Possible Upgrades?!?

O

Orangebox

New Member
Looking to upgrade my computer to better handle games and do some amateur video making!

Computer specs are:
Dell Studio 540
Windows 7 Home Premium
x64-based
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50GHz
6 gb ram
Nvidia GeForce GT 220

If i'm leaving off any details that are needed just let me know! Am new to most of this, and don't know any extra details that may be needed.


Was thinking about getting the Geforce GTX 560, but there are so many manufacturers and different overclocked options that I am extremely overwhelmed as to what to look for.

I was also wondering if maybe upgrading the RAM would be a good decision as well??!?

Thanks for any and all help!
 
To update your graphics card, you will also most likely have to upgrade your power supply. What power supply do you have? And is the price of a 560 the highest you can go for upgrades?

6GB of RAM should be good. When you're editing video, have task manager open to the performance tab and see if your RAM goes over 6GB. You'll want more RAM if it goes over.
 
OK there so firstly I'm not sure if a 560 will fit in your case. Secondly, I'd go for a Radeon 6870 over a 'plain' GTX 560 (not the 560 Ti) and thirdly, you'd need a new power supply if you wanted to upgrade (the Corsair CX600 is a good choice). Upgrading the RAM from 6GB to 8GB would be a good decision too, you'd probably be able to simply add another 2GB DIMM.

Your CPU should still be pretty good for the games and fine for the encoding you want to do. Take off the side of your case, measure how long (in inches please) your case is from the back of the case to where the hard drive cage ends, that will give us some sort of idea of how long a card you can squeeze into your case.

So the questions.
How many RAM sticks are currently installed and how many bays are free?
How long is your case in inches from the rear of the case to the hard drive cage?
What is your budget for the whole thing (RAM + GPU + PSU)?
 
Hello,

Your specs are decent.

Although 8GB RAM would be a nice little upgrade although it isn't required.

Games like World Of Warcraft do not require 8GB RAM but upgrading won't hurt.

Your video Card seems fine but again, upgrading won't hurt.

If your video making there are plenty of programmes out there for you such as Sony Vegas, Camtasia etc, theres loads but its just really a case of finding the right one for you.

If it were me I would want a faster processor, maybe 3.3GHz or something?

GTX 560 is £120 I think so yeah you could go for that.

So many possibilities but I hope you get a machine you like and enjoy video making.

-dCrypt- :rolleyes:
 
dCrypt said:
Games like World Of Warcraft do not require 8GB RAM but upgrading won't hurt.
Click to expand...
Depending on the editing software the OP wants to use, 8GB of RAM may be necessary. But I agree, upgrade anyway.

dCrypt said:
If it were me I would want a faster processor, maybe 3.3GHz or something?
Click to expand...
There's so much more to a processor than clockspeed alone. The Q8300 is an older CPU but it's still very adequate for this sort of thing. The whole Core 2 Quad line in general have ever-lasting value.
 
vistakid10 said:
OK there so firstly I'm not sure if a 560 will fit in your case. Secondly, I'd go for a Radeon 6870 over a 'plain' GTX 560 (not the 560 Ti) and thirdly, you'd need a new power supply if you wanted to upgrade (the Corsair CX600 is a good choice). Upgrading the RAM from 6GB to 8GB would be a good decision too, you'd probably be able to simply add another 2GB DIMM.

Your CPU should still be pretty good for the games and fine for the encoding you want to do. Take off the side of your case, measure how long (in inches please) your case is from the back of the case to where the hard drive cage ends, that will give us some sort of idea of how long a card you can squeeze into your case.

So the questions.
How many RAM sticks are currently installed and how many bays are free?
How long is your case in inches from the rear of the case to the hard drive cage?
What is your budget for the whole thing (RAM + GPU + PSU)?
Click to expand...

-I have 4 sticks of RAM in 4 slots.
-The Back of the case is 8 inches from the back of the hard drive, but its off to the side and looks as if it would not be in the way of anything.
-Total budget right now is about $250. If its worth it I can spring for a little more tho. This doesn't all have to happen over night.

Here is a quick picture if you can get anything out of it..
http://gyazo.com/931577accf354705f21ec9e45d5bfcda
 
Thanks for the photo! Looks to me like you can squeeze a 9" card in there, so yeah, the Radeon 6870 would be a good choice for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561 that's an 8.6" 6870, should fit OK. It may be a bit of a tight squeeze, but I once shoe-horned a 9600 GT into an HP dx2200 microtower and it worked. :D

I'd recommend you remove all 4 sticks, sell them on eBay or here, then buy 2x4GB DIMMs to get your 8GB if your board will support it (look on Dell's site). If not, then 4x 2GB sticks would be sufficient. You'll need to check whether you've got DDR2 or DDR3 RAM. Can never remember what RAM the Core 2 Quads used! ;) You can download CPU-Z to check, look under the Memory tab and tell us what it says. http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

Here's your PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028 the CX500 is only ten bucks less and you may as well spend the extra and get the 600W at that price. :)
 
Orangebox said:
And, I really wanted to stick with Nvidia. How will the card compare.
I will spend the extra money if needed. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604
Click to expand...
The GTX 560 Ti is a good choice, but it may be a bit of a tight squeeze in your case, that card is 9" long, but should still fit.

Yep just stick with the 6GB of RAM, looks like you currently have 2x2GB+2x1GB to make 6GB. It's running in dual-channel already and DDR2 RAM is quite expensive now, so just stick with the RAM you've currently got.
 
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