# Upgrading questions



## Ronoman (Jun 27, 2011)

Hello TechSupportForums!

I have an Alienware computer that i bought a couple of years ago, and its getting outdated.

*Specs:*
Alienware Area-51 7500 R6
Alienware PSN-D Motherboard
Intel Core2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.0 GHz
4GB RAM (4x1GB)
Creative SB X-Fi Titanium
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
1,000 Watt Alienware PSU
1TB Hard Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I would like to upgrade my Motherboard, CPU and graphics card. This is what i have chosen.

*New parts:*
Motherboard
Newegg.com - ASUS P8P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Graphics Card
Newegg.com - EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I would like to know if you guys think this is a good decision or not?
Will i need to re-install windows for this upgrade? (I have an external 500GB drive in case)
I have water cooling on my CPU right now, i would like to know if i would have to get rid of that because i would have a new CPU/Motherboard?
Do i have enough RAM?

Thank you.
-Rono


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you will need ddr3 ram and you will have to upgrade the alienware power supply because they are rubbish.

you would have to redo (refit and add clean water) the water cooling.


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## Ronoman (Jun 27, 2011)

greenbrucelee said:


> you will need ddr3 ram and you will have to upgrade the alienware power supply because they are rubbish.


OK. is this a good choice?
Newegg.com - Patriot G series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGV38G1600ELK

Why is the power supply bad?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

because its alienware, basically its a generic power supply with alienware written on the label. Corsair, seasonic and xfx are good power supplies. I would recommend a corsair 850TX especially if you plan to upgrade in the future.

you dont need more than 4GB ram unless you are into video editing or photshop. No game can use more than 3GB at the moment. if your wanting to run tri channel then you would be better wity 3x2GB. check which ram is compatible for your board on the asus website by downloading the qvl list for that board.


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## Ronoman (Jun 27, 2011)

I picked the 850TX.
For RAM i chose a PNY DDR3 2x2GB


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

For performance RAM-G.Skill-Mushkin-Corsair. 
Using 3RAM sticks on a Dual Channel Mobo will result in Single Channel Mode and performance will suffer. 2X2GB is more than sufficient for any game and most all apps.
Is the case I/O plate removable?


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