Upgrading PC Crumpets!

The Queen · December 9, 2008

.....well components :cheeky: . Just thought I would do a topic here to see if anyone can give me any suggestions.

Basically it's time to upgrade my computer again. I'm keeping my graphics card but I am changing the processor, motherboard, cpu. an additional heatsink fan and possibly the RAM.

Looking to spend something around the range of £500 or a bit over.

I have my sight set on an Intel Quad Core Q9550 as it's the one I want and from Novatech as it's around the cheapest I have seen on the net.

I'm not sure about the motherboard but possibly going for an Asus which is something like this -> *link* due to I will probably stick with Nvidia and it's not a bad price either as I can find it much cheaper here --> *link*

Apparently I also need a new PSU as the one I have just now may be a bit dodgy as it's a no-namer. I was told to go with one such as a Corsair 620W?

Also not sure about the RAM but this does seem pretty good --> *link*

If you guys can find anything better I am open to suggestions also so comments and crits welcome! :cool:

I may be going for this :

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/Scan3.png

Bigger image --> http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/?action=view&current=Scan4.png (click to enlarge)

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

Well I've got the Q9550 and its great, Scan has it at £241 but with all these sites prices change dailey.

I see the Asus board your going for has the Nvidia chipset on it, I take it your card is Nvidea. As for Asus I like the board I got from them and you get loads of goodies with them.

You could get the ram I've got with the cooler.

As for the PSU you can't go wrong with Corsair, and they give you a stupid amount of leads.

Is the £500 just for the CPU, RAM, MoBo and PSU or are you getting a new CPU fan ,HDD, case or other bits you might not have listed???

SLRRR · December 9, 2008

Well my list for you

- Ati Radeon 4870 512/1GB (1GB could be handy with high resolutions, but 512 can do it also)

or maybe,

- Nvidia 260 GTX 216 Core

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2,4 GHZ

or maybe:

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2,83 GHZ

A Corsair 620W can run that :)

I dunno that much about motherboards so i cant help you with that

- OCZ Platinum Dual Channel OCZ2P10664GK

or maybe,

- Corsair TWIN2X2048-9136C5D 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

SLRR he said he was keeping his current Graphics card

SLRRR · December 9, 2008

SLRR he said he was keeping his current Graphics card

Sorry :o but he just posted it and i was already replying so i didn't noticed that

The Queen · December 9, 2008

Well I've got the Q9550 and its great, Scan has it at £241 but with all these sites prices change dailey.

I see the Asus board your going for has the Nvidia chipset on it, I take it your card is Nvidea. As for Asus I like the board I got from them and you get loads of goodies with them.

You could get the ram I've got with the cooler.

As for the PSU you can't go wrong with Corsair, and they give you a stupid amount of leads.

Is the £500 just for the CPU, RAM, MoBo and PSU or are you getting a new CPU fan HDD, case or other bits you might not have listed???

Thanks for the input Nodz. Yeah the Q9550 is probably the best Quad at the moment apart from the extremes and I think the 9650 is a money pit unless you have the extra cash. I am thinking about overlocking the processor in the BIOS (Will have to find out how though) and I should be able to get something like 3.5 instead of 2.83.

I have been looking at Asus boards as they are the best (apparently) and there was one I was looking at earlier today but it has Crossfire and thats ATI and yeah I have a Nvidia card and probably sticking with them so it would be pointless. But you think thats a good one to go for, yeah?

What RAM came with your cooler? I'm not really very experienced when it comes to RAM but I have some sort of DDR2 at the moment but I think it would be cheaper to just get 4GB then I have more than enough and the 2GB is only £10 cheaper anyway on that site.

I was recommended the Corsair as we had a computer guy down at the house yesterday to fix my computer as the internet wouldn't go on and such and as soon as he had a look inside my case he noticed the non-branded power-supply and said it may be hazardous as I am already on my second within the space of a year. Of course the dust from getting the house done etc... didn't help but it could also have been not very good. So he recommended me the Corsair as (even though it's expensive) it will probably do me for a while and should end up cheaper in the long run.

I was also thinking about a Heatsink Fan for the processor when it's overclocked as it will be pretty damn hot even with the case I have. Also I will probably get someone to fit the components etc.. as I really don't trust myself and I have heard how easy it is to mess up unless I get some serious advice! :cheeky: Also I don't think my dad trusts me either as he will probably be the one paying for it.

As for your querie as to "do I need other things", no as I think i'm good with the harddrives and the case and graphics card and it was really only the processor I needed to update as GTA IV was simply unplayable with my Dual Core Pentium 4 which believe it or not still lagged on the lowest settings on 800X600 resolution. And of course then you have to upgrade your motherboard and PSU and then it starts getting expensive... :p

Sorry this is such a long reply but I think I have answered all your questions etc.. now and you may have a better idea of what i'm after ;)

SLRR he said he was keeping his current Graphics card

At the moment I am, yes. Although this will probably be the next thing i'll upgrade and will probably be going for a BFG GTX 280 next year when the next wave of graphics cards come out and it will probably come down about £100 and it will be cheaper then and I may have a job by that time :p

NitroBlueUK · December 9, 2008

ive been using my 8800gts for over 12 months now and its still going like a trouper yea you could buy new but why not just save and wait until it dies that way you have more to spend when the new cards start coming out next year.

as for memory

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/OCZ+2GB+PC2-6400+Gold+Gamer+eXtreme+%282x1GB%29+?productId=26115

and these are what im using and to tell you the truth theyre awesome

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/Patriot+2GB+PC2-6400+C4+Extreme+Performance+%282x1GB%29+?productId=26802

if your looking for speed and overclocking mushkin are some of the best

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/Mushkin+2GB+HP2-6400+High+Performance+%282x1GB%29+?productId=33600

as for a motherboard provided you stick with a Q6600 you could run it at 3.6ghz on this

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/Asus+P5Q3+Deluxe%2FWIFI-AP+iP45+Socket+775+Motherboard+?productId=32297

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

What case you running atm as colling will start to come into it.

Heres a linky to my thread of what I've got

http://forum.turboduck.net/showpost.php?p=89143&postcount=1

My CPU fan is now obsolete. The RAM is the best DDR2 Corsair do apparently. The PSU is the top of the range corsair one 1000W. Everything has seemed to have gone up by a tenner on there now apart from the PSU which has gone up by £40.

Mobo wise if I'm honest I have no Idea about Nvidia chipsets against the ones Ive got, I'm sure Kal posted something about it in my thread in page 5 or something

@Nitro, the RAMs you posted are DDR2 yet the mobo only supports DDR3

DriftNismo · December 9, 2008

SLRRR, there's no need for a 280GTX or any of the 200 series cards at the moment. Sure, they're great, but there are pretty much no games an 8800GT or X1950 can't run well right now.

As for the Q9550, they're pretty solid CPUs, it'll last you a long time. And you can't go wrong with an ASUS motherboard, i'm thinking of one myself eventually (when they dis-continue AGP), but it won't be until I definetly go for my Quad Opteron set-up.

But yeah, seems like a pretty good choice, go for it ;).

The Queen · December 9, 2008

ive been using my 8800gts for over 12 months now and its still going like a trouper yea you could buy new but why not just save and wait until it dies that way you have more to spend when the new cards start coming out next year.

as for memory

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/OCZ+2GB+PC2-6400+Gold+Gamer+eXtreme+%282x1GB%29+?productId=26115

and these are what im using and to tell you the truth theyre awesome

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/Patriot+2GB+PC2-6400+C4+Extreme+Performance+%282x1GB%29+?productId=26802

if your looking for speed and overclocking mushkin are some of the best

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/DDR2+800+%28PC6400%29/Mushkin+2GB+HP2-6400+High+Performance+%282x1GB%29+?productId=33600

as for a motherboard provided you stick with a Q6600 you could run it at 3.6ghz on this

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/Socket+775+%28Intel%29/Asus+P5Q3+Deluxe%2FWIFI-AP+iP45+Socket+775+Motherboard+?productId=32297

The memory you suggested looks good. Might buy one of those instead of the Corsair and thanks for the site link. Haven't really looked on there before ;)

As for the motherboard. I think it's a bit expensive and I think I have my heart set on a 9550 and not a Q6600. Thanks for the suggestions though!

What case you running atm as colling will start to come into it.

Heres a linky to my thread of what I've got

http://forum.turboduck.net/showpost.php?p=89143&postcount=1

My CPU fan is now obsolete. The RAM is the best DDR2 Corsair do apparently. The PSU is the top of the range corsair one 1000W. Everything has seemed to have gone up by a tenner on there now apart from the PSU which has gone up by £40.

Mobo wise if I'm honest I have no Idea about Nvidia chipsets against the ones Ive got, I'm sure Kal posted something about it in my thread in page 5 or something

Thanks for the topic link Nodz. Will look at it.

As for my case, at the moment I have a Thermaltake Shark and i'm sure it should be pretty good for cooling. I'm having a look at heatsink fans also and I found this. Would it do the job do you think for my processor?

Although I think your cooler may be better and I think it's this one right? *link*

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

The Shark should be fine, I've got the Tsunami dream, keep meaning to get pics up of it, I will over Xmas.

You've got to be careful with fans, thats a good one but with mine the airflow actually goes upwards atm away from the mobo and into the PSU and out the back of the PSU as the position of the heatsinks roung the CPU socket means I couldn't have the fan facing towards the back of the case

Camel · December 9, 2008

For RAM I recommend these

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119279

I have 4GB of it and I can't fault it, I looked on websites that review them and they always came out on top against other equivalent RAM.

Motherboard, ASUS, you can't beat them

For the CPU, looked at the AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition? It's their top end chip and it's around £140. Don't really bother with Intel so I can't help you there.

And pssst, the processor and CPU are the same thing ;)

macd79 · December 9, 2008

there is no point in buying an sli motherboard unless you are definitely buying a second geforce card as intel motherboards are cheaper and faster

i would go with an ASUS p5q-e motherboard or p5q deluxe

4gb of xms2 is good

also if you are just playing games on it and not doing a huge amount of mulitasking then the e8600 is a better buy for £189 from scan.co.uk

The Queen · December 9, 2008

For RAM I recommend these
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/119279

I have 4GB of it and I can't fault it, I looked on websites that review them and they always came out on top against other equivalent RAM.

Motherboard, ASUS, you can't beat them

For the CPU, looked at the AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition? It's their top end chip and it's around £140. Don't really bother with Intel so I can't help you there.

And pssst, the processor and CPU are the same thing ;)

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm still deciding about the RAM but that does look pretty good. I think i'm set with an Intel processor and would rather not venture to AMD :p.

The Shark should be fine, I've got the Tsunami dream, keep meaning to get pics up of it, I will over Xmas.

You've got to be careful with fans, thats a good one but with mine the airflow actually goes upwards atm away from the mobo and into the PSU and out the back of the PSU as the position of the heatsinks roung the CPU socket means I couldn't have the fan facing towards the back of the case

Ah ok. Thanks for the heads-up. What would I have to do so that it doesn't mess around with the air flow in my case and not heat it up instead of cooling it down?

there is no point in buying an sli motherboard unless you are definitely buying a second geforce card as intel motherboards are cheaper and faster

i would go with an ASUS p5q-e motherboard or p5q deluxe

4gb of xms2 is good

also if you are just playing games on it and not doing a huge amount of mulitasking then the e8600 is a better buy for £189 from scan.co.uk

I will be doing some sort of SLI at some point so I want a board which has it so that I can make use of it ;)

The P5Q and P5Q-E only support CrossfireX afaik and not SLI, right?

I will be doing multitasking as I usually end up doing it anyway so I would probably need the extra processor power. Thanks for the suggestion though! ;)

macd79 · December 9, 2008

yeah those boards only support CrossfireX.

do you plan on using two 8000gts'?

how much multitasking are you talking about the extra two cores only really come into it if you are encoding videos in the background etc.

because a single 4870 provides better performance for a similar price

Ah ok. Thanks for the heads-up. What would I have to do so that it doesn't mess around with the air flow in my case and not heat it up instead of cooling it down?

you want to make sure the fan is pointing towards the back of the case pushing air towards the exhaust fans

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

Not sure tbh, my system stays between 29c and 44c (depending on how hot my room is to start with) with the fan sending it upwards

The Queen · December 9, 2008

Been on Scan and have come up with this. What do you guys think?

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/Scan3.png

Bigger image --> http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t270/TheScottishSpotter/?action=view&current=Scan4.png (click to enlarge)

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

Pic doesn't enlarge

The Queen · December 9, 2008

Pic doesn't enlarge

Yeah, hold on. I only have paint on my computer and can't be bothered to install photoshop so i'll do a small pic and a link to a bigger one so you can both see it and it complies with the rules.

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

okie dokie pig and a pokie

The Queen · December 9, 2008

Right I have updated post 17 and the first post with images ;)

macd79 · December 9, 2008

If you insist on SLI then buy EVGA or XFX

Nodz86 · December 9, 2008

So they do still do my CPU cooler then. Did you se the new Asus Titan or Tritan for £48, looks nice and has control more control options for it in comparison.

Just pulled this about your mobo from Asus overview and spec

Like the Corsair PSU you should have enough oomph with that.