Upgrade Imminent!

[Rookie1986]

With games like FF14 just around the corner I'm looking to make some upgrades to my existing rig to help boost my performance. I have around £200-£300 to spend on upgrading my components and just wanted to know what you guys would recommend. I'm currently running this:

Asus P5Q-Pro Motherboard
GTX 260 Graphics Card
4GB RAM
E8500 3.16Ghz Processor

So where do you guys think I should start? Also if you need any more info just let me know

[Hawker1986]

Decent CPU cooler for the chip then overclock it to 4Ghz.

Job done .

If its purely for games I couldnt recommend an SSD which is the only other thing really. If your GPU ends up not performing as well as you want it to I would wait for the games then upgrade rather than doing it now, things will go down in price and I suspect that 260 will run just fine.

Hawker

[matty-hodgson]

Get yourself an SSD, it's one of the best ways to upgrade a PC these days. They're blisteringly fast, silent, reliable and energy efficient. Honestly, I swear by mine for everyday tasks, everything's just so fast .

Also, get yourself a nice big cooler on top of that E8500 and overclock it to around 4GHz, that'll be enough to last you a couple of years for general gaming use. One problem though, you only mention your quantity of RAM, not the make or speed or anything. Make sure you keep the RAM below its designed operational levels when overclocking the E8500.

[Rookie1986]

Thanks for the replies guys,

I have a Thermaltake Golden Orb fan already fitted to my CPU, will this be enough to give me a chance at overclocking?

The RAM I have is DDR2 made by Corsair, how do I find out the speed etc?

One for and one against a SSD.... what exactly do I need to do to fit and install a SSD? I don't have windows on disk either, will this be a problem?

[matty-hodgson]

I have a Thermaltake Golden Orb fan already fitted to my CPU, will this be enough to give me a chance at overclocking?

Looking at reviews, that HSF won't really be good enough for a decent overclock. You can get very good coolers by respectable brands for around £20.

The RAM I have is DDR2 made by Corsair, how do I find out the speed etc?

If it's by Corsair then it should be able to cope with most of what you can throw at it.

One for and one against a SSD.... what exactly do I need to do to fit and install a SSD? I don't have windows on disk either, will this be a problem?

That would be a problem, yes. It replaces your Windows disc and would require a reinstall.

[Rookie1986]

Looking at reviews, that HSF won't really be good enough for a decent overclock. You can get very good coolers by respectable brands for around £20.

So I shouldn't look to overclock my CPU because the cooler isn't up to scratch? What type of work are we talking to install a new one? are they just slot-in and work like RAM?

[QUOTE=matty-hodgson;1963036]If it's by Corsair then it should be able to cope with most of what you can throw at it.[QUOTE]

Well thats good to hear, I've just had the side of my PC off and on the RAM it says: Corsair XMS2 xtreme performance DDR2 memory cm2x2048-6400c5 5-5-5-18 800mhz 2048mb xms2-6400 means nothing to me lol!

That would be a problem, yes. It replaces your Windows disc and would require a reinstall.

Ah, well at the cost of windows 7 on top of a SSD then I wont be looking to do this.

[matty-hodgson]

So I shouldn't look to overclock my CPU because the cooler isn't up to scratch? What type of work are we talking to install a new one? are they just slot-in and work like RAM?

Depends what brand of cooler you buy, they can be a bit tricky to install sometimes, but most of the time they're pretty simple.

Well thats good to hear, I've just had the side of my PC off and on the RAM it says: Corsair XMS2 xtreme performance DDR2 memory cm2x2048-6400c5 5-5-5-18 800mhz 2048mb xms2-6400 means nothing to me lol!

They're good sticks of RAM, easily capable of letting you overclock .

Ah, well at the cost of windows 7 on top of a SSD then I wont be looking to do this.

Mind me asking how you have Windows7 now?

[Rookie1986]

Mind me asking how you have Windows7 now?

I don't I have Vista.... no jokes please , It came installed on my PC when I bought it so I don't have it on disk or anything.

[matty-hodgson]

I don't I have Vista.... no jokes please , It came installed on my PC when I bought it so I don't have it on disk or anything.

There are some kits that allow you to just copy over your install from your HDD to your shiny new SSD.

Windows 7 is needed for TRIM support though, AFAIK.

One of these would be good - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/233209

There's a review here - Obviously a biased review but the numbers will be accurate and fair.

[Rookie1986]

There are some kits that allow you to just copy over your install from your HDD to your shiny new SSD.

Windows 7 is needed for TRIM support though, AFAIK.

One of these would be good - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/233209

There's a review here - Obviously a biased review but the numbers will be accurate and fair.

I didn't realise they could be bought so cheap, for that price I could get two and get myself a copy of windows 7 easy.

Also I noticed that Windows 7 is available in an upgrade option for students, how does this work? Would I be able to get it and then upgrade my Vista to Windows 7? Windows Student Offers If this will work then I might get Office 2010 while I'm on XD

[Pob255]

To use that student offer you need a valid .ac.uk or .sch.uk e-mail address, then will send a download link and product key to that address.

ps I'm guessing you mean the golden orb II

left = original golden orb, right = golden orb II

you should still be able to get a reasonable overclock out of it however it will get very noisey as the fan is going to have to run fast to keep it cool.

What case have you got btw? also was this a prebuilt branded system? (dell, hp, etc)

[Rookie1986]

To use that student offer you need a valid .ac.uk or .sch.uk e-mail address, then will send a download link and product key to that address.

Yeah I have access to an ac.uk e-mai address, so with this I should be able to get my Windows Vista upgraded to Windows 7?

ps I'm guessing you mean the golden orb II

left = original golden orb, right = golden orb II

you should still be able to get a reasonable overclock out of it however it will get very noisey as the fan is going to have to run fast to keep it cool.

Yes, it's the Golden Orb II, sorry about that

What case have you got btw? also was this a prebuilt branded system? (dell, hp, etc)

It's an antec 300 case and the system was built by a computer shop for me,

[Pob255]

Ahh ok, so it's a real Asus P5Q-Pro then, not some not a prebuild version with restricted BIOS.

and an Antec 300 mean you shouldn't have any major issues with a better cpu cooler.

Any 120mm fan based tower cooler would be good, I'd sugest a coolermaster Hyper 212 plus if you can find it for around £20 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Coole...M2-AM2plus-AM3 (although it's not in stock atm)
there is also the Xigmatek S1283 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Xigma...uad-Core-Ready a very decent low cost option.
the Gelid Tranquillo should be reasonable too http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Gelid...0-AM2-AM2plus-
AKASA Nero S is good http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AKASA...M2-AM2plus-AM3 but for the cost I think the CM hyoer 212+ is a better option.

[lego batman]

With windows 7, they will send you download link and then you just download the files and burn them to a dvd - there are lots of guides on this since it isn't totally straightforward. Just google for it while you are downloading!
With overclocking, I wouldn't get too hung up on reaching 4ghz in particular! I'd be surprised if your CPU was preventing any games from running well.
I think you would get the most noticeable gain from an SSD although I haven't tried one myself.

[scaryjim]

I'm not sure I'd bother with an SSD straight away. It'll definitely make your system generally more responsive, but it's not going to magically up your frame rates!

Definitely get the student upgrade for Windows 7, you might find that the simple act of upgrading from Vista to 7 gives you a noticable improvement in general system response!

Otherwise I don't think there's a lot to upgrade on your machine really. You could consider a Q8x00 / Q9x00 (e.g. Q8300 - £108) to replace the dual-core, but you'd be balancing between clock speed and cores that way, and at the minute it varies massively from game to game as to which provides the best performance. Of course, if you got the quad and a good cooler you could overclock the quad to get 4 faster cores, and you could sell your E8500 to cover some of the cost. But it's all tweaking at that point, really: your current system is nicely balanced and shouldn't *need* upgrading for a while. I'd echo Hawker's advice and suggest waiting until you've bought the games, and *then* upgrading if you find your current system can't cope with them...