Upgrading Options for Socket 775

[capri435]

Hi Everyone

My system config is :

Intel q6600 quad core OCed to 3GHz
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Mobo
Corsair DDR2 6400 4gb RAM
Gigabyte Geforce 8800 512MB GPU
Thermaltake 500W Power supply
Samsung 22inch LCD @ 1650x1080

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit OS

I want to upgrade my system without spending too much to prolong its life by 2-3 years.

I am planning to add 4gb of Ram and a Radeon HD6850.Will the CPU be too much of a bottleneck or is it worth upgrading.Also will the power supply be able to handle these new componenets.

Shall I also upgrade my Motherboard?? as socket 775 mobos are pretty cheap now.Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Wamphryi]

Firstly dont get another 4 GB RAM it wont boost your performance. That Quad is about as fast as you will get on that architecture. The PSU should handle the GPU. The only thing worth upgrading to is the 6850. If you want a major boost you have to go i5-i7.

 

[capri435]

So will extra RAM be a complete waste??? coz I plan to use this system for another couple of years.

I use it for Graphic designing softwares like photoshop,dreamweaver etc and gaming.

 

[Wamphryi]

Every test I have ever seen failed to show any real difference in performance by jumping to 8 GB RAM. Maybe if you had a dozen applications going at once then you might see something but apart from that nothing. Any gain that you might make under very limited circumstances would be as nothing compared to the gain you would get by upgrading to the i series. The GPU upgrade may give you a better gaming experience but that is all. The Core Series is old and yours has reached its peak. An SSD or faster HDD may help it but RAM...save your cash.

 

[mosox]

You can get a HD 6870 if you plan to get a full HD monitor later.

 

[coldsleep]

There was an article yesterday about upgrading RAM. You might want to review it and see if it will provide a worthwhile boost.

I agree with Malmental though, upgrade the graphics card (and the RAM if you feel it's worth it) and don't worry about upgrading the rest of the system, it won't be worth the money you put into it. The money could better be saved and used for a new system in a year or so.

EDIT: The Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is selling for the same price as the 500 GB right now.

 

[capri435]

with GTX460 being close to $200 I think its a better option than Radeon 6850...

 

[coldsleep]

with GTX460 being close to $200 I think its a better option than Radeon 6850...

Right now, Tom's Hardware has them listed as a virtual tie (GTX 460 1 GB vs. 6850). I would just get whichever you can find the best deal on. If you find a 6850 for less than a GTX 460, go for it. If you find all of the 6850s are more expensive, go for a 460.

 

[Wamphryi]

I checked out the RAM article and it was very interesting. It seems to me that it is still not worth it to have more than 4 GB RAM. I had a Core 2 Quad with 8 GB RAM and an i7 with 4 GB RAM. Both had Velicoraptors for HDD's. When it came to rendering the i7 won hands down and it only had half the RAM. I never really noticed any major advantage to the 8 GB configuration. Indeed it made my boot times longer as the system had more RAM to deal with.

 

[capri435]

for Radeon 6850 recommended power is 500 Watt or greater and for GTX460 its 450W

I think its a safe for me to go for GTX460 with my 500W supply

And I think RAM upgrade would not make much of a difference and i should rather save money for my next big upgrade

 

[mosox]

The 460 consumes more than the 6850 (160W and 127W). Most of the 460's are slower than the 6850, only the heavily overclocked ones beat it by a small margin and those consume even more (up to 200W).