Upgrade advice

[jon003]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: 30-60 days

BUDGET RANGE: Under $1k for upgrades

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: 90% Gaming, 10% generic office

productivity.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED:
2x Viewsonic VX2025WM (1680x1050)
Nice (can't remember part #) Thermaltake case
Thermaltake Black Widow 850W PS.
3xHitachi Deskstar 7200rpm drives.
Windows XP (will consider upgrade)
All other peripherals/drivers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg, but I have ~$200 in amazon gift certs too.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Nvidia/Intel/Asus combos have always treated me well.

OVERCLOCKING: No.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No, my last experience wasn't so hot with 2x 8800GTX. Too much heat, too much finagling with power cables and whatnot.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Not sure about what OS to run. If there's nothing gained, I'd

like to stick with the XP (SP3) install that I have, but I'm told it is capped at

3G usable ram.


I am leaning towards:

Core i7 920
Asus P6T
6B (2x3G 1333 DDR3)
GTX 275


I currently have:

QX6600
Asus Striker Extreme.
2G DDR2/800
GTX 8800

 

[jsc]

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Not sure about what OS to run. If there's nothing gained, I'd

like to stick with the XP (SP3) install that I have, but I'm told it is capped at

3G usable ram.

The 3GB RAM limit is a function of the 32 bit operating system. If you run the same OS with your planned i7 upgrade, you will still have the same problem.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Your planned upgrades look good, but you definitely want a 64-bit OS or half of the RAM will not be used. You can get 64-bit Vista Home Premium with a free upgrade coupon to Windows 7 for $110.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM $109.99

 

[tecmo34]

Is there a reason you what to upgrade? (PC not doing... Can't run this ...).

You have a good upgrade picked out but with the QX6600, your system is still a good gaming PC. IMO, I would just upgrade to the GTX 275 or wait a few weeks for the DX11 cards to be released. For a mainly gaming PC, I don't see it necessary to upgrade to an i7 when you have a good Core2 Quad (be it a little old).

 

[shortstuff_mt]

That's true. You could overclock the CPU, upgrade to 4GB of RAM, and get a new GPU and still have a nice rig.

 

[Shadow703793]

^+1 for OCing. Read up on it and it's pretty easy now days.

 

[jon003]

I, of course, left out one of the more important reasons..... doh.

I like to dual-box (running 2 copies of world of warcraft at the same time).

I originally had 2 8800GTXs in the box, but I never seemed to get that working properly, and you can't (or couldn't when I tried it) run 2 8800s in SLI mode with both monitors on.