Upgrade Woes - What To Get?

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Y2K

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Hey everyone! I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice & tips on what to upgrade my pc too.

Firstly I have an AMD Athlon 64 Processor - 3500+ - 2.2Ghz, 1GB RAM & a NVidea GeForce 6600 card.

Should I stick with an AMD or go with a Petium? Is going Dual Core worth it? I've heard that most games are not compatible with Dual Core...

I'd like to just change my board, chip, RAM & graphics card. I also have a budget of around 10k.

Could you guys give me a rough idea of what to get please? Ooh I'm looking for a PC setup mostly for Gaming.

Thanks!
 
Y2K said:
Hey everyone! I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice & tips on what to upgrade my pc too.

Firstly I have an AMD Athlon 64 Processor - 3500+ - 2.2Ghz, 1GB RAM & a NVidea GeForce 6600 card.

Should I stick with an AMD or go with a Petium? Is going Dual Core worth it? I've heard that most games are not compatible with Dual Core...

I'd like to just change my board, chip, RAM & graphics card. I also have a budget of around 10k.

Could you guys give me a rough idea of what to get please? Ooh I'm looking for a PC setup mostly for Gaming.

Thanks!
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At the moment the Intel Core2Duo is the best CPU on the market - build yourself a system round it (check out the Asus P35 mobo) and you'll be a happy camper. :)

*The Core2Duo improve framerates in games, it's only the older games that weren't written for multiple threading that's not faster with the new CPU.
 
For that I'd get a xbox360 and an 32" LCD TV . . . . ;) (j/k!)

Seriously though focus your costs on the new video card and RAM rather than the CPU, it not so much the bottle neck. DX10 card only, don't go backwards, 2Gb DDR800 RAM or preferably more. I wouldn't bother with Sli - by the time you want the second card, new cards are out for the same price at double the performance.

Core Duo's are great processors, but the AMD chips have been massively price cut, always check price performance.
 
This is what I would get:

Asus P5K motherboard-+-R2000
Intel Core2 Duo E6750-+-R1900
2Gig DDR2-800 Ram-Price depends on choice but around R1000

That leaves you with a whole whack of cash left for a decent GFX card. I bought my Inno3D
8800GTX for R4200, but you can also buy a decent 8800GTS.
 
doobiwan said:
For that I'd get a xbox360 and an 32" LCD TV . . . . ;) (j/k!)

Seriously though focus your costs on the new video card and RAM rather than the CPU, it not so much the bottle neck. DX10 card only, don't go backwards, 2Gb DDR800 RAM or preferably more. I wouldn't bother with Sli - by the time you want the second card, new cards are out for the same price at double the performance.

Core Duo's are great processors, but the AMD chips have been massively price cut, always check price performance.
Click to expand...

Careful with a DirectX 10 card, they are not compatible with the DirectX 10.1 standard - just wait a leetle bit.
 
I'd just get an extra gig of RAM and wait till next year. By Q1 2008 everyone would have brought out all the latest and greatest CPUs and mobos. You should still be able to at least play the newest games coming out this year with your old setup if you get an extra gig of RAM.

Otherwise, start with a 320MB 8800GTS and work yourself from there.
 
Toxin said:
I'd just get an extra gig of RAM and wait till next year. By Q1 2008 everyone would have brought out all the latest and greatest CPUs and mobos. You should still be able to at least play the newest games coming out this year with your old setup if you get an extra gig of RAM.

Otherwise, start with a 320MB 8800GTS and work yourself from there.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm gonna get for now - up my system RAM from 1GB to 2GB for my existing pc and next year a complete new system with Vista Ultimate 64-bit.
 
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kingrob said:
Careful with a DirectX 10 card, they are not compatible with the DirectX 10.1 standard - just wait a leetle bit.
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That's not really an issue. It's not anywhere near out, and neither is the hardware, nor will it be a major impact, unlike dx9 to dx10.
 
doobiwan said:
That's not really an issue. It's not anywhere near out, and neither is the hardware, nor will it be a major impact, unlike dx9 to dx10.
Click to expand...

You're right. Guess what I really wanted to say was to rather wait till beginning of next year, or Xmas - some nice bargains to be had over Xmas time.... ;)
 
To give you an idea. Me and a friend changed our hardware with each other to see which CPU is the best between Intel and AMD. We ran with the same memory and graphics card. I overclocked my CPu to correspond with his clockrate. Ive got a Core2 E4300 and his got a Athlon x2 4800 cpu. The framrates on SC source and Collin M Dirt was between 2 and 4 FPS in the intels favour. So if u buy for the future go with a intel. AMD got great prices but the AM2+ is around the corner. If it was me i would go for a 8800 GTs 320MB. Not much between the 320MB and 640MB ones or go high for the GTX. If you going Intel go for a P35 or X35 (havent seen one yet) for future CPU's from intel. 2gig RAM should be fine even on Vista (We tested on Vista between 1 and 2gig Ram with 1FPS faster with 2GB ram). You dont need fast ram if you are not going to overclock. Good bandwith and tight timings are expensive so try to get something in between. Ja thats my opinion.:cool:
 
Hey guys! Thanks so much for the great replies & advice! I really appreciate it!

I've decided to go with Intel & a 8800GTX card with about 2+ RAM. You guys have made some great points about the pros & cons of Intel & D10.

I've been under the impression that the Intel boards run hotter than the new AMD ones? I've decided to buy around October or maybe hold off till December. Sad thing about upgrading is that theres always something new around the corner.... :(

On that note, I'm from Durbs, where should I go to get my parts? If someone could give me a rough idea on suppliers, I'd be over the moon! :D

Thanks again!
 
Y2K said:
Hey guys! Thanks so much for the great replies & advice! I really appreciate it!

I've decided to go with Intel & a 8800GTX card with about 2+ RAM. You guys have made some great points about the pros & cons of Intel & D10.

I've been under the impression that the Intel boards run hotter than the new AMD ones? I've decided to buy around October or maybe hold off till December. Sad thing about upgrading is that theres always something new around the corner.... :(

On that note, I'm from Durbs, where should I go to get my parts? If someone could give me a rough idea on suppliers, I'd be over the moon! :D

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Cool now tell me where you live so I can kill you and steal your...

UBBER! PC WOW! nice ;) hope you have many hours of fun, BTW you wont look back after Intels Core 2 Duo!
 
From Durbs too.

I got my XFX 8800GTX from PC Zone www.zones.co.za - they're in Pinetown.

I got my PSU (Antec Truepower 650w) and chassis (Antec P180b) from www.sybaritic.co.za

I got the rest of my gear from Rectron, Gigabyte 965-DQ6 motherboard, C2D E6600, 2x 1GB DDR2800mhz RAM, SB XFi etc;

Remember, don't skimp out an get some cheap ass PSU!

Y2K said:
Hey guys! Thanks so much for the great replies & advice! I really appreciate it!

I've decided to go with Intel & a 8800GTX card with about 2+ RAM. You guys have made some great points about the pros & cons of Intel & D10.

I've been under the impression that the Intel boards run hotter than the new AMD ones? I've decided to buy around October or maybe hold off till December. Sad thing about upgrading is that theres always something new around the corner.... :(

On that note, I'm from Durbs, where should I go to get my parts? If someone could give me a rough idea on suppliers, I'd be over the moon! :D

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
 
n1hilist said:
Remember, don't skimp out an get some cheap ass PSU!
Click to expand...

Best advice I've seen today - and I TOTALLY agree.

I still don't understand why people buy an 'uber' PC, with the most expensive CPU, RAM, mobo, graphics card, sound card, etc - and then go and buy a 'no name' brand PSU for R300. :confused:

Your PSU is the 'heart beat' of your shiny pc. ;)
 
kingrob said:
Best advice I've seen today - and I TOTALLY agree.

I still don't understand why people buy an 'uber' PC, with the most expensive CPU, RAM, mobo, graphics card, sound card, etc - and then go and buy a 'no name' brand PSU for R300. :confused:

Your PSU is the 'heart beat' of your shiny pc. ;)
Click to expand...

It doesn't give any performance to your pc.I mean your pc isn't going to run faster with a good R2000 500W psu.Sure a good quality psu is not a bad thing if the rest of your rig is up to date.But i would rather go for more ram of processor speed 1st before going out and spending lots of cash on a psu.
 
Pe-Killer said:
It doesn't give any performance to your pc.I mean your pc isn't going to run faster with a good R2000 500W psu.Sure a good quality psu is not a bad thing if the rest of your rig is up to date.But i would rather go for more ram of processor speed 1st before going out and spending lots of cash on a psu.
Click to expand...

Ja IMO, a E4500 is just as good as a E6600, DDR2 is starting to get cheap these days as DDR3 is making its way onto the market :D

Most power consumption is your GPU so a 500Watt Generic PSU should work! :cool:
 
Ja ja Intel might be good for the time being, but I'd rather wait for AMD's new CPU's. If I was you I would not turn my back on them, but if you really really need to upgrade then C2D is the way to go. I'm gonna keep my 3800+ for now and just get myself a 8800GTS 320MB at the end of the year.

I won't ever buy intel in life ever again, and will support AMD till the day I die :D

AMD 4 Life
 
Pe-Killer said:
It doesn't give any performance to your pc.I mean your pc isn't going to run faster with a good R2000 500W psu.Sure a good quality psu is not a bad thing if the rest of your rig is up to date.But i would rather go for more ram of processor speed 1st before going out and spending lots of cash on a psu.
Click to expand...

When your crappy R400-00 psu blows your R4000-00 gpu, R2000-00 mobo, your R2000-00 cpu then we shall talk again, psu rules it is as simple as that.

Without power you have nothing, with bad power you have a dead pc :)
 
QX6700RULZ said:
When your crappy R400-00 psu blows your R4000-00 gpu, R2000-00 mobo, your R2000-00 cpu then we shall talk again, psu rules it is as simple as that.

Without power you have nothing, with bad power you have a dead pc :)
Click to expand...

Yep... if you go for a PSU, you go big... A 500w PSU can't support SLi - especially not two 8800GTX cards... I believe they require something like 850w at least, if I'm not mistaken? I call it a long-term investment... As well as a security measure :p
 
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Lycanthrope said:
Yep... if you go for a PSU, you go big... A 500w PSU can't support SLi - especially not two 8800GTX cards... I believe they require something like 850w at least, if I'm not mistaken? I call it a long-term investment... As well as a security measure :p
Click to expand...

Like I said if u already have a up to date rig with 8800gtx that costs 5k sure go for it.But if your one of the few ppl who doesn't have 5k to spend on a video card.And u have something like a 7300gt or something like that rather go for a bigger video card 1st then go out and buy a bigger better quality psu.What is the use of a 850w R2000 psu if your not running sli or a geforce 8800gtx or have 10 drives in your pc???
 
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