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Upgrading a 6yr/o computer

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  • Computers
  • CPUs
  • Hard Drives
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 30, 2013 3:11:15 AM

This computer was given to my Dad back around '07 with Win7(32bit) Home Premium installed by my Grandpa, these are the current specs:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8550 @ 3.16GHz
nVidia 8600GTS
4GB RAM (presume DDR2, anyway I can find out?)
300GB HDD
Cooler Master 460w PSU
That's all I could find out.

I now want to upgrade the computer, my goal being creating a beast of a computer that can do almost anything (gaming, video/photo editing, 3d modelling), using these parts:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.90 @ Outlet PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus SABERTOOTH Z77 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($232.97 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Kingston Blu Red Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($48.96 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($648.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: BenQ XL2420TE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($407.58 @ Newegg)
Total: $1883.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-30 06:09 EDT-0400)
Generally speaking, I'm not on a budget, but the cheaper it is, the sooner I can get it.
Any suggestions?

Also, Win7 or 8? I plan to do a bit of OC'ing, especially the CPU.

More about : upgrading 6yr computer

a b à CPUs
September 30, 2013 3:39:11 AM

Right, to find out what type of RAM you have, remove a stick and see how many notches it has. If it has 2, it's DDR2, only one notch and it's DDR3. Simples. =)

As far as your 'upgrade' in concerned, it's not so much an upgrade as a new build really is it? XD

If you did go for the setup you have listed there, you would most certainly have an excellent PC for Gaming, (Especially with a 780, which is as near to Titan performance as you can get) and everything else. I would suggest, however, you include a decent sized SSD, (Around 180gb-240gb) in that personally to use as your boot drive, and to install any CAD software and graphics intensive games on. You will notice the difference.

I have a 180gb SSD that I have my CAD software installed on, and before I had my SSD it took FOREVER to load and render the full scale 3D models that I had created, but with an SSD it takes mere seconds. (Just make sure that if you do get an SSD not to fill it up past 80% capacity, otherwise performance drops considerably.).

If you want to make it cheaper, then you might consider dropping the monitor, or at least downgrading to a 60hz one. 144hz isnt really necassery, and $400 is alot of cash to spend on 1 monitor. This would then bring the price down to $1500 instad of $1900.

I would also suggest upgrading the RAM to a minimum speed of 1600mhz, preferably 1866mhz, 1333mhz is a bit slow for gaming. =)
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September 30, 2013 3:57:40 AM

grebgonebad said:
Right, to find out what type of RAM you have, remove a stick and see how many notches it has. If it has 2, it's DDR2, only one notch and it's DDR3. Simples. =)

As far as your 'upgrade' in concerned, it's not so much an upgrade as a new build really is it? XD

If you did go for the setup you have listed there, you would most certainly have an excellent PC for Gaming, (Especially with a 780, which is as near to Titan performance as you can get) and everything else. I would suggest, however, you include a decent sized SSD, (Around 180gb-240gb) in that personally to use as your boot drive, and to install any CAD software and graphics intensive games on. You will notice the difference.

I have a 180gb SSD that I have my CAD software installed on, and before I had my SSD it took FOREVER to load and render the full scale 3D models that I had created, but with an SSD it takes mere seconds. (Just make sure that if you do get an SSD not to fill it up past 80% capacity, otherwise performance drops considerably.).

If you want to make it cheaper, then you might consider dropping the monitor, or at least downgrading to a 60hz one. 144hz isnt really necassery, and $400 is alot of cash to spend on 1 monitor. This would then bring the price down to $1500 instad of $1900.

I would also suggest upgrading the RAM to a minimum speed of 1600mhz, preferably 1866mhz, 1333mhz is a bit slow for gaming. =)


Just took a peek inside :) 
2 Sticks, 1 Notch, DDR3 RAM

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V200 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($266.99 @ Amazon)

That makes it around $1900 total.
How can I find out how fast the ram is in the computer now? If it's something like 1333, I'll keep it for now and get the faster ram later on.


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a b à CPUs
September 30, 2013 4:06:19 AM

Great! DDR3 is far superior to DDR2 nowdays, so thats good!

Okay, those ammendments look good, and that's a great price for a 256gb SSD! I paid over $300 for my 180gb. =P

To find your current RAM speed you can either enter the BIOS and take a look, or remove a DIMM and it should say on there somewhere as well. =) If neither of these turn up anything, then I can tell you a few other ways as well.
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September 30, 2013 4:16:04 AM

grebgonebad said:
Great! DDR3 is far superior to DDR2 nowdays, so thats good!

Okay, those ammendments look good, and that's a great price for a 256gb SSD! I paid over $300 for my 180gb. =P

To find your current RAM speed you can either enter the BIOS and take a look, or remove a DIMM and it should say on there somewhere as well. =) If neither of these turn up anything, then I can tell you a few other ways as well.


Just opened up CPU-Z to check the RAM, and it says it's DDR2? I swear it only had 1 notch and the DRAM Frequency is 400MHz :/ 

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a b à CPUs
September 30, 2013 8:55:36 AM

xXCallMeGreenyXx said:
grebgonebad said:
Great! DDR3 is far superior to DDR2 nowdays, so thats good!

Okay, those ammendments look good, and that's a great price for a 256gb SSD! I paid over $300 for my 180gb. =P

To find your current RAM speed you can either enter the BIOS and take a look, or remove a DIMM and it should say on there somewhere as well. =) If neither of these turn up anything, then I can tell you a few other ways as well.


Just opened up CPU-Z to check the RAM, and it says it's DDR2? I swear it only had 1 notch and the DRAM Frequency is 400MHz :/ 



Oops, my bad. =P I forgot, it's SDRAM that has 2 notches. I've been repairing an old PC for a friend and he has SDRAM. Derp.

To tell DDR2 from DDR3, (they both have 1 notch) the notch on DDR2 is close to the centre of the DIMM, whereas DDR3 you can clearly see that the notch is off to one side.

Again, I apologies for this. =P

If CPU-Z is showing a frequency of 400mhz, then this means that your DDR2 RAM is running at 800mhz. DDR means Double Data Rate, and so for DDR2 you double the frequency, and DDR3 you treble. =)
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October 11, 2013 12:35:36 AM

grebgonebad said:
xXCallMeGreenyXx said:
grebgonebad said:
Great! DDR3 is far superior to DDR2 nowdays, so thats good!

Okay, those ammendments look good, and that's a great price for a 256gb SSD! I paid over $300 for my 180gb. =P

To find your current RAM speed you can either enter the BIOS and take a look, or remove a DIMM and it should say on there somewhere as well. =) If neither of these turn up anything, then I can tell you a few other ways as well.


Just opened up CPU-Z to check the RAM, and it says it's DDR2? I swear it only had 1 notch and the DRAM Frequency is 400MHz :/ 



Oops, my bad. =P I forgot, it's SDRAM that has 2 notches. I've been repairing an old PC for a friend and he has SDRAM. Derp.

To tell DDR2 from DDR3, (they both have 1 notch) the notch on DDR2 is close to the centre of the DIMM, whereas DDR3 you can clearly see that the notch is off to one side.

Again, I apologies for this. =P

If CPU-Z is showing a frequency of 400mhz, then this means that your DDR2 RAM is running at 800mhz. DDR means Double Data Rate, and so for DDR2 you double the frequency, and DDR3 you treble. =)

Thanks for clearing that up :) 
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