Hi guys, At the moment i have the following spec: CPU = AMD Athlon XP 2000+ @ 1.67Ghz (Socket A) Mobo = MSI KT6V GPU = Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra 128mb DDR RAM = 1.5gb DDR 400 HDD = 160gb SATA 1 I am going to upgrade this old rig, hopefully to this: CPU = AMD Athlon X2 5000+ @ 2.6Ghz (AM2) (£72.99) Mobo = Asrock ALiveNF7G AM2 HD Ready (£41.99) GPU = ATI Radeon X1950GT 256mb GDDR3 (£54.99) RAM = 1gb DDR2 800 (£13.00) (Soon after, will be 2gb) HDD = 160gb SATA 2 (£32.00) The reason i'm changing the HDD is because it is starting to go bad on me, it randomly winds down, and then back up causing the pc to restart. If it wasn't playing up, i wouldn't change it. Its only 160gb because i dont need a lot of space. So guys, i am on a tight budget, at about £215 for the lot. Would i notice much of a performance increase, and is there anything i should change. Oh and by the way, i am not a heavy gamer, just a bit of Trackmania Nations, DiRT and F1 99-02. It just seems the best card for the money (£54.99)
That's not really a great idea. That CPU is very slow for the price, and ASRock boards aren't that good. The GPU is quite a good deal, but beware, HD3850s are now less than £100 and are twice as fast as that card. I recommend: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=600158 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=657881 http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=340995 Then overclock the CPU to around 3Ghz, it's dead easy with this combination. By the way, Colin McRae DiRT is the second most demanding game released in the last year, thought I might give you a heads up on that one. My high end gaming rig has to drop the resolution down a LOT to be able to get a decent frame rate.
Hi, thanks for the reply. Just a few questions. Are Scan any good? (Reliable, Good Service.etc) Would the overclock work with OEM Memory, or would i need decent stuff, like Corsair Twinx? Thanks again.
Yeah I've used Scan loads of times, never had any problems. basic memory can be used to overclock a reasonable amount, because you can get a good OC without overclocking the memory with an E2160.
Thanks. So with that cooler, i could get about 2.8ghz/3ghz? Also, if i went with the parts you have suggested, along with a HD3850, would i notice much of a performance gain over my current rig?
well the HD3850 is probably between 30 and 50 times as powerful as an FX5200, and an E2160 at 2.8Ghz is probably about 3-4 times as fast as your Athlon even if you only use one of its cores. With that config I reckon you'll probably make that overclock. HOWEVER, you will need to get a new Power supply for that setup, without question. I recommend using this: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=644038
Well funny you come to mention it, i have just purchased a new power supply. What it was, when the Hard drive first started turning off and on, i thought it could be the PSU, as it was only a 350w, that came with my £32 case. So i went and bought a Trust PW-5550 520W, with 28Amps across 12v1 and 12v2. But as it turned out, it was the hard drive after all Would that be ok?
I hate to say it, but not really. 550W is plenty, but a Trust 550W isn't likely to put out anywhere near 550W. A lot of PSUs lie about the specs, and the sort of units that do can do nasty things when they get overloaded. I'd recommend you replace it with the 450W Corsair I posted. Using a lower wattage will seem mad, but I assure you, that Corsair will probably be able to produce twice as much power as your Trust unit. It's also very well made, and very quiet.
Ok then no worries, i'l just put it away for spare or sell it cheap on eBay. So, this is what it looks like (from Scan): Cpu = Intel E2160 with custom cooler (Overclock to 2.8ghz/3ghz) PSU = Corsair 450w Mobo = Gigabyte Socket 775 GPU = ATI HD3850 With 1gb, eventually 2gb, of ddr2 800. And a SATA2 160GB Thank you so much for your help, will be placing an order within the next week. Looking forward to putting it together!
