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Thread: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

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    which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    iv decided that my computer could use an upgrade. the specs are...
    ASUS P5K premium/wi-fi ap motherboard
    Q6600 overclocked to 3GHz
    9800GTX (factory overclocked)
    4GB Corsair XMS2 800MHz 4-4-4-12
    2x 500GB samsung F1 HDD
    520W modular corsair power supply
    im either goin to double the RAM or put a new GPU in, maybe a GTX280.
    which would give the biggest improvemet in terms of gaming? also do you think the power supply could handle a GTX280?
    thanks
    Last edited by douglasb; 27-08-2009 at 09:10 PM.

  2. #2
    Big, Mean and Ugly! circuitmonkey's Avatar
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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    Quote Originally Posted by douglasb View Post
    iv decided that my computer could use an upgrade. the specs are...
    ASUS P5K premium/wi-fi ap motherboard
    Q6600 overclocked to 3GHz
    9800GTX (factory overclocked)
    4GB Corsair XMS2 800MHz 4-4-4-12
    2x 500GB samsung F1 HDD
    520W modular corsair power supply
    im either goin to double the RAM or put a new GPU in, maybe a GTX280.
    which would give the biggest improvemet in terms of gaming? also do you think the power supply could handle a GTX280?
    thanks
    for gaming you'd probably see the biggest improvement out of the GTX280
    and yes, that corsair should be just fine for running a 280

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    What he said ^^^

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    actually, just looking at prices would probably get a GTX 275 instead
    still the same answer though, yea?
    thanks

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    Intel gen 2 SSD.
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
    CAT-THE-FIFTH: "The Antec 300 is a case which has an understated and clean appearance which many people like. Not everyone is into e-peen looking computers which look like a cross between the imagination of a hyperactive 10 year old and a Frog."
    TKPeters: "Off to AVForum better Deal - £20+Vat for Free Shipping @ Scan"
    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Zhaoman (28-08-2009)

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    yes, even more so, smaller fab process means even lower demand on your power supply

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    A GTX275 or an HD4890 will do the job.

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    Quote Originally Posted by Terbinator View Post
    Intel gen 2 SSD.
    haha yeah you could try that too

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    You could spend lots of money on an SSD but for gaming you'd see more of a difference by upgrading the GPU.

  11. #10
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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    I agree with people GPU would make more difference, and SSD would be more "cool" and give you something you don't have. However I notice you already have a 4GB of memory, unless you are running a 64bit OS you will not see any additional memory so that could in fact be money down the drain.

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    The graphics card would indeed give you much more of a performance boost that the RAM upgrade. 4GB is more than enough for the majority of applications anyway.

    However, note that some applications/games (such as FSX) seem to be CPU and RAM dependent. FSX for example is notorious for it's poor performance, and is one of the few games that see hardly any improvement with even the most expensive of GPU upgrades.
    Industrial espionage is simply the sincerest form of flattery......

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    id say GPU again,

    im running atholon x2 4000 @2.7 and a HD4870 512mb

    the cpu is released in 2005 and gou is last year, when i play crysis i still get it to run smoothly on high at 1680 by 1050

    just shows modern games dont use cpu that much, oh and i got 6 gig of ram in my pc but if i use the ram usage gadget for win7 i never managed to load it past 3gig even with games
    Quote Originally Posted by MadduckUK View Post
    now that i think about the word "throttled" in a certain light... its not so far different to strangled really

    our boiler broke so we has no heating or hot water, this is the bloody result ^^

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    As everyone has pointed out, the GPU will probably give you the biggest boost.

    Id forget the RAM. I cant think of any game that would need more than 4GB.

    However, it comes down to what games you play, as someone already pointed out, some games are more CPU limited than anything else.

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    GPU for sure and yes your psu will handle it no problem

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    If you have the cash you may want to consider crossfire a couple of ati cards
    say two 4870's, although that may need a new psu

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    Re: which upgrade would give the biggest improvement?

    thanks guys.
    going to be a new GPU some time soon then...

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