upgrades for gaymes

[wiggles]

lo,

i'm looking to beef up my pc. it needs to be able to run all new games reasonably to very well (even crysis, if possible) and i want it to be pretty much future proof for the next few years- without spending too many monies.

my specs are-

amd 4200+
gigabyte mobo- (http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/Mothe ... A-M52S-S3P)
evga 8800 gts 320mb
2 x 1gb 667 mhz ram (kingston)
160 gb 7200 rpm hdd (wd)
corsair hx 620w modular atx 2.2 psu
antec 900 case
a few extra fans + arctic cooling freezer cpu cooler

just wanted to get some advice on what should be my next move(s) towards making something powerful enough to run games in general.

thx.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

i'm looking to beef up my pc. it needs to be able to run all new games reasonably to very well (even crysis, if possible) and i want it to be pretty much future proof for the next few years- without spending too many monies.

Wait. Save money.

New graphics wars are getting started, new intel CPU/Socket are getting close.


If anything, perhaps a better cpu, but you've got a balanced machine there, nothing will bottleneck anything too badly, any major upgrades won't yield a significant improvement for the cost.

[Mr. Johnson]

Wait. Save money.

New graphics wars are getting started, new intel CPU/Socket are getting close.


If anything, perhaps a better cpu, but you've got a balanced machine there, nothing will bottleneck anything too badly, any major upgrades won't yield a significant improvement for the cost.

i was going to order my new parts next week, would that be too soon?

[Dr. kitteny berk]

depends really.

what I'd suggest waiting for is Nehalem, but afaik there's no real hard launch date for it yet (H2 08), but, obviously, as wiggles wanted something very (i'd say impossibly) future-proof, it seems the thing to wait for.


On the other hand, my budget machine guide, or this Will land you with a very decent machine that'll take a fair few upgrades and last a good while.


edit: oh, and graphics prices are well worth watching, they're starting to drop already 8800GT £110 inc VAT

[wiggles]

well thx for the help. i heard about all the nex gfx cards coming out soon, seeing as its been pretty stale for the year or two. and i see what you mean about it being 'future-proof', what i meant was just something that could handle most new games etc. that were coming out over the next year or two, even if they won't play the games on best quality.
and from what i seen on the recentish article on 'tom's hardware'- http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu ... 28-20.html, it seems that quad core processors have no real strength over dual cores, so i'll stay with my amd 4200 for the moment, although i should probably overclock it or i'll end up wasting some performance from the gpu.
and as for ram, is there really any sufficient difference in fps using 1066 mhz over 667 mhz?

[Dr. kitteny berk]

is there really any sufficient difference in fps using 1066 mhz over 667 mhz?

no, none.

[wiggles]

in that case really don't understand why some people spend hundreds on really fast ram when u can get the same performance on 2 gigs of ram for 30 odd quid.....

[Dr. kitteny berk]

in that case really don't understand why some people spend hundreds on really fast ram when u can get the same performance on 2 gigs of ram for 30 odd quid.....

because more expensive, faster ram will overclock better, and run faster.

But 1066mhz ram makes very little difference, especially if your CPU only wants 800mhz.

I have both fancy 1066mhz ram, and 800mhz cheapy ram, and only see a difference when i'm really, very heavily overclocked.

[Lee]

I think the best thing you could do with that PC is upgrading to one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/144075

My brother recently upgraded from a 3500+ to a 5400+ X2 and it's made a huge difference to the smoothness of games, his frame rate used to be all over the place and now it's fairly constant.

One of those should at least tide you over for another year and then you can do a complete rebuild with Nehalem and one of the new graphics cards.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

What lee said.

I just couldn't be arsed looking.

[Mr. Johnson]

i just ordered this;

Club3D GeForce 8800GT,512MB, GDDR3, PCI Express x16 (2 of them)
Intel Core 2 Duo,E8400, Socket 775, Boxed
MSI P7N SLI Platinum
Antec TruePower Trio, 650 Watt, Retail
Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5,2048MB, DDR2, PC6400, 800MHz, 1x (again 2)
Scythe Mugen “Infinity”.
Sony-NEC AD-7191S Black
Antec Three Hundred


I know it's a bit too late for the 5punky approval, but i'd like to hear the swearing anyway.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

That'll do nicely.

[Mr. Johnson]

That'll do nicely.

no swearing?

[Hehulk]

Fine, if it'll make you happy...

Holy fuck what the hell were you thinking?!!?!!!!!?!11!!!two!!!

[Mr. Johnson]

that's more like it.