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Hello.
I've started to get back into gaming recently, and am looking to upgrade my computer, just to beef it up a little bit. But, I haven't even opened my PC case in around a year, so I have no idea as to what's what with computers at the moment.
My PC is as shown in 'My System', except the graphics card is now a Radeon 3650, as opposed to a nVidia 7600GT.
I'll have around £250 to spend, which could be pushed up to ~£300 if needs be.
Any advice is welcome.
Thanks
Nick
We'll need to know what processor you have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Smith
Pentium 4? Core 2 Duo?
Do you know your motherboard? Do you know your RAM? What type of PC is it? Is it a Dell, for example?
Tell us as much info as you can. Search google if you don't know how to find something.
But:Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Smith
Intel Core2Duo E6300
Gigabyte DS3
2GB Corsair RAM PC6400
Corsair HX520
ATI Radeon 3650
320GB Seagate Barracuda
Antec 900
XP 32bit
Depending what resolution you game at I would say E8400 CPU + 4850 graphics card for 1680x1050 (1600x1200) or less, and E5200 CPU + 4870 for 1920x1200 or more. Either way it should work out at about £250. (looking at your system I would imagine its the first option, so go for E8400 + an ati 4850, that will let you play anything maxed out on a 19" monitor)
Hawker
lol sorry I'm tired, I'm not used to this forum's interface yet, I forgot there's a feature like that :P...Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Smith
You processor is prime for gaming, maybe overclock it if you can... There's plenty of guides on here for that.
2gb ram is minimum, but since you're on XP you won't benefit from 4, you'll only get about 3.7 from it, because xp has a cap.
Your video card will impact performance the most. Since you have £250 to spend, you are in luck!
[post removed]
EVGA has an awesome record, I love that brand, and the 260 is the second (next to the 280) best single GPU in the world. The 4870 isn't as good, only the 4870x2 matches it, but that's two gpu's put together, and plus ATI sucks at the moment, they run very hot and very loud... So I definitely recommend going with nVidia... this is based off of all of the reviews and professional tests that I've read on the subject, as well as the opinions of many other people...
[EDIT: I just realized that card is 192 core not 216, sorry... For the same price you can get this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB...xDL-DVI-I-HDTV which is almost as good as the 280's.]
So, for £250 you can get one of the best GPU's in the world, and that will raise your performance a LOT...
The core 2 duo's are good for gaming, they aren't obsolete yet, and won't be for a while. There's really no need to upgrade it...
See what other's say, but I think they'll also recommend upgrading your GPU.
:)
Thanks for that guys. :)
I'm still undecided however, and am going to wait for some other opinions before i make a decision.
Well you have an E6xxx, and people recommend upgrading to E5xxx for gaming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Smith
You're already above the mark as far as the consensus is concerned.
People also recommend low graphics cards such as the 8800's...
You should play a game and see what your performance is like, it may already be enough for you, but if it isn't, it's either due to your RAM or your GPU, because those play the largest factor in gaming performance. CPU really isn't a huge deal as long as it's a Duo +.
[edit:I just realized that card is 192 core not 216, sorry... For the same price you can get this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB...xDL-DVI-I-HDTV which is almost as good as the 280's.]
This is the same exact card that I'm getting.
Read the review here
Sorry about that :P I'm very tired I'm going to stop posting now lol
No worries!Quote:
Originally Posted by Robscure
Thanks for your help, much appreciated.
Or you can buy this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...VI-I-HDTV-HDCP save yourself £70 and get very nearly the same performance as the review robscure linked to shows, and I would bet that on a 19" monitor you would see no difference at all between the two since the review above was run at 1920x1200 which is much more graphics card intensive.
Hawker
Yeah these top-end graphics cards are amazingly powerful, people use them for 1900+ res at max settings, on a 19 inch with say 1200 res you can get amazing performance. Nice one HawkerQuote:
Originally Posted by Hawker1986
:rockon2:
Thanks again to both of you!
Just for a change of ideas... £250 could buy you
a) a PS3.
b) a decent monitor.
c) an Xbox360 plus a load of games
Console gaming SUCKS so bad in my opinion. I want to sell my Xbox 360 + I think about 7 games...Quote:
Originally Posted by MSIC
Am I allowed to advertise that on here? lol
I hate console gaming, personally. But that's just me, obviously millions of people enjoy it.
I think my internet connection just sucks on the games that I would like to play on 360...
Robscure - when you get more posts you can!
Also to the OP - you seem to have a fairly rounded system. Mine isn't too disimiliar and I've got the e6300 at 3 ghz 100% prime95 stable with 1.36v, so its not producing too much heat yet also 3ghz is enough CPU grunt for any game.
If you were pushed, upgrade the GPU, but the 3650 isn't a bad graphics card and I'm skeptical whether you will see a real world improvement.
I'd spend the money on a bigger monitor, where you will definately see a real world improvement :)
Don't listen to him!!! lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Dreaming
Bigger monitor??? 22" is perfect for gaming, as long as you don't go above that... If you do, you'll rely on better gpu , etc, to produce better quality, etc, and it won't be as smooth gameplay... Unless you're just in it for the eye candy!!
just to save any future confusion for yourself, its 32 bit not the OS that is the problem.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robscure
look for a 2nd hand dell 2407wfp, lovely monitor :)
or even a 2409 (tn) for a cheap price, 24 inch is the nicest thing ever to have:P
tbh, if your not feeling the strain save the money for something else.. im still happy with my 8800gts 512 and even though it doesnt play some games fully maxed, lowering the settings a notch is fine with me.
Thanks for that confusion-saver :)Quote:
Originally Posted by jackvdbuk
24" is the nicest to have next to a 22", I don't think 2" is worth the performance cut for me, personally.
Well personally I love my 24" monitor all that space is excellent and games look great, performance cut just means you need more power :). But I think in this case the GPU upgrade is the way to go over a new monitor, because trying to game with top settings on a 22/24" monitor with a 3650 isnt going to be a step forward. Getting the 4870 will boost your performance with your current monitor to the point you can play whatever you want all out, and later if you can afford/want to upgrade your monitor you can and will still have the power to game well on it.
Hawker
I second that. Except the risk of ghosting is present on monitors the larger they are.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawker1986
True enough, but if you do some research and avoid the ones with these problems its fine, my dell doesnt have any problems with ghosting so its not a definate thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robscure
Hawker
I wouldnt upgrade the CPU. The GPU is fine for now but if you wanted the 4850 is PLENTY (£100) but thats not an essential... The montior could be upgraded or add another as you will then see a big difference in your system, but no bigger than 22" for replacement or 17" for extension.
Only things I would do is maybe RAM to 4GB, (so what if you lose half a gig due to 32bit limitations, big whoop, it is there still). Now, I will make one more suggestion, but you may not like it.
Upgrade to Vista 64bit premium. The reason I say this is that this will be the one thing that you WILL see a MASSIVE difference in and make you feel like you haven't threw money down the drain. You will obviously see a big difference quickly! It will take a little time to get used to, and you may need to phase out some old hardware (like I have to get a new game controller, but thats it and I have alot of computer junk).
So my suggestions are:
Vista 64Bit (£70)
4GB Corsair XMS2 Memory (£40)
and/or one of the follwing -
17 or 22" Montior (£80-140) *For dual screen setup, have larger as main screen*
or an ATi Sapphire 4850 (£110) *Just to say you have a better graphics card*
It seems criminal to have an E6300 and an aftermarket cooler only to run it at stock.
Go on. You know you want to, and you should be able to get a decent overclock out of it.
Note: that's the OEM version of Vista, meaning you can only install once on a single system, then after that you would need to buy another. So unless you plan on keeping your mobo for a while, it might not be worth it. But if you don't plan on upgrading your mobo for a year or more then go ahead.Quote:
Originally Posted by richieuk
Out of interest, apologies if I missed it somewhere in this lot, but is your C2D overclocked? if its not perhaps thats the way to go? save yourself a bit of cash in the short to medium and invest in a nice new graphics card?
If you need to upgrade, I would overclock the e6300 to around 3GHz, should be no problem, and maybe get a 4850, great card for the money, although, as other have said, the 3650 is bad, but the 4850 would defo be a big improvement.....
A bigger screen is always an option, although, if you get a bigger screen, you will then almost NEED to get a 4850 or something similar to power it..
Just me.......