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HW upgrade DOH!!

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  • HW upgrade DOH!!

    Hi all,
    I could use a little input from you guys n gals as to what i should do with regards to HW upgrades.

    I want to replace MB and maybe gfx and memory too.
    I have OCZ PC2 8500 ram and a gigabyte 9800gt gfx card already.
    my CPU is a E8400

    I cant decide whether to get an Nvidia board with the 7 series chipset or get a Intel based chipset either P45 or X48. I like Nvidia cards because thats all i have had so if i should ever want to run SLI then its gotta be Nvidia chipset as the Intel based one is crossfire. (which i don't know enough about - better the devil ya know).

    I did think about replacing the gfx for a gtx260 card on a p45 / x48 as i had read someplace that the anything below the 790i was pretty naff.

    Guys i`m at a dead end and don't know what or which way to go. I play games and I use my PC for music creation with collaboration software this stuff can be pretty intense on sys resources. I also use my PC for general stuff too. My last PC was good for about 3 years before the software surpassed it. I am trying to get something that will see me good for another 3 years. The new I7 chip from Intel and the x58 boards are a tad too expensive as is the Nvidia 790i boards.

    If anyone can just give some options thoughts, point of views, experiences, ANYTHING AT ALL.

    I would be very grateful

    Many thanks Russ
    Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G / Intel 8400 45nm /
    Gigabyte GT9800 512mb / EZCOOL 600w PSU /
    2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 X2 1GB OCZ (5-5-5-15)
    http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_sli_ready_edition_dual_channel


  • #2
    Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

    Probably intel is the way to go if you plan to build a high end system. Your video card is no slouch in my opinion, just having a faster CPU is probably going to make a very noticable difference in performance. Personally i'd forget SLI and crossfire and concentrate on getting one very good video card if you must upgrade right now. You really don't get twice the performance but you will have to pay twice the price to buy 2 cards plus most software doesn't even take advantage of mutiple cards anyway.

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    • #3
      Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

      Hi SpongeBOB, Many thanks for your thoughts. I was thinking of a MB with a P45 or X48 chipset probably ASUS and putting a GTX260 gfx card in. The Nvidia card one run well on a crossfire board, wouldn't it? I don't know about CPU I have heard that quad cores don't run games to well and are better for video editing. So I think from my reading duo cores are best all rounders. am i correct about that? I already have a 3gig cpu what are your thoughts about that.

      Unfortunately I am bound by a budget :( not a bad one though £500 is what i wanna pay really but could push £700 maybe :)

      I bought this present system 6 months ago and got a local store to build it because i was so busy and thought i didn't have the time. Well i should have made time as, Well put it this way they could have given me more for my money. So that aside I want to get this upgrade right.
      Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G / Intel 8400 45nm /
      Gigabyte GT9800 512mb / EZCOOL 600w PSU /
      2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 X2 1GB OCZ (5-5-5-15)
      http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_sli_ready_edition_dual_channel

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

        In my opinion I'd put an upgrade on hold since you already have an above average system and are on a budget unless you have some super fantastic buy you can't let slip by you right now. What are you having problems running with a system like that anyway?

        A single Nvidia card will work on a crossfire mainboard. As far as CPU's go it seems like duos overclock better than quads but then again you have to have the right software to take advantage of multi cpu's anyway.

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        • #5
          Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

          Hi SB, The main hassles i`m having here is frame-rates in games. I have to run such as NFS UC on the lowest settings and still I get lag.

          As for OC well my friend I had extensive advice and guidance from LSD of these forums and in a nut shell this computer will not OC! We tried all sorts of different things but it never made it past the post screen. Just kept defaulting, so as you can see this has been an ongoing issue for a few months now.

          My MB is a gigabyte P35-S3G And the present ram is OCZ2n1066SR1g.
          Its that SLI PC2-8500 ready memory with the epp and stuff.
          Now this memory is on GB qvl for this board. But this board is as basic as it comes. Could that be the issue? It has been suggested that I just get an X48 / P45 board and some ddr3 ram.

          TBH Bob so many things have been suggested now I am not sure what or which way to go with it. I was told also that the GFX card a GB Nvidia 9800gt 512mb wasn't that good either was I told wrong here?

          Many thanks for your time and help

          Russ
          Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G / Intel 8400 45nm /
          Gigabyte GT9800 512mb / EZCOOL 600w PSU /
          2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 X2 1GB OCZ (5-5-5-15)
          http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_sli_ready_edition_dual_channel

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

            Seems like a fairly hefty system for a game thats around a year or so old if I'm thinking of the right version of NFS. Maybe you have software or malware running in the background of your os slowing things down or cuasing the lag. If your online with it it could be other things such as your ISP. Are all your drivers/bios up to date? I've heard of problems with OZC memory on certain Gigabyte brand boards maybe thats your bottle neck for an overclock.

            Comment


            • #7
              hi

              Probably intel is the way to go if you plan to build a high end system.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: HW upgrade DOH!!

                Hey folks, Its all hardware i`m pretty certain. I have spent the past couple of days screwing around with the Gigabyte oC program. And if I use the linear mode and up the ram and cpu voltage by 1 click I can get it to OC for a while. Still wont take any settings in the bios though just resets..
                Even with a 10% OC (stablest at that till BS-OD that is).

                So lets say its been Voodoo`d, I think that because the MB is really a cheap not so good one and maybe there is something wrong with it I think maybe upgrade it. But what too????? and change the ram too. Should I stop there? But then would another CPU be the best way to go eg. 4 core or I7 but then thats a x58 board. Loads a dosh.

                I`m confused, baffled and bewildered, I can say though I`ve sworn at that black box loads and it now know every swear word in the English language. There have been a couple of occasions though when I have wondered what it would look like after being attached to the lawn mower and set on its merry way.

                I know it should be very good or at least just good but in reality its a piece of crap, or so as I see.

                How long do you think the P45 and X48/38 will live on for? its not a brilliant time to be contemplating this is it. Then when is it ever....!!
                Gigabyte GA-P35-S3G / Intel 8400 45nm /
                Gigabyte GT9800 512mb / EZCOOL 600w PSU /
                2GB DDR2 PC2-8500 X2 1GB OCZ (5-5-5-15)
                http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_8500_sli_ready_edition_dual_channel

                Comment

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