worth upgrading?

L

Leon_Solitario

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
128
earlier in the week I had asked for assistance on a new build, and since then I've wondered if I can push similar performance upgrading my old rig (don't ask me why it has some components in it, I tend to blam it on my friend, lol).

this rig is 2~3 years old with some rather odd components, I've never used it for serious gaming 'till now and found it lacking (the reason for researching a new build), but can at least the MoBo and possibly CPU be reused (the HDDs should still be decent).

Q6700
EVGA Nforce 680I SLI REV. D
HYNIX WM552/XG619 2x1Gb DDR2 PC2-6400
x2 8600GTS 256Mb
WD Raptor 160Gb SATA
SeaGate 250Gb SATA
LG 20x dual-layer DVD+RW
LG 20x dual-layer DVD+RW w/ lightscribe
ATX 1000W PSU

I'm looking around for info, but it seems to be well buried. I've found one article on the board that basically lols at it, and I figured that'd happen considering it was ordered from alienware (I'm glad it was free \o/ ). it's served it's purpose for the past few years, but if it requires too much to upgrade I'll just keep to that new build.

if I stick to the new build, I may upgrade the ram on the old system any way, just to give it a bit more kick when I decide what to keep it around for. that's if I can even find wtf it's compatible with ><

new build I'm considering:
PII 720 BE
Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2Gb DDR3 1600
XFX HD 5770 (may opt for 5750 pending budget)
Samsung F3 HD502HJ
LG GH22NS50
SeaSonic S12E650 650W

edit: just to retouch, this is mainly gearing more towards online gaming at ~1680x1050 (may run higher) res on a 20" lcd. I do some times do light 3D editing and photoshop work along with watching vids and listening to music (often while playing). I don't plan to use this as a permanent build, just something to hold me over 'till I can do better (possibly for quite a while, finding work in this area is tough, keeping it is even worse ~.~ ).

if upgrading my old build is worth it, I'd like to keep the price under $300, otherwise I'm willing to spend ~800 (up to 1000) on a completely new rig with a board that will last for quite a few upgrades (so AM3 would be preferred). I also plan on heavy OCing if I go for a new build, but if just upgrading old build I'm not going to chance stressing old parts too much, lol.
 
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It might be more cost effective to just upgrade your current build assuming that mobo has been stable for you. In addition, what 1000W PSU do you have?

Those are the two key info we need: Is that mobo stable for you and what 1000W PSU you have. Exact make and model on that 1000W PSU.
 
It's not worth you upgrading to a Phenom II X3 720 build. You should just stick with your Q6700 cpu and O/C it. The main areas I feel that need upgrading would be your GPU, PSU (What model 1K PSU do you have?) and the HDD.
 
I disagree 680i is know for its issues. I would sell it and move to a better platform.
 
FOUND IT!! danm info sticker was hiding smashed between the PSU and MoBo tray. looks like Newton Power Ltd. N1000P-00, ref. NPS-1000AB. looks like I'm lucky it hasn't blown up on me yet looking over some of these reviews, haha.

the board seems stable enough, it hasn't had any maintenance done in a while and I should probably reapply all the thermal paste and such (btw, what should I use to clean it? rubbing alchahol?), I haven't done much OC work on it at all, screwed around with it a bit when I got it, but reset it shortly after (didn't know what I was doing, lol). I haven't run any rigrous tests on it either though, don't really have the ability to push it much with the other hardware holding it back. any suggestions on how I should thoroughly test it?
 
yeah, I would definatly want to upgrade the GPU/RAM/PSU at the least, I'm just having a lot of trouble finding out what's going to be compatible. an' yeah, I've been getting that about the 680i in the small number of reviews I've read, lol. the FSB can't seem to handle OCing for beans.

I'd like to get more use out of it, but really don't see it lasting too much longer. I can't even really reuse many of the components aside from the HDDs, and DVD drives, lol.

edit: when it comes to making this new build, my primary goal would be to have a good, solid, board that's going to last me a few years or more. I don't mind upgrading the components around it, but I don't know too many people I'm going to be able to get to use their student discount on an OS for me, lol. I don't really plan to mess with multi-GPUs unless it's one of them 2-in-1 card dealies (those things really eat up power though... lol). I may look into an ethernet accelerator at some time depending on their true performance boost, but that'll be a while.
 
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To test the stability of the system, run Furmark and Prime95 for a full 24 hours and see if the system is still up and running afterwards. Once you're done with stability testing, then we can start recommending upgrades.
 
AC 7 is not good cooler for the money. Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is at the same price point and is able use Push-Pull config.

Antec BP line is not very good. They Earthwatts and Eco Neo line is much better value.
 
7 hrs into running both Prime95+Furmark and artifacting starts, surprised the GPUs lasted as long at the temp they were running. couldn't get a good reading on CPU temps 'cause I forgot to open a monitoring program ::facepalm::. I suspect it did well though, it does have a closed-loop water system on it (not that great, but better than stock, and it's not OCed).

if I do end up OCing this pc after upgrading it (if I do), it's going to be highly limited by the board from what I read. it's just unable to reach stable clock speeds past what would be considered mid-range.

I was considering upgrading to 4Gb RAM too, lol. anyone know what's going to be compatible with this chipset? I can't find any charts
 
Leon_Solitario said:
I was considering upgrading to 4Gb RAM too, lol. anyone know what's going to be compatible with this chipset? I can't find any charts
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RAM wise, just about any DDR2 RAM set will work AFAIK. Also it doesn't look like you would need to replace your PSU: Newton Power is apparently a subsidiary of Delta Electronics. Delta makes pretty decent PSUs in general. But keep testing.

@ hossdaddy
The Hyper 212+ supports all of the same sockets as the AC7 Pro. Not to mention that the Hyper 212+ uses and supports 120mm fans which means even lower temps than the AC7 Pro.
 
I'm starting to think about buying a few pieces now (like the PSU while it's on sale, and possibly the HDD while it's in stock), then waiting 'till nvidia's new GPU is out to get a good deal on a card, and what I can find out/get really cheap between now and then will decide whether I upgrade or make a new build. several months is a bit of a wait though ><

main dilemma is that I want to go with a new build, but my budget barely gets me to the level I want to be at. and I don't really trust how much longer my current hardware will last, lol.
 
Leon_Solitario said:
I'm starting to think about buying a few pieces now (like the PSU while it's on sale, and possibly the HDD while it's in stock), then waiting 'till nvidia's new GPU is out to get a good deal on a card, and what I can find out/get really cheap between now and then will decide whether I upgrade or make a new build. several months is a bit of a wait though ><

main dilemma is that I want to go with a new build, but my budget barely gets me to the level I want to be at. and I don't really trust how much longer my current hardware will last, lol.
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Well definitely get the Samsung drive if you want it. But for the PSU, don't buy it until after you're done with testing. But like I said earlier, more than like you do not have to replace that 1000W PSU.

$300 is more than enough for a new HDD, more RAM and a HD5770. No need to OC the CPU.
 
yeah, the board will be compatible with the radeon cards too? I'm running XP pro on this system, but I don't think there will be a problem using it in Dx9 'till I can move it to a new system (by that time I should be able to get a 58xx relatively cheap though, lol), should I go for a 49xx in that case then (and which exactaly)? or will it even make a difference with my current hardware?

still looking for more reviews on that newton, but all I'm getting is dell/alienware troubleshooting threads, lol.
 
Leon_Solitario said:
yeah, the board will be compatible with the radeon cards too? I'm running XP pro on this system, but I don't think there will be a problem using it in Dx9 'till I can move it to a new system (by that time I should be able to get a 58xx relatively cheap though, lol), should I go for a 49xx in that case then (and which exactaly)? or will it even make a difference with my current hardware?

still looking for more reviews on that newton, but all I'm getting is dell/alienware troubleshooting threads, lol.
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Yes the mobo wll be compatible with ATI cards. It's pretty much really really rare these days for a video card not to work with a mobo just because they're from different chipset manufacturers.

The HD 4890 is your best bet for a cost effective HD 4xxx series video card. It does outperform the HD 5770. But it also costs about $40 more. Still doable with your budget.
 
this seems like the best deal for some ddr2 ram, after the mir it's cheaper than the other stuff I could find on the egg. or, should I check out something with a higher data rate? somewhere arround 1066 MT/s? is there any voltage range I should try to keep under to accomodate my board also?

I just don't know about the card, I guess I'll stick to the HD 5770 just incase prices don't improve later (very unlikely though, lol).
 
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looks like the QX6700 with the 680i chip set has been stably OCed to ~3.4GHz on air (from research in the OC thread on these forums), but I can't find much on the Q6700. the only difference seems to be a lower TDP (95W v. 130W) for the Q6700, I'm guessing that means it's going to reach instability at a lower temp range than the QX6700, yeah? with all that in mind and considering the board, would a stable OC of 3GHz be possible with decent air cooling? stock on this one's set at 2.66GHz.

edit: I won't really be able to test any OC on this 'till I can remount the cooling, the danmed thermal compound is nearly 3 years old so I really gotta fix that before I start messing with it again, lol.

edit 2: found the Q6700 portion of testing, upward of 3.5GHz on air, but nothing with the 680i chip set on there, looks like I'll have to experiment when I get it together and repasted.
 
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would this be better than previously mentioned RAM? it seems to need some BIOS editing to be done, because it's recognized as DDR2-800 instead of 1066, but it's nearly the same price and still gets free shipping, lol.

argh, it's like being a diabetic staring at the candy bowl with mixed sugar + sugar-free candy =/
 
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No performance difference between either sets of RAM. So I'd stick with the Corsair since it uses less voltage but offers the same performance.
 
thanks, lol. if I can get a stable mid-range OC I may go for it, and that RAM won't limit that ability, will it? not going to try for anything much over 3GHz (if I can even get that far), but I don't want more than the board limiting me to that.
 
Leon_Solitario said:
thanks, lol. if I can get a stable mid-range OC I may go for it, and that RAM won't limit that ability, will it? not going to try for anything much over 3GHz (if I can even get that far), but I don't want more than the board limiting me to that.
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ANY DDR2 667 RAM would be enough to get the Q6700 too 3Ghz. So a DDR2 800 RAM set will work just fine.
 
alright, I'm trying to learn all this, but still having trouble finding most info about a lot of factors that can limit an OC. I've read over a lot of guides, but all I've gotten out of them are methods on how to find a stable OC, lol. if you know any links for such info, I'd be more than interested. thanks again dan!
 
I was also looking into thermal pastes, would the Artic Cooling MX-2 be a good start for a nub? seems like some good stuff after A.S.-5, and being non-capacitive is a plus, lol.
 
I just realized, would the new Samsung F3 500Gb even be an upgrade at this point? I'm pretty much fine as far as storage space goes, I run programs off the Raptor and store/back-up files on the SeaGate drive. the new F3 would replace the Raptor, but would there be any noticeable difference on this system?
 
Leon_Solitario said:
I just realized, would the new Samsung F3 500Gb even be an upgrade at this point? I'm pretty much fine as far as storage space goes, I run programs off the Raptor and store/back-up files on the SeaGate drive. the new F3 would replace the Raptor, but would there be any noticeable difference on this system?
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Not that big of a difference since the better seek times of the Raptor helps a bit with its now relatively slow transfer speeds.

Oh and MX2 is ok.
 
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