Upgrade or replace?

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grimus84

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I've got an aging PC that I built sometime in 2006. It showing its age, and I just bought the new Deus Ex, which was my wake up call.

I'm looking for advice as to whether it would be better to completely replace the core hardware with current gen stuff, or upgrade as far as I can with the existing motherboard.

My motherboard is a MSI P6N SLI Platinum. I currently have a Core 2 Duo E6420, overclocked to some speed I can't remember. And it has a Geforce 8800 GTS w/ 320 MB RAM. I have 6GB of DDR2 memory.

One option is to get a used Core 2 Quad Q6600 and see how far I can overclock it. They seem to be going for about $100.
I can also get a pricier LGA 775 cpu, but I have a feeling that the price difference won't be worth it, and I can probably overclock the Q6600 to a similar performance level.

Then for a video card, I think I can just drop in any modern card?

The other option is to completely replace the core, and get everything new and modern, which mean getting a new mobo, cpu, memory, and video card. (Though I'm getting a new video card either way.)

So what would you do?
 
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mjw75

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Honestly I'd replace everything. You want to make sure compatability's never an issue and all of your products are pretty outdated...you need at least a quad-core cpu to run anything modern at more than decent settings. Things like your memory and HDDs are easy to transfer over, but I would definitely recommend at least a new mobo, gpu and cpu (which you plan to get anyway).

How much are you looking to spend?
 
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circulate

circulate

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Well, I'd suggest getting a newegg DIY system. There's a i5 2500k system that only lacks an OS (Can use the HDD you have currently for that and just use that HDD for backup)

It's $570. You'll get a new case, 8 gigs of ddr3, awesome cpu, awesome mobo, great psu, etc. You will need to get something like a gtx460 at least, which you can pick up for like 120 bucks.

If you want a little cheaper solution (but not quite as good of a build) You can get a new z68 mobo for 150, a new gpu for 120, and a new cpu for 180. That's $450 bucks. Also you can get 4 gigs of ddr3 for 30 bucks.

Get a z68 mobo
Get a i5 2500k cpu (king cpu)
Get a gtx460/465 for cheap good graphics (twice as fast as the 8800 you have)
Make sure the ddr3 is 1600 mhz
 
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ram1009

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Personally, I wouldn't upgrade a 5 year old computer unless I couldn't afford to replace it. If you're on a tight budget you'll find AMD preferable to INTEL because the CPU & MB are cheaper and will remain viable longer because INTEL is notorious for obsoleting their own platforms without warning. A Phenom II x 4 will run any game at or near max settings. If you just want the biggest & fastest get INTEL.
 
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grimus84

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I guess my current preference would be for what's fastest/easiest, and then most price efficient. If a new video card and an overclocked Q6600 are going to be good enough to get me playing modern games at medium to high settings for the next 2 years, I think that would be good enough.

But if that's not going to cut it, I can go into full blown new computer mode. I'm somewhat hesitant to do that because its quite a bit of work to do all the research and price hunting that requires, and also because of upcoming platform changes. I've heard AMD is coming out with ?Bulldozer? in a bit, and as ram1009 says, who knows what Intel will do.
 
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mjw75

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I'd say you're safe investing right now. You don't need to spend that much to get a great system that runs games on "Ultimate" settings...I spent about $1600 for a brand new system (minus the case, cooling, and an extra hdd) and have a 7.9 Windows index rating. Upgrade now, you'll be happy you did as I am!

PS.
newegg.com has everything you need. If you want system suggestions, don't hesitate to ask :)
 
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ScrewySqrl

ScrewySqrl

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With a 2006 PC, the DVD and HDD might be IDE, which won't transfer to a new Mobo, unless he gets an outdated AM3 (not AM3+) board.

I'd suggest a full replacement. With again, "What is your budget'
 
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ikaz

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Well as with most People I would suggest building however that being said you could always replace your video card first that way you still will be able to enjoy your newly bought game while saving up for a new rig. So the real quuestion is how much do you want to spend on your video card to start. When your ready to build your replacement you just drop in the you bought first I think its the best of both worlds.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I think you should proceed in two steps. Step one is to replace your video card, AND possibly your PSU at the same time. Get something like a HD6870 (more if you feel the need) and a quality 500W-600W PSU (higher/better depending on the GPU). Install these and see how much of a difference it makes.
If not enough, which is likely based on today's performance analysis article, you won't have wasted any money, as you'll use the new GPU (and PSU) in your new rig.
I do think that pursuing a CPU upgrade for LGA775 would end up being money wasted, although a quadcore CPU would make some difference; I don't think it would be enough.
 
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mjw75

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^+1

Good catch. They do have converters, but that'd just be way too tedious. Memory's (HDDs) cheap! Definitely worth the investment...
 
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megamanx00

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Yeah, looking at the recent article on it looks like you want at least a triple core CPU. A Q6600 overclocked to around 3.6 might help you stretch out that boards life by a little bit, but LGA 775 is about at it's end. Not only that but 650i boards are not great overclockers in general. Even so I assume that you would be able to overclock to the same FSB on the Q6600 that you have on your current chip so that should give you some idea of what to expect. Pair that with a single GTX 460 1GB, GTX 560 Radeon 6850, or 6870 and that should be a good upgrade for you.


With a BIOS update you can get this chip

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Extreme-Qx9650-3-00GHz-12M-1333-SLAN3-CPU-/130554504272?pt=CPUs&hash=item1e65a7a450

And will have a better chance of overclocking it since you will simply raise the multiplier rather than the FSB. Your board doesn't list the 9550 for some reason but takes the 9450 with a BIOS update

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9450-2-66GHz-CPU-Yorkfield-SLAWR-/110732256410?pt=CPUs&hash=item19c828249a

I say spend a little more for the QX, a decent cheap cooler like the Cooler Master 212+, and throw in a GTX 560Ti. That should be a pretty darn good upgrade for you ^_^.
 
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