Upgrading Machine

oceansize

Hi there,

I badly need to upgrade my machine, im using

AMD XP3000+ CPU
1GB of DDR1 Ram
Geforce 7800GT GFX card
Winfast Non SLI PCI-e mainboard (NF4SK8aa) this isn't the SLI one, it's the oldest one.
550w PSU

i'm looking to upgrade to this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-007-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1334

Can you recommend also a new GFX card, i want one that will allow me to keep up to date with games (very high settings) for a while, but i dont want to break the bank. I've always preferred Nvidia cards for some reason.

Also, with my current system, what else will i need to do to get it to work once i've installed the components, will it all fit in my ATX case, will the old PSU work?

I used to build PC's but it's been about 4 years since i opened one.

Cheers!

Solitaire

What's the name, model and ratings of your current PSU?

What's the name, form factor and fan placement of your current case?

What type/capacity drives do you have there that you can recycle?

Do you need new peripherals, OS or monitor? What's the resolution of your current/prospective monitor?

And what's your budget for filling the gaps?

Oh, and IMHO: that upgrade kit is overpriced, and nVidia is kinda sucking ass at the moment. Badly.

oceansize

What's the name, model and ratings of your current PSU? it's a jeantech JN120F-450-AP (says pentium 4 on it) haha

What's the name, form factor and fan placement of your current case?it's an ATX case, tower, on fan below the PSU which is mounted on the upper rear of the case

What type/capacity drives do you have there that you can recycle? 250gb IDE drive and a couple oif DVD RW (IDE also)

Do you need new peripherals, OS or monitor? What's the resolution of your current/prospective monitor? I have a 19" LG flatron TFT monitor, 1280 resolution, i have Windows XP and windows vista - i also have a 64bit windows XP and windows vista

And what's your budget for filling the gaps? hmm, 450 - 500 sheets would be perfect, ideally i would only need to get CPU, Mobo,Ram, GFX card(s).

Should i be looking at an ATI and what about SLI? cheers

BadCharlie

Nasty Power Supply.

Solitaire

I somehow doubt you'll be needing CF/SLI for a 1280*1024 screen; not nowadays anyway! Even a HD5750 would be overkill, and a good investment if you decide to upgrade the screen later.

That 550W PSU of yours is actually only a 450W model And JeanTech is naff. Still tempting to recycle on a low-power build but odds are a €40 CX400 will outperform it

Case doesn't sound so hot either... Is there any mounting points for fans on the front or side? What size? Also what size is that single fan you do have?

Drives aren't too hot either; 250GB is alright for some added storage but IDE is now considered a legacy connection, and most modern mobos can only support one IDE chain. So one of the three devices will have to go. You might need a new HDD regardless if you're pressed for space (modern games are utter gluttons for HDD space!).

Why do you have so many different OSes? :P

It depends on whether you want to risk recycling and which end of your budget you prefer, but at the absolute least you should be able to get a decent tri-core CPU, 4GB DDR3 and a HD5750. With some recycling you could afford an i5-750 instead but it'd be squeezing things a bit - it'd be €480 even if you recycled the case, PSU and HDD!