Just bought used system -- upgrade path?

[westernbiological]

Hi all, after trying to convince myself my 2008 macbook pro was an adequate gaming machine, I bought an old system I can use to catch up on the last 5 years of games and upgrade as I go along, maybe mess around with over clocking (it's been a looong time). My current monitor maxes out at 1680x1050 so I don't have to worry about higher resolutions for now.

The system:
Antec 900 full tower
Striker II Extreme 790i Ultra motherboard.
Intel Core Duo 3.16 Ghz cpu
4 gb DDR3 1333
500 gb WD Caviar Black hdd
Logitech G5 gaming mouse
2 x BFG Tech GTX 260 video cards
Antec 850-TPQ PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

1) Is $400 a decent price for the above system + copy of Win7?
2) Is there anything to be wary of mixing older PSUs with new MB and CPUs?
3) Will upgrading to 8GB RAM (the max the board can take) make much of a difference? What about installing 1600MHz?
4) Suggestions for first upgrade? Second?

Cheers,
Born-Again-Noob

 

[Guest]

Hi all, after trying to convince myself my 2008 macbook pro was an adequate gaming machine, I bought an old system I can use to catch up on the last 5 years of games and upgrade as I go along, maybe mess around with over clocking (it's been a looong time). My current monitor maxes out at 1680x1050 so I don't have to worry about higher resolutions for now.

The system:
Antec 900 full tower
Striker II Extreme 790i Ultra motherboard.
Intel Core Duo 3.16 Ghz cpu
4 gb DDR3 1333
500 gb WD Caviar Black hdd
Logitech G5 gaming mouse
2 x BFG Tech GTX 260 video cards
Antec 850-TPQ PSU
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

1) Is $400 a decent price for the above system + copy of Win7?
2) Is there anything to be wary of mixing older PSUs with new MB and CPUs?
3) Will upgrading to 8GB RAM (the max the board can take) make much of a difference? What about installing 1600MHz?
4) Suggestions for first upgrade? Second?

Cheers,
Born-Again-Noob

1) I guess it depends how many parts you keep.
2) You have a really good psu, no problem
3) You won't get much of a difference going from 4gb to 8gb or 1333 mhz to 1600 mhz.
4) I would wait till Ivy Bridge in April and then get new cpu/motherboard. I don't think it's worth it buying a new cpu for a 775 motherboard. A gtx 570 is a really good card not sure how big of an upgrade over gtx 260 sli. If you want to but a gaming cpu now the i5-2500k is widely considered the best.

 

[jrazor247]

that's a great price. I assume the 3.16 GHz chip is E8500. you could prob only build i3 system for 400$, which is about the same CPU wise. I've got that chip and it overclocks very well, running at 3.8 GHz. Specs say your board can go up to DDR3 2000, but it may be tricky to find RAM compatible with an older board. If not playing newer DirectX 11 games, the GTX 260s should hold you over. Battlefield 3 multiplayer is one of the few games maxing out my CPU, so if you upgraded the video cards, you may be CPU bound in newer games. It's a very balanced system you've got; I would really only invest in some memory and enjoy it as it is.

 

[roald]

Not a bad price but your upgrade potential is very limited. The core I series use a different socket and will require you to get a new mobo.

 

[Raiddinn]

The setup is surprisingly not bad.

Don't get the new RAM.

Apple hardware is always overpriced by 2x - 3x. The rest is the coolness premium. I am not surprised it would have a tough time with gaming.

The next thing I would get is an Ivy Bridge processor when you get around to it. You will need a new motherboard with that most likely and new RAM. Replace the whole thing in one shot and be prepared to reinstall Windows when you do it.

 

[westernbiological]

Ok, thanks to all for the feedback -- will hold off doing any major surgery (new mobo / cpu) for awhile. Thus far very happy with the performance.