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Help with PC upgrades; por favor
Topic Started: Aug 17 2011, 12:15 AM (570 Views)
Yoshida of Ryūkyū
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Knight of the Round Table
I'm going to be upgrading my PC soon as it's long overdue. I was wondering if any of you guys are pr0 with this sort of stuff, as I only know the basics.

My specs are:
Intel i3 CPU 530 quad core
Nvidia Geforce 240
4gigs RAM
64bit windows Vista

What should for prioritize in upgrading first? inb4 replace your pc... can't afford that at the moment :(
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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1. I'd upgrade your video card first.
That's your biggest performance bottleneck.
2. I'd then go to 8 gigs on your memory. I just upgraded to 8 from 4 and it's a nice performance difference.
3. I'd then do the upgrade to Windows 7.
4. CPU-this might be #3.

Good luck... :mtwcheers:
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stoicblitzer
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i3 is not quad core.
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Elrich of Gaul
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Yoshida,Aug 17 2011
12:15 AM
I'm going to be upgrading my PC soon as it's long overdue. I was wondering if any of you guys are pr0 with this sort of stuff, as I only know the basics.

My specs are:
Intel i3 CPU 530 quad core
Nvidia Geforce 240
4gigs RAM
64bit windows Vista

What should for prioritize in upgrading first? inb4 replace your pc... can't afford that at the moment :(

Blitz is correct, the 530 is a dual core but with 4 threads.

I'll differ from Chazzy a little. My order would be:

1: upgrade to Windows 7. Vista is a memory hog and generally just crap. Is best bang for your buck.
2. If your vid card is the GTS version, then it can take advantage of the Windows 7 features. If this is the case, then this one would fall into spot number 3
3. Upgrade to 8 gigs ram
4. CPU is plenty strong... for the extra amount of money you'd spend to get a better one, you'd barely if at all, see any visual difference in performance.
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Kronos

1) torrent windows 7.

2) Buy a decent heatsink/fan (£20ish) for your cpu and OC it.

3) Might as well put Memory here as it's cheap as hell for another 4gb.

4) GFX card.

So maybe £60 total + whatever you spend on gfx card although I still use 4gb ram and have no problems so if there's a gfx card you particularly want that you can't afford without dropping the memory thats fine too.
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Yoshida of Ryūkyū
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###### am I saying. I meant to say windows 7. Apologies.

Thanks for all the advice gaiz!

edit: another noob question, what graphics card is the best "bang for your buck"?
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Elrich of Gaul
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The older slotted cards (AVG) or the PCI express.?
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Silva Cinis
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GTX 460 is a great card for the money I use one and it runs Shogun 2 on maxed and most games can be maxed. I have a 2 gb one. But make sure your case can hold one and it will cost you more if you do not install yourself Also make sure you can plug one in.(I installed mine)
I think your fine on RAM however I myself have 6gb of RAM
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Braver Pleinair
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and get the windows-tan theme for windows 7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tu2ExyTt4g&feature=related

its very important that you do get it.
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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Elrich of Gaul,Aug 17 2011
04:13 AM
Yoshida,Aug 17 2011
12:15 AM
I'm going to be upgrading my PC soon as it's long overdue. I was wondering if any of you guys are pr0 with this sort of stuff, as I only know the basics.

My specs are:
Intel i3 CPU 530 quad core
Nvidia Geforce 240
4gigs RAM
64bit windows Vista

What should for prioritize in upgrading first? inb4 replace your pc... can't afford that at the moment :(

Blitz is correct, the 530 is a dual core but with 4 threads.

I'll differ from Chazzy a little. My order would be:

1: upgrade to Windows 7. Vista is a memory hog and generally just crap. Is best bang for your buck.
2. If your vid card is the GTS version, then it can take advantage of the Windows 7 features. If this is the case, then this one would fall into spot number 3
3. Upgrade to 8 gigs ram
4. CPU is plenty strong... for the extra amount of money you'd spend to get a better one, you'd barely if at all, see any visual difference in performance.

You may be right E.
I've read that Vista is a poor OS for gaming but since I never used it I don't really know how bad it is.

I recently upgraded to Windows 7 and love it.
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stoicblitzer
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if you upgrade your video card, then make sure you have a power supply with enough capacity to handle it and the required power plugs. The GTX 460 elrich mentioned is a good buy, but you will need a 500W power supply and 2x 6-pin plugs to power it.
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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stoicblitzer,Aug 17 2011
02:23 PM
if you upgrade your video card, then make sure you have a power supply with enough capacity to handle it and the required power plugs. The GTX 460 elrich mentioned is a good buy, but you will need a 500W power supply and 2x 6-pin plugs to power it.

It's not just the power supply you have to make sure of, it's the size of your case. The GTX level cards are huge. I have a GTX 275 and a huge Coolermaster case and it still barely fits. The GTX 4 and 5 series cards are even larger. I'd say the 4 and 5 series GTX level cards are at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches longer than his 240.
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Yoshida of Ryūkyū
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What I meant was I have Windows7.

When you say power supply............ derp :yuk:
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Braver Pleinair
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Yoshida,Aug 17 2011
10:58 PM
What I meant was I have Windows7.

When you say power supply............ derp :yuk:

you sure its windows7? really sure? then next reply we hear your actually XP
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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Yoshida,Aug 17 2011
03:58 PM
What I meant was I have Windows7.

When you say power supply............ derp :yuk:

Yeah the newer cards need connectors that some power supplies do not have. Maybe you upgrade your power supply as well and get new video card...
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Kronos

If he gets a new PSU thats £70 and with everything else he's getting into "might as well build a new PC and sell this one" zone.

As for GFX cards, the last time I looked the best bang for buck cards (provided your buck is still big enough) were the ATI **50 ones that you could unlock and they essentially became a much better card.
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stoicblitzer
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True. Your case should probably be mid ATX form factor to fit a large video card. He doesn't necessarily need to buy a new PSU if he has a large enough capacity already. He can get adapters that fit on 4-pin molex power connectors and split into 2x 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.

Also, my GTX 280 is identical in size to my GTX 570. I have an Antec 900(mid ATX) and the fit is a little tight. Maybe 2 inches of space between the edge of the video card and the hard drive bays.
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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stoicblitzer,Aug 17 2011
06:52 PM
True. Your case should probably be mid ATX form factor to fit a large video card. He doesn't necessarily need to buy a new PSU if he has a large enough capacity already. He can get adapters that fit on 4-pin molex power connectors and split into 2x 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.

Also, my GTX 280 is identical in size to my GTX 570. I have an Antec 900(mid ATX) and the fit is a little tight. Maybe 2 inches of space between the edge of the video card and the hard drive bays.

I just looked it up and his GT 240 is 6.6 inches long and the GTX 480 is 10.5 inches!!! :o
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Braver Pleinair
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Knight of the Round Table
tehReal~ChaZZZy,Aug 18 2011
02:21 AM
stoicblitzer,Aug 17 2011
06:52 PM
True. Your case should probably be mid ATX form factor to fit a large video card. He doesn't necessarily need to buy a new PSU if he has a large enough capacity already. He can get adapters that fit on 4-pin molex power connectors and split into 2x 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.

Also, my GTX 280 is identical in size to my GTX 570. I have an Antec 900(mid ATX) and the fit is a little tight. Maybe 2 inches of space between the edge of the video card and the hard drive bays.

I just looked it up and his GT 240 is 6.6 inches long and the GTX 480 is 10.5 inches!!! :o

this doesnt sound right.
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Kay of Sauvage
Retired Knight
Yoshida,Aug 17 2011
11:52 AM
edit: another noob question, what graphics card is the best "bang for your buck"?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming...force,2997.html
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Silva Cinis
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Video cards need a power supply powerful enough to power them. For example a vid card needing 400 watts needs a power suplly of at least 400 however get one that is higher than the video cards needed power supply. A 460 is pretty nice for the money so. Also a GTX 480 is a bit much lol
A 460 is fine for me at any rate
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-460-us.html

Look at specs and such. Also that card takes 400 watts at the least I have a 600

I would go over the power sullpy needed by 200 watts as you may need to upgrade later on and you might as well have 200 extra watts.
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Mercurius of Cappadocia
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King of the Round Table Knights
Why do I have Vista?
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
04:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

Upgrade to Windows 7 or format XP on a different hard drive just for games.
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Elrich of Gaul
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Former Knight and Honored King of Old
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
11:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

Why do you have vista.?
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Caradoc of Mercia
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Knight
Elrich of Gaul,Aug 19 2011
02:44 PM
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
11:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

Why do you have vista.?

Yes, why do you have Vista? :P
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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Elrich of Gaul,Aug 19 2011
07:44 AM
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
11:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

Why do you have vista.?

That's a great question.
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tehReal~ChaZZZy
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Caradoc of Mercia,Aug 19 2011
07:47 AM
Elrich of Gaul,Aug 19 2011
02:44 PM
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
11:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

Why do you have vista.?

Yes, why do you have Vista? :P

Absolutely brilliant question Cow. :)
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stoicblitzer
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Retired Knight
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
07:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

i heard you have Vista. Why?
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Brennus of Tintagel Castle
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Retired Knight
stoicblitzer,Aug 19 2011
01:03 PM
Mercurius of Cappadocia,Aug 18 2011
07:21 AM
Why do I have Vista?

i heard you have Vista. Why?

Why would you?
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Barrett of Maidstone
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Retired Knight
COMBO--O-O-O-O- BREAKERRRRRRRRRR

:D

Just get a new one yosh
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Brennus of Tintagel Castle
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Barrett of Maidstone,Aug 19 2011
04:21 PM
COMBO--O-O-O-O- BREAKERRRRRRRRRR

:D

Just get a new one yosh

Agreed. I researched and researched and researched till my wrists cramped and my brain hurt.

And ended up with a $450 Acer tower from Walmart that runs like a champ. It runs all the TW games no problem. As far as others, I don't know.

CPU - Athlon II X2 255
RAM - 4 GB DDR3
HD - 1 TB
Graphics - Nvidia GeForce 9200
Windows 7
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Zeus of Olympus
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stoicblitzer,Aug 18 2011
01:52 AM
True. Your case should probably be mid ATX form factor to fit a large video card. He doesn't necessarily need to buy a new PSU if he has a large enough capacity already. He can get adapters that fit on 4-pin molex power connectors and split into 2x 6-pin PCI-E power connectors.

Also, my GTX 280 is identical in size to my GTX 570. I have an Antec 900(mid ATX) and the fit is a little tight. Maybe 2 inches of space between the edge of the video card and the hard drive bays.

My video card is a perfect fit with less then 0,4 inch between the edge of my video card and hard drive bays :joker:

must say i never had real trouble with gaming on my old comp which ran Vista....Vista after sp 2 isnt all that different from Windows 7 (except for dx11 and some other improvements)

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Sir Lambert of Lancs
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hey merc, word on the street is you have Vista......why do you..... everyone wants to know :wall:
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