Upgrade

[Uncle Shags]

I am thinking I should start to upgrade my PC components, but would like to do it in an organized fashion. Any thoughts on what I should improve first? Here's my current rig:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 Wolfdale 3.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
GPU: Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB 512-bit
Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
MoBo: ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

My guess is I'd see the most performance increase from CPU and RAM upgrades?

[Snowreap]

I think you'll see the biggest impact by adding an SSD drive to run your games from.

Second, I'm guessing your graphics card.

Third, either a faster CPU or faster RAM (not more RAM, *faster* RAM). I'm not sure which. I'd expect the improvement from either of these to be fairly small.

-ken

[strife]

I think you're being limited by your MB, so you'll be upgrading to outdated hardware anyways if you stick with that...

If I remember correctly, you're stuck with DDR2 memory and can't upgrade past a Core2 processor, that of which you already have a high end.

I would probably see if I could get a couple more years out of it and then start thinking about rebuilding. Maybe throw 40-50$ on ram to get you closer to 8GB... Are you having issues running games(I mean other than GW2, which I think all of us are having issues with).

[Xyphos]

...

I would probably see if I could get a couple more years out of it and then start thinking about rebuilding. Maybe throw 40-50$ on ram to get you closer to 8GB...

This. I'd say go for another year or two. Prices for Sandy bridges will drop once the Ivey Bridge comes out anyway (Unless you just want to upgrade to an Ivey, in which case you should still hold off).

If you really want an upgrade, do what Snowreap said; the difference between an HDD and an SSD is like night and day.

[Uncle Shags]

I had issues during beta, but mostly only when there were big keep fights. The other thing I noticed was when loading into a new area it would sometimes take a while for NPCs and scenery to load.

So maybe double my RAM and get a SSD? The RAM is cheap so it doesn't matter much, and the hard drive I can keep for the rebuild? Sounds good to me.

[strife]

I had issues during beta, but mostly only when there were big keep fights. The other thing I noticed was when loading into a new area it would sometimes take a while for NPCs and scenery to load.

So maybe double my RAM and get a SSD? The RAM is cheap so it doesn't matter much, and the hard drive I can keep for the rebuild? Sounds good to me.

Yea, I think that would be a good play. GW2 beta lagged basically everyone during the big fights, so i wouldn't put too much into that.

[Uncle Shags]

Is my shitty old MB going to interfere with a SSD?

Here's its stats:
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[strife]

Is my shitty old MB going to interfere with a SSD?

Here's its stats:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131295">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131295</a><!-- m -->

Shouldn't... my SSD connected using Sata 2, which I believe your MB has 8 Sata 2 ports

[Snowreap]

note that if you're running a 32-bit operating system, adding memory beyond 4GB isn't going to do anything.

and if you're running 32-bit games under a 64-bit operating system (and so far pretty much every game is still 32-bit), adding memory beyond 4GB is unlikely to make a noticeable difference (although you'll be able to use the extra RAM to have more apps loaded at the same time without swapping).

-ken

[Slamz]

SSD should be low priority in my opinion. It will greatly impact load times but won't impact in-game performance (frames per second) at all.

On the other hand, your system actually looks pretty good. I would be surprised if you gained much by upgrading any of that. (More RAM wouldn't hurt but it's probably silly to do that when you may be replacing your motherboard later anyway.) The Radeon 4870 X2 is four years old but it was a top-end gaming card at the time and it's no slouch by today's standard.

Maybe a new processor would be in order but I dunno... games are so graphics-card based that it's hard to say how much benefit you'd receive.



So, yeah, maybe an SSD after all. It will boost your load times and can be carried over into whatever you do next.

Pretty sure your MB should be able to handle the SSD, although I think you won't be getting maximum speed out of it. Your MB appears to support SATA 2 (3 Gbit/sec) and the SSDs I've seen can support SATA 3 (6 Gbit/sec). I'm pretty sure they're backwards compatible -- you just won't get the full benefit until you upgrade to a motherboard that can do SATA 3.

[Xyphos]

I have a SATA 2 SSD in my PC, and a Sata 3 SSD in my laptop. It's just a matter of what ports you have open.

The Sata 2 ones are also generally cheaper then the Sata 3 ones.

Just look around at places like slickdeals.net, amazon, and all that good stuff to see if you can find a cheap deal on one.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-20-148-442-_-05072012_3">http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShoc ... 05072012_3</a><!-- m --> - will be about 100$ after 1pm PST.

[Uncle Shags]

Lots of good advice, thanks fellas.

Gonna have to start saving up.

[Diggles]

Core 2 duo w/DDR2 memory is NOT an upgrade. Neither is a 7200 RPM hard drive.

Intel i3 CPU is LOWEST you should even consider. 4-8 gb of LOW latency DDR3 speed ram and a 64-128gb SSD hard drive to boot

Sata 2/3 doesnt matter all that much, its about the random ACCESS and WRITE times, IOPS. Typically above 50k IOPS would be what I consider to be fast or for gaming.

[Uncle Shags]

Core 2 duo w/DDR2 memory is NOT an upgrade. Neither is a 7200 RPM hard drive.
Intel i3 CPU is LOWEST you should even consider. 4-8 gb of LOW latency DDR3 speed ram and a 64-128gb SSD hard drive to boot
Sata 2/3 doesnt matter all that much, its about the random ACCESS and WRITE times, IOPS. Typically above 50k IOPS would be what I consider to be fast or for gaming.

I think there may be a miscommunication. The original hardware I listed is my current rig which I am thinking of upgrading from.

[Diggles]

ah woops


If your motherboard has PCI-ex16 v2.0 I would prob drop $150 or so on a video card upgrade. See how that affects your overall performance, and if you still need more, can just upgrade CPU/Mobo/Ram and/or HD LATER.

[Snowreap]

I put the SSD first because I didn't realize how old your video card is. If it's 4 years old, you will likely see more benefit from replacing the video card first, then considering an SSD next. and yes, the SSD will primarily improve loading times, not frame rates, but on an older computer loading times can be a significant problem.

I don't expect to see more than a marginal benefit from CPU or RAM upgrades unless you also replace your motherboard, and at that point we're a bit past what I would consider a mere "upgrade".

-ken

[Uncle Shags]

I suppose I could upgrade my video card, but it's still pretty good. For instance, here it is next to a newer card:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=572&card2=647">http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php ... &card2=647</a><!-- m -->

[strife]

I put the SSD first because I didn't realize how old your video card is. If it's 4 years old, you will likely see more benefit from replacing the video card first, then considering an SSD next. and yes, the SSD will primarily improve loading times, not frame rates, but on an older computer loading times can be a significant problem.

I don't expect to see more than a marginal benefit from CPU or RAM upgrades unless you also replace your motherboard, and at that point we're a bit past what I would consider a mere "upgrade".

-ken

I disagree here. His video card may be old, but it's still a very good video card(relative, taking into consideration that it's AMD and it's 4 years old). I mean, for him to see a noticeable upgrade, he's going to have to drop a chunk of change to do so. and even going to like a GTX570, which is a $300 card... I don't think he's going to see $300 worth of performance upgrades.

I guess it really boils down to how much disposable income you have to throw at it and are you looking to get a good return on how much you're going to spend... If you want a real nice upgrade, you're going to have to throw some $ at it...

[Moristans]

How much do you guys pay attention to Tom's Hardware's vid card hierarchy chart?

According to them, you shouldn't upgrade unless you are going at least three levels higher. That would put him in the GTX 560 Ti range, which isn't exactly chump change, but not all that pricey.

[strife]

How much do you guys pay attention to Tom's Hardware's vid card hierarchy chart?

According to them, you shouldn't upgrade unless you are going at least three levels higher. That would put him in the GTX 560 Ti range, which isn't exactly chump change, but not all that pricey.

He's running the 4870 X2, which makes a HUGE difference... the 560 isn't 3 tier's above that one... that would be the 6990, which is an $800 video card

[Bulgy]

Get a new vid card.

Beyond that, if it were me, I'd do a whole new system.

[Snowreap]

the consensus I'm seeing develop here is:

if you are ok with an upgrade that will take several hours (or more) and you don't want to wait for Sandy Bridge prices to drop (or you don't care), get a new motherboard, CPU+cooler, RAM, and whatever else you need to make it work (i.e. a new power supply if your old one doesn't have the right connectors).

otherwise, if you value FPS above all else, get a new video card even though your old one is still very good.

otherwise, get an SSD because it will help general system performance, even though it won't do much for FPS.

-ken

[Rallick]

I just upgraded my computer. It was getting a little old and I pretty much gutted it except for the Hard drives. That'll be later.

I went to Quad Core i5, 16GB ram and a nice shiny new Video Card. Went from 15FPS (low settings) to 60FPS (mid->high settings). Definitely not arguing