ram... (it will say you are, still, but you are not).

and the build I recommended has 6GB...

EDIT: a 4850 (high end card from ATI, about [depending on the game] the same as a 9800gtx+)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253
 
Replace the GameXStream ASAP. It is based off the FSP Epsilon PSU, which is known to produce out-of-spec voltage fluctuations, or "ripple," at high loads. Ripple can kill your system over time, so that PSU is not worth carrying over to your new system.
 
:( guess $100 of my budget needs to go to a new PSU. Don't know if my goal is possible now.
 
tiraides said:
Replace the GameXStream ASAP. It is based off the FSP Epsilon PSU, which is known to produce out-of-spec voltage fluctuations, or "ripple," at high loads. Ripple can kill your system over time, so that PSU is not worth carrying over to your new system.
Click to expand...

I concur 100% with this. For your current system, that PSU is ok but for a new setup, I wouldn't recommend such a low quality PSU.

Now with that said, FRAP is HDD as well as CPU intensive. Since your goal is RECORD WOW and not PLAY WOW, a new CPU, mobo, RAM, and GPU upgrade is not really necessary. As said earlier, FRAPs is HDD intensive and even some $2000 builds might have trouble with FRAPs and a high resolution like 1920x1200.

IMO, your current system is fine for playing WOW. But to play WOW and FRAPs at the same time, you're gonna need a significantly faster HDD setup. Maybe RAID 0 SSD. Also try overclocking that Q6600 if you haven't already.

I'm a bit lazy ATM so here's someone else's recommendation on SSDs:
enginurd said:
If you go for a single SSD for OS/Apps, get the Intel X25-M G2 (msrp $225). If you want RAID0, go for an Indilinx-based SSD, like the OCZ Vertex/Agility/etc, Super Talent UltraDrive ME, Patriot TorqX, or G.Skill Falcon.
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/ocz_vertex.html

Get 2 of these:
$317 - Super Talent UltraDrive ME FTM28GX25H 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal SSD
Click to expand...
 
Try this....

$179 - AMD Phenom II X3 720* & Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P combo deal
$80 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 2x2GB DDR3 1600 dual channel kit*
$200 - XFX HD-489A-ZDFC Radeon HD 4890***
$95 - Antec Earthwatts EA750 750W PSU*
=====
$554 - Subtotal (not including shipping, taxes, or rebates)

Items with an asterisk (*) have free ground shipping
*** This is a "holdover" card. Ideally, you should wait until the new video cards arrive within the next few weeks... but if you can't wait that long, this card will give you a noticeable level of improvement over the 8800GT.

Since gaming is your primary concern, you can get away with using one of the tri-core Phenom II processors. Going that route also frees up enough cash to accommodate a new power supply as well as one of the newer video cards. Honestly, the EA750 is overkill for your above setup, but I couldn't find a better deal at NewEgg that I thought was worth pursuing. (Before you finalize everything, shop around for better deals.) You don't necessarily have to overclock right away, but I included some RAM that would allow you to do so. All you would need is a good aftermarket CPU cooler and you're set.

(Damn, I didn't realize that FRAPS was HDD intensive as well....)
 
I don't think the HDD matters as much as you guys think. This is me frapsing with medium game settings at 1680x1050 with a 7200 HDD. http://www.wegame.com/watch/BCclip1/ My goal is to get this at 1920x1200(I'm playing with 1:1 scaling ratio on my 24 inch monitor so i've got a inch and 1/2 thick boarder around it:D)

At this point I'm thinking I might just need a new video card.

Also the comment about overclocking my q6600; this is a Dell machine actually. I'm not sure if it will allow me to overclock.:(
 
I'm truly not concerned about the hard drive at the moment. I only set fraps to actually record at 30 FPS

edit: I was talking to one of the developer's of fraps and this is what he had to say.

I'd definately recommend getting a high end graphics card if you want to capture very high resolution videos at high framerates.

For the hard drive, just a standard 7200 RPM drive will do the job fine, however it certainly can't hurt to go for a high performance drive.
Click to expand...
 
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