Gaming rig upgrades

C

ComputerGod91

Posts: 68   +0
Hello, new to the forums so I hope I'm posting in the correct area. Anyway I've had a custom built gaming PC for about two years now and am wondering if I should upgrade some stuff and to what.

Here are my specs:

Windows XP
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 3.00Ghz
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard
4 GB Ram DDR2
Nvidia Geforce 9800 GT video card
400W power supply

Hope I'm not forgetting anything, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I'd also like to mention that I like to run my games on max settings.
 
Well, a corsair 550w and a 6850 would probably work well if you overclocked a bit, say to 3.6ghz (hopefully, you have an e8600).
What processor do you have?
 
hellokitty[hk] said:
Well, a corsair 550w and a 6850 would probably work well if you overclocked a bit, say to 3.6ghz (hopefully, you have an e8600).
What processor do you have?
Click to expand...

Ok, I don't know how to over clock. My processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo e8400. Now, what is a 6850? Also why would a 550w power supply be better then a 750w? is it like more efficient?
 
captaincranky said:
Well "Computer God", methinks you should be all knowing, or if not, start your own thread.
Click to expand...

Well, now that you assume I'm claiming I'm a Computer God, I guess I need to explain why I am called that. It's a song from Ronnie James Dio and i picked it for my gamertag and what not years ago and it stuck and most people believe I'm calling myself a Computer God.
 
ComputerGod91 said:
Ok, I don't know how to over clock. My processor is an Intel Core 2 Duo e8400. Now, what is a 6850? Also why would a 550w power supply be better then a 750w? is it like more efficient?
Click to expand...

dont try to oc that cpu, it has enough power as it is, trust me, you just t have to buy a good videocard and you are set ( 6850, 460gtx) oh, and a decent psu, pay attention to the brand and ignore the big numbers, do not buy that KINGWIN, choose from this brands > corsair, Seasonic ,Enermax, antec, FSP, Coolermaster , ocz)
 
UT66 said:
dont try to oc that cpu, it has enough power as it is, trust me, you just t have to buy a good videocard and you are set ( 6850, 460gtx) oh, and a decent psu, pay attention to the brand and ignore the big numbers, do not buy that KINGWIN, choose from this brands > corsair, Seasonic ,Enermax, antec, FSP, Coolermaster , ocz)
Click to expand...
As I mentioned above, I would definitely call CPU bottleneck...
 
hellokitty[hk] said:
As I mentioned above, I would definitely call CPU bottleneck...
Click to expand...

there are a few minor exceptions but - in my experience. i dont believe that's the case. gaming wise that cpu is no slouch. either way, he doesn't seem to know how to do it, so i would leave it alone. a new video card is going to yield much greater gains.
 
hellokitty[hk] said:
As I mentioned above, I would definitely call CPU bottleneck...
Click to expand...
When did we decide that an E-8400 is a "bottleneck"? Was that before or after you became an AMD fanboi? I suppose it's better than your, "an Antec EA-380 will run anything" phase.

ComputerGod91 said:
Hope I'm not forgetting anything, any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I'd also like to mention that I like to run my games on max settings.
Click to expand...
Well, doesn't just everybody want to run their games on maximum everything. You did however, forget to tell us what resolution your monitor is.
 
captaincranky said:
When did we decide that an E-8400 is a "bottleneck"? Was that before or after you became an AMD fanboi?
Click to expand...
Well, after, but if you ran benches on various games, I'm sure an overclocked E8400 would do better on some.
I guess you're probably right, it's pretty negligible.
That doesn't mean a slight overcloack would be a bad idea if you're "down" with it.
 
captaincranky said:
When did we decide that an E-8400 is a "bottleneck"? Was that before or after you became an AMD fanboi? I suppose it's better than your, "an Antec EA-380 will run anything" phase.

Well, doesn't just everybody want to run their games on maximum everything. You did however, forget to tell us what resolution your monitor is.
Click to expand...

Resolution is 1360x768
 
You really don't need a terribly high end video card to max things out at that resolution. I suppose you could overbuy a bit, if you're planning to spring for a higher resolution panel in the near future.
 
captaincranky said:
You really don't need a terribly high end video card to max things out at that resolution. I suppose you could overbuy a bit, if you're planning to spring for a higher resolution panel in the near future.
Click to expand...

Nope, Im stuck with this resolution for a while. However, I'm looking for a really good power source because one of my games lag a hell of a lot and I think that could be the problem. I know the 550 was mentioned but is there better ones with more Watts?
 
We'd need to know which game is lagging, to figure out if it's the video card,
CPU, or the power supply.

A really good 400 watt PSU would run your 9800GT pretty well. That said, with a newer card such as the GT-460 you wouldn't need too much more than a good 400 either. In any case 500 watts would be the max necessary for any video card you could buy on your budget.

You seem to have it in your mind that the PSU is causing the lag. Even if it is, that still doesn't mean you need to bump up to 700 watt or so.
 
I dont see the psu being the reason for noticeable lag. If there's something your psu can't handle it will probably do one of two things "A good pop with a sizzle," or just shut off.
 
mm rice crispies, I always had to eat two bowls to be satisfied. I'm sure it has something to do with each piece being completely hollow, just like my bar top conversation with the ladies when I'm drunk.

Anyway. I don't see bottlenecking being a huge issue with that low of a resolution. Unless you're planning on upgrading your entire system within the next year or so 700 watts on a psu is a lot of overhead for low to mid ranged vga and a 2 year old core 2 duo.
 
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