# Lookin at an upgrage! whats your views?



## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi all,
I will soon be getting around £250 pounds and was looking at giving my pc a bit more humph!!
what would you guys upgrade from this system?

amd am2 athlonX2 64 5200 cpu,
asus m2n-e am2 socket,
geforce 7900gs 256mb sparkle,
2X 1gb ddr2 533 ram,
atx 550w ce active pfc dual fan psu,
80gb sata2 h/d,
windows Vista ultimate


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## Computer_Doctor (Feb 14, 2008)

Pretty good system, I would upgrade the videocard.


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## tech-it-^ (Aug 18, 2006)

Yeah, I agree with Computer_Doctor. Also, it may depend on what your doing but possibly the amount of HD space. Though if 80 gigs worked for you before just fine then... yeah, just the video card.


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## beefers1 (Aug 23, 2007)

Isn't the 7800, 7900, and 7950 all pretty high-end? I think it's fairly comparable with the 8800GTS 320MB card, besides the DX10 compatibility. Also: you might want to consider faster RAM, just to kill some of the budget. Also also: upgrade the hard drive with that money.

(that's quite a generous budget! much more than i'll ever get! why not just get a new system with that? i'm sure it'll be enough)

Also also also: a bit more "humph!!"?


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi all thanx for the replys! despite the obvious spelling mistake in title :grin:
unfortunatly £250 doesnt stretch along way here in england but i have taken your advise onboard and will be looking to upgrade the H/D and Ram,
also what card would look look to buy to improve the one i have? 
Thanx all

jon


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## floydfan (Oct 18, 2006)

get an 8800gt or 8800gts 512.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I agree with floyd. Even the 8600GTS will beat the 7900GS in newer games. If you can pick up an 8800GT it will beat all of the above mentioned video cards.

What brand PSU is that? Also, see if you can get DDR2 800MHz RAM since it is usually not much more expensive.


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## jive_john (Nov 14, 2007)

ya i would upgrade the hd you shouldnt have to upgrade your video card cause comon are u really gonna be playing new games on computer????...if you want to play game s get a 360=)


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I think most people will actually agree that the PC is a better gaming platform than a console. For example, play COD4 on the Xbox or PS3 and then play it on a high end gaming computer. Which is better?


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## tech-it-^ (Aug 18, 2006)

agreed, or better yet. Play Crysis on a high end gaming PC and then play it on... oh... wait... Console can't handle it. Or at least the PC version (highest settings). I have a 360 and yes, it is an awesome gaming machine but the PC version usually looks better.


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Back to the original topic, what specifically will you be doing with the computer that it needs an upgrade? Games? Multitasking? Increased storage?


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

abit of everything realy! i like my games like LOTRO and COD4 but defo need more h,d space


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## ShosMeister (Jan 19, 2008)

Take a look here (GPU Review/Comparison) to get some additional information on the video card.

I'm looking at putting the ATI 3870x2 in my build. You need to consider what slots you currently have available as well since you didn't mention (figure you already took that into account, but, just in case).

Good luck and have a John Smith's for me:4-cheers:


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi everyone and thanx for the help

my slot is pci-e this is my board http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=101&l3=0&model=1181&modelmenu=1

and thematt this is my psu http://www.aone.co.uk/ProdInfo.ASP?ProductID=549

im unsure between ati and nvidia cant realy make my mind up but i have been looking for a graphics card on this website as its local to me and i have eaten into my funds and now have between £100-£130 maybe a little more.
http://www.cclonline.com/product-categories.asp?category_id=611

thanx for all your help everyone


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

I would go with nVidia for now. Keep in mind though for a card like that you will definitely want to upgrade the power supply first though because running a nice new nVidia 8800 on your current 550W could prove costly.

This PSU is on clearance and is a good unit:
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=20834&category_id=571&manufacturer_id=0

Then go for a graphics card like this which will handle COD4 just fine:
http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...=611&manufacturer_id=0&tid=en8800gt/htdp/256m

If you are on more of a budget go for this:
http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...=611&manufacturer_id=0&tid=en8800gs/htdp/384m


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

would my board http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1...81&modelmenu=1
support an 8800gt with dx10?


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

i would get a 3870x2 or just normal 3870. nvidia's upcoming stuff...well...sucks. ATI is the way to go right now and in june or july the 4xxx series is coming out. also, if you wanted dual cards, it would work with AMD because nvidia doesnt allow SLI with its newer cards on nvidia, AMD chipsets (i think).


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## Vab10 (Mar 13, 2008)

Def the video card! Then maybe the RAM for some 667 of 800 if you wanna do something crazy...


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

you could probably overclock that ram if you wanted to. ram speeds dont really matter that much though


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

The board would work with those three items. I would stick with nVidia since ATI right now can't write drivers that are fit for their new superscalar pipeline architecture. This leads to setbacks in performance. While the ATI cards theoretically will outperform nVidia's offerings by a pretty big margin, the lack of good drivers from ATI/AMD has held the cards back.


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

Thanx matt!! i managed to get a little but more from the wife  and was looking at this card http://www.cclonline.com/product-in...=611&manufacturer_id=0&tid=i-8800gt-h5gtcdsx# 
what do u think? and would it run with my board and psu??
thanx


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

board? yes. psu? not likely. would probably have to get a new one also (like the one linked by matt or any name brand 600+ watt


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

It will work, but I would get a card with a better stock cooler. Asus has a card like the one I have in my second link that has 512MB like the one you linked to. Remember though, you need the PSU I linked to to run the new card.


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## sycko (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi and once again thanx ofr help  
the psu u linked has now been moved im guessing they have sold out 
which out of these would u recomend? http://www.cclonline.com/product-categories.asp?category_id=263

im thinkin about the 512 asus with the huge cooling fan like you said


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

http://www.cclonline.com/product-in..._id=263&manufacturer_id=0&tid=ocz600gxssli-uk my personal psu and it works great. quiet also


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## TheMatt (May 9, 2006)

Forcifer's choice looks solid there.


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