Thinking of doing some upgrading....

[outlawstar15a2]

Once I get on my feet financially I'm thinking of doing some upgrading of PC hardware.

*I currently have a Intel Scroeder Town G33 motherboard with a Intel Q6600 Quad Core 2 CPU @ 2.4 GHz. I want to keep my current motherboard and get another quad core (preferably in the Q series) with a faster clock speed something like 3.5 GH per processor.

*I have 2 gigs of DDR2 memory @ 667 MHz I believe and I want to add another two gigs of identical memory.

*I have a 400 watt PSU and I probably will upgrade to a 500 something to ensure I can handle the new hardware.

*And I also want to get a UPS but thats for system protection against power changes.

My question is threefold. One, will any of this necessitate a reinstall of Vista due to HAL problems? Two, what does the HAL register to Vista and what would require a OS reinstall? And three, when a hardware change is made what type of reinstall is needed? Repair (non-destructive) or full (destructive)?


EDIT: Also some of the games I want to play have CPU requirements of 3.0, 3.2, 3.5 GHz. The highest clockspeed for CPUs compatible with my chipset and motherboard is 3.0 GHz. However on these games I far exceed their other requirements many times. Is it possible I won't notice these last few MHz? Or will it have dire effects. If so, is this a sign I should save enough for a newer PC?

 

[hefox]

You are talking about games but I don't see any proper video card. Have you missed writing it or you just use the onboard one?

 

[mi1ez]

+1 to video card.

Also, will your motherboard allow any overclocking, I wouldn't recommend upgrading an LGA775 quad for another LGA775 quad.

 

[RickyT23]

You could get a new motherboard. Then you will be able to overclock your CPU. Gigabyte are good boards for overclocking on a budget.

 

[outlawstar15a2]

@Hefox: I didn't include my GPU because I don't want to upgrade it. I am very happy with it.

@RickyT23: But if I get a different motherboard I then have to reinstall Vista. And then do I have to do a clean install, or a repair install? I was trying to avoid a reinstallation due to the HAL changes. Otherwise I would just save up for another PC.... But I do want to keep this one first.

 

[hefox]

Could you tell us what video card you have? What is the resolution that you are playing the games?

 

[outlawstar15a2]

I usually play at 1024x768. Any higher and I can't see anything as it's too small. I have a Nvidia 9600 GT 1 with 1 gig of VRAM. Though, I made this post in order to make sure my intended hardware upgrades are viable.

 

[Raidur]

What are you hoping to accomplish with a new processor? Your Q6600 is more than enough to keep up with a 9600GT in gaming.

If your mobo is capable, a little overclock can shine new life into your PC.

 

[outlawstar15a2]

I don't think my motherboard can overclock. It's a Intel made BIOS on a Intel made motherboard, but Gateway loaded their own driver. They seem to have removed any overclocking options, it doesn't appear in the BIOS.

And isn't there a limit on how far you can overclock it? I just want to be able to play the new games coming out without the CPU being a liability.

 

[singingigo]

At that resolution, your card & cpu can play Crysis with high settings. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-9600-gt,1780-13.html.

When reviewing system requirements for games, it is CRITICAL that you check what TYPE and MODEL of processor they list as the minimum. Your Q6600 could crush two 3.8GHZ P4s (with hyperthreading enabled!). Heck, my dual-core P8700 laptop processor can beat the old Pentium D 960 (3.6 GHZ).

The only upgrade I would consider is more memory...vista is a dog, and 4 gigs is nice. But even with that upgrade, unless you have a 64-bit installation of Vista, you won't be able to use all the memory, most likely only 3 GB.

Bottom line: save up your money and buy a new PC!

 

[outlawstar15a2]

Well several of the games I want to play require a 3+ Ghz CPU. Ok, I might be fine for those. But some require a 3.0 or in some cases 3.5 Ghz Dual Core. Those are the ones I worry about because as far as I know nobody supports four cores yet. So theres no way for me to get around it.

Like I have a Playstation 2 emulator and I can't run it because it requires a 3.2 Ghz Dual Core so the performance is real crappy. I went to play Xenosaga Ep 1 on it. The movies were fine as were the pre-rendered scenes. But when it came to start the Encephalon simulation (a part of the game that is rendered on the spot) it was like watching one of those freaky slide shows...

 

[singingigo]

What games do you want to play specifically? And did you check to see if the issue was the CPU or the video card with the PS2 emulator?

 

[singingigo]

If you motherboard supports it, you can put in the wolfdate E8700 which is a 3.5 GHZ dual core. I have the Q9650 3.0GHZ quad at work which might also work, but it's a yorkfield, which is even newer.

There are precious few stock 3.5+ GHZ processors, and most of them would require you to ditch the 775 chipset for the Core i-series or the top end Phenom II series.

 

[outlawstar15a2]

This E8700 sounds interesting though Intel removed it from their site. I also found out I'll be making more money then I thought if all goes well. At the rate I'm going I can go in either direction...