Suggest upgrades on this pc

salluks

Adept
Here's what i've got:

Core2Duo E6600

Asus p5b deluxe - half dead!!!

RAM - 6GB

Generic SMPS which came with bijli

Sapphire 7600GT..

I know the system is quite old but i am amazed that it doesn't run FPS games even at their lowest resolutions, have glitches playing borderlands at 800*600 with all the setting turned off or low!

Most other games don't even run for the beginning 10 secs(battlefield 2)

I used to play crysis,modern warfare 2(on lowest settings of course) without much issues, now the system seems to just freeze most of the times even on not so demanding games.

i am not a heavy gamer. don't need high settings, but just need a good gaming experience..

I tried overclocking CPU but on one bad shutdown the OC numbers return to default..

pls suggest improvements..
 
first upgrade your gpu[it's 3 generations old,will be 4 gen old when fermi rolls out],buy a new psu and sell the excess 2gb ram[4 gb is enough for now].Is your ram a good brand one?
 
crvinay_4u said:
first upgrade your gpu[it's 3 generations old,will be 4 gen old when fermi rolls out],buy a new psu and sell the excess 2gb ram[4 gb is enough for now].Is your ram a good brand one?

Don't sell your extra RAM when RAM prices are touching the skies.

Just buy an SMPS and new GFX

Gigabyte Pro 460W - 2.2k / Corsair VX 450 - 4.1k
Sapphire HD5670 512MB GDDR5 Artic Cooling - 5.3k

This should do you just fine
 
Another problem now, my mobo is dying, Lan's dont work, connection keeps dropping, doesn't recognise addional cards, sometimes sound goes off..

Seems like i'll have to replace this as well..

Can u suggest a cheap mobo which can help overclock E6600 to atleast 3Ghz? Air is not a problem.

and pls, don't suggest Asus, i've had it with them, any mobo which supports ddr2 and ddr3 would be perfect, else my 6gb ram will go waste.
 
The Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R looks like it'll be the right board for you.

Graphics card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5670 1 GB GDDR5 (since you're just like me, don't need high graphics and all, and is a value for money type of card, still you can run most of the games with almost every eye candy turned on at [1024+ to 1280) resolutions) :) I have this card and surely would recommend this one to you. It sells for around 6.5k+/-300 not more than that.

Reason:

1. You have 6GB of DDR2 RAM that you wouldn't/need not sell off, this board sports a DDR2/DDR3 combo pack where in all the 6GB can be used (with DDR3 support of 1066Mhz you have the other option too). You need not worry abt throwing away RAM and you can stay with the existing setup. :)

2. Well, I guess this board should be cheap now, not sure abt it's availability though.

3. I was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago, bought an ASUS A8N-SLI-Premium board, BIOS got screwed up and never started again. Extremely bad service, got an inferior board in replacement, so i took an oath :p never to buy anything ASUS, no matter how cute their boards look. It's good that you decided to make a shift from it.

4. Read the notes against 'Graphics Card' :p
 
AB47 said:
The Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R looks like it'll be the right board for you.

Graphics card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5670 1 GB GDDR5 (since you're just like me, don't need high graphics and all, and is a value for money type of card, still you can run most of the games with almost every eye candy turned on at [1024+ to 1280) resolutions) :) I have this card and surely would recommend this one to you. It sells for around 6.5k+/-300 not more than that.

Reason:

1. You have 6GB of DDR2 RAM that you wouldn't/need not sell off, this board sports a DDR2/DDR3 combo pack where in all the 6GB can be used (with DDR3 support of 1066Mhz you have the other option too). You need not worry abt throwing away RAM and you can stay with the existing setup. :)

2. Well, I guess this board should be cheap now, not sure abt it's availability though.

3. I was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago, bought an ASUS A8N-SLI-Premium board, BIOS got screwed up and never started again. Extremely bad service, got an inferior board in replacement, so i took an oath :p never to buy anything ASUS, no matter how cute their boards look. It's good that you decided to make a shift from it.

4. Read the notes against 'Graphics Card' :p

Thanks ,very helpful post.

is this board better than what sumit suggested?
 
The mobo that sumit05 suggested is definitely a better one coz it's a board with ddr3 max 1333mhz support. The board that i adviced you to buy was keeping in mind the 6gb of ddr2 ram you already have. If you're gonna buy ddr3 ram along with sumit's choice then that'll be Good.
@sumit05: Just a thought, i think you should clearly read what was asked for before suggesting. :) He asked for something that could run ddr2 and ddr3 ram.(not simultaneously though). But again just a thought, don't think otherwise. i feel that we should help people in a very short thread and under small number of replies. At least i feel so. :)
 
salluks said:
yep, i am looking for a ddr2 and ddr3 mobo which can overclock decently well..

So, now its your choice to make salluks. You can check for the reviews of the Gigabyte Combo board i suggested and decide whether you want to stick to it or choose something else.

However, there are other boards from MSI with the same DDR2-DDR3 combo platform. But i think some of them have problems like lesser DDR2 ram capacity and since you have 6GB of it, they would be a no-no. :(

On the overclocking front, i read a review and it looks good.
 
Alright,

I've decided to buy a new system when hexacore and 32nm become affordable..

Till then am looking for:

motherboard - need a ddr2 mobo which can overclock E6600 upto 3Ghz(from 2.4) - budget less than 5K

4870 Sapphire 512MB GDDR5 - 8K - will this play 1440*900 on all high details?

Seasonic 430W - 3k on ITwares.
 
Yup HD5750~8.2k will do nicely. Performance on par/ better than HD4850 on most occasions and very low power consumption as well with idle~15w and load~86w.

Ya the Gigabyte low end G31/G41 has good OC potential.
 
Problem wasn't with your cpu+mobo imho(unless mobo is dying as you say- get it RMAed if in warranty)

7600GT is too low a card for decent gaming even on a 19" WS LCD, even a year back or more.

All you need to revive that rig is a good new psu and a decent gfx card.

What do you mean by 6GB RAM?:S

4GB is enough for most imho.

Keep 2x2GB and sell off the rest- may fetch good resale looking at the highly inflated DDR2 prices.

Recently, some people sold their less than a year old VX450 for less than 3K unlike some who sold their's sometime back for as much as they had bought it earlier. :p

buygamingstuff was selling a new one for 3.6K shipped via bluedart just sometime back- which seemed like adecent deal imho.

People may think VX450 is not vfm but that decently strong single 12v rail, 5 year warranty and quick replacement with a fresh sealed piece if RMA needed are quite helpful.

A used 4850 is like 4K-4.5K odd or maybe less now, depending upon brand and how much local warranty left.

A used 4870 1GB used to be 7K or maybe less now.

Decide how much you can spare for an upgrade.

Then check how much you maybe able to get for your old stuff including cpu etc.

Then check if you can buy a whole new gaming rig of satisfactory/acceptable specs with the total money.

If not, then use the money kept for upgrade to buy a decent psu first and then a decent gfx card.

I am a little rusty with the used h/w TE pricing now- so do consult the knowledgeable others.

Take your time to plan well- spend wisely- all the best. :)
 
BIKeINSTEIN said:
Problem wasn't with your cpu+mobo imho(unless mobo is dying as you say- get it RMAed if in warranty)

7600GT is too low a card for decent gaming even on a 19" WS LCD, even a year back or more.

All you need to revive that rig is a good new psu and a decent gfx card.

What do you mean by 6GB RAM?:S

4GB is enough for most imho.

Keep 2x2GB and sell off the rest- may fetch good resale looking at the highly inflated DDR2 prices.

Recently, some people sold their less than a year old VX450 for less than 3K unlike some who sold there's sometime back for as much as they had bought it earlier. :p

buygamingstuff was selling a new one for 3.6K shipped via bluedart just sometime back- which seemed like adecent deal imho.

People may think VX450 is not vfm but that decently strong single 12v rail, 5 year warranty and quick replacement with a fresh sealed piece if RMA needed are quite helpful.

A used 4850 is like 4K-4.5K odd or maybe less now, depending upon brand and how much local warranty left.

A used 4870 1GB used to be 7K or maybe less now.

Decide how much you can spare for an upgrade.

Then check how much you maybe able to get for your old stuff including cpu etc.

Then check if you can buy a whole new gaming rig of satisfactory/acceptable specs with the total money.

If not, then use the money kept for upgrade to buy a decent psu first and then a decent gfx card.

I am a little rusty with the used h/w TE pricing now- so do consult the knowledgeable others.

Take your time to plan well- spend wisely- all the best. :)

I always taught the more ram, the faster the comp :S.. I am anyway planning a new system when 6 cores become mainstream, about 1.5 yrs??

so..i was looking for a good cheaper psu.

i dont have any plans to sell the comp which i have, was planning to give it off too my cousin, who'll join college next year..

i guess i could remove 2gb ram and 7600GT and sell it to fund towards my purchase

my mobo is asus p5b deluxe..about 3.5 yrs old..not in warranty..already fried once while overclocking...

since then all the trouble started.. now have the ports are not working..i'll anyway take it to the service centre over the weekend to get it checked...they may charge quite a bit to repair..
 
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