Upgrading my 3XS system

[Shirtbuttons]

Hi,

I got my 3XS in October 2006 and it's been just great. Unfortunately it appears that the GPU has blown up and needs replacing. I figure that this is a good opportunity to upgrade a little.

The important bits are:-

1 Asus P5B Deluxe i965 s775 WiFi
1 530W TAGAN MODULAR T530-U15 2F
1 Intel E6600 Core2Duo 2.40GHz
1 Corsair DDR2 TWINX 2GB PC6400
1 1GB XFX 7950XT GX2 DUAL GPU M
1 320GB WD SATA HDD WD3200YS
1 LiteON 16x DVDRW LSCRIBE BLK
1 CLabs SB Audigy4 7.1 OEM 0.00
1 MS MediaCentre MEC 2005 OEM
1 NVDVD D5.1/DH/DPLII (GOLD)
1 MS OFFICE 2003 STD STUDENT PK
1 19 Iiyama PLE1900WS-B Black
1 Logitech X230 2.1 Speakers 0.00
1 120MM Akasa AMBER Case Fan UQ
1 Akasa PAX-MATE-2 Soundproof Kt
1 Icydock MB-453SPF 2bay/3drives

From some basic research (and I'm not that technical) I've decided that I want to do the following:-

1. Upgrade to Vista 64 (no problem from what I can tell)
2. Increase RAM (no problem)
3. New GPU

I don't think that the mobo supports SLI or Crossfire (although if this is the case why are there 2 GPU slots on the mobo?) so I need to either have a single slot super card, a back to back card (like the one that's blown up) or change my mobo etc.

Any advice would be gratefully received. I mainly use the system for gaming and don't want to spend more than about £500.

Some of the GPU's I've seen say that they are DDR5 but the RAM I have and the mobo are DDR2. Does this affect anything?

[newnew816]

Spam

[Shirtbuttons]

Thank you for your both thoughtful and intelligent response.

[leepen@scan]

Hi Shirtbuttons,

Good to hear you're looking to upgrade. Sorry that you've experienced issues with the card. Does the system work with a different graphics card installed?

A 9800GTX would pop straight into your system, as would a GTX260. What is it you're using the system for nowadays?

[Shirtbuttons]

Thanks for the response.

System is mainly for gaming (WoW, Crysis, GTA IV) with some basic office work too.

I'm assuming that it's not worth upgrading the mobo and processor to allow Crossfire or SLI?

One of my tech friends recommended the Radeon 4870. Is that comparable to the 9800 GTX?

[leepen@scan]

Sorry for the delay.

A Radeon 4870 is thereabouts equivalent to a GTX 260 192 Core Edition, but run a lot hotter. If you're using a monitor that's smaller than 22" then a 9800GTX would be the right way to go but if you are gaming in 22" or higher, a GTX260 is definitely the the way forward. I'd only personally suggest SLI if you are *really* into eye candy (AA and AF) and/or have a 24" monitor or above.

My spec as you can see in my sig powers a 24" monitor beautifully in med (Crysis) to high settings (Burnout Paradise, CoD WAW etc) and WoW would run ridiculously smooth if you bumped the RAM and GPU.

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi

Please can you PM me your Invoice and Build number (on a sticker on the 3xs system)

Cheers

Ben

[Shirtbuttons]

PM doesn't seem to be an option for me.

Invoice number was 000E753664.

The system won't be back with me until tonight as I had someone looking at it to try and fix it (nothing worked hence the need for a new GPU).

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Shirtbuttons

I have double checked and as you bought an extended system warranty the system is still covered by the onsite company, they have been emailed proof of this and if you give them a call in an hour they should be able to help

Regards

Ben

[LeeP]

Hi Shirtbuttons,

Did you manage to speak with the onsite guys?

[Shirtbuttons]

Well after spending money on a PC engineer and a new GPU it now turns out that I have an extended warranty. Ben at Scan did a great job in proving to the warranty provider that I do have a warranty.....unfortunately I found this out after having been told that I had no warranty and incurred costs.

It seems that there is an argument that i voided my warranty by using my own engineer but seeing as I did that after being told that I didn't have a warranty this simply doesn't compute.

At this stage things are fairly amicable and I'm sending in my invoices to the warranty provider and we'll take it from there.

It's a real shame that the warranty thing wasn't clear from the beginning as I would have preferred to keep things "in-house".

[Ben @ Scan]

Hi Shirtbuttons

Did you get the issue resolved by Burnetts? (Our extended warranty company)
Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance..

I have added a Thread that details the Extended Warranty cover in order to explain the workings of Scan 3XS Extended warranty packages to all current and potential 3XS System customers

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-3xs-sys...ml#post1648910

Regards

Ben

[Shirtbuttons]

Ben,

I sent off a detailed letter together with a history of my email exchanges with Scan and the the invoices concerned to Burnetts so we'll see where we end up.

Thanks for taking an interest.