Best GPU Fit?

VGjunkie87 · Apr 23, 2012

Dell OTP406 MoBo with Intel X38 Chip - 1066MHz (BIOS LOCKED)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz CPU
XFX 650W PSU Single-12v-rail@53a
4GB DDR2 800 SDRAM (4 x 1024MB)
500 GB Standard SATA 7200rpm DataSafe Hard Drive
(Best Suited GPU)

I will be using a 40" Samsung LCD HDTV via mini-HDMI/HDMI. 1920x1080p resolution.

My questions are:

What's the best GPU I can run on this Board (only 1 PCI-E x16) & CPU and expect consistent/reliable performance?

The 2 stock 1024MB SDRAM sticks are PC 800, the 2 G.SKILL 1024MB SDRAM sticks I ordered are PC2 6400. Are there any compatibility issues between them?

I plan on backing-up (media to my laptop then re-installing to Win7) and re-formatting the 500GB HD and installing Windows 7 64bit. Is there any risk in formatting a 4-5 year old HD? Will formatting "cleanse" the HD? It needs it.

Is there anything else that I should be concerned about? I plan on upgrading the MoBo and CPU at some point, but I want to try this out first and get the most out of it as possible. Any idea's or advice is welcome, Thank You in advance.

manu2b · Apr 23, 2012

I'd go with a 560ti or a 6870.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 23, 2012

manu2b said:
I'd go with a 560ti or a 6870.

Thanks for the advice! That's good to hear, I'm probably going to go with the 560 ti. Do you think I could push for the 448 core model, or is it not worth it (possible bottleneck?). I hate Dell for locking their BIOS

, they make reliable and durable PC's otherwise, it's a shame. I've been doing a decent amount of research lately so from now on I'll be doing PC stuff myself (and internet). :thup:

Cheezewhiz · Apr 23, 2012

Formatting HD will erase all data on it. Its good to format an old drive and also required if you are installing Windows 7.

My advice would be to harvest all the rest of your comp parts and get a new motherboard.

Seems like you have enough descent parts just motherboard is locked.
With a new motherboard you can overclock your q6600, which is a great CPU by the way. I used to have one.

What is your budget for the GPU?

The 448 core is a good fit. I am sure you q6600 can handle it and even better if overclocked.

Your PSU is enough, your 4gb DDR2 ram is good, and your drive is great.

I take it your mobo is a socket 775.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N=100007627 600007879&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA 775

That a list of 775 motherboards currently on Newegg.
You can get one for about $50. Only issue is that only Intel Brand offers motherboard 775 with 4 DDR slots. I'm not a fan of Intel motherboards.
Nonetheless 2x2gb DDR2 stick are really cheap nowadays.

Also what games do you play?

That would be something good to know.

Get new Motherboard
2x2GB stick DDR2 ram
GPU - the 560TI 448 core is nice. I like Nvidia drivers.
Or the GTX 570 2.5gb is you will be playing games that require lots of VRAM like BF3.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 23, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
Formatting HD will erase all data on it. Its good to format an old drive and also required if you are installing Windows 7.

My advice would be to harvest all the rest of your comp parts and get a new motherboard.

Seems like you have enough descent parts just motherboard is locked.
With a new motherboard you can overclock your q6600, which is a great CPU by the way. I used to have one.

What is your budget for the GPU?

The 448 core is a good fit. I am sure you q6600 can handle it and even better if overclocked.

Your PSU is enough, your 4gb DDR2 ram is good, and your drive is great.

I take it your mobo is a socket 775.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N=100007627 600007879&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA 775

That a list of 775 motherboards currently on Newegg.
You can get one for about $50. Only issue is that only Intel Brand offers motherboard 775 with 4 DDR slots. I'm not a fan of Intel motherboards.
Nonetheless 2x2gb DDR2 stick are really cheap nowadays.

Also what games do you play?

That would be something good to know.

Get new Motherboard
2x2GB stick DDR2 ram
GPU - the 560TI 448 core is nice. I like Nvidia drivers.
Or the GTX 570 2.5gb is you will be playing games that require lots of VRAM like BF3.

Yeah that's honestly my best option instead of buying a new $3-400 CPU, what's the best rate to clock it at with the proper cooling, it would have to sufficient enough to be worth while. But I'd be up for it if I could get it up to 3.4-3.8GHz safely.

I like StarCraft 2, already have that waiting, Diablo 3 looks interesting though I've never played the older ones. I have Skyrim and Witcher 2 for 360 but want to trade them and get them on PC when I get the proper set-up and graphics/process power to play them the way I'd like. Basically RPG's, Strategy, I love Gears 3, unfortunately it's only of the 360 cause it would be amazing on PC, probably the only reason I have a 360. Action-Adventure like Assassins Creed Series and Racing I have a big library for my 360 but I'm really looking to make a transition to PC, not only to game but learn more about computer's in general.

Cheezewhiz · Apr 23, 2012

Tha'ts a great start. PC gaming in my opinion is more fun. Plus I love computers and have been learning since 13 years of age.

I had my q6600 at 3.0GHZ easily. I am sure you can get it to be at 3.5 easily.

Can you tell me what heat sink and fan you have?
Is it stock?

Also tell me a budget please. That way I can give a list of items more easy.

But judging from the games you play, I would say a 560Ti is a good choice. The 448 core is also and excellent choice for those games.

I would go for the 448 core since it has slightly more VRAM than the 1GB 560Ti (unless you get the 2gb obviously). The 448 edition is pretty much a cheaper in price GTX 570.

Most socket 775 motherboards on Newegg are PCI Express 1.0
However a 2.0 PCI E card will work in that same slot since it has 16 lanes. You card will just have PCI E 1.0 bandwidth but shouldn't cause much of a bottleneck for your games.

Plus you do not want to get a new CPU and more expensive motherboard since the hardware you have is plenty to run the games you listed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130556
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130758

Take a look at those. The motherboard is a good brand and it also supports DDR3! which is obviously faster than your DDR2.
You can get 4gb (2x 2GB) DDR3 1066 for $25 the second link
Lastly, the Evga (great Brand) gtx 560Ti 448 Core. It has a vapor chamber design also so heat will be blown out of your case

q6600 - 3.5 OC
DDR3 1066 GB
GTX 560 Ti 448 Core 1.28 VRAM

That setup right there is epic for your games. You wont be disappointed.

Does that fit your budget??

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
Tha'ts a great start. PC gaming in my opinion is more fun. Plus I love computers and have been learning since 13 years of age.

I had my q6600 at 3.0GHZ easily. I am sure you can get it to be at 3.5 easily.

Can you tell me what heat sink and fan you have?
Is it stock?

Also tell me a budget please. That way I can give a list of items more easy.

But judging from the games you play, I would say a 560Ti is a good choice. The 448 core is also and excellent choice for those games.

I would go for the 448 core since it has slightly more VRAM than the 1GB 560Ti (unless you get the 2gb obviously). The 448 edition is pretty much a cheaper in price GTX 570.

Most socket 775 motherboards on Newegg are PCI Express 1.0
However a 2.0 PCI E card will work in that same slot since it has 16 lanes. You card will just have PCI E 1.0 bandwidth but shouldn't cause much of a bottleneck for your games.

Plus you do not want to get a new CPU and more expensive motherboard since the hardware you have is plenty to run the games you listed.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130556
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130758

Take a look at those. The motherboard is a good brand and it also supports DDR3! which is obviously faster than your DDR2.
You can get 4gb (2x 2GB) DDR3 1066 for $25 the second link
Lastly, the Evga (great Brand) gtx 560Ti 448 Core. It has a vapor chamber design also so heat will be blown out of your case

q6600 - 3.5 OC
DDR3 1066 GB
GTX 560 Ti 448 Core 1.28 VRAM

That setup right there is epic for your games. You wont be disappointed.

Does that fit your budget??

Yeah it's unfortunate that Dell use's such proprietary hardware, otherwise I wouldn't be in such bad shape. I just found out that the case I have is only BTX compatible and pretty much useless for any good MoBo.

I appreciate the advice, I'm kinda stuck on what to do now, maybe I'll just get a basic gtx 560 and start saving for a new case and board, do you think it's worth it to keep the CPU chip? It's annoying I really like the style of the XPS case, but it's not that big of a deal for now.

If I just get a GPU for now stuck at Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, what's the best I could get? Some people are saying not to go over a gtx 460, can I get away with a gtx 560? I can't really spend too much right now so I'd say my limit for a GPU is $225-250

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Thanks for your input.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

Just gonna get this for now and run with it see how it goes, I'll let you know.

Cheezewhiz · Apr 24, 2012

I hear you. I used to own a Dell Dimension 9200 I think it was called. Locked BIOS. Special case so you can ONLY USE DELL PARTS!
Pretty Lame.

I was in your same situation once then I decided to just build a new rig and I cant harvest some parts.

For the games you want to play your Q6600 at 2.4 is just fine.
Its enough for your 560Ti. Remember its still a quad core and back in the day those CPU's were epic. Still are in my opinion.
You will be just fine.

Just get that 560Ti for now. Then when you start saving money you can harvest all your parts then get a new Mobo, case and all the goodies.

Let us know how your card runs and if you need help with anything.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
I hear you. I used to own a Dell Dimension 9200 I think it was called. Locked BIOS. Special case so you can ONLY USE DELL PARTS!
Pretty Lame.

I was in your same situation once then I decided to just build a new rig and I cant harvest some parts.

For the games you want to play your Q6600 at 2.4 is just fine.
Its enough for your 560Ti. Remember its still a quad core and back in the day those CPU's were epic. Still are in my opinion.
You will be just fine.

Just get that 560Ti for now. Then when you start saving money you can harvest all your parts then get a new Mobo, case and all the goodies.

Let us know how your card runs and if you need help with anything.

Yeah I have my eyes on this processor already, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=on&Keywords=(keywords)&Page=1#scrollFullInfo .

It looks like one of the best available for not so bad price. I just installed my new PSU and my CPU core activity leveled out a lot more and according to PC Wizard and they're running cooler, although I did vacuum a decent amount of dust out of the fan and vents.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...aseMark=on&Keywords=(keywords)#scrollFullInfo

Is that a thing to expect? I used to have just a stock 375w dual 12v @ 18a

Cheezewhiz · Apr 24, 2012

The i7 2600k is a great CPU. I have the i5 2500k. According to some reviews the i5 2500k will perform just as good or even better in gaming. The advantage the 2600k has is the Hyper Threading which is great for applications such as Excel, Video encoding, and rendering.

Usually Hyper Threading can cause stuttering in games so users turn it off in the BIOS.

The i5 2500k is cheaper also and you can get it for $180 brand new at Microcenter.com I got mine from there.

As far as your PSU...that can happen. Maybe your 375w PSU was barely enough for your rig so it may have causes it to be unstable. As far as dust, dust reduces the conduction of heat. Thus cleaning it will allow heat to escape better.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
The i7 2600k is a great CPU. I have the i5 2500k. According to some reviews the i5 2500k will perform just as good or even better in gaming. The advantage the 2600k has is the Hyper Threading which is great for applications such as Excel, Video encoding, and rendering.

Usually Hyper Threading can cause stuttering in games so users turn it off in the BIOS.

The i5 2500k is cheaper also and you can get it for $180 brand new at Microcenter.com I got mine from there.

As far as your PSU...that can happen. Maybe your 375w PSU was barely enough for your rig so it may have causes it to be unstable. As far as dust, dust reduces the conduction of heat. Thus cleaning it will allow heat to escape better.

Damn that's a pretty good deal, how many GHz are you running it at I heard they are real easy to over-clock.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Nevermind, I see. Nice I should be getting my Win 7 tomorrow so I'll be able to put my xtra RAM in and my GPU should be here in 2-3 days so I'll be posting if I have any queries.

Cheezewhiz · Apr 24, 2012

super easy to overclock. You also need to make sure to not get the H-series motherboards as those don't allow for overclock.

so you can get p-67, z68, z77 I have a z68.

Super easy to overclock.

I just disabled the turbo core, Intel speed step (which is self adjusting GHZ to save power), C1E which is a power saving feature.

Then increase the multiplier to 45 and set volts to auto.

Mine is at 4.5Ghz with auto volts. I have a Cooler Master hyper 212+ with dual 120mm exhaust fans. Playing BF3 for hours my core temperatures never hit 60c. Which is awesome. I think hitting 80's is too hot if your in that area.

But yes they overclock super easy and are fast. I am 100% content with my i5 2500k.

Cheezewhiz · Apr 24, 2012

VGjunkie87 said:
Nevermind, I see. Nice I should be getting my Win 7 tomorrow so I'll be able to put my xtra RAM in and my GPU should be here in 2-3 days so I'll be posting if I have any queries.

For sure ill be glad to help. I am pretty sure you should be happy with your specs. Yea its a Dell Mobo and its locked but with your new specs and windows 7 64 but you will be happy with the games you play.

Then once you start getting into computers you will find yourself always wanting to upgrade :clap:

VGjunkie87 · Apr 24, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
For sure ill be glad to help. I am pretty sure you should be happy with your specs. Yea its a Dell Mobo and its locked but with your new specs and windows 7 64 but you will be happy with the games you play.

Then once you start getting into computers you will find yourself always wanting to upgrade

Sounds good, I'm thinking about selling all the 360 games I have on ebay that will cross-over to the PC, I would just sell my Xbox if it wasn't for Gears 3. I'm currently playing TLoZ: Twilight Princess on Gamecube hah, it's great I still love my consoles though.

VGjunkie87 · Apr 26, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
For sure ill be glad to help. I am pretty sure you should be happy with your specs. Yea its a Dell Mobo and its locked but with your new specs and windows 7 64 but you will be happy with the games you play.

Then once you start getting into computers you will find yourself always wanting to upgrade

I just have a question regarding the display I'm going to be using, my 40" Samsung LCD HDTV runs approx. 55 pixels per inch and a 4ms response time. Compared to my 22" Dell LCD Monitor which approx. runs at 95 pixels per inch and 2ms response time. I REALLY want to use the 40" TV, is that a noticeable difference in performance for gaming?

I just got my copy of Win 7 & my 560 TI so I'm about to format my HD, install Win 7 64-bit, extra 1GB RAM (4 total) and 560 TI. I'll keep you posted and let you know how everything goes.

Cheezewhiz · Apr 26, 2012

Sweet Congrats! Let us know how your PC performs now. Should be a nice improvement.

As far as your screens...

You Dell 22 inch will have better picture quality and since it is 2ms that is perfect for gaming so you wont see any ghosting.

2ms is basically industry standard for gaming. However most people do not see a difference between 2-8ms until you are hitting about 10 or more ms.

I have a 2ms 1080p monitor and a 55" 1080p TV which is a 120hz 5ms. While playing BF3 on my 55" tv I could see some ghosting. Nothing bad but more noticeable than my LG 23 monitor which is 2ms. Then again i have super sensitive eyes.

In my case I would go with the 2ms Dell and it has more pixels. What is the max resolution on your Dell and you TV?

EDIT: on my LG monitor 2ms...there is no ghosting what so ever. I know you want a bigger screen so you pretty much have to decide if you want large format vs quality

VGjunkie87 · Apr 26, 2012

Cheezewhiz said:
Sweet Congrats! Let us know how your PC performs now. Should be a nice improvement.

As far as your screens...

You Dell 22 inch will have better picture quality and since it is 2ms that is perfect for gaming so you wont see any ghosting.

2ms is basically industry standard for gaming. However most people do not see a difference between 2-8ms until you are hitting about 10 or more ms.

I have a 2ms 1080p monitor and a 55" 1080p TV which is a 120hz 5ms. While playing BF3 on my 55" tv I could see some ghosting. Nothing bad but more noticeable than my LG 23 monitor which is 2ms. Then again i have super sensitive eyes.

In my case I would go with the 2ms Dell and it has more pixels. What is the max resolution on your Dell and you TV?

EDIT: on my LG monitor 2ms...there is no ghosting what so ever. I know you want a bigger screen so you pretty much have to decide if you want large format vs quality

Yea my Samsung is 40" is 120hz and 4ms response native 1920 x 1080. And the Dell's native is 1680 x 1050. My TV also has a "game" mode where it bypasses some of the TV's features/functions so I get a faster controller response, I'm not sure what features the monitor has.

Best GPU Fit?

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