Upgrade Question

[TrueBlue]

My gaming system I want to upgrade for as little money and maximum performance as possible here are my current specs...

Intel Core 2 Quad 2.40Ghz

4GB Ram

Nvidia GeForce 9800 Gx2

ACPI x 64

Win 7 64bit edition

Now I am thinking there that the weak link is the graphics card but I am not sure any advice what I should upgrade too?

 

[osymandus]

Ramp up your memory ( i think 64 bit takes advantage of 16G ?)
But with those specs its already a pretty good system what are you running on it (or unless you want SLI graphics cards maybe or replace for ATI ) , its propably also fine tuning your memory settings and software ?? Driver updates extend life of video cards as well.

A quick glance at reviews and that cards still a good player ??
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2521.html

That'll be £25 i take paypal.

 

[TrueBlue]

Ramp up your memory ( i think 64 bit takes advantage of 16G ?)
But with those specs its already a pretty good system what are you running on it (or unless you want SLI graphics cards maybe or replace for ATI ) , its propably also fine tuning your memory settings and software ?? Driver updates extend life of video cards as well.

A quick glance at reviews and that cards still a good player ??
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2521.html

That'll be £25 i take paypal.

How can I check if my Mobo will take more ram where can I find the spec on my system?

 

[osymandus]

How can I check if my Mobo will take more ram where can I find the spec on my system?

normally at boot up if you can see the memory check etc press the pause key (thast teh old fashioned way ). I though Windows 7's config gave you al ist of what hardware you have failing that this piece of freewar does it
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/EVEREST-Home-Edition-Download-16369.html

Given the age of it from teh CPU i would surprised if it didnt take at least up to 8GB ?

 

[blues_r_best]

And depending on your motherboard, the easiest way of getting more performance would be to overclock the CPU, judging by the speed I'm guessing you've got a Q6600, which should go up to 3Ghz and over quite easily.

 

[TrueBlue]

And depending on your motherboard, the easiest way of getting more performance would be to overclock the CPU, judging by the speed I'm guessing you've got a Q6600, which should go up to 3Ghz and over quite easily.

1. will I notice a performance difference

2. is it dangerous

 

[blues_r_best]

1. will I notice a performance difference

2. is it dangerous

1. Yes

2. Can be if you do it wrong. To reach the higher speeds you would need a better cooler than the stock one as the CPU will get a bit hotter and it's the heat that mainly does the damage. And unless you know what your doing I wouldn't change the voltage. These two things will limit how much you can overclock.

But for starters if you go into the Bios on start up and see if there's the option to change the FSB speed, it should be 266 and try changing it to 300. You should be able to do this safely.

 

[osymandus]

1. Yes

2. Can be if you do it wrong. To reach the higher speeds you would need a better cooler than the stock one as the CPU will get a bit hotter and it's the heat that mainly does the damage. And unless you know what your doing I wouldn't change the voltage. These two things will limit how much you can overclock.

But for starters if you go into the Bios on start up and see if there's the option to change the FSB speed, it should be 266 and try changing it to 300. You should be able to do this safely.

Also check you have a enough fans and a decent airflow across the board . Because increasing voltage on the FSB will also add heat which then slows the whole system down. If you really want to crank it water coolers for your CPU (though most games are graphics card driven and not so CPU driven any more )

Basiclly its like fine tuning a car engine , you can speed up one part but you have to know the affect its going to have on the others.

 

[TrueBlue]

Also check you have a enough fans and a decent airflow across the board . Because increasing voltage on the FSB will also add heat which then slows the whole system down. If you really want to crank it water coolers for your CPU (though most games are graphics card driven and not so CPU driven any more )

Basiclly its like fine tuning a car engine , you can speed up one part but you have to know the affect its going to have on the others.

Making sure I dont bottleneck the system will be key this is some advice I got from toms hardware .....

Your CPU is not currently the bottleneck, it is indeed your GPU. What is your current budget? Take a look at the Radeon 5870, 5850, 5830and 5770. The 5870 might create a CPU bottleneck, but other than that I think it should be fine.

Agree with the above.

I would suggest you start considering a new build though. The LGA775 socket (the one that Core 2 CPUs use) is a dead socket. You're also certainly using older RAM (DDR2). You're likely to get a year or two more out of the build with a new GPU, but a new build is definitely in the near future for you...

I don't know your budget but you may want to consider a 5870 and upgrade the rest of your rig when you can. That'll give you something solid and lasting. Another great alternative is to get a 5850 and when you build the rest of your computer get a second one. That will give you power equivalent to a 5970 which will last you for a long time.

 

[osymandus]

Making sure I dont bottleneck the system will be key this is some advice I got from toms hardware .....

Lol this is like asking petrol heads ;) . But id agree with that . Remember you certainly for the time being can carry over old parts and replace as you go piece meal . It really comes down to what you are running and as its games , best memory , GPU (maybe not so much the CPU anymore) and well configured bios and software .