Rig needs bringing in to the new age! Spec meh please!

[Davius]

My machine which used to be so good is old... and needs spruccing, I want to bring up in to a high performance for current climate sort of status. But i dont want to pay out of my ass for it, 400 quid per component is out of the question due to current funds

So I humbly request you cast your eyes over my current equipment *cough* and i wonder if you can identify whats bottle necking me up atm, what i should purchase first etc you know all the good stuff.

I was looking/reading reviews on an XFX 9800gtx+ Black edition, seen for £150 as GPU upgrade just the one for now ofc. But seeing as I dont regulary upgrade my pc I dont really have a clue whats good/bad/cheap/expensive for any component.

Which is why i turn to you heros!

Below is current stuff


Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6700 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Hard Drive: 150 GB
Video Card: XFX NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT x2 in SLI
Monitor: Samsung 26" LCD HD TV(soon to be Samsung T240 Monitor)
Sound Card: SB Audigy 4 [BF00]
Speakers: Logitech 5.1 surround
Keyboard: Logitech Web and Game
Mouse: Logitech G5 gaming laser mouse
OS: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3
Motherboard: Abit Fatality FP-IN9 SLI
PSU: 720watt non branded

Not really bothered about peripherals or sound card.

What are your thoughts??

P.s I actually have 4gb of RAM installed but it only reads 3... I have reason to believe thats something to do with xp...? and FYI the ram is 4 1GB at the cheapest i could find after my corsair dominator pair died.

Cheers!

[Dr. kitteny berk]

I'd look at a new graphics card, but otherwise your machine is perfectly fine IMO, maybe a new faster HDD and an upgrade to W7 would be handy too.

Geforce GTX260 is what I'd buy.


Also, a new 650W+ corsair/enermax PSU would go very nicely.

[Dog Pants]

And probably a larger HDD at that. Mostly better than mine that.

[Davius]

I have a second HDD 500g Samsung,
The 150gb that came up is a WD raptor, I was thinking of zerging it and putting W7 beta on, then dragging and dropping stuff back accross from the 500.

Keeping the 150gb solely for OS (W7) and games coz of the speed. I hear that you can just drag entire WoW folder for example without any problems what so ever... which taking into account the installation of that bitch.... would be handy

Edit: Does berk know of reliable sources to buy said GPU?? and which Manufacturer/clocker to go with? I've been happy with my xfx's. But i really have no idea what i'm talking about.

[HereComesPete]

Pretty much what Berk said

I was looking/reading reviews on an XFX 9800gtx+ Black edition

Not worth it. The jump over the 7800gt's would be noticeable, but on that 26" screen it's still going to struggle when stuff gets turned up. I'd drop money on newer cards than that.

4870x2 or gtx285 if you've got loadsa money.

The gtx295 right now is the daddy, but you really don't need one of those unless you want to play crysis on your new screen at everything turned to 11.

If you want more bang for buck then the gtx260 or the 4870. Personally I'd plump for a 260 right now, powerful and quite a good price.

Someone like BFG or EVGA for the tip top warranties and factory overclock.

Plus a named PSU is a must really. I've built systems (generally not mine ) on cheapo B grade stuff that's re-badged and they've been fine, but given how hard they can fuck you up I'd rather drop the money on peace of mind.

Overclockers are running good deals at the moment.

[buzzmong]

Pfft new machine? It's better than the one I'm using at uni and better than my home rig.

[Davius]

Pretty much what Berk said

I was looking/reading reviews on an XFX 9800gtx+ Black edition

Not worth it. The jump over the 7800gt's would be noticeable, but on that 26" screen it's still going to struggle when stuff gets turned up. I'd drop money on newer cards than that.

4870x2 or gtx285 if you've got loadsa money.

The gtx295 right now is the daddy, but you really don't need one of those unless you want to play crysis on your new screen at everything turned to 11.

If you want more bang for buck then the gtx260 or the 4870. Personally I'd plump for a 260 right now, powerful and quite a good price.

Someone like BFG or EVGA for the tip top warranties and factory overclock.

Plus a named PSU is a must really. I've built systems (generally not mine ) on cheapo B grade stuff that's re-badged and they've been fine, but given how hard they can fuck you up I'd rather drop the money on peace of mind.

Overclockers are running good deals at the moment.

Ah cheers, narf the 26" screen hasn't been a problem as its a tv first monitor second... native res is 13** x 768 So any/most cards can handle that

But play.com tell me they have posted my New monitor first/tv second Which has some serious resolution that i'd like to pump up to For 2" less its actually gonna be a shit load more screen space.

Browsing overclockers right now! ta

[Davius]

Pfft new machine? It's better than the one I'm using at uni and better than my home rig.

But its like..... soooo old!! and feels slow/sluggish maybe it just needs a clean hdd.

[Lee]

Novatech have GTX 260s for really cheap, no stock atm though: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... NOV-GTX260 I just got one recently, although mine was a zotac which they don't stock any more.

They also do an ATI Radeon 4870 512mb for cheap: http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/spec ... l?SAP-4870

Both of those are faster than the 9800GTX+

[FatherJack]

The GTX260s and I think the 9800GTXs have dual power slots on them, so a decent named PSU that will supply them has to be factored in.

WoW can just be copied with no probs at all, bear in mind you'll need a backup* if you're running Win7RC off the same drive as reformatting when Win7 release is out will be required/prudent.

WoW should run fine off the Samsung though, it only loads a great deal from disk at startup and during transitions. Put FPS games on the Raptor if anything, but leave space for the swap file.

* of at least the WTF and Interface subdirs

[TezzRexx]

But its like..... soooo old!! and feels slow/sluggish maybe it just needs a clean hdd.

Needs a format!

Fixes all!

[Killavodka]

Needs a format!

Fixes all!