Upgrading PCs to meet today's specs

[LorD]

My PC is old and rubbish. How much do you think I'll be needing to spend on a new CPU and graphics card to make it something like able to play the newer games?

[Saber]

Are you doing this because of Trine?

Anyway, not much. You can always find amazing deals, just make sure to check every available retailer, both online and, well, er, 'offline'!? Also make sure you can 'salvage' parts of your computer, especially the motherboard.

My machine didn't cost more than 200 GBP to construct since I could salvage stuff from the old rust bucket. It's a pretty decent computer!

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 @ 2x2.4 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB of DDR2 RAM (XP can only use 3.5, though) --> mostly salvaged
• 'Display device': Sapphire RADEON HD3850 (512 MB)

I didn't have a big budget for it, but I had to buy a new motherboard because of the wrong socket, a new CPU and a new GPU. I could've fared better on the graphics card even with the limited amount of cash, but they didn't have an HD3870 in stock.

[LorD]

There's an independent computer shop near where I live called KC Computers. I've fired them off an email outlining the task and I'll see what they can come up with. I've also asked them to undertake installation since I'm shit at that kind of thing for the simple fact that I'm really out of practice at pulling PCs to shit.

www.kccomputers.co.uk

Seems pretty good in terms of price. But we'll see.

[Shade]

Yeah as Saber said, an Intel Core 2 Duo will be enough, the E2140 or E2160 are cheap and rather good processors, although not very good for the maxed out settings.
4GB DDR2 sounds good too, as they're rather cheap and stable, 32-bit Windows will use a maximum of 4GB RAM, this means if you have 4GB RAM and a 1GB graphics card, Windows can only use 3GB of your RAM + the graphic card's memory.
64-bit can use up to a silly amount of RAM, way past what our motherboards can handle at the moment.

Also, a 8800GT or a 9600GT is good enough, or a HD4850/HD4870 for ATi. I don't really like the HD3850/HD3870 since they're quite a bit slower than their counterparts at nVIDIA and cost a bit more (unsure at the moment, back then it was like that anyhow).
Also yeah, you'll need a new motherboard, they don't cost a lot unless you want tri-SLI and CrossFire X, stuff like that...
PSU, anything above 450-500W, if it's stable enough.

For example, this is my old computer:
ASUS P5B-V
Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 @ 2.0GHz
4GB DDR2 800MHz
nVIDIA Gainward 8800GT
520W PSU

It's an okay computer, but it won't let you max out the graphics in the latest games, run them however; no problem.

I'm a bit picky when it comes to low-ish FPS though so I had to get a new one.

[dbzeag]

It depends on how much you are recycling out of your old computer and what parts will have to be new.

If, for instance, you have a Socket 775 (the one for Core 2 Duo and the like) then there are some nicer upgrade paths. This, of course, is all dependant on what bus speeds your motherboard supports.

Assuming you have a board with a Socket 775 style, I would suggest going with something with the largest L2 cache and the highest FSB your motherboard can support, but the lowest clock speed.

If, for instance, an E5300 and E5400 use the largest cache a socket 775 running 800mhz can support, but I would go for the E5300 because it is 15 quid cheaper and you only sacrifice 100mhz but keep the fast subsystem (large cache at faster bus speeds).

I would also go for dual core and consider 64-bit processing. Windows 7 is very good and stable with 64-bit support and very good backward compatibility with 32-bit apps.

There is also a deal right now in the states that if you buy a copy of Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate or a PC or laptop with those OSes, you quality for a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released in October. That might be useful to you if you look at say a premade machine from Dell or HP or something. I did this when I bought my laptop 2 weeks ago.

Of course load your board up with as much fast, low-latancy RAM as supported. Some boards (depending on the chipset) can address up to 4gb, some 8gb. Just remember in 32-bit OSes, the full RAM count can be met but only about 3.25gb can be used.

As for graphics, arguably the most important, this is almost up to personal taste. Are you an ATI or nVidia fanboy? Arguably ATI rendering model for AA is slightly better than nVidia, but nVidia's CUDA engine is better than CAL in the ATI. There are lots more shaders in ATI cards, but for some reason the drivers do not exploit them as they should, leaving the card feeling like it has unfulfilled potential.

Again the same arguments here like in the CPU, go with the chipset that is fast enough to meet your criteria, then go for the cheapest/slowest model. I know EVGA and XFX have great warranties (double lifetime in the case of XFX) as well as BFGTech.

As a really nice middle of the road card, you can go with a GTX 260 Core 216 card. This includes a newer rev of the GPU with more shaders than the original GTX 260 release. This or the GTX 275 would be a nice card to have. And of course they are SLI supported so you can get one now then another one later if need be.

If you are going with nVidia, might I suggest using Cyberlink Power Director or video manipulation. Version 7 and beyond are CUDA-enabled, so transcoding and encrypting are accelerated using GPU power instead of just CPU for faster rendering. I picked up a legit free copy, but I don't think that sale is running anymore, unfortunately.

If you are going for a more future-proof system, I would think about the Core i7 stuff from Intel. They are quite expensive and use DDR3 RAM so you would have to pick that up extra, but they are the fastest available right now and very stable platforms. They also support Crossfire AND SLI so you can pair two nVidia boards or two ATI boards.

As I think of some more stuff and I get more info, I can construct a solution for you.

[dbzeag]

I would also think long and hard about your power supply. If you are planning on running the latest video card, be prepared for a shock (literally) as to how much energy they take to run, let alone more RAM and faster CPU. If you are not planning on running in SLI or Crossfire, I would think 650W or so with a good quality unit should be enough.

[LorD]

Because my previous PC is a DELL, there really isn't a lot that can be salvaged, save for the sound card, maybe. But the mainboard is a bit incompatible.

So, I got in touch with KC Computers (www.kccomputers.co.uk) and they've come up with this specification:

Quad Core Q9550 2.833 X 4
8Gb DDR2 800
1 TB Hard Drive Sata 2 32Mb Cache
DVD RW Sata
512Mb GT9500 Asus GeForce
HD Audio
CIT 500W Case
Vista Premium 64Bit

Comments, please?

[Shade]

That looks really good, but you might want to get a better graphics card, that card won't perform very well. A 9800GT/GTX isn't much these days, perhaps even a GTX260/275 when you have that kind of a computer.

[dbzeag]

Yes that video card needs to be addressed. As well that 500W PSU might not be enough if you shove a 175W+ GTX275 in there along with that 135W CPU.

I know in the states if you pick up a new computer or OS license of Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate, you qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 in October. This machine you speced would allow you to do that, which is nice.

[LorD]

I went for the video card they suggested. It is largely fine, and I did so for financial reasons. I figured that the PC is otherwise futureproof for a year or two and in that time, I can upgrade the video card in a few months and flog the 9500 on't eBay.