Upgrading

[bitmonx]

Hi all,

would like to have some input about my proposed upgrade to my current system.

At the moment I have the following:

- Windows Vista Home Premium 32bit

- Asus P5N-D

- E8400 running at 3.6GHz (Arctic Freezer Pro 7 cooler)

-2x1Gb Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC6400

-Enermax Noisemaker 485W

-Coolermaster Centurion 5 PC Case

-2 x SATA2 Seagate Barracuda 500GB

- Onboard Sound from Mobo


Proposed upgtrade is:

- OS, CPU and Mobo same

- Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC2-6400

- EVGA E-GEFORCE GTX 285 Sc 675MHZ 1024MB 2.538GHZ (two of them in SLI)

- Corsair HX1000W PSU

- Coolermaster HAF 932 PC Case

- Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY


Ok, now.....will my Mobo with the E8400 handle the SLI well? Will I have problems being able to use only 3 GB of RAM in Vista 32bit? Upgrade to 64 bit highly reccomended?

Highly appreciate any input from you pros. An upgrade to a Quad CPU and better MB will come later, maybe much later.......

 

[Proximon]

Really and truly, the GTX 285 is a waste of cash.

I spent an evening recently compiling spreadsheets and comparing games.

Are you using a 30" monitor?

 

[nerrawg]

What kind of monitor and res do you have
GPU suggestions (allowing absolute maximum performance)
1680x1050: GTX 260 core 216 or 4870 1 gig (no possibility for CF on your mobo)
1920x1080: GTX 275 or 2x GTS 250 1GB in SLI
2560x1600: 2x GTX 260 or 275 in SLI (still probably overkill for most games)
Read this:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3517

also your E8400 is fine for now and why do you want to upgrade RAM - wait till you buy a new mobo and get DDR3 - save that money for now, instead just get 2 more Gigs of DDR2 to go with what you already have - get it cheap and then you'll have 4 GB of DDR2 (unless I misunderstood and thats what you already wanted to do)
Case is good - you can keep that for many years
PSU is solid - will it be overkill for your future builds though? if not get it
Smart to wait for a cpu upgrade until core i7 or i5 suites your budget and offers the relative better performance in gaming over the OCed E8400

 

[bitmonx]

thanks for reply.

I just bought a LG 24" with a native res of 1920x1080.

I am realy into Crysis and want to be ready for future games that have a demand like it.

So I guess I should get 2 more gigs of RAM and upgrade to Vista 64bit?

I am not sure about the PSU if it is Overkill. The 850 might be ok with a GTX285 SLI?

 

[nerrawg]

Try playing around with this PSU calculator - should give you an idea of what you want:
http://web.aanet.com.au/SnooP/psucalc.php

 

[Proximon]

nVidia chipsets aren't very popular around here, but if yours is really working fine and holding up, I think two GTX 260s will be all you need for a while. Given the power demands of those and any other possible hardware you might use, and allowing for overclocks and even liquid cooling, this PSU should cover it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009&Tpk=850TX