upgrading from q6600/ddr2

fl4pj4ck

Recently I noticed my couple years old top notch pc is not a great performer nowadays, especially when it comes to gaming, so I'm thinking about a little upgrade. Looking at the prices of DDR2 it doesn't make much sense to add more RAM.

Here's what I have at the moment:
- Q6600 Quad Core running at 3.6 for last week or so (overclocking from default 2.4 didn't help too much with BF3) with Noctua N12
- 2x2GB G.Skill PC-8000 running at 1000MHz
- Generic Ati 4870 512MB
- Foxconn X38a motherboard (has DDR2+DDR3 slots)

What would be the best way to go for me if I don't want to spend a fortune? How much that would be worth? Judging by Adverts prices I can see I could get something like e200(hopefully) for combo mobo+cpu+ram, what next? What would be the best choice of CPU+mobo if I wanted to spend about e400 altogether (leaving the current GPU for now).

Monotype

With a budget of €400, you could get a 2500K for about €200 + Z68 motherboard for €100 and 8GB of RAM for €40.

If you wanted to stick with what you have now, the best strategy to get more game performance would be to pick up a 7850 which are to be released next month.

fl4pj4ck

I'm thinking if I don't sell now, I will get pennies for it in 6/12 month time. Also, wouldn't my current CPU be a bottleneck with 7xxx?

You mentioned the cost of ddr2 ram in the op
Has anyone else noticed an increase in the price of ddr2 ram? I've seen it jump over 20% in some places

fl4pj4ck

well, yeah, one of the reasons may be that they don't manufacture them anymore

Serephucus

To give you more specifics on what Monotype suggested, this is what upgrade parts would cost:

Item|Price
Total build cost: €314.54 + €30 shipping
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155|€189.49
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€91.85
8GB-Kit A-Data Value PC3-1333 CL9|€33.20

fl4pj4ck

sounds very reasonable and I can see there's no other Intel alternative available (one that will allow some future overclocking). what about AMD?

Serephucus

Unfortunately, AMD can't hold a candle to Intel at virtually every price-point right now.

Monotype

The Adata RAM has gone up and the gskill is now cheaper.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=44315

I think I'd go for Gskill over the Adata anyway as Adata are considered slightly cheapier. Although RAM usually works or it doesn't and most RAM is pretty reliable nowadays (apart from OCZ's RAM, but they're gone now).

The 2500K is a very powerful CPU when overclocked (easily done) and you also have compatibility with Intel's next series. If you want to put the rest of the €400 to good use without moving onto a new GPU, you should invest in a good heatsink. No need to overspend here as the 2500k runs cool and overclocks easily, but something that will help you get a bit further and quieter.

Does your PSU need upgrading?

fl4pj4ck

looking at the mobo suggested by Serephucus I can see it also supports S775 coolers, I have this one at the moment and would probably stick with it, as it's VERY efficient and quiet. as for PSU I have some 650W one, so should be ok (according to >this<) the new system, even overclocked to 4Ghz would take less power than my current one and peaks at about 450W

Monotype

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

I have some 650W one

Have you got a model number? As Phaedrus himself says, you can't rely exclusively on a wattage calculator.
You should check the quality of the PSU too.

Serephucus

If you remember one thing from this thread, remember this:

Never, ever, judge a PSU by wattage alone.

From what you have now, odds are you'll be fine, but I'd still be more comfortable knowing the make and model of the PSU before I'd tell you it will run ok.


Edit: 4GHz? 4GHz?! You'll be getting that bitch to 5GHz or else! :P

ShadowHearth

I know mainly lads are suggesting CPU ram mobo upgrade, but I don't knowif it will do much good gong wise.

2500k os great great CPU, but CPU role I'm gong is becoming smaller ( still important ). I don't think that you will see big improvement for 400eu spent on CPU ram mobo combo.

Q6600 at 3.4ghz is still a very fast CPU. Something like 6870 won't bottle neck it at all. So you might go for something even more beefy with that budget.

I would suggest sel old gpu and to upgrade Gpu with something modern, then later on spend some money on mobo CPU ram.

Saadyst

OP I have/had more or less the same specs in my current computer - I upgraded my trusty 4870 to a 6950 when they came out and bought an SSD a couple of years ago as well.

I've not come across any game at the moment that I can't handle at the best settings. Granted, I've not tried BF3, but I would be surprised if I couldn't get at least 'High' settings on it. Skyrim plays without any problems whatsoever at max settings.

This is at 2560x1440.

Personally I'm going to hold out until Ivybridge starts popping up. If it's too expensive or seems to be further away than I want to wait, I'm sure there'll be a lot of cheaper Sandybridge parts getting sold (used and new?).

ShadowHearth

Saadyst wrote: »

OP I have/had more or less the same specs in my current computer - I upgraded my trusty 4870 to a 6950 when they came out and bought an SSD a couple of years ago as well.

I've not come across any game at the moment that I can't handle at the best settings. Granted, I've not tried BF3, but I would be surprised if I couldn't get at least 'High' settings on it. Skyrim plays without any problems whatsoever at max settings.

This is at 2560x1440.

Personally I'm going to hold out until Ivybridge starts popping up. If it's too expensive or seems to be further away than I want to wait, I'm sure there'll be a lot of cheaper Sandybridge parts getting sold (used and new?).

This.

My old pc os dell xps 420 q6600 3gb ram. It had 8800gt and I upgraded to 6870. Perfoamce boost was incredible. Bf3 on high settings at 1080p like a boss.
Q6600 is not that bad when if comes o games. Yes it can show sign of ageing on CPU hungry games like sc2 or shot port of gta 4, but let's be honest: not many games out there that are so CPU hungry.

As much as I love 2500k setups ( and own one now myself ) I still don't think it will make you much good with your budget if you want gaming performance. Get new gpu, way more efficient.

fl4pj4ck

@Monotype,@Serephucus: no worries, I always knew PSU is important, it's probably Seasonic, I'm too lazy to check it now I downgraded from a 1000W Tagan two years ago seeing I will never be able to use the power it offers

@ShadowHearth: didn't want to say anything, but I was hoping this is still the case. However I'm thinking 4GB of memory became too small and don't really want to spend another e90 adding another 4GB G.Skill set. tought decision

after reading this I will probably just swap my current 4870 -> 6950 as you can get them for ~200 quid at the moment and wait a bit more to replace all the rest

thanks everyone, but if anyone has anything more to add, I'm all ears

ShadowHearth

Check adverts.ie m8. Alot of people upgrading these days and you can find a **** truck loads of ddr2 ram. Dot be bothered with speeds much, for general multitasking and gaming 6gb is more then enough.

You might aswell wait 2-3 weeks and see how well 7850 7870 do. Those will fit your budget and will be future prove for crossfire setup m8.

fl4pj4ck

I don't believe in multi gpu setups :P too many problems

Serephucus

Yeah, I'd wait for the new cards to be honest. Waiting also gives you the advantage of having a lot more 6950s on Adverts for sale because of people wanting the new tech.

As for multi-GPU setups: Been there, done that, and it's not nearly as bad as you'd think.

ShadowHearth

Serephucus wrote: »

Yeah, I'd wait for the new cards to be honest. Waiting also gives you the advantage of having a lot more 6950s on Adverts for sale because of people wanting the new tech.

As for multi-GPU setups: Been there, done that, and it's not nearly as bad as you'd think.

No gtx 570 though

Serephucus

What do you mean?

Monotype

No GTX 570 on adverts to SLI with his own, I suppose.

Serephucus

Yes there is.

But even so, I wouldn't expect there to be. NVIDIA's stuff isn't due out for another month or so at least.

ShadowHearth

Yup, for sli. That was the only one gtx570 in ages. 200eu was good price too.

Somehow ati stuff was more popular around here.

Still gtx570 is droping in price and if new nvidia stuff is not out yet, they will have to drop price to attract customers somehow.

fl4pj4ck

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Check adverts.ie m8. Alot of people upgrading these days and you can find a **** truck loads of ddr2 ram. Dot be bothered with speeds much, for general multitasking and gaming 6gb is more then enough..

thing is, I have quite unique sticks right now, and AFAIK I cannot just add ANY other set, it has to have at least the same voltage (2.1@1000MHz) otherwise it won't work, correct me if I'm wrong

ShadowHearth

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

thing is, I have quite unique sticks right now, and AFAIK I cannot just add ANY other set, it has to have at least the same voltage (2.1@1000MHz) otherwise it won't work, correct me if I'm wrong

If you mix and match different speeds, then bios will run bouth at the lowest speed of both rams. Dunno about voltage.

If you can't match it, the just buy 2 sets? Maybe there are even some 6gb second hand setups.

Monotype

Don't buy new DDR2 RAM. In most situations 4GB is much more than people use. Many games are built around consoles which have far less RAM and the executables are only 32-bit. I'm not saying that 8GB doesn't have it's advantages - Windows 7 handles RAM very efficiently and loads stuff into RAM that it things your might use, but you're not going to see much tangible improvement.

I still think that the two options in post #2 are your best. 2500K if you want a new base system to work from or the new card if games is your sole priority. It's not really worth throwing money into other areas to keep up the old system.
Of course, picking up some cheap second hand RAM is a different story, but GPU would be still by far more important.

zilog_jones

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

well, yeah, one of the reasons may be that they don't manufacture them anymore

They still manufacture it, I just bought some DDR2 last week (don't know why I didn't look second-hand now ) and the manufacturing date according to SPD is November 2011. But it's all about economies of scale with this stuff - they're selling a lot less than they used to, so are producing a lot less, therefore it'll cost more.

Since your motherboard has DDR3 slots, why don't you buy DDR3 RAM? At least you have a chance of being able to carry it over to a new system then. Also you didn't say what OS you're using - Windows 32-bit desktop operating systems are limited to 4GB RAM.

Ivy Bridge will hopefully be out some time in Q2 this year, so I would wait if I was going to buy a new mobo/CPU.

And as others have said, GPU is more important for most games these days. I also have a Q6600 (only @ 2.7GHz due to ancient motherboard) and just upgraded from a GeForce 8600GT to a Radeon 6870 - it can comfortably play new games now, and now my limitations are crappy old XP 32-bit and my even more ancient CRT monitor (21" Trinitron but 1600x1200 @ 85 Hz is too blurry).

fl4pj4ck

using win7@64bit and ddr3 in this mobo is a bad idea since it only supports 4GB ddr3

fl4pj4ck

just bought 6950 and unlocked the extra shaders, time for some testing

ShadowHearth

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

just bought 6950 and unlocked the extra shaders, time for some testing

well let us know how you get on m8