Is it worth upgrading what I have ?

[Behemoth]

For those that are too lazy to look in the my system tab I currently run the following :

AMD Athlon X2 5600 (2.8 GHz stock speed) runs at 2.95 wit a slight overclock
4 Gig DDR2 Zepplin RAM
Asus M378-T Mobo
Ati Radeon 4850 1 Gig GFX Card

Thats the core hard ware anyway, I won't bore you with my storage arrangements.

I play alot of games which I have to say that my current hardware hasn't actually given me any grief with, I can pretty much run most current stuff without it slowing down, although I suspect that soon the 4850 won't be quite man enough for much longer. I play L4D2, TF2, NFS Shift, Mass Effect etc.

I'll be starting a new job next month and when I get paid from that I'm looking at upgrading what I have, but with a difference. I'm wondering if there would be anything to gain by getting an Intel Q6600 and a decent mobo to go with it second hand, perhaps getting some better quality DDR2 Ram and seeing how much I can OC the Q6600.

Or would I be better off going down the road now of going for DDR3, if thats the case then I'd probably stick with AMD, so I'd be looking for anew mobo, cpu and at least 4 gig of DDr3 ram.

On the flip side of that if I'm told no keep what I have for the time being then so beit but I will be honest and say that I do have the bug for something new to play with.

[Domestic_Ginger]

Unless I was getting slowdown then probably no. I think DDR3 is the way to go rather then upgrading your DDR2 is only for future upgrades. Its easy to say wait 6 months but there should be a whole new architecture. If you have an upgrade bug the fad of SSDs and maybe a better GPU in preperation for a system overhall may be on the cards.

If you're gaming two cores should be enough for most games and teh ones you list are probably GPU limited anyway.

Depreciation on your current rig should you choose to sell now or next year shouldn't be huge and even then you might be able to pick up this generation quite if you choose.

[usxhe190]

what new games do you want to play?

[scaryjim]

Hmmm, decisions decisions

If you have money you can comfortably put aside for an upgrade then I'd say do it: your current rig isn't dire but it's definitely at the very bottom end of acceptable.

Hmmm, I think this decision hinges on whether you'd *need* to replace your current RAM. If you've got DDR2-800 then I think you go for a Q6600 and mobo and keep the existing RAM - with a 1:1 ratio (which a decent mobo will offer you) you can get the Q6600 to 3.6GHz before you even *start* overclocking the RAM - and that's a lot of upgrade from a 5600+

If the RAM is anything under 800MHz I'd go for a complete mobo / CPU / RAM package, hitting DDR3. Only then you've got to consider which socket you're after, given that both current Intel sockets will be EOL within a year or so, and AMD may be doing a non-compatible revision too...

And there also seems to be one option you've missed: Dropping an Athlon II or Phenom II in to your existing build. According to the ASUS CPU support page your motherboard will support most AM3 CPUs with a BIOS update (curiously, X6 support seems to be limited to the unreleased 1045T and the overpriced 1075T, but I suspect the latest BIOS would work with any X6...). The 790GX still isn't far off one of the best AM2+ chipsets, and (for example) 955BE is > £110 at the minute, and the 3.2GHz Athlon II X3 450 is ~ £75

Oh, and just FYI: I built my mate a PC on the M3A78T with a Phenom II 940 without updating the BIOS and although it showed up as unrecognised it ran at the full 3GHz and C'n'Q worked without issue...

[Behemoth]

The Ram I have is rated at 1066 but with my current CPU will only run at 800 MHz. I did think of dropping a new CPU on the board I have, would certainly mean I wouldn't have to re-install Windows.

Doing it that way I guess means I could get a new case and GFX card

[Behemoth]

what new games do you want to play?

The new NFS game when it comes out, TDU 2, Mafia 2 aswell.

[nibbler]

I'd say CPU as scaryim said. Then you can always get a new mobo etc later. Any GPU is fairly likely to get bottlenecked by that CPU anyway.

[scaryjim]

The Ram I have is rated at 1066 but with my current CPU will only run at 800 MHz.

In that case *definitely* slap in a Phenom II - the 955BE is an absolute bargain at the minute and it'll happily run your memory at 1066 too, so you'll effectively be getting a RAM upgrade for free

So, that's £106 spent - how much more were you thinking you could afford?

[nibbler]

So the IMC on a Phenom II am3 cpu can address ddr2?

[Behemoth]

Its more of a case of how much I've got when I start the job after the first month, but I could quite happily spend say £300 on the whole deal.

So CPU, GFX Card and Case

Oh and maybe a soundcard of we can find a decent one that doesn't cost the earth.

[nibbler]

Keep the antec 300 imo, it's a great case. GFX to go with a phenom II? I'd say GTX460 1gb or a 5850 if you really want to go for it. That should be £300 gone

[scaryjim]

Yup, Phenom IIs have always had a hybrid DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, to ensure that they're backwardly compatible to AM2 motherboards. It's just that the first batch were fixed on AM2+ packages so they had to use AM2+ / DDR2 motherboards.

maybe a soundcard of we can find a decent one that doesn't cost the earth.

My understanding is that until you spend big money on a sound card you don't get a worthwhile improvement over onboard sound, although I'll happily be contradicted by an audiophile

[nibbler]

although I'll happily be contradicted by an audiophile

That sounds.... dirty. The wink just adds to it

[jim]

At the end of the day, you could *probably* pack a 6-core CPU, 8GB RAM, 5970 into that motherboard sooner or later. Given that it can still be upgraded several miles, why bother changing the board?

[Behemoth]

If I did stick a 5970 on this board I'd have to get a new case, or look at changing my already excellent OCZ Stealthstreem PSU for a modular one.

There's not all that much room in the 300 with one of those cards in it.

I think the reason that I looked at another board was because I wanted to sell off what I had whilst I could get a bit more money out of it rather than not being able to get any money back on it later on down the line. I know you can never get all the money back you spent, but a good chunk of it would be nice

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably get an Phenom II X4 955BE and either a GTX460 768MB for under £130 or a HD5850 1GB for around £200. The HD6850 and HD6870 are being released next week too. The HD6850 is replacing the HD5830 and the HD6870 is replacing the HD5850.