Hi. a wee bit of help with my upgrade

So I think I would like to update a bit my desktop on a budget as I dont game so much anymore so not looking to spends loads.

Mainly a new GFX card but my system will probably be limiting.

Intel Core Duo E6750 @2.66GHz (although it runs at 3 stable)
Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
2GB Ram (cant remember which ones) but good ones back in the days
Sapphire X1950Pro 256mb
Corsair 600/650W power I think
Win XP SP3

Well years ago when I upgraded, I did select a good compromise so about time I upgrade again. Mainly because I cant play some games I want and I have seen recently how amazing those games looks in comparison to my rig! ahhahah

So I was considering a HD5770?

I have no clue, things have moved on and I never kept up, I did some quick looking around and that sounded good to me.

I might get more Ram as well since well Ram is cheap if it will help.

Cheers!

I'd recommend an upgrade to Windows 7, 4GB RAM and a GTX460 line of video cards, you can stick with ATI cards, but i do not know so much about them. Could you post the exact make and model of power supply you have? i'd like to be sure it can handle the extra power requirements. Also, can you post your exact make and model of memory? The board you listed supports DDR2 and DDR3, usually you can only run one or the other at any one time, they typically do not allow you to mix and match memory types and speeds. Your CPU should ge good enough to run these video cards, especially if you overclock to 3GHZ

Windows 7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Video Card

This is a lower end, but good video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591

this is a better card at slightly more money
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130567

Memory:
To be determined by what you've already got.

Agreed, except the GTX460 is a different price point then the 5770. Both are the best for what they cost at that price point. Please don't get the 460SE (slow edition), you might as well get a 5770 which performs about the same at a lower point, the GTX460SE was designed to be low power draw.

Wathnix said:

I'd recommend an upgrade to Windows 7, 4GB RAM and a GTX460 line of video cards, you can stick with ATI cards, but i do not know so much about them. Could you post the exact make and model of power supply you have? i'd like to be sure it can handle the extra power requirements. Also, can you post your exact make and model of memory? The board you listed supports DDR2 and DDR3, usually you can only run one or the other at any one time, they typically do not allow you to mix and match memory types and speeds. Your CPU should ge good enough to run these video cards, especially if you overclock to 3GHZ

Click to expand...

+1

I think you're in the buy a dual fan 6850 and overclock the snot out of it category in terms of price/performance and bottleneck limitations.

Knufire said:

Agreed, except the GTX460 is a different price point then the 5770. Both are the best for what they cost at that price point. Please don't get the 460SE (slow edition), you might as well get a 5770 which performs about the same at a lower point, the GTX460SE was designed to be low power draw.

Click to expand...

Good point, it's hard to pick hardware without budget figures, I usually stick with nvidia because of CUDA support myself and don't bother paying much attention to ATI, though if I remember right the SE edition really shines at high resolutions

Thanks, I actually made a mistake in thinking this was overclockers.co.uk forum ahhaha as I had always purchased my items from their shop in the past over the last 10 years. Thought the forum looked different! So prices for me are abit higher.

Anyway thanks again for help and some more relevant info as you have all pointed out.

Ram: 2GB Geil DDR2 (2 x 1 GB) PC6400C4 800MHz - GX22GB6400UDC (http://www.awd-it.co.uk/scripts/prodview.asp?idproduct=3092)

PSU: Corsair HX620W modular (http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/power_supply/corsair_hx620_620w_modular_psu/1)

Details on the other parts

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU - (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-Freezer-Socket-Cooler/dp/B000KB96QS)

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 LGA775 Conroe 2.66GHz 1333FSB

HIS ATI Radeon X1950Pro ICEQ3 V2 Turbo silent 256mb (H195PRQT256DD-R)

Coolermaster Wavemaster TAC-01

Samsung SyncMaster 931BW (http://techtastic.ca/reviews6/syncmaster931bw.html)

All nicely bought about 3 years ago

So in terms of budget hmm I dont really have one, more of more bang for your buck but dont need the lastest super technology as I only game occasitonally now (old git here). I was only thing to swap the GFX card out but if I will get huge jumps with small things like ram as well then I would consider it.

Would I see big difference with Win7? I trialed it on my netbook and it was OK, wasnt really a fan. Plus I have setup my desktop the way I like it -ish. I am due for a Win reinstall been having issues lately. Win7 is a bit pricey compared to components and I wont get much out of it IMHO?

I am also considering changing the CPU cooler as it makes a loud noise, it is good but getting too noisy. Some good cheap recommendations would be good. In the past I looked at water cooling but decided was too expensive.

Games that I see that I would like to play coming next year would be:

Deux Ex 3 (Big fan)
Probably Crysis 2
Rage

Again, it doesnt have to be the best setting, something decent/playable is fine.

I am planning to buy

Metro 2033
Two Worlds 2 which I have now as a gift and realised it doesnt run (requires GFX with 512mb and DX11) that prompted my desire for an upgrade.

Well, XP is getting long in the tooth and MS will stop supporting it sooner or later, I got win 7 myself and really like it, it's more stable and it supports 64bit processors better. if you do go to win 7 then 4GB is highly recommended, if you stick with Win XP then don't bother upgrading RAM. The GTX460 will help a lot if you decide to play crysis 2