5punk

Ok so as the witcher 2 has gently reminded me, my computer is starting to age a bit and some parts probably are due for an update.

I don't really have the funds yet but it'll probably be a while before I do, but if I know what I'm looking for I could keep an eye out in case I happen upon cheaper/secondhand parts.
this is my current setup (the important bits):

Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Motherboard: MSI P7N SLI Platinum
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 3 GHz - LGA775 Socket
memory: Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Performance (x2)

What would you recommend needs changing?

I'd suggest changing everything.

A new graphics card would help a good deal, so that'd be my budget option.

A new CPU would help a bit too, but you are at that point where it's old tech, and you'd be buying an extra year at best.

I had a quick look around but it looks like I'll just have to wait a bit more.

Electronic eyes and a cyber beard.

Allright, with my birthday coming up I might have enough dosh to upgrade my ye olde pc end of next month.

Seeing as I can still use my case, PSU and cooler (we think, it's a scythe mugen infinity) there is no need to renew that. My mate suggested I buy these upgrades:

Graphics card: MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 / 3.2 GHz - Socket AM3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance
mobo: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 1.0)

This comes to about 441 pounds (coming from Holland), and If there's some money left I might invest in a soundcard as well. Any thoughts?

Damn, if you were going 1155 I could have done you a deal on my spare mobo.

Mr. Johnson wrote:Allright, with my birthday coming up I might have enough dosh to upgrade my ye olde pc end of next month.

Seeing as I can still use my case, PSU and cooler (we think, it's a scythe mugen infinity) there is no need to renew that. My mate suggested I buy these upgrades:

Graphics card: MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 / 3.2 GHz - Socket AM3
Memory: Corsair Vengeance
mobo: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 1.0)

This comes to about 441 pounds (coming from Holland), and If there's some money left I might invest in a soundcard as well. Any thoughts?

I can't in good conscious let anyone recommend buying a Phenom II. You're better off prostituting yourself for some extra cash to get a Core i5 2500k setup. There's nothing inherently wrong with Phenom II, it's just fucking slow compared to Sandy Bridge. If you had a Socket AM3 motherboard I could see buying a Phenom II to drop in, but buying into AM3 at this point is daft. The only possible reason to do that would be that you don't like Intel and you're betting that Bulldozer is going to be a hit. I'd love for Bulldozer to even the performance gap, but those are long odds. At least that motherboard will work with Bulldozer when it comes out, but it'll be a miracle if it beats Sandy Bridge.

Intel Core i5 2500 / 3.3 GHz - LGA1155 Socket Like this? I've always used AMD for my gaming rigs and I've been quite content with them, but I'm willing to give intel a go. We'll see at the end of September.

Mr. Johnson wrote:Intel Core i5 2500 / 3.3 GHz - LGA1155 Socket Like this? I've always used AMD for my gaming rigs and I've been quite content with them, but I'm willing to give intel a go. We'll see at the end of September.

Close, you want the 2500k, as it makes overclocking possible. OC'ing those is super easy and you can get a lot of performance for free, almost risk-free.

+1 for the 2500k, have overclocked like a boss.

I should probably mention that I never ever plan on overclocking, because if I do it it's guaranteed to break.

My motherboard had an auto overclocker, I pressed one button.

oh.

Any other bits that'd you recommend over the ones I posted?

Um not really, I'm no hardware expert, I just get what's on offer :p All I will say is, I personally believe a SSD is one of the best upgrades you can get. I'd sacrifice a few things for one of those if budget called for it.

All right, these will probably be my final specs. Please tell me if there is anything I should change. Please.

I'll write them out for you here since I can't link to my online shopping list:

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k / 3.3 GHz*
mobo: ASUS P8P67 EVO B3 Revision (I don't know anything about mobos, please tell me if this is a good choice or not)
graphics card: MSI N560GTX-Ti Hawk
cooler: Scythe Mugen 3 Heat Pipe CPU Cooler
RAM: Corsair vengeance 8 GB (2x4GB)

*People have told me the life expectancy of a CPU goes down when it's overclockable, so I'm still on the fence on whether I should get the vanilla 2500 or the 2500k.

If you have advice, I would appreciate it!

bitches.

Mr. Johnson wrote:*People have told me the life expectancy of a CPU goes down when it's overclockable, so I'm still on the fence on whether I should get the vanilla 2500 or the 2500k.

People are wrong. overclocking a cpu can lower its lifespan, but not significantly unless you're really overclocking.

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:

Mr. Johnson wrote:*People have told me the life expectancy of a CPU goes down when it's overclockable, so I'm still on the fence on whether I should get the vanilla 2500 or the 2500k.

People are wrong. overclocking a cpu can lower its lifespan, but not significantly unless you're really overclocking.

The main issue is heat with regards to overclocking. Actually upping the clock rate and/or then upping the voltage by .1 or .2 of a volt to stabilise it won't harm it from an electronics point of view.

Anything electronic that's subjected to excess heat will have shorter lifespans, so if you plan to over clock, just go overboard on the heatsink. Not that you shouldn't anyway, stock coolers aren't good for gaming machines.

You've picked a good fan anyway, I've got an older version, the Scythe Mugen 2, on this machine.

Well, I guess my main concern is that I'm never going to overclock so I don't see the point in buying a 2500k. I just formulated it different. Sort of.

Quite blatantly, the only thing missing is http://www.crazypc.com/other/misc/toast.htm

I want it.