is upgrading my old mother board worth the money?

[gomilly]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

 

[k1114]

That's quite a bit of money for next to no performance increase. Save your money.

 

[chriss000]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

If you change your operating system to vista 64 bit you can use the vista code on the side of the pc case for free. At the minute, your machine can only use 3.2 gig of ram. Being able to use all 4 gig of ram will help. I dont know any single player games that use 4 gig, even with vista. Buying a retail version of windows 7 off of ebay would mean you can use it on your next pc too and its not too expensive with a 11% speed up in games.

 

[gomilly]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

If you change your operating system to vista 64 bit you can use the vista code on the side of the pc case for free. At the minute, your machine can only use 3.2 gig of ram. Being able to use all 4 gig of ram will help. I dont know any single player games that use 4 gig, even with vista. Buying a retail version of windows 7 off of ebay would mean you can use it on your next pc too and its not too expensive with a 11% speed up in games.

that sounds like a great idea. only problem is i have know idea how to do that. i bought my pc second hand and i has a windows product oem sticker on the side but how do i use that, and how do i get hold of a windows vista disc? im very inexperienced with computers. this is my first computer

 

[swifty_morgan]

no, don't change your motherboard. don't upgrade to 64bit. run what you have into the ground................... and speaking of MB...... if you swap you will have to reinstall the operating system.
................Save your money.

 

[chriss000]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

If you change your operating system to vista 64 bit you can use the vista code on the side of the pc case for free. At the minute, your machine can only use 3.2 gig of ram. Being able to use all 4 gig of ram will help. I dont know any single player games that use 4 gig, even with vista. Buying a retail version of windows 7 off of ebay would mean you can use it on your next pc too and its not too expensive with a 11% speed up in games.

that sounds like a great idea. only problem is i have know idea how to do that. i bought my pc second hand and i has a windows product oem sticker on the side but how do i use that, and how do i get hold of a windows vista disc? im very inexperienced with computers. this is my first computer

Get a vista installation disk from ebay , it has all 6 vista systems on it. home, pro, 32, 64 bit etc. Just put it in, choose vista whatever yours is (say home premium) 64 bit, and new instal.at some point it will ask you for the 25 digits and letters code on the sticker. It will look something like TU7S9 94JDU JRT05 ISM90 L8ROJ . . And you copy the code in off the sticker. you might need a magnifying glass. Then you let the pc validate with microsoft and do updates and you are good to install your games etc.
But you have to stick with the 64 bit version of what you had or the code wont work, cos the different types like home or pro are different prices.

 

[gomilly]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

 

[chriss000]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

The disk should cost about £8 without a code. or Ask your local repairs pc shop for a copy. I got mine from a pc fair.
I would buy the xfx 550 watt psu as its a lot better than the corsair vs. You cant save money on power supplies, the xfx will last you 3 pc builds.
The corsair cx 500 is the cheapest you should buy with a 6850.

 

[k1114]

You can get any windows install (no key) from microsoft for free. But your key will not work on 32 bit and 64 bit if it's an oem key.

 

[swifty_morgan]

what power supply do you have now?

also, if you have to upgrade that, and you know you'll be doing an upgrade in the near future, why buy such under powered junk? don't buy by watts. don't buy by price.

 

[chriss000]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

op will have to 'save up' for a cx500. .
If you can recommend a cheaper better option you will be helping a lot.
Also op is in NZ, where its dearer with fewer options

 

[chriss000]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

If you change your operating system to vista 64 bit you can use the vista code on the side of the pc case for free. At the minute, your machine can only use 3.2 gig of ram. Being able to use all 4 gig of ram will help. I dont know any single player games that use 4 gig, even with vista. Buying a retail version of windows 7 off of ebay would mean you can use it on your next pc too and its not too expensive with a 11% speed up in games.

that sounds like a great idea. only problem is i have know idea how to do that. i bought my pc second hand and i has a windows product oem sticker on the side but how do i use that, and how do i get hold of a windows vista disc? im very inexperienced with computers. this is my first computer

Interestingly, if you can turn the cpu front side bus speed up to 333 mhtz, your cpu and memory will run much faster indeed. Just leave everything else in bios on auto. It will run at about 3.2 gig on standard volts. Try 310 cpu first.

 

[gomilly]

what power supply do you have now?

also, if you have to upgrade that, and you know you'll be doing an upgrade in the near future, why buy such under powered junk? don't buy by watts. don't buy by price.

a 300w hp one. one day i will buy a decent pc but for now i want to get this one running smooth for little cost so i dont have to worry bout upgrading and it can just be a back up pc or give it to my dad to use

 

[gomilly]

so my computer specs are:
q6700 @ stock
4gb ddr2 800mhz
gt 430 (just about to buy a second hand hd 6850, i got it cheap)
windows vista 32 bit

first off i cant afford a new cpu and everything i just want to work with the q6700. my aim is to game at whatever settings at 1080p on games like bf3 and farcry 3, bioshock infinite, maybe gta 4 and whatever else.

so my question, will there be a significant gain in performance if i upgrade my motherboard to one with ddr2 and ddr3 slots, ddr3 1066mhz that has a max of 8gb over my current setup? or will the difference be too small to worry about? the thing is with a new motherboard is i need to buy window 7. so now where are talking $250 NZD and then adding new ram $133

If you change your operating system to vista 64 bit you can use the vista code on the side of the pc case for free. At the minute, your machine can only use 3.2 gig of ram. Being able to use all 4 gig of ram will help. I dont know any single player games that use 4 gig, even with vista. Buying a retail version of windows 7 off of ebay would mean you can use it on your next pc too and its not too expensive with a 11% speed up in games.

that sounds like a great idea. only problem is i have know idea how to do that. i bought my pc second hand and i has a windows product oem sticker on the side but how do i use that, and how do i get hold of a windows vista disc? im very inexperienced with computers. this is my first computer

Interestingly, if you can turn the cpu front side bus speed up to 333 mhtz, your cpu and memory will run much faster indeed. Just leave everything else in bios on auto. It will run at about 3.2 gig on standard volts. Try 310 cpu first.

sounds good. i will definitely consider that when my card arrives. thanks

 

[gomilly]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

op will have to 'save up' for a cx500. .
If you can recommend a cheaper better option you will be helping a lot.
Also op is in NZ, where its dearer with fewer options

what is op? yeah you are right there aren't many options here and amazon can take months to get here, judging from one previous experience. elive.co.nz is the only site i am aware of atm that has a reasonable selection

 

[chriss000]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

op will have to 'save up' for a cx500. .
If you can recommend a cheaper better option you will be helping a lot.
Also op is in NZ, where its dearer with fewer options

what is op? yeah you are right there aren't many options here and amazon can take months to get here, judging from one previous experience. elive.co.nz is the only site i am aware of atm that has a reasonable selection

OP is short for Original Poster. (You) Here's the deal. get a power supply for your 6850 (urgent!) then change vista to 64 bit (will only affect anything that needs more than 3.2 gig ram) Then check in bios to see if you can overclock. Your cpu was specifically designed by Intel to overclock . They were faced with AMD's phenom quadcores so they pulled out all the stops making the G0 SLACR q66 and 6700's. You can get 3 gig easy, and it will increase your ram speed from 667 to about 750. (you hve 800 meg ram, but its only running at 667). look into it.
Q6700's usually overclock easily without any voltage changes by 25%. Thats like having one extra core. Nice free safe power increase, also utilizing unused memory performance.

 

[gomilly]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

op will have to 'save up' for a cx500. .
If you can recommend a cheaper better option you will be helping a lot.
Also op is in NZ, where its dearer with fewer options

what is op? yeah you are right there aren't many options here and amazon can take months to get here, judging from one previous experience. elive.co.nz is the only site i am aware of atm that has a reasonable selection

OP is short for Original Poster. (You) Here's the deal. get a power supply for your 6850 (urgent!) then change vista to 64 bit (will only affect anything that needs more than 3.2 gig ram) Then check in bios to see if you can overclock. Your cpu was specifically designed by Intel to overclock . They were faced with AMD's phenom quadcores so they pulled out all the stops making the G0 SLACR q66 and 6700's. You can get 3 gig easy, and it will increase your ram speed from 667 to about 750. (you hve 800 meg ram, but its only running at 667). look into it.

yeah im on a tight budget alright. thanks for that answer it is what i was looking for i think, cheapest performance boost is what im after. so my mobo is on this page, actually my whole pc is on this page apart from the gpu was a gt 430 when i bought it. paid $180 NZD for the whole thing including an lcd monitor (major bargain if you ask me) on a new zealand auction site from a person who listed as dual core and who didnt have any nvidia drivers installed at all!
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01564799&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=101&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=3793920&prodTypeId=12454
i imagine it is a realy basic motherboard and dont know anything about overclocking. do you know if it is capable?

 

[chriss000]

so thanks for the suggestions. i will save my money and maybe try get 64 bit in the future.

just realized i need a new power supply to run my new card. can someone tell me if a corsair vs550w will be fine?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-550w-vs550-power-supply-AC03082.php
or will i have to save up for a cx500w?
http://www.elive.co.nz/corsair-500w-cx-500v3-psu-AC03004.php

op will have to 'save up' for a cx500. .
If you can recommend a cheaper better option you will be helping a lot.
Also op is in NZ, where its dearer with fewer options

what is op? yeah you are right there aren't many options here and amazon can take months to get here, judging from one previous experience. elive.co.nz is the only site i am aware of atm that has a reasonable selection

OP is short for Original Poster. (You) Here's the deal. get a power supply for your 6850 (urgent!) then change vista to 64 bit (will only affect anything that needs more than 3.2 gig ram) Then check in bios to see if you can overclock. Your cpu was specifically designed by Intel to overclock . They were faced with AMD's phenom quadcores so they pulled out all the stops making the G0 SLACR q66 and 6700's. You can get 3 gig easy, and it will increase your ram speed from 667 to about 750. (you hve 800 meg ram, but its only running at 667). look into it.

yeah im on a tight budget alright. thanks for that answer it is what i was looking for i think, cheapest performance boost is what im after. so my mobo is on this page, actually my whole pc is on this page apart from the gpu was a gt 430 when i bought it. paid $180 NZD for the whole thing including an lcd monitor (major bargain if you ask me) on a new zealand auction site from a person who listed as dual core and who didnt have any nvidia drivers installed at all!
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01564799&lang=en&cc=us&taskId=101&contentType=SupportFAQ&prodSeriesId=3793920&prodTypeId=12454
i imagine it is a realy basic motherboard and dont know anything about overclocking. do you know if it is capable?

I have just googled your foxconn motherboard, and it looks like it has a locked bios. However, I would enter bios on start up to check .(Sometimes unlocked boards get sent by mistake; I had an e machine pc like that once) If it cant be clocked its not all bad; it will still play almost every game on the planet.
And when you get brave in a few months, a bsel mod overclock may be possible if you have the right chipset ;#}