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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    Upgrade or build a new rig?

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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #1  Edited By Zombieheadbutt

    I'm currently torn between upgrading my current rig or waiting and building a new one. 
      
    My current rig:

    • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @1.8GHz
    • Mobo: Gibabyte GA-965P-S3 LGA 775
    • Ram: GSkill 4 gig (2x 2gig) 240-pin SDRAM 800
    • EVGA GeFroce 9500 GT 1gig
    I'm primarily concerned with being able to play Skyrim  and Batman: Arkham City at 1600x1050.  I was able to play Fallout 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum flawlessly with this rig but I had some issues with some over voltage ram that has caused me some issues and now things aren't so hot. 
     
    I believe the CPU to be the real issue and I can get a Core 2 Duo E7600 @3.06GHz for about $150.  I could also replace the video card but everything better requires PCI Express 16x 2.0 now and my board only supports PCI Express 16x.  I could use a newer card in the older slot and have it down clock but I'm not sure I'd get any real benefit from it. 
     
    The new Sandy Bridge hardware is pretty cheap and very nice and AMD has some very cheap equivalent hardware but money is a real problem.  If I upgrade the CPU do you think I could hold out for another year?
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    Buscemi

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    #2  Edited By Buscemi

    My rig is about the same as yours, a little better when it comes to processor but I have a version or two older graphics card, and personally I'm sensing that I need to upgrade. And duder, I don't know about your economy, but I advice that you just build a new rig on a brand new skeleton. Depending on how much you want to spend, a new computer could easily be top notch for a few years.

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    SlasherMan

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    #3  Edited By SlasherMan
    @Zombieheadbutt: 1) Your CPU is not the only real issue, your GPU is too. A 9500GT is not really a gaming card. If your CPU was overclocked, it wouldn't be much of a problem honestly. Just as an example, I had an E6600 overclocked to 3Ghz and the only game I recall having ever really benefited from my upgrade to a quad (Q9400) was Bad Company 2. The rest was more or less unaffected.
    2) PCI Express 2.0 is backwards compatible with 1.0, and it's a non-issue. You won't have a new card downclock (that just doesn't happen), the only real issue is bandwidth but that's also a non-issue because most newer cards still won't be limited by the lower bandwidth on a PCI Express 1.0 slot.
     
    Having said that, the LGA 775 platform is obsolete and while you still have upgrade paths available on that platform, it's ultimately a dead-end and the upgrades don't make sense as far as cost is concerned. I mean you're talking about an E7500 for $150 while the much better i3 Clarkdales and Sandy Bridges cost less. An i5 SB costs an extra $30. See where this is going?
     
    Now, you said you had a money problem but didn't mention what kind of budget we're looking at here. If you have a good enough budget that is $500-$600 or higher, you could build a new PC. If not, and you can't wait until you have enough money to build one, there are options to improve your current PC.
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    clstirens

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    #4  Edited By clstirens

    Yeah, pretty much every piece is going to need to be swapped out at this point. It's not use upgrading the cpu or ram because you'll be limiting yourself on options (significantly) that won't even be cheap enough to justify the process (and they won't be powerful enough to justify the cost)  
     
    The only thing you might be able to "salvage" at first for your next build is the 9500, but that needs to go too.

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    Kakarote23

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    #5  Edited By Kakarote23

    If money is tight. The best bang for your buck is going to be a new video card. Shoot for  a $250-350 card. It will work in your system and you'll get the most noticeable gains in performance. Then carry it over to the new system when you have enough money.  
     
    I would also recommend buying a new heatsink/fan combo if you have a stock intel and overclock that processor it has quite a range.

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    Marz

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    #6  Edited By Marz

    save up for a new rig, upgrading socket 775 stuff is a bit more pricier these days, at least the ddr2 is  when i last put in 2 more gigs in my old rig.

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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #7  Edited By Zombieheadbutt

    SlasherMan:  Would you happen to know a tech. article I could read for the PCI Express issue I mentioned?  It seems as though the lack of bandwidth between the two different versions of the slot should still have a significant impact.  I'm running a liquid cooler on my CPU and I've never overclocked it so I might try that first.  Not sure how far I can push it since it runs at around 50-70 degrees now. 
     
    As for my budget I have little to none.  I recently had to have some major dental work done along with some car repairs and repaying student loans.  I could scrape together enough for one upgrade if I tried.  I've put off upgrading the video card due to me believing that I would be bottlenecked by the CPU and legacy slot.

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    SlasherMan

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    #8  Edited By SlasherMan
    @Zombieheadbutt: There were plenty of articles on numerous tech sites back when PCI-E 2.0 was introduced and the difference was non-existent to marginal at best. Those were older cards, but were still better than what you currently have. 

    However, there is this article that is much more recent:
    http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_5870_PCI-Express_Scaling/25.html
    It is about 2.0 scaling with a 5870, but considering PCI-E 1.x at x16 provide the same bandwidth as 2.0 at x8, you can easily see the difference is negligible.
     
    Also, a water-cooled E6300 running at 50-70C? Something's wrong there, pal. My overclocked E6600 barely used to reach 55C on air.  
    Either it's a really cheap and low quality watercooling setup, or it's not installed correctly. Either way, it seems counter-productive to have when it's not even serving any real purpose, and air cooling can easily outperform it.
     
    The most cost effective upgrade you can do now, barring a completely new build, is overclocking that CPU and getting a new $100-$150 GPU. A 6790 (or a cheaper 5770) would be pretty adequate and would suit your build fine as long as you overclock that processor.
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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #9  Edited By Zombieheadbutt

    I need to re-check the temp. on the CPU.  I forgot that the last time I check it I was doing a torture test to make sure the CPU wasn't going bad when I was having issues with my O.V. ram. I have a Arctic Cooler Pro 7 on my CPU.  It may have lost some of its efficacy over time but that this point I think I'll try to O.C. and get a new video card.  I'm going to read that article right now.  Thanks :)

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    SlasherMan

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    #10  Edited By SlasherMan
    @Zombieheadbutt: An AC Freezer 7 Pro is plenty for that CPU to be overclocked a good deal (it's not liquid cooling, though, so what was that about?). Don't use Intel's TAT for torture tests, it provides unrealistic results. Prime95 or Orthos are generally sufficient, and even those push it more than regular applications and games do. Perhaps try remounting the cooler and apply a new layer of thermal paste, it helps if it's been a long time since it's been installed (also dust it out). 
     
    You really should have no issues getting that CPU at least 2.5 Ghz with that cooler (3Ghz should be attainable, too, if your CPU doesn't require too much voltage for it to be stable at that frequency). Those C2Ds are very overclockable, just stay within range on temps and voltage.
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    shiftymagician

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    #11  Edited By shiftymagician

    build......Build......BUILD!!! 
     
    But seriously though build dude.

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    Piririn

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    #12  Edited By Piririn
    @Zombieheadbutt: 
     
    Do you have a set budget? how much are you willing to spend?
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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #13  Edited By Zombieheadbutt
    @Slasherman: As you can probably tell by now I can put a system together but when it comes to the nitty gritty I'm pretty lost.  I've had that cooler for years and I though Fluid Dynamic meant water cooler and thus I'm an idiot.   I like building rigs for myself and others but I almost always leave everything at stock value to avoid complications. I'm at work now but as soon as I get home I'm going elbow deep to figure out what I can do that won't involve money.   
     
    As some has suggested I think I'll up the video card and overclock the E6300 as far as stability will allow.  Every unofficial system recommendation for Skyrim thus far has been a quad core but my native resolution on my monitor is only 1650x1050 so I don't need a beast.  Wish they'd release some actual info on Skyrim requirements already.  I don't wanna play on 360!  I still have some PC pride!
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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #14  Edited By Zombieheadbutt
    @Piririn said:
    @Zombieheadbutt:  Do you have a set budget? how much are you willing to spend?
    As I mentioned the budget is pretty non-existent right now.  Between $150-200 for a new video card is sounding like my best option.  So long as I can play Skyrim at a respectable resolution.
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    SlasherMan

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    #15  Edited By SlasherMan
    @Zombieheadbutt: I wouldn't worry about the quad-core requirement, but you could also wait and see how it turns out. 
    I'm personally willing to bet that a quad won't do much for the game regardless of the requirements. Past Bethesda games have generally been GPU-bound more than anything, and I have no reason to believe this would be different. And needless to say, the higher you go up with resolution, the more the load shifts towards your GPU.
     
    Ultimately, your GPU is a weaker link than your CPU, especially if you're willing to overclock the latter.
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    Zombieheadbutt

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    #16  Edited By Zombieheadbutt

    Well, I dusted my rig and promptly broke my old heatsink reapplying new thermal compound.  Doh!  I replaced it with a Antec Kulhler 620.  For the price and simplicity its pretty good.  Managed to get the temp. down to 48C at full load.  I got my E6300 1.8Ghz up to 2.6Ghz.  It was unstable at 2.8Ghz and I wasn't comfortable messing with the voltage on such an old board to stabilize it.  
     
    Now, I just gotta pick a decent video card.  I'm toying with a Geforce GTX 460 SE for $129.99.  I know its a castrated version of the standard GTX 460 but for the price and performance it seems like a really good deal.  Looking around I now see how far behind I've allowed myself to get in the video card department and I'm ashamed. :(  I haven't tried a ATi card in years and I've never liked having to mess with their drivers.  Has ATi changed at all in recent years other than having been bough out by AMD?

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