What to upgrade?
I have built custom pc’s for many years and been in IT for many as well so I do have a bit of background…
You are running DDR2, so that makes your motherboard about 4 years old.
DDR3 and DDR5 have considerably better speeds and are actually cheaper most of the time. An SSD will improve multi tasking, as well as boot speeds…maybe the load speed going from zone to zone. I tested going from an older, non high speed IDE, and it made an incredible difference in the items mentioned, but almost no difference in playability in games. Again, I may be the first in the dungeon by a second or two. But that’s the only thing I notice.
But, going with a new motherboard, and thus upgraded chipset, and memory should make a good bit of difference for you. You have by appearance plenty of fans, and a plenty large enough case, and power supply so your good there, as well as setup as far as your OS.
The video card runs hot by many reports. And again, its a bit older..but probably you don’t need to upgrade it just yet as even though its not even 1 gig of memory, its still a respectable card. But a 2 gig can be had for very resonable…but I would put my motherboard/cpu/memory upgrade well above the graphics card because of the one you have now. It’s also PCI Express, so it will work with the vast majority of currently available mobos.
So, if it were me…I would get a newer motherboard/cpu (again yours is 4 years old, and MUCH has changed)/ and memory. I would suggest sites like Newegg.Com (Frequently have special deals on everything mentioned, especially if your on their mailing list), and other sites like Amazon, or TigerDirect.
One last thing, for a high quality but budget upgrade, give AMD a look. You’ll get a lot of bang for your buck. If you have the funds to toss around, Intel will probably bring in a bit higher performance on the game side, but it comes at a premium in cost.
To give you an idea, I upgraded my motherboard ($60), cpu, (triple core amd black edition 2.8) ($69), and 8 gigs of dd3 memory, ($30 sale) and a top of the line cpu fan ($30) and was at the price of a just a single core i5 cpu with no motherboard/memory.
I have built custom pc’s for many years and been in IT for many as well so I do have a bit of background…
You are running DDR2, so that makes your motherboard about 4 years old.
DDR3 and DDR5 have considerably better speeds and are actually cheaper most of the time. An SSD will improve multi tasking, as well as boot speeds…maybe the load speed going from zone to zone. I tested going from an older, non high speed IDE, and it made an incredible difference in the items mentioned, but almost no difference in playability in games. Again, I may be the first in the dungeon by a second or two. But that’s the only thing I notice.But, going with a new motherboard, and thus upgraded chipset, and memory should make a good bit of difference for you. You have by appearance plenty of fans, and a plenty large enough case, and power supply so your good there, as well as setup as far as your OS.
The video card runs hot by many reports. And again, its a bit older..but probably you don’t need to upgrade it just yet as even though its not even 1 gig of memory, its still a respectable card. But a 2 gig can be had for very resonable…but I would put my motherboard/cpu/memory upgrade well above the graphics card because of the one you have now. It’s also PCI Express, so it will work with the vast majority of currently available mobos.
So, if it were me…I would get a newer motherboard/cpu (again yours is 4 years old, and MUCH has changed)/ and memory. I would suggest sites like Newegg.Com (Frequently have special deals on everything mentioned, especially if your on their mailing list), and other sites like Amazon, or TigerDirect.
Trust me when I say this. This set up is actually my 10 and yest I actually build it on 2008. Good to see someone that knows. I do know all about changes and trust me i have kept with them all. I just build one for a friend with I5, and when it comes to prices i do my work. But neweggs is where i always go back, best place to shop and be sure you are getting the right product.
I do know that if i were to do anything, then yes the obvious thing will be mobo/cpu/ram. Knowingly, every other part i have can be reuse. I am thinking of also getting a EVGA 5 or 4 series card as my main card and using my 2 series as my designated Pshyx card. It will work better than doing a sli.
The only issue is that i am coming with many micro mobo for the new 1115 but i am finding mostly Micros at a smaller price and I am sorry, i hate Micros. Any suggestions?
I will definetely go with I7, why go for I5 or I3 when i kno for just a bit more i can get more for the buck with an I7.
I might upgrade my PSU to 1000.
One last thing, for a high quality but budget upgrade, give AMD a look. You’ll get a lot of bang for your buck. If you have the funds to toss around, Intel will probably bring in a bit higher performance on the game side, but it comes at a premium in cost.
To give you an idea, I upgraded my motherboard ($60), cpu, (triple core amd black edition 2.8) ($69), and 8 gigs of dd3 memory, ($30 sale) and a top of the line cpu fan ($30) and was at the price of a just a single core i5 cpu with no motherboard/memory.
True, i know the difference between both, performance and prices. But man, i have builted AMD, yes they run great, and sometimes, i have seen faster boots with AMD than Intel. But i do not know, personal use, i always have stuck with Intel. However, since again, you just showed me some great prices. I might take the plunge.
One thing to suggest here is if you have a Fry’s in your area or other store that will match online pricing you should watch microcenter for good cpu prices. For example right now the i5 2500k from this is 159
I know this doesn’t work for everyone since it’s a “in store only” price but if you have a microcenter semi close and a fry’s fry’s will price match. I got my i5 2400 for 149 months ago because of this.
EDIT: also Microcenter has a lot of stores in the US if you are in the US
If you don’t have to upgrade right away, wait a little.
1. Black Friday’s around the corner.
2. AMD claims their new trinity CPUs are comparable to the i5 performance with the price point of i3s. Even if that’s not true it should stir up the pricing wars. They should be releasing them in October.
“Otherwise, your MMO becomes all about grinding to get the best gear. We don’t make grindy games.”
-Mike Obrien, President of Arenanet
-Mike Obrien, President of Arenanet
If you don’t have to upgrade right away, wait a little.
1. Black Friday’s around the corner.
2. AMD claims their new trinity CPUs are comparable to the i5 performance with the price point of i3s. Even if that’s not true it should stir up the pricing wars. They should be releasing them in October.
Yea i will wait. I have no issues doing such. Plus on Black friday and before neweggs does some good prices.
I have a micro…and although I saved maybe $30 at the time, I detest it…Especially when you get into gaming video cards, that take up 2 slots, and prevent you from putting anything in the 3rd…oye. I literally have room for a sound card and thats it. As for your power supply. 750 is more then ample enough. I run a 2 gig 6870 on a 550 with zero issues. 750 should be plenty unless of course, you mentioned running two, and in that case a 1000 might not be bad.
Btw I’ve always been an intel guy…but my performance with an overclocked Black Edition AMD, especially at the pricepoint, allowed me to get NEAR the cpu performance, and dump a LOT more into the GPU…again your call…I was trying to upgrade on a budget, as I also play xbox now and then. You could put the money saved towards an even higher end AMD, and get an SSD while your at it.
Just my 2 ¢
One more note, if you DO go with running your other card for Physx…DEFINITELY don’t go with a micro mobo. The heat alone from having those close together would hinder performance.