Old system...upgrade or replace?

[lschmidt]

My brother has the following:

Intel DQ965 mobo
Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86 Ghz
9800 GTX+
4 GB some generic RAM

Would it be best to upgrade this or build something totally new? He's currently playing on a 19" monitor and runs windows xp.

Games like BFBC2 are runnable, but don't shine by any means (~30 FPS on all low for bfbc2)....just looking for best bang-for-buck improvement.

Thanks

 

[obsidian86]

budget?

 

[tecmo34]

Budget is a good starting point....

I would recommend OCing your CPU to get it some more power to help improve your system, as the first start.

 

[willmalcom]

If you can come up with $750.00 then follow this link and maybe try to replicate this process.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/value-gaming-pc,2578.html

 

[megamanx00]

Go over to the Intel CPU support page to see what CPUs that board will support with a BIOS update and go from there. If it supports at least a Q6600 I would try to get that and overclock the heck out of it.

 

[dndhatcher]

A 9800 GTX+ is still a decent mid-low range graphics card. Pairing it with a stronger CPU (by replacing or overclocking) is going to get you a decent performance boost. You want to hit 3GHz or faster on the CPU. Speed is more important than going quad core.

 

[builderbobftw]

But this stuff:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339381

OR:

Skip the CPU, and stick to the Card.

 

[englandr753]

But this stuff:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339381

OR:

Skip the CPU, and stick to the Card.

His current CPU would bottleneck the heck out of that card even OC'd. Don't spend 550.00 on a video card! Follow the previous advice on trying to OC your cpu 1st, if that doesn't make you happy then see what is the max cpu your motherboard will support and consider going that route.

How can you recommend a 550.00 video card with a 19" monitor and an E6300? Without knowing his budget this doesn't make any sense at all...

 

[dirtmountain]

Try overclocking first, a new heatsink and fan should run $30 or so. There's also a possibility of upgrading your CPU to a Q6600 for around $200. Make sure you research it before buying. Going with a whole new build will be more expensive, but is an option if the $$ are there.

http://processormatch.intel.com/COMPDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=dq965gf

http://www.motherboardpro.com/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q6600-2.4GHz-1066FSB-Quad-Core-Processor-LGA775-8MB-L2-Cache-p-452.html

 

[builderbobftw]

His current CPU would bottleneck the heck out of that card even OC'd. Don't spend 550.00 on a video card! Follow the previous advice on trying to OC your cpu 1st, if that doesn't make you happy then see what is the max cpu your motherboard will support and consider going that route.

How can you recommend a 550.00 video card with a 19" monitor and an E6300? Without knowing his budget this doesn't make any sense at all...

It's a 400$ video card and a new CPU in a bundle/combo.

 

[lschmidt]

I don't think a new video card is the solution...I have a 8800 GT and can run games fine. The goal is essentially to get his system to perform similar to mine, which is:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
C2Q Q6600
MSI 8800 GT (Factory OC'd)
4GB Corsair XMS2

Will the difference between our motherboards affect performance much if we get the same processor? ie If he upgrades to a Q6600 and stays with the Intel DQ965 will that mobo/cpu combo perform the same as my mobo/cpu?

If that's the case, then I think only the CPU needs to be upgraded. How future-proof is a Q6600 at this point though?

 

[builderbobftw]

800Gt=Crap.

 

[dirtmountain]

You can compare the Q6600 and other CPUs here.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=53&p2=106&c=1

9800GT = 8800GT benchmarks here.

http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/bad-company-2-benchmarks-/1036660

Battlefield Bad Company2 tuning guide.

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/battlefield_bad_company_2_tuning_guide,1.html