Help me upgrade my PC! Recommendations!

By StormbringerGT on February 28, 2012 8:22:59 PM from

Alrighty I built my computer about 4 or 5 years ago, it was not top of the line then but it was pretty near the top. Obviously 6 months later thats no longer true but that's how PC technology moves.

Anyway I've thought about building a new one, but I'd like to upgrade this one and keep it for a few more years, maybe retire it to a sub gaming PC after that for when my much cheaper friends come over and want to lan.

This is what I currently have:

Mainboard:
EVGA 122-CK-NF68 680i SLI. This is my Upgrade base, so my upgrades are limited by what this can handle.

Processors:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00Ghz, LGA 775, 6MB L2 Cache, 333 MHz. This I would like to upgrade possibly Quad core and preferably faster than 3.00 but when I glanced around I couldnt find a quad core for sale anymore or at least the faster ones and the L2 cache was 2mb.

Memory:
8GBS (4 2GB Sticks) DDR2 PC2 5300. This isn't a pressing need, as I'm think this board only handles DDR2. Unless theres a fast DDR2 floating around out there, I think 8GBS is plenty.

Video Card:
2x (SLI) Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX, 768MB DDR3. I have 2 of these so when I upgrade I'm probably not going SLI right off the bat. I need less help with upgrading this, as it all depends on how much money I have left over, but I'm guessing I'll have between $300-$400 left to blow on a solid card.

Hard Drive:
I hear a lot about solid state drives but is the performance worth the high cost and low storage space? I have a 1TB now thats my use all drive, but a lot of people recommend I have drive only for windows installs, and a drive to install my games on separately.

That's about it, any help or recommendations would be awesome, I guess in hindsight I'm really looking for help choosing and tracking down a good processor for this, I think the one I have is good but I'm starting to feel the slow down on newer RTS games that demand of lot of your CPU. I don't want to plop in a good video card only to have it be bottle necked by my CPU.

+5 Karma | 17 Replies

I don't really see much that actually needs to be upgraded except for CPU. Just look around newegg.com or something and see if you can find a Core 2 Quad for yah. What exactly do you want to spend on your CPU?

Quoting Rovert10,

reply 1

The SSD harddrives to me don't seem to be worth it. They do run faster then again I have the tendency to not know a real difference. Kinda like HD where I need the side by side comparison to actually see a difference.

I don't really see much that actually needs to be upgraded except for CPU. Just look around newegg.com or something and see if you can find a Core 2 Quad for yah. What exactly do you want to spend on your CPU?

Thanks for the HD advice thats what I was thinking.

As for CPUs I checked new egg and it looks like I have the best for socket 775 but that can't be right, I;m sure theres got to be something better that I'm missing here. the best 775 on new egg is this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116347 and it's only a 3.06 to my 3.00 but everything else is worse than mine. As far as how much im willing to spend, well I suppose like $200+, I don't have a budget for this.

Quoting StormbringerGT,

reply 2

As for CPUs I checked new egg and it looks like I have the best for socket 775 but that can't be right, I;m sure theres got to be something better that I'm missing here.

It's because the socket 775 is obsolete. Most of what you'll find out there now are remnant stock and such (you'll see they only carry three models new, the rest are refurbs and returns). There's really nothing for it but to move up to a more modern motherboard.

Quoting kryo,

reply 3

Quoting StormbringerGT, reply 2As for CPUs I checked new egg and it looks like I have the best for socket 775 but that can't be right, I;m sure theres got to be something better that I'm missing here.

It's because the socket 775 is obsolete. Most of what you'll find out there now are remnant stock and such (you'll see they only carry three models new, the rest are refurbs and returns). There's really nothing for it but to move up to a more modern motherboard.

Yeah I know mines old, but I didn't know I built the peak when it first launched lol.

Yeah the I5 or I7 or is the new stuff but I don't know much about those. I wonder what If I can toss something good together for $500 between motherboard and processor using the new stuff. I'd like to stick with EVGA which is slightly more expensive but their warranty service ( I had to use once or twice) is stellar.

If you're keeping your video cards, drives, etc, you can absolutely do an i5 (+mobo and DDR3) rebuild for under $500. Though throwing a new quality PSU in there too may take you close or over (it's inadvisable to rely on one that's already up there in years even if the original rated power output is sufficient--they tend to age poorly).

Quoting kryo,

reply 5

Yeah this is a slightly newer one as my old one broke, Its a Coolmaster 800W real power or something like that, but even if I did keep it would the connections still match the new board? I know that changes every so often.

Also I'm guessing its worth it or I have to get ddr3 for the new MoBo.

Thanks for the help Kyro, it might be I retire this PC and just build a new one. I was on the fence about it and sometimes talking with someone on the know helps!

EDIT: whats the difference really between an i5 and i7 other than the price I'm seeing?

There isn't much of a huge difference except for the fact that the i7 series do support hyperthreading and such. The i7 is virtually a 8 core CPU rather than the regular 4 cores of the i5.

Thing is that i7s are wickedly expensive and that you probably don't really need one and could just settle for the latest in the i5 series and that will do for pretty much anything.

Ah okay I see where you are coming from. Honestly though even with quad cores, what games are programmed to use so many cores?

This is what I was comparing but is the $100 price difference worth it and after what you said I would think no
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001157%2040000343%20600005579&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=343%7C19-115-095%5E19-115-095-TS%2C19-115-072%5E19-115-072-TS

The major difference is that the i7 supports hyperthreading (the i5 does not) and has a larger cache. However hyperthreading is a wash or even possibly a negative for games (if they have 2-4 threads, it can end up assigning two threads to the same physical core). If you're not doing any intensive processing that actually benefits from hyperthreading, by all means save the premium and go with the equivalent i5.

The main PSU connections haven't changed in quite a while. As long as it has a 20+4 ATX plug and a 4+4 or 8-pin CPU plug (which it most likely does), you should be fine as far as that goes. You've already got all the peripheral connections you need. CoolerMaster units tend to rate reasonably well and have the appropriate failsafes to reduce the likelihood of frying things if they do go out, so as long as it's pretty new then you should be fine keeping it.

Edit: took too long posting

I also wonder what the difference would be going an AMD route? If you have to change the MB anyways, you could get into a Phenom II X6 for a decent price.

I know the i7s and such are better than the latest AMDs, but usually when going for best bang for the buck, at a mid range price, AMD usually wins out.

I really appreciate both of you guys taking the time to clear things up for me. As it stands I'm going to go with a I5 built system. New Mobo, New ddr3 ram. I will most likely get a new Power Supply and Video card at the same time closer to spring. Thanks so much though, I really appreciate and it.

Quoting impinc,

reply 10

I also wonder what the difference would be going an AMD route? If you have to change the MB anyways, you could get into a Phenom II X6 for a decent price.

I know the i7s and such are better than the latest AMDs, but usually when going for best bang for the buck, at a mid range price, AMD usually wins out.

Yeah AMDs usually tend to be cheaper and I'm going i5 at this point and not i7. But when I grew up AMDs were new and over heated like crazy. That's a million years ago now and they obviously don't suffer from those problems anymore. Hell I think AMDs power both Xbox 360 and Wii? Still I started intel and I see no reason to switch sides until such a point money becomes an issue and shaving off a couple bucks is worth it, or until Intel really starts messing up for me,

So I think for video card I'm going with the new 680 GTX

GeForce 680 GTX is the strongest there is. Just be sure to get an aftermarket cooler so you'll have no noise and great cooling. That would cost like 200-700 euro more than standard but it's worth it, especially with highend cards.

Overclocking guide I kinda forgot about

Arctic Accelero Xtreme III VGA Cooler

MSI is most likely gonna make Twin Frozr version of the 680 GTX. That cooler was the very best of the 5xx GTX versions so it might be worth waiting for reviews of that. If you can't wait however, then Arctics should be good enough, though it's really expensive.

Fun fact about the 680 GTX: Nvidia actually made this as the 660 GTX! But it performed so extremely well that they now calls it 680 GTX instead.

So they will release an ever more powerful version in the end of the year. They wait since ATi can't match them right now. It's like Intel. No pressure so takes their sweet time.

I just picked up a EVGA GTX 680 and it breathed new life into my system!

Now I'm eyeballing the new IVY bridge release.

You'll want to do that sooner rather than later... the Core2 Duo is going to be an enormous bottleneck on a card like that in current-gen games.

Right, picking out what to get now. Probably next week or the week after. Thanks for all the advice guys!

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Help me upgrade my PC! Recommendations!