Tom's Hardware > Forum > Homebuilt Systems > General Homebuilt > [Solved] How to upgrade gaming pc
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Teme113   10-07-2009 at 11:23:17 PM

Hello, my gaming pc is almost two years old now and I've been thinking of upgrading it - just don't know how exactly. My current specs are

Vista business 32bit

Antec Sonata III - ATX-tower, 500W ATX12V v. 2.0

Asus P5NT WS NVIDIA Dual x16 SLI (C55) motherboard

3,25 gb ram (4gb), Kingston HyperX Low-Latency - 800MHz DDR2



Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2.4GHz

Nvidia 8800 GTS 512mb graphics card

Thanks in advance.

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Best answer from aford10
The board, CPU, and video card are fine. But the RAM needs to be triple channel. The dual channel RAM you picked won't work.

Here's some RAM that would work. Good quality stuff and decent price right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227365
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shortstuff_mt   10-07-2009 at 11:29:56 PM

We need a lot more information than that. What's your budget for this upgrade? What are all the intended uses of the computer? Why do you think you need to upgrade? Is your PC not performing a task as fast as you would like? What resolution does your monitor run at?

Reply to shortstuff_mt
Teme113   10-08-2009 at 01:33:49 AM

It's a gaming pc and the budget is anything from a couple of hundred dollars/euros to several, under 1k though. I'd like to upgrade because I just want a faster machine for future games. :) Monitor runs at... 1680x1050? I think that's the exact number.

Reply to Teme113
mcnuggetofdeath   10-08-2009 at 01:44:47 AM

Get a good heatsink ( Ive heard very good things about the Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer ) and overclock that CPU as far as you can. Odds are you could hit 3GHz by just bumping the FSB to 1333. As much as I dislike Kingston for personal reasons, 4Gb of DDR2 is fine. You only need more throughput per thread if your doing hardcore stuff. Games will not suffer in any noticeable way so long as you have enough VRAM. Grab a second 8800gts for as cheap as you can and throw em in SLI. If you want to go all out, Id suggest getting two GTX 275's and putting them in SLI. Assuming you get two of any videocard, you might want to get a new PSU. Corsair, Cooler Master, Seasonic, and Enermax are all good brands i can think of off the top of my head. Id get at least 600w if you only go to 3GHz and stock clocks on your GPUs, 700w if you plan to go further or expand later. A 3GHz Q6600 and two GTX 275s will more than meet your needs gaming wise. Also, get a 64bit OS


Message edited by mcnuggetofdeath on 10-08-2009 at 01:46:02 AM
Reply to mcnuggetofdeath
aford10   10-08-2009 at 02:08:36 AM

This is a nice combo
i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz BX80605I7870
EVGA P55 SLI Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
GeForce GTX 260
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.273385

G.skill 4GB DDR3 2000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231281

This is towards the top of your budget, but you can adjust where you see fit.

------------------------------ CM HAF 932 - 300GB Velociraptor
GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-DS3R
E8500 - Sapphire 1Gb 4850
4G DDR3 OCZ Reaper 1333
 Reply to aford10
Teme113   10-08-2009 at 06:43:35 AM

Ok, say I bought,

Asus P6T -ATX motherboard (LGA1366) http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=QtpKQuERkuYw6trc

Intel Core i7 950 3,06GHz processor

MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX275 896MB Twin Frozr OC

OCZ Value Edition Dual Channel 4GB Kit 2x2GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz

Would those be compatible and good? Would I need a new PSU too?

Reply to Teme113
aford10   10-08-2009 at 07:54:51 AM
Best answer

The board, CPU, and video card are fine. But the RAM needs to be triple channel. The dual channel RAM you picked won't work.

Here's some RAM that would work. Good quality stuff and decent price right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227365

------------------------------ CM HAF 932 - 300GB Velociraptor
GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-DS3R
E8500 - Sapphire 1Gb 4850
4G DDR3 OCZ Reaper 1333
 Reply to aford10
Teme113   10-08-2009 at 03:05:22 PM

Alright, triple channel. It's 6gb though and I only have a 32bit Vista at the moment -- is that a problem, and should I wait till I buy the 64bit Windows 7?

How about the PSU? Is my current 500W enough or do I need a 600W?

Reply to Teme113
Teme113   10-08-2009 at 04:50:28 PM

If I buy the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade thing, will I be able to upgrade to a 64 bit system from my 32 bit, or do I need to buy the full new version of Windows 7? I'm just wondering if I have to do a clean install (ugh) or just upgrade.

Reply to Teme113
shortstuff_mt   10-08-2009 at 05:17:40 PM

You can never do an upgrade installation from 32-bit to 64-bit. You have to do a clean install. :(

Reply to shortstuff_mt
Teme113   10-08-2009 at 05:50:33 PM

Ok, so I guess I'll do that then...

If I upgrade to that 6gb RAM before that, however, will it actually slow down my computer since my 32 bit doesn't support that much?

What about the PSU? Does the faster CPU require that 600W?

Reply to Teme113
False_Dmitry_II   10-08-2009 at 05:59:22 PM

Having RAM over the limit won't slow you down, it'll just change the amount of it that you can use.

Reply to False_Dmitry_II
aford10   10-08-2009 at 07:09:33 PM

An antec 500w PSU should be fine with a single gtx275.

------------------------------ CM HAF 932 - 300GB Velociraptor
GIGABYTE GA-EP45T-DS3R
E8500 - Sapphire 1Gb 4850
4G DDR3 OCZ Reaper 1333
 Reply to aford10
Teme113   10-09-2009 at 05:46:26 PM

Thanks for the answers, I couldn't have done this by myself. Now to buy the stuff. :)

Reply to Teme113
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