Upgrading an existing rig...been a few years

jmacintosh

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Dec 16, 2005
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Currently...

OS - Win XP SP3
Mobo - Asus P5E
Chip - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (No OC) socket 775
RAM - Corsair DDR2 400 Mhz 4 Gb
Video - GeForce 8800 GTS 512Mb
HDD - 2 WD Caviar HDD 7200 RPM (500Gb system + 600Gb storage SATA
Sound - On board
Display - Samsung Syncmaster 226BW 2ms at 1680 x 1050
PS - Corsair 800W non modular
Case - Antec 900
Optical - 2 opticals DVD writer and RW CD

Looking to upgrade Mobo, Chip, RAM, Video for video editing (large files), gaming (iRacing, Skyrim, Fallout, MMOs)...etc...

Considering replacing the monitor. fancied getting a DELL Ultrasharp U2713HM to run 2560 x 1440. what suggestions for a good gaming monitor would you recommend given what I have listed below?

Have pulled these parts from various posts in the forums...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($155.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($324.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $802.93
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-29 01:46 EST-0500)

Question...Is upgrading the OS necessary? I have a hard time letting go of XP, and some of my old legacy programs may not run on Win 7, which apparently is what many are using now. I like dusting off some of the older games and stuff and running it once in a while.

Thanks for your time and consideration. This will be my first build in about 6 years. Always a learning experience getting caught up.

EDIT: I may have posted this originally in the wrong area...my apologies
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Get Windows 7 Pro and you can download the free XP Mode software from Microsoft, it works great for all my old games and is very convenient since it runs in a Window, you just cannot stay with XP -- there are no drivers anymore.

Otherwise your parts choices look very good to me. I like the Dell 27" I have three but only do moderate gaming.

I would also get an SSD though since you are not just a gamer and they really do make the experience better and faster -- just look at a Samsung 120GB 840 EVO.
 

jmacintosh

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Dec 16, 2005
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On pcpartspicker I am getting a message saying the voltage requirement for the G skill ram is higher than the recommended voltage setting for the mother board....any thoughts?
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Yes, x64 will allow you to use all of your memory, 32 bits will give you closer to 3GB or perhaps even less.