PC upgrade advice

Dont bother getting a PSU under 500w since you will regret it later.and you definately going to need a PSU before getting anything else..so rather spend a decent amount on one and know that you wont be begging for power or possibly damaging components with cheap products.friend lost a motherboard to a 550w superchannel...so look at something like corsair or antec.

to help stretch you budget try out carbonite.can get second hand components and save a little cash
 
Man, some of the advice on this thread... 0.o

Kayoss said:
I was recently given a decent pc which i'm looking to give a bit of an upgrade.

CPU - i5 3.3ghz
RAM - 4gb ddr3 1333Mhz
Mobo - Gigabyte H61M-S2V
HDD - 500gb SATA
Windows 7 Home Prem (32 bit)
Video Card - Onboard
PSU - 250W

So, i'm gonna try upgrade the Windows to 64 bit by simply downloading the 64-bit version and using the same activation ID. I have about R1000 to upgrade it so would like to make the most of it. I see another 4GB of RAM is a little over R200 at esquire so that would give me 8gb which i'm sure will be plenty.
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You haven't yet said what PC this is or where it was bought from. If its a boutique version from Dell or HP, then its the chassis and PSU that needs to be looked at first. Stick to 4GB RAM for now, you don't need more than that for gaming purposes. R1000 won't buy you that much, but R1200 is definitely something a little more workable. Assuming its a standard chassis and standard-size PSU:

Recommended upgrade:
Corsair VS450 @ R441
Sapphire HD6670 1GB DDR3 @ R752 or Gigabyte GT630 1GB DDR3 @ R718

That's as far as you'd be able to go. If you're lucky, a 1GB DDR5 GT440 might find its way to you, which would be the better choice by far out of these two. You'll be playing at 1080p on medium settings or 720p on high. Should you choose to rather wait and save more money for a better overall upgrade (you need at least three grand to make it worth your while, trust me) you can change to a 64-bit OS and then update all your drivers before being able to play BF3 on medium settings at 1024 x 768 on the integrated GPU. Its not that bad, but its not that great either. However, it works out if you need a short-term stop-gap measure.

If you're keen on jamming BF3 at 1080p on maximum settings (4x AA), your lowest configuration you should aim for is this one:

Cooler Master GX 450W @ R597
Any 1GB AMD Radeon HD6870 or Any 1GB GTX560 Ti, soon to be replaced by the GTX660 2GB and a cheaper HD7850 1GB

NomNom said:
As far as I know you can not use the same serial key. Make sure not to get Axtrom ram
Click to expand...

You're able to switch between 64 and 32-bit installs of Windows 7 by using the same key an unlimited amount of times. This is how Microsoft got around the hassle of changing their OEM licencing when Windows 7 was released.
 
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nakedpeanut said:
I agree that 550w is more than he'll need. But the problem comes in with the PCI-e connectors. Any PSU below 550w with the exception of some 500w here and there have one PCI-e connector or none.
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If it is only a matter of PCI-e connectors, then resonable option is to add one or two by yourself (from a broken PS) and save money. Just get a quality PS.
 
I'm on Tappatalk so I can't see your location but if you are in Johannesburg, wait for Rage at the end of this month for best deals on upgrades.
 
Home Server

So have a a core2 duo that I want to turn into the home server with sickbeard etc.
It's going to stay in the lounge encase i wish to watch something through my tv.

Any tower recommendations, want something that's very quiet. Current tower is quiet noisy.
Also needs to have plenty HDD bays

Edit. Came accross this tower - Silencio 450 looks like what I need
 
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