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What ye make of my following upgrade choices?

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  • 06-04-2009 11:15pm
    #1
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭


    Howdy all,

    Thinking of treating myself to an upgrade. Some parts may not need to be upgraded (case etc) Just doing a bit of preliminary research and this is what I am looking at so far.

    Current........................................Possible Upgrades
    Motherboard:Asus P5Q.................Asus P6T
    Graphics: HD4870.........................GTX 295 or HD 4890 or wait
    CPU: Q6600.................................i7 920
    Memory: OCZ PC6400 4GB.............Corsair Dominator 6GB PC3-14400C9
    Harddrive: Samsung F1 1TB
    Sound Card: X-Fi XtremeGamer.......Asus Xonar D2X 7.1
    PSU: Corsair 620watt.....................upgrade needed?
    Monitor: Samsung 22" 2026 CW
    Speakers: Logitech Z-2300
    OS: Vista 64bit
    Case: P182 Limited Edition
    Keyboard Saitek II........................Razer Tarantula/Lycosa

    Any advice would be grateful. Some might say I don't need an upgrade but I do like to have my system up to date!

    I am hearing great things about the xonar card but I am a bit worried with their performance in games.

    Any recommendations for other parts welcome too!


Comments

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    #2
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    I have to say those are the most wholly unnecessary upgrades I have probably ever seen.

    From a games perspective...

    Board...fine.
    CPU....fine.
    GPU....fine.
    RAM...fine.
    HD....loads.
    Sound....fine.
    PSU...more than fine. By 'fine' prior to PSU, I actually meant 'More then enough to play games at max settings for the most part'.

    The only remote things I could maybe do would be upgrade the monitor to a 24" and then get a GTX285. Or a new case. Everything else is totally fine and doesn't need any upgrading really, at all.


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    #3
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    TerrorFirmer wrote: »
    I have to say those are the most wholly unnecessary upgrades I have probably ever seen.

    From a games perspective...

    Board...fine.
    CPU....fine.
    GPU....fine.
    RAM...fine.
    HD....loads.
    Sound....fine.
    PSU...more than fine. By 'fine' prior to PSU, I actually meant 'More then enough to play games at max settings for the most part'.

    The only remote things I could maybe do would be upgrade the monitor to a 24" and then get a GTX285. Or a new case. Everything else is totally fine and doesn't need any upgrading really, at all.

    Well its more about me wanting top notch stuff! :P I know I could probably get away with what I have for a while longer but I get itchy feet!


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    #4
    PogMoThoin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,874 ✭✭✭✭PogMoThoin


    TerrorFirmer wrote: »
    I have to say those are the most wholly unnecessary upgrades I have probably ever seen.

    From a games perspective...

    Board...fine.
    CPU....fine.
    GPU....fine.
    RAM...fine.
    HD....loads.
    Sound....fine.
    PSU...more than fine. By 'fine' prior to PSU, I actually meant 'More then enough to play games at max settings for the most part'.

    The only remote things I could maybe do would be upgrade the monitor to a 24" and then get a GTX285. Or a new case. Everything else is totally fine and doesn't need any upgrading really, at all.


    +1
    I have to agree, i7 brings no advantages to a gamer, very few games are multithreaded and a q6600 is more than capable of running any game at max detail (with the exception of GTA 4 which is a badly coded piece of shít). Spend Your cash on a 24" monitor and maybe upgrade the gpu, I game on a 24" with a single HD4870 so an upgrade isn't exactly needed.


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    #5
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    PogMoThoin wrote: »
    +1
    I have to agree, i7 brings no advantages to a gamer, very few games are multithreaded and a q6600 is more than capable of running any game at max detail (with the exception of GTA 4 which is a badly coded piece of shít). Spend Your cash on a 24" monitor and maybe upgrade the gpu, I game on a 24" with a single HD4870 so an upgrade isn't exactly needed.

    Perhaps, but then you could argue the point of upgrading a 22" to a 24"!

    I just wanted a faster/smoother running pc!


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    #6
    Ardscoil Ris
    Registered Users Posts: 1,020 ✭✭✭Ardscoil Ris


    py2006 wrote: »
    Perhaps, but then you could argue the point of upgrading a 22" to a 24"!

    I just wanted a faster/smoother running pc!

    24' monitor supports 1920 x 1200 resolution gameplay. You need a top notch card to run games smoothly with everything on high. That's the only difference between a 22' and a 24'.


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    #7
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    Ardscoil Ris wrote: »
    24' monitor supports 1920 x 1200 resolution gameplay. You need a top notch card to run games smoothly with everything on high. That's the only difference between a 22' and a 24'.

    Oh right, well I am not overly pushed about the monitor! I like the one I have! The graphics card was one upgrade I was going to leave till last, maybe later this year!

    Any thoughts on the sound card?


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    #8
    toco123
    Registered Users Posts: 595 ✭✭✭toco123


    Clever choice with mobo. By not changing the mobo, your OS will not need to be reactivated!


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    #9
    toco123
    Registered Users Posts: 595 ✭✭✭toco123


    Extremely unnessecary, I'd go for a better sound system instead and sell the old ones. Go for the Logitech z-5500 and find out why you really have a sound card :pac:


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    #10
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    toco123 wrote: »
    Clever choice with mobo. By not changing the mobo, your OS will not need to be reactivated!

    You sure about that, I changed my mobo before without having to reactive the OS


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    #11
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    Agree with everyone here (quite similar to mine actually). You're running a pretty good system as is. Maybe get an ssd for you boot drive if you fancy it or a bigger monitor but that's it.


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    #12
    PogMoThoin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,874 ✭✭✭✭PogMoThoin


    py2006 wrote: »
    Perhaps, but then you could argue the point of upgrading a 22" to a 24"!

    I just wanted a faster/smoother running pc!

    What You don't know is that 22" monitors don't have their own native resolution, they use the same resolution as 20" (1680x1050) stretched, so have the same number of pixels on the screen as 20" spread out. A 24" monitor has its own native resolution (1920x1200), bigger monitors like 27" use this resolution stretched. So a jump to a 24" would give a big difference. Its going from a 1.7 megapixel image (1680x105=1764000 pixels) to 2.3 megapixel (1920x1200=23024000 pixels), difference is much greater than you think. Next step up is a 30" with a resolution of 2560x1600 as a 27" would be the same pixels as the 24' stretched.

    20-->24-->30 all in between are just stretched, although there are exceptions to this, Dell have lately started producing a 23" with 1920x1200 res and a 19 with 1680x1050


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    #13
    darealtulip
    Registered Users Posts: 1,346 ✭✭✭darealtulip


    py2006 wrote: »
    You sure about that, I changed my mobo before without having to reactive the OS

    with vista you don't have to reactivate. And if you have a legal version of windows yoou can just phone microsoft and you get a new number except when it's a system build version like I have.


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    #14
    requiem1
    Registered Users Posts: 611 ✭✭✭requiem1


    py2006 wrote: »
    You sure about that, I changed my mobo before without having to reactive the OS

    If you changed mobo but have the same chipset in the new mobo you don't have to reinstall/reactivate


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    #15
    ColonelCarnage
    Closed Accounts Posts: 77 ✭✭ColonelCarnage


    Thorw in another bigger HDD if you store lots of **** like me or a smaller faster HDD for the OS. Upgrade the case and maybe the add an after market cooler to th CPU if you wanna do some overclocking which is probably the smartest way to get more from the abundance of pc you already have!

    Oh and about that saitek eclipse...I had one and just got a razor board......sooooo much better for typing and what not...or get a belkin N52 pad for gaming....


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    #16
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    ColonelCarnage wrote: »
    Thorw in another bigger HDD if you store lots of **** like me or a smaller faster HDD for the OS. Upgrade the case and maybe the add an after market cooler to th CPU if you wanna do some overclocking which is probably the smartest way to get more from the abundance of pc you already have!

    Oh and about that saitek eclipse...I had one and just got a razor board......sooooo much better for typing and what not...or get a belkin N52 pad for gaming....

    The razer is better for typing or the saitek? Sorry!


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    #17
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    PogMoThoin wrote: »
    What You don't know is that 22" monitors don't have their own native resolution, they use the same resolution as 20" (1680x1050) stretched, so have the same number of pixels on the screen as 20" spread out. A 24" monitor has its own native resolution (1920x1200), bigger monitors like 27" use this resolution stretched. So a jump to a 24" would give a big difference. Its going from a 1.7 megapixel image (1680x105=1764000 pixels) to 2.3 megapixel (1920x1200=23024000 pixels), difference is much greater than you think. Next step up is a 30" with a resolution of 2560x1600 as a 27" would be the same pixels as the 24' stretched.

    20-->24-->30 all in between are just stretched, although there are exceptions to this, Dell have lately started producing a 23" with 1920x1200 res and a 19 with 1680x1050

    Thats interestesting, thanks for the info! I didn't realise that! You learn something new everyday! I will look into getting a 24" now! There seems to be about 5-6 Samsung ones on the market at the mo!


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    #18
    ColonelCarnage
    Closed Accounts Posts: 77 ✭✭ColonelCarnage


    py2006 wrote: »
    The razer is better for typing or the saitek? Sorry!

    The Razor boards i think are more comfortable and easy to type with but thats just me! The saitek is all like blocky keys!


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    #19
    py2006
    Registered Users Posts: 9,847 ✭✭✭py2006


    ColonelCarnage wrote: »
    The Razor boards i think are more comfortable and easy to type with but thats just me! The saitek is all like blocky keys!


    Ah thats what I was hopping you would say! I have never seen any of the Razer products on sale in the shops here! I have the razer Lachesis mouse which I love! I like the look of their products!

    I would love to test out one of them keyboards!


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