Upgrade or change components?

[roth79]

I came here 4 years ago for advise and built the following with everyones help and advise. It has been great but I am running slower and have the itch to open up the case!
I do a little graphics, picture, movies, database work, no gaming at this time andand definitly fast networking card for streaming video. I have a samsung 22 inch monitor.

I built in 07 from newegg parts:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Intel Core 2 QUAD Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA Quad Core Processor
Corsair CMPSU-550V 550 W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready Crossfire
G-Skill 2 GB (2x1GB) 240 pin DDR@ SDRAM2 800(PC2 6400) Dual channel Kit
Nvidia GE Force 8800GT
Seagat Barracuda 7200.10 250gb 7200RPM Sata 3.0GB 3.5'

It is all a pretty antec tower.

I am running win xp pro 32 and do want to upgrade to Win 7 64.

Any advise on the upgrade or replace a few items or R and R.

Thanks everyone for any feedback or suggestions as Im ready.

Thanks,

Roth

 

[sadams04]

MEM - An additional 2GB of memory (totaling 4GB) would be a very welcome upgrade. NOTE: This is a limiting upgrade with a 32 bit OS like WinXP as you will only see about 3.5 of that (depending on your MB).

CPU - The Q6600 will respond well to an overclock of around 3.2GHz. You will need an aftermarket CPU cooler to keep temps in check. The Cooler Master Hyper 212+ is a good cooler for the LGA775 platform.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

GPU - You don't seem to be doing much graphic intensive work so I don't see an upgrade is really in order here. If you do want to add more graphics muscle, the HD 5670 is a good entry level gaming card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102930

NIC - A "fast network card for streaming" is any run of the mill network card. A 10/100 card is plenty fast enough to stream HD content over a home network. A 10/100/1000 card is nice to have, but not 100% necessary.

OS - I know you said you don't want to move to Win7 64bit, but it would give you a noticable speed increase when paired with the 4GB of memory.

 

[roth79]

Thanks Sad, I dont know if I can do more with memory besides 4 GB, I thought thats what I was running as it has 4 modules and 2 are clipped together.

I am probably going to win7 64 asap, but want to research my programs I have now and migrating access databases etc.

Thanks.

 

[008Rohit]

You can overclock the processor a bit. (around 3.0 Ghz)
Don't spend on the RAM now, as your MoBo supports DDR2 RAMs which will be unusable in a new build.
You can consider a SSD and use it as the boot drive. That should speed things up.
If you notice high CPU temps. after overclocking it, you'll have to buy an aftermarket CPU Cooler. The CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ is a great one. Costs about $29.

 

[roth79]

Thank you, sounds like I need another MOBO and processor with new memory huh?

I can use my seagate hd and ge force 880gt vid card?

 

[sadams04]

Thank you, sounds like I need another MOBO and processor with new memory huh?

I can use my seagate hd and ge force 880gt vid card?

That would be a good option. If you can give us a budget and locations you are comfortable to buy from (Newegg, Microcenter, etc), I am sure we can put together a build for you. Not sure I would use the 8800GT with better video cards being pretty inexpensive. The 7200.10 could be used... Let us know exactly what case you have also.

 

[roth79]

I would use Newegg unless there was a great deal elsewhere, as for budget, whatever I need as I want a decent future proof, I do realize that is a dream but as I said I built this with this sites help in 2007 and it needs tweaking.

My case is an antec 900 and I am going to go win 7 pro as I have laptop for networking in the house so it would be easier for file sharing. I did check and I am running 4 mods of g-skill ddR-II s dram, pc2-6400 at 1024 MB each.

My monitor Samsung syncmaster 226.

Thanks for advise.

Roth

 

[roth79]

Any advise please... Bump

R

 

[sadams04]

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k - $220

CPU COOLER: Hyper 212+ - $28

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 - $160

RAM: GSkill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 1.5v - $33

Graphics Card: XFX HD 6770 - $100 after MIR

Hard Drive: Existing 7200.10

Case: Existing Antec 900

Power Supply: Existing corsair 550w

DVD Burner: Existing

$541

 

[008Rohit]

@ sadam

+1

 

[roth79]

Thansk Sad, would that be ok with no ocing as I wont be doing that and maybe more memory for win7 64 bit?

Thanks

 

[008Rohit]

Get i5 2400 and a H67 board if you won't OC.
You can get 8GBs of RAM although its not necessary.

 

[sadams04]

Thansk Sad, would that be ok with no ocing as I wont be doing that and maybe more memory for win7 64 bit?

Thanks

008Rohit's comments are good.... If not overclocking i5-2400 will game the same as the i5-2500 and the H67 motherboard will save you some $. 4GB of RAM is probably enough, but with the prices as low as they are you are probably better off with 8GB (2x4GB) now.

CPU - I5-2400 => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074
H67 MB => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131712
MEM => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231402 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422

 

[roth79]

Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDBRKT2535 3.5" to 2.5" drive adapter bracket Item #: N82E16817812011

MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814127490 $139.99
free Gift - DIRT 3 Game Coupon

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model MZ8GX3M2A1600C9B $52.99

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $149.00

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K $219.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...Item #: N82E16835103065 $27.99

Crucl M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $89.99


Subtotal: $686.93 SORRY cant figure out links unless individual pages so again, sorry.

I am about ready to make this purchase like now, any final advise or suggestions are appreciated, I am also looking at new cases as I want to have usb 3.0 for top of case. I dont know if I can mod the antec 900 but will research. I have to tell you all that the more I read the more changes I make. I am going with the MB and Processor even if not overclocking now...

THANKS.

 

[roth79]

Bump please

 

[roth79]

Best answer selected by roth79.