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Forums › Desktop computing › Upgrading advice

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Topic # 29982 25-Jan-2009 14:32
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I've currently got a amd3500+, 1gb ram and a 7600. It's been working well since mid 05 apart from the old vid card dying, however its getting to the point that i cant play many new games on decent settings and the hdd failed a few weeks ago so its probably about time to upgrade.

108595     Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E7400 2.80Ghz 3M 1066Mhz LGA775 $255.14
    
107710     ASUS P5K SE/EPU Intel P35 LGA775 ATX 1600FSB Core 2 Quad & Core 2 Duo, Dual-channel DDR2-1200/1066/800/667, 1x PCI-E x16, 2 x PCI, 4*SATA, 12 x USB 2.0, Gigabit Lan $167.63
    
106481     Corsair XMS 2GB (1GB x2) DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 2x128Mx64non-ECC 240 DIMM, unbuffered, 4-4-4-12, 64Mx8 DRAMs, E.P.P. Technology, matched pair, with Heat Spreader     $87.75

107420     Western Digital Caviar GP 500GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA II HDD (WD5000AACS) $122.63     

108130     Palit 9800GTX+ 512MB 256Bit DDR3 PCI-E TV-Out Dual Dual-Link DVI HDMI     $380.25     

~1k NZD
prices from qmb

I'm looking at something like that so far, but not sure about whats good at the moment.

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  Reply # 191977 25-Jan-2009 15:36
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I would go for a minimum of 4gigs of ram.

Maybe a 750 instead of a 500. You can never have too much space.

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  Reply # 191980 25-Jan-2009 15:53
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If you can afford to spring for a quad-core processor, I'd recommend that on top of what Fossie has said.


Are you planning to run a 32 bit OS or a 64 bit one?




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  Reply # 192971 30-Jan-2009 18:18
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Definitely go for the SATA II, the 3Gbit /sec makes a huge difference. In my testing, that is the first PC drive that beats a SCSI.

Dual Core should be the minimum CPU. I did some testing recently doing average use, Word, Excel, file copying and running macros and this shows the percentage speed improvement you get from a dual core over P4. See www.ctas.co.nz on the right hand side of the screen.

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  Reply # 194808 8-Feb-2009 21:39
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Incase the HDD failing had anything to do with the PSU and if your old psu is not modular or compatible and anyways you will probably want a new PSU and just fork out $80 and get a new case with a side fan, front fan to finish it off. It will look a lot nice with a new case. And you wouldnt want your old PSU deciding to die on you, let alone decide to go out kicking ( I could just imagine it now, KABOOM pc +psu gone and you need to buy a new one).

And if your planning to play games then you will most likely be running vista for the new DX10 stuff. And if your not then you probably wouldnt be buying a new pc to see all the pretty stuff the new games have. And if your running vista it will probably boot up like 1GB of ram used. And 1GB of ram useable for a game is not much. So I would advise you to go and get at least 4GB ram as vista is a hog.

Oh and consider getting a 750GB HDD from QMB as they work out cheaper per GB
Code: 107757          Samsung 750GB 7200RPM SATA II 32MB NCQ 3Gb/s HDD         $168.02 incl. GST
And think of getting a tv tuner.


Oh and for the CPU consider a e8400 because they over clock like silly. Just google "e8400 overclock air". People seem to reckon you will get to 4GHz with GOOD AIR cooling. And you need more than air cooling for above 4GHz. But I wouldn't push it.

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  Reply # 194815 8-Feb-2009 22:29
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Two important questions...

1:  What power supply and monitor are you using?
2: What games are you going to be playing mostly?

Anyway without knowing the answer to the above questiions.. for your budget I would recommend the following:

CPU:  E8400 ~$340
Mobo:  Asus P5K SE ~$165
Ram:  SuperTalent 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2-800 PC6400 ~$100
HDD:  Western Digital 640GB ~$125
Video:  ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB ~$295

If you get a quote from Computer Lounge and XP computers it will probably come in ~$1000 all together.

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  Reply # 194819 8-Feb-2009 22:47
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pistolpower:
Oh and for the CPU consider a e8400 because they over clock like silly. Just google "e8400 overclock air". People seem to reckon you will get to 4GHz with GOOD AIR cooling. And you need more than air cooling for above 4GHz. But I wouldn't push it.


Exactly what I was going to recommend.

Have a look here:
http://www.pricespy.co.nz/pno_12138.html

I've got an E8400 and love it. Great value.

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