Where should I upgrade?

[Pyramus]

Hi folks,

I have a reasonable system that a I built myself. I want to speed it up some what but I am not sure where. It is a games system but I do use it for everyday use aswell.

I am thinking of upgrading the graphics card and memory?

My current setup:

Memory
OCZ Gold XTC DDR2 PC6400 4096MB KIT,
w/two 2048MB PC6400 XTC, CL5-5-5-15

Graphics Card
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3, HDCP,
PCI-Express, 2xDVI-I, 320bit

Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Socket LGA775, 8MB, BOXED w/fan

Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB SATA2
16MB 7200RPM

Motherboard
ABIT IP35-E, P35, Socket-775, ATX,
SATAII, GbLAN, DDR2, PCI-Ex16

Sound Card
Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty
Pro, 64MB, EAX ADVANCED HD

Power Supply
Corsair Powersupply 620W Black, ATX/EPS,
120mm Fan, 8xSATA, SLI, WxHxL 150x86x150

Case
Antec P182 Special Edition

Monitor
22" Samsung SyncMaster 226cw

Mouse
Razer Lachesis

Keyboard
Elipses II

OS
Vista Home Premium 64bit
I would love to hear your opinions.

[Mithrandir]

Upgrade graphics car to 4850 or 9800gtx+ Or if you want to indulge - gtx 260


Overclock that cpu as well, and possibly consider a single platter HDD

[Pyramus]

Upgrade graphics car to 4850 or 9800gtx+ Or if you want to indulge - gtx 260


Overclock that cpu as well, and possibly consider a single platter HDD

Or GTX 280??

I presume single platter HDD is the same as a solid state hardrive? I watched a few comparison videos on these and I wasn't really impressed. I dont think they are worth the price.

[staffsMike]

Do you think it is struggling with anything? I have the 640mb GTS and at 1680 x 1050 or below it's still fine.

I'd agree though, the only thing that really needs upgrading there is the graphics, if anything (as above). If you are gaming at 1920 x 1200 you might as well go for the 260GTX at £165

By single platter I think he means a drive based on 320GB platters, so a single 320GB single plater, a dual 320GB plater like the western digital 640GB AAKS (£50 very reasonable ) or sasmungs 1TB drives.

The 280 is pointless below 1920 x 1200 but a very worth card at or above that

[Powderhound]

An SSD uses flash memory (like a USB stick) and are therefore a completely different technology to single platter hard drives.

[Pyramus]

Do you think it is struggling with anything? I have the 640mb GTS and at 1680 x 1050 or below it's still fine.

I'd agree though, the only thing that really needs upgrading there is the graphics, if anything (as above). If you are gaming at 1920 x 1200 you might as well go for the 260GTX at £165

By single platter I think he means a drive based on 320GB platters, so a single 320GB single plater, a dual 320GB plater like the western digital 640GB AAKS (£50 very reasonable ) or sasmungs 1TB drives.

The 280 is pointless below 1920 x 1200 but a very worth card at or above that

Well I used the same resolution as you. It does struggle with Crysis but I suppose most people have problems with it. I guess I just like the idea of having a super sexy pc!!

I have been looking at the Samsung F1 1TB too!

[staffsMike]

Well crysis at 1680 x 1050 on mid settings works well enough on my PC.

That said, no card you can buy can really play crysis all that well, even at modest resolutions like 1680 x 1050. Plus.. crysis is boring lol

Most games will still be quite happy on your card though so if it's just upgrading for the sake of upgrading I wouldn't bother. Certainly don't bother with a 280GTX.. it will have no benefits for you.

[Pyramus]

Well crysis at 1680 x 1050 on mid settings works well enough on my PC.

That said, no card you can buy can really play crysis all that well, even at modest resolutions like 1680 x 1050. Plus.. crysis is boring lol

Most games will still be quite happy on your card though so if it's just upgrading for the sake of upgrading I wouldn't bother. Certainly don't bother with a 280GTX.. it will have no benefits for you.

Ah right ok, thanks for that! How about the memory?

[staffsMike]

You have a good kit as it is. You can get slightly lower timings now (4-4-4-12) but it doesn't really affect Intel chips so I wouldn't both.

4GB is more than enough unless you are running VM's or have any other particular need for it.

[Pyramus]

You have a good kit as it is. You can get slightly lower timings now (4-4-4-12) but it doesn't really affect Intel chips so I wouldn't both.

4GB is more than enough unless you are running VM's or have any other particular need for it.

Thanks. I just thought because I hadn't done anything to it in a year or so there would be some decent new stuff to add/change.

[staffsMike]

Nope, looks like you did your homework a year ago

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I think that the HD4850/HD4870,9800GTX+ or GTX260 will be decent upgrade on your existing graphics card.However if your existing games are running well it maybe a good idea to upgrade your graphics card only when a game really starts taxing your card.

However it maybe an idea to get a better aftermarket cooler for your q6600 as it can be overclocked(if the need arises) to 3ghz quite easily according to many people.

[Pyramus]

I think that the HD4850/HD4870,9800GTX+ or GTX260 will be decent upgrade on your existing graphics card.However if your existing games are running well it maybe a good idea to upgrade your graphics card only when a game really starts taxing your card.

However it maybe an idea to get a better aftermarket cooler for your q6600 as it can be overclocked(if the need arises) to 3ghz quite easily according to many people.

Yea, I wish to learn how to overclock the cpu now! Maybe I will upgrade it next year. Will those cards slot into my current mottherboard ok?

[staffsMike]

Yeah no compatability issues

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Unless there is a known incompatability there should be no problem.However like I said a graphics upgrade is only worth if you need it! Your motherboard is a socket 775 and by early next year processors using this socket will start to be phased out. The new socket which is coming out is LGA1366 which is incompatible with socket 775. However if you overclock your processor to around 3ghz it should enough for the next year or so.

[Pyramus]

All those cards apart from the gtx260 are out of stock on the sites I normally go. Does that mean they are to be replaced shortly?