PC upgrade for games

[rank]

Hi everyone;

Firstly, i was thinking about to buy a ps3 (120gb slim). If I buy a ps3, I'll have to buy a full hd monitor
for the best game experience. But I need a cheaper solution. I wanna upgrade my pc.

- Core 2 Duo e6300 cpu 1.86 Ghz
- 2gb ddr2 ram
- xp pro sp3
- ati x1650 pro

I'll buy ati hd5770 & 500w psu (active PFC). Overclock is possible for this cpu but I don't trust it.
I think stability is a problem. Is it enough for games (1440x900 resolution & medium detail)?

Do you have any suggestion?

 

[o1die]

Depends on your motherboard for overclocking settings. You can look for a used q6600 and try overclocking it. Most of them will run at 3.0 easily, unless your board is oem for dell, hp, etc. These cpus go for around $100 used, but I found one with free board recently for the same price.

 

[haphestus]

An ATI 5770 will chew through games at that resolution, so you may find you can crank up the graphics past medium.

Just watch out for physX settings and shadows, as these depend on the CPU as ATI do not support physX. Turn these down unless you change your CPU.

What make is you current PC? If it is a Dell, judging by the specs its a few years old and if so it will probably be a proprietary motherboard and you wont be able to upgrade the power supply.

Let me know what you have and I will let you know what you can do with it.

If its not a Dell then you should be fine for a standard ATX power supply. If you are going to play with over-clocking I would recommend an ANTEC True Power 550. The stability of these is rock solid and power stability is vital should you wish to over clock a CPU.

Hope this helps

 

[rank]

Thanks for answers;

My current components are:

- e6300 1.86 Ghz (2.8 with overclock but i am not sure to do)
- Asus P5B motherboard
- 2 GB Kingston DDR2 RAM

And i will add these components to the system :

- hd5770
- Highpower or Xilence Psu (500 watt)

Well, is this a enough system for games?

 

[o1die]

Don't know who makes them. You'll need about 22 amps minimum on each 12v rail; ps specs are usually on the label. I recommend corsair, antec, or ocz for the ps.

 

[haphestus]

In short your system will play games, but never to maximum detail.

To be honest most people never play them at Ultra settings due to the hardware required. Games designers know this and make the games enjoyable even at lower settings.

When changing your graphics card make sure you upgrade the BIOS on your MOBO. This will rule out any compatibility problems with your new graphics card.

What Power supply do you have at the moment?

If your lucky you may be able to upgrade your graphics card and your CPU. The ATI 5770 card is very power efficient and only requires one 75watt 6 pin connector.

Check this link http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5770/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5770-overview.aspx#3

If you can get a quad core Q6600 cpu and this graphics card into your system then you will have a far superior experience.

Let me know what PSU you have

 

[rank]

That's not enough.

I'm planning to buy this one : http://www.highpowersupply.com/HP500G12S.html

Q6600 is the best option to get but i need a cheaper solution. If i change the cpu, i may buy ''core 2 duo e7500 (2.93 Ghz)'' at most.

 

[haphestus]

That power supply will be fine. Never heard of it before but looks ok.

If you can upgrade your CPU even if its the core 2 duo not the quad core, the extra mhz will make a good difference.

Ultra settings on games will still be out of reach though, but you will still be able to play them on medium to high.