Official "Upgrade Help" Thread

[Jeronkey]

Yarr! I should hopefully be getting a new PC rather soon, however, I'm a tad clueless what to get.

Any chance you guys could recommend some nice parts? Mainly what motherboard, CPU and GPU to get. Budget can stretch up to R20,000 for the whole PC. Any help would be appreciated. :)

[Predator]

Nvidia gtx 280
Asus mainboard
4gb DD2 1200
Coolermaster cm690
Seagate 1tb Hardrive
1kw psu
Intel core 2 duo e8600 dual core
Asus 22' widescreen

This will problably be less than 20k

[biffman]

This rig should satisfy all needs and come in under budget.

GPU: Sapphire ATi Radeon 4870
CPU: Core 2 Duo E8600
Mobo: MSI P35 Platinum
RAM: 4GB DDR2 1066/DDR3
Monitor: Samsung/Acer 22'' wide screen 2ms responce time.
Chassis: Coolermaster CM690 (not my personal favorite but seems to be recommended a lot)
Seagate: 1tb/500gb HDD
PSU: Zalman 850/1000w

If you have enough left over replace the 4870 with a 4870x2 :)

[Wesley]

I already have a Core 2 Duo board.The E4500 or E4600 should be fine for gaming.
Going AMD will work out more expensive.

My suggestion would be to get an Intel dual core E7200. Its built on a 45nm process, overclocks like mad, and saves you a lot of power and strain on your PSU. Plus, its also marketed in the budget area of the market, and it kicks most AMD's into the dirt. You're looking at about R1200 at the least for this popular chip.

Yarr! I should hopefully be getting a new PC rather soon, however, I'm a tad clueless what to get.

Any chance you guys could recommend some nice parts? Mainly what motherboard, CPU and GPU to get. Budget can stretch up to R20,000 for the whole PC. Any help would be appreciated. :)

My dear friend, from now until you make your decision you will be swamped with recommendations from everyone. I dont have a computer to work on at the moment, so I cant really post links from my cellphone, so here goes:

First off, get yourself an Intel quad core Q8200. Its a 2.33GHz chip built on a 45nm process, which means it runs very cool and should be able to overclock to the levels of the QX9770 Extreme Edition. These retail for about R2500.

Next, consider getting yourself a bloody good motherboard. The P35 Platinum from MSI is good, but go for a board that supports an FSB of 1600 and takes DDR3 1333mhz memory. I cant quote manufacturers and such, but this should set you back another R2500.

For your memory, get yourself 4 gigs of DDR3 1333mhz. You definately wont be sorry. That'll be about R2000.

Next, look at getting yourself an ATi 4870x2. The prices have shot up lately thanks to the economy, but its worth a look if it retails for under 5 grand. If not, then get yourself an ATi 4870. That should set you back at least R3500. And believe me, the card is definately worth the money.

Why not treat yourself while you're at it? Get yourself a 1TB hard drive, you know you want one! That'll eat out at least R1200 out of your budget.

Get yourself a decent PSU to power all of this stuff. Try get your hands on a Gigabyte Odin 700watt. I recommend it because I've worked with it so often, and I've seen it power anything all the way up to an overclocked GTX260. The Odin will cost you about R1500 last time I checked, but I could be wrong about this.

And lastly, treat yourself a bit more. Get yourself a Cooler Master Stacker for around two grand. If you find yourself going to LANs a lot, rather go for a Cooler Master CM690 at R1000. Either of the two are great buys. I'd go for the CM690 anyway, personal preference.

Then get yourself a 22inch widescreen monitor. Currently Samsung monitors are rocking it, I love how spaced out and colourful everything is. They go for about R2500.

All in all it comes out to R16,200. If you buy the 4870x2, you'll also have to buy a bigger power supply, probably an 800 to feed it. so then the whole thing will work out to R18,000 at the most. And then, if you're willing, get yourself a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate for around R2500 and install the 64bit version. You will seriously be amazed at the performance. Good luck chap.

[Chevron]

AMD Phenom Quad-Core 9950 CPU - Socket AM2+ Price: R 2,542

Asus AMD M3A79-T Deluxe Motherboard - Socket AM2+ Price: R 2,797

GeCube RADEON HD4870 1GB DDR5 Price:R4092.44

Corsair Dominator DHX Technology Memory - DDR2-1066MHz - 2GB Kit (2 x 1GB) Price:R 1,011 *2

Antec NEO HE Power Supply - 550w Price: R 1,195

Cooler Master CM690 Chassis - No PSU Price: R 1,094

seagate barracuda 7200.11 st3500320as , 500gb, s-ata2 , 7200rpm R862.93

Seagate Barracuda HDD - SATA-300 - 32MB Cache - 1000GB Price: R 1,609

LG GH22LP20 20x LightScribe Dual Layer DVD Writer - Black / Beige Price: R 360

Sony DRU-840a / DRU-V200A 20x Dual Layer DVD Writer - Black Price: R 347

Samsung 2253GW , glossy black , 22" Wide R2887.71

Total: 19808.64

[biffman]

My suggestion would be to get an Intel dual core E7200. Its built on a 45nm process, overclocks like mad, and saves you a lot of power and strain on your PSU. Plus, its also marketed in the budget area of the market, and it kicks most AMD's into the dirt. You're looking at about R1200 at the least for this popular chip.

Thanks I will take a look.

[Wesley]

Chev officially wins the thread on the impressiveness scale XD

And Biffman, just be sure to check whether or not your motherboard supports the 45nm CPUs. If not, then you'll be better off with an E4500. It still works very well, and will clock up to 3GHz at the least.

[Chevron]

Chev officially wins the thread on the impressiveness scale XD

And Biffman, just be sure to check whether or not your motherboard supports the 45nm CPUs. If not, then you'll be better off with an E4500. It still works very well, and will clock up to 3GHz at the least.

The sad thing is, my pc was also around R20 000. Although 2 years ago and doesn't even come close. :(

[Darkon5524]

Ok, im about to upgrade from AGP 8x [still got geforce 6800] Im on about a R4000 budget, ive looked at the HD3870, 2gb ram, new Sata hardrive 160gb, new motherboard, and Intel core 2 duo E7300 and it all comes to about R4100-4500 rand with VAT, is this a good rig for the next year or two? im planning to upgrade the parts next year if needed for future use.. but how will this rig run a game like cod 5? please reply guys thx:)

[Chevron]

Ok, im about to upgrade from AGP 8x [still got geforce 6800] Im on about a R4000 budget, ive looked at the HD3870, 2gb ram, new Sata hardrive 160gb, new motherboard, and Intel core 2 duo E7300 and it all comes to about R4100-4500 rand with VAT, is this a good rig for the next year or two? im planning to upgrade the parts next year if needed for future use.. but how will this rig run a game like cod 5? please reply guys thx:)

Let's strip down what you NEED ompared to what you WANT. There is a difference.

For eg. I'd say drop the HDD. When you get that small the value per meg is really bad. Rather save up and later get a 500gig or something.

Also do you actually plan on overclocking?

Remember that "I'm thinking about it" means you're not gonna.

[Darkon5524]

I dont plan on overclocking, but i think i do need a new HDD because my two are still IDE :/ or maybe i can find a motherboard witch can support 1xIDE and 1x Sata... any suggestions? and will i be able to run a game like CoD5 nicely?

[Chevron]

Take2:

AMD Phenom Tri-Core 8750 CPU - Socket AM2+
Price: R 1,609

Abit AMD A-N78HD Motherboard - Socket AM2+ Price: R 1,042

Prophecy:

Gecube HD3850 512mb PCI-E Graphics Card R1176.14

Exceleram Ex2-21066P2-SX 2Gb stick R484.20

Total: R4311

That board has 6sata ports and has IDE. That is a Tri core processor at 2.4Ghz.

Since you won't be upgrading for a while, a tri core is better than dual core. I'm sure you've seen that GTAIV pc recommends a Tri core. More and more games will be coming out that recommend a tri core.

This run COD5 nicely.

[biffman]

Chev officially wins the thread on the impressiveness scale XD

And Biffman, just be sure to check whether or not your motherboard supports the 45nm CPUs. If not, then you'll be better off with an E4500. It still works very well, and will clock up to 3GHz at the least.

I can't find anything about 45nm.
I checked my mainboard box and users guide and all I could find was: socket LGA 775 ,1066MHz FSB and supports Intel core 2.

[Squid]

Anyone know anything about Patriot ram? How does it compare to OCZ?

[Chevron]

Anyone know anything about Patriot ram? How does it compare to OCZ?

Depends on the timings. both OCZ and Patriot have different lines. If you don't care about timings and just wanna buy a brand name get the OCZ.

[Jeronkey]

Thanks a ton for the help guys!
Chevron, you need a special award or something for linking all that for me. Thanks :)

Just a small question though.. Is there much of a difference in performance or anything between a 550w and 700/1000w PSU? I'm not planning on overclocking or anything like that.. so would the 550w cover it?

[Chevron]

Thanks a ton for the help guys!
Chevron, you need a special award or something for linking all that for me. Thanks :)

Just a small question though.. Is there much of a difference in performance or anything between a 550w and 700/1000w PSU? I'm not planning on overclocking or anything like that.. so would the 550w cover it?

Well since on other forums I've seen people running 4870s with a 500Watt, you should be fine.

I will say though that this was my first choice, but would obviously put you R300 over budget:

Corsair TX750W Power Supply - 750w Price: R 1,776

After I added everything up though I was waay overbudget. Obviously I just chose components and then afterwards tried to get the pc down to fit budget. I see now that I missed a nice one that I recommend over that 550W.

Corsair TX650W Power Supply - 650w Price: R 1,464

So my final recommendation is to take the 650 Watt. Less than R100 overbudget.

If I enter your proposed pc into this calculator it says you only need a 481Watt psu.

I'd still recommend the 650Watt though for breathing room.

[G8crasha]

Well since on other forums I've seen people running 4870s with a 500Watt, you should be fine.

I will say though that this was my first choice, but would obviously put you R300 over budget:

Corsair TX750W Power Supply - 750w Price: R 1,776

After I added everything up though I was waay overbudget. Obviously I just chose components and then afterwards tried to get the pc down to fit budget. I see now that I missed a nice one that I recommend over that 550W.

Corsair TX650W Power Supply - 650w Price: R 1,464

So my final recommendation is to take the 650 Watt. Less than R100 overbudget.

If I enter your proposed pc into this calculator it says you only need a 481Watt psu.

I'd still recommend the 650Watt though for breathing room.

That calculator is very cool, thanks a million. Shot for this info. I too am looking at getting a new PSU, so this info really helped!

[Chevron]

I fixed the link for the psu calculator.

Recommend you set capacitor aging at 30%.

That calculator is very cool, thanks a million. Shot for this info. I too am looking at getting a new PSU, so this info really helped!

What are your specs?

[Wesley]

I can't find anything about 45nm.
I checked my mainboard box and users guide and all I could find was: socket LGA 775 ,1066MHz FSB and supports Intel core 2.

Try a Google search for your motherboard, or go to the manufacturer's site and check it out, they usually have the specs plastered somewhere on the page.

Anyone know anything about Patriot ram? How does it compare to OCZ?

Patriot RAM is great for the job, OCZ is only for those nutjobs who like to brag that their memory is big-brand memory XD Regardless, I would definately recommend OCZ anyday, never had any problems with them as of yet.

Thanks a ton for the help guys!
Chevron, you need a special award or something for linking all that for me. Thanks :)

Just a small question though.. Is there much of a difference in performance or anything between a 550w and 700/1000w PSU? I'm not planning on overclocking or anything like that.. so would the 550w cover it?

The difference between a 550watt and something like a 700/1000watt is only apparent when your computer requires that much of a jump in power to operate. I had a customer running an ATi 3850 off a 400watt PSU and was complaining of frame stuttering and sluggish performance. When I switched to a 550watt the pc ran fine. When I fitted in a 700watt for the customer to compare, there was nary a difference to be had.

So yeah, the 550watt should cover your requirements easily. Just remember that when overclocking a pc you will eventually need a bigger or more efficient PSU.