Help needed with upgrade.

A

Autechre

New Member
Hello,
Currently I have custom built gaming pc that's a few years behind the curve. I've planned on upgrading soon and my cpu recently failed, so what better reason to upgrade!

Currently my specs are:

-Asus P5Nsli motherboard, this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1032&cm_re=asus_p5nsli-_-13-131-032-_-Product)
-Intel Core 2 Duo 6300 Processor, not sure the exact model/specs, but it runs at 1.8 ghz, which is pitiful for todays games.
-2gb ram
-ATI Radeon 4850 1gb

I have an 850w power supply that I shouldn't need to replace, along with my hard drives.

I'm looking to replace the motherboard,cpu and ram. I'm very noobish when it comes to the specific specs and compatibility of the hardware. I've been looking at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.662041

I will get new ram as well, but have no idea how much is necessary. I have 2gb now, looking to get 4. What about 8? will it help? I use 32 bit windows 7 now and I will install 64 bit on this new upgrade build.

Is my video card still suitable? I guess I could upgrade that as well, my budget is up to 1000 dollars.
I'm looking some suggestions/advice. I want to run games I play now on maximum with great fps (like Oblivion, STALKER, Bad company 2), I would also like this to be powerful enough to run Battlefield 3 very well and maxed when it comes out.


Lastly, I would really like to stick to AMD, ATI, and Asus products as I've had good success with them in the past.

Thanks in advance!
 
With $1000 budget, you might as well build a whole new computer. You could easily get a nice quad-core AMD, ATI 6950, and 4 GBs of RAM for $1000. What OS are you using?

Here's a good setup:
MoBO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131733

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231275

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727

Video Card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102921

Total: $522

This setup will blow through any game today. If you want BF3 to get to max settings, you'll have to upgrade your video card.
 
Thanks for the helpful reply!

I'm using 32 bit Windows 7 on my current build right now, but will install 64 bit on this new upgrade to make use of the RAM/cpu.
 
Good idea. You might be able to sell your old parts, also. Won't make a ton of money, but someone will be able to use it.
 
If I can get some more advice, my tower sits inside of a cramped computer desk space and it usually runs pretty hot. Should I consider a better cooling system? Like what? Perhaps I should just move it and put it on top of the desk.

Also, thermal compound, you need to place some on the cpu before the heatsink goes over it correct?
 
How many fans are there? You might need to buy a new case and get some more ventilation, especially with this system with more powerful components.

And yes, you need to apply thermal compound.
 
There is one large fan in the top rear of the case, and a large vent over the cpu heatsink. There are numerous vented slots throughout the case as well. I think I will be all set if I move the tower out of the space and leave it out in the open.

Also, the case is quite large as it is, so I'm confident that even with these components (that video card is HUGEE) it won't be too cramped inside.
 
Do you need 6 cores right now? If an x4 is enough till you decide to upgrade later on to an AM3+ processor..

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

ASUS M5A99X EVO AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH

OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

..it's right at $1000 after OD and OS. If you wanted the x6 you could save some on the RAM. I'd still get 8GB tho.
 
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