Should I upgrade my Computer?

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davidandersson

New Member
Hey Guys my name is David.
I have bought a computer about 1 year ago and i was just wondering if it was worth it to replace my Core 2 Quad 2.83GHZ with an core i7 and also if i would need 8GB of ram rather than 4GB (since I have a 64 bit operating system). I was also wondering if the new 300 series that nVidia has put out would be worth it compared to my current graphics card.
I mainly play high profile computer games but i also have to process a lot of data at times which takes ages (even copying from one point of my HDD to another, 60mb/s is as fast at it will go).
Another question that I have is how good is my Motherboard? when i bought it i got told it would be good enough for a few years, but is that true?
My computer has the following hardware:


-Intel Core2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 2.83GHz 1333FSB
-Gigabyte EP45-UD3L ATX s775 Intel EP45 ,DDRII, UD3
-2x Elixir 2GB DDR-2 800MHz Lifetime warranty (4GB)
-WD Caviar KS 320GB SATAII WD3200KS 16MB Cache
-Gigabyte nVidia GTX275 PCIe 896MB DDR3, PCIE2.0, HDMI,
 
In my opinion, you don't need to upgrade anything. Everything you have right now will work perfectly with today's games.

Some reasons:

1. You don't need 8gigs of RAM, unless you run many programs at once (8+) and work with Photoshop CS4 on extremely high-resolution images simultaneously. :P I suspect there would be other reasons some high-end computers would need 8gigs of ram for some multi-grand programs, but it seems like you don't do any of those things.

2. Wait for a bit longer if you want to buy one of the new graphics cards. They just came out a few days ago, as you know. You don't need to unless you have a 30" display or larger with your GTX 275, reeeeallllllyyyy want DX11 or GDDR5 memory, or just want to be cool having the latest stuff.

3. Your motherboard is fine for now. LGA 775 is slowly fading out (with the release of i7 and i5 processors) but C2Q's are still pretty awesome and will still pwn the latest programs for another couple of years. DDR2 is fine also.


Hope I helped. :)
 
Welcome to the forum David!

As Ultipig was getting at, your CPU and GPU will last you for a bit longer. You will not be able to play with some of the more recent eyecandy at top rates, but any game on the market now will easily be playable for you. You have a decent mid-range setup by current standards.

Keep in mind that if you do decide to make the jump to the Core iX series, you will need to get a new motherboard. Also, you will not gain much with an additional 4GB of memory on that gaming rig. You aren't strained by any current games as it is in that department. With that being said, extra ram won't hurt you either.
 
ultipig said:
In my opinion, you don't need to upgrade anything. Everything you have right now will work perfectly with today's games.

Some reasons:

1. You don't need 8gigs of RAM, unless you run many programs at once (8+) and work with Photoshop CS4 on extremely high-resolution images simultaneously. :P I suspect there would be other reasons some high-end computers would need 8gigs of ram for some multi-grand programs, but it seems like you don't do any of those things.

2. Wait for a bit longer if you want to buy one of the new graphics cards. They just came out a few days ago, as you know. You don't need to unless you have a 30" display or larger with your GTX 275, reeeeallllllyyyy want DX11 or GDDR5 memory, or just want to be cool having the latest stuff.

3. Your motherboard is fine for now. LGA 775 is slowly fading out (with the release of i7 and i5 processors) but C2Q's are still pretty awesome and will still pwn the latest programs for another couple of years. DDR2 is fine also.


Hope I helped. :)
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i built a pc for this guy and he thought he need 8gb of ram to play wow. but i would use that for sony vegas. i also agree with the info above
 
I agree with what was said above. If you really just want to increase your FPS on games get a 5870 ATI card or one of the new nvidia cards, IE GTX 470/480 they will be much faster than your card and your system will not hold them back much.
 
I feel that you should upgrade ur ram. get 6 gigs of ddr2 ram so u can run in triple channel. ur ram currently is pretty weak and upgrading would give you a noticeable performance boost
 
Thank you guys for helping me. I think I'll wait for some more time.


Is about 50mb/s from hdd to hdd normal for win7?
Also I'm looking at getting another 24 inch and 30 inch screen for my desktop and I was just wondering what the best brand to buy from would be. Any advice?
Also if i was looking at getting the suggested graphics card (GTX 470/480) because i would like to get up to 3 screens on my comp and one of those i would like to be a 30 inch, how much money would i be looking at (AUS) and were would be the best place to get it from?
 
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Hello David,

I don't think that you should be upgrading your cpu unit. As what I can see on the specs that you have provided us in your post, it can still last for a year. For me, in my own opinion, the only thing that you need to upgrade as of the moment is that HDD. Don't worry David, you will not be left behind with regards to the specs of your cpu unit right now.

Thanks,
 
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If I got myself some faster RAM, would that speed up my system? At the moment I have some long loading times for some games (crysis takes quite some time).
Also when I bought my ram it was supposed to be at 800mhz, but when I downloaded the program Speccy it told me my ram only had about 400mhz (399mhz). Did they install the wrong ram, or is it the program?
 
davidandersson said:
If I got myself some faster RAM, would that speed up my system? At the moment I have some long loading times for some games (crysis takes quite some time).
Click to expand...

Faster RAM will only help if your system can support it at the native speed - which, by the way, yours does. Your board can support DDR2 1066 natively.

Crysis will take time to load, even with the faster RAM.


Also when I bought my ram it was supposed to be at 800mhz, but when I downloaded the program Speccy it told me my ram only had about 400mhz (399mhz). Did they install the wrong ram, or is it the program?
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This is normal. You are running DDR2 RAM after all. It transfers data on the rise and fall of the clock cycle giving you an effective data rate of twice the bus clock. Your DDR2 800 memory has a base clock cycle of 400MHz, and performs two transactions per clock cycle giving an effective data rate of 800MHz. The "effective data rate" and "bus clock speed" are different but related. Simply put, your memory is running at the proper speed.
 
Not at all. :)

You can probably get 4GB of 1066 for the same price you paid for the 800 - depending on when you got it.
 
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