Question in regards to upgrading or new build

[zetahammy]

Hey all,

Simple question, i guess it's more of just whats practical and makes sense.

currently my set up is:

CPU: AMD 3600+ Brisbane 2.6ghz
MOBO: BioStar TForce 550SE
Ram: 2x G.SKILL 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 QRs
Video Card: ATI 1950xt 256mb
Case: Cooler Master Centurion 5
PSU: Corsaid 520HX
HSF: Arctic Cooler Freezer 64 PRo

It's actually lasted me for alittle more than 2 years and still gaming on it like L4D, but nothing too heavy. Anyways, I'm not sure if it's just the summer but my rig is starting to overheat consistantly (i cleaned out the dust with compressed air already and I even have to run a fan infront of tower so i'm assuming more air goes in for air flow), starting to get a lot of artifacts from gpu when i play games now adays, and a couple other problems. (I keeping it up to date with defraging, running adaware, ccleaner, antivirus, and all that good stuff)

well..

Now for sure I know i'm going to buy new parts when SC2 and Diablo 3 and all those good games out so I can run them smoothly but they still are aways away from coming out anytime soon. My plan originally was just to build a whole new computer seperately and keep the old one for whatever and the new one for primary use.

i guess my question is... Should I upgrade parts now? just so I can live through the summer and then buy parts for a whole new rig when those come out? or just hold out and wait?

What sounds more practical?

 

[zetahammy]

haha ok after reading it again, I don't think it makes much sense I guess just simply.

What would you guys recommend for me to upgrade just to hold over for now? Because like I said, when those games come out i'm just gonna go all out with new parts.

THANKS! sorry if i'm confusing i'm just not sure what to do. because I want practicality without having to spend too much and then having to spend even more later when it doesn't make sense too.

 

[Muffin Man]

i really don't know what difference it would make whether you upgrade now or later, you will still end up upgrading. unless you are talking about maybe not having enough money until the end of the summer, then i can see.

if you dont want to spend much, you could reuse some of your old parts. (whats your budget)

- case
- psu
- hdd
- cd drive

maybe your ram, if your budget is really low. but even 2 gigs is only like $20, so you could pick up better ram.

so basicly, you'd need

- new mobo
- new cpu
- new gpu
- new ram

 

[philbar71]

how much are you willing to spend if you upgrade over the summer.

my suggestion is to wait till this october, then intel will have released new CPU's and nvidia and ati will have DX 11 GPU's out by then too.

 

[zetahammy]

Both of you guys are absolutely right. I guess I just needed a second confirmation.

But yea big thing is that i don't want to spend too much money by the end of summer and when those games come out is when I do want to go all out. So I guess what do you guys recommend being the cheapest upgrade?

I know initially I want to change up the case, because this case is good but I'm finding a lot of times where there isn't good airflow and its just not keeping my system cool when i play video games.

Then there's the addition of RAM.

What else would be cheap to upgrade? i would ofcourse be using everything else like the opticals and hdd.

Is there a cheap gpu I can get thats better than mine right now?

Thanks again guys.

Oh yea and I guess I want the budget right now for like 200 to 250 + or - if it goes above that price thats including the upgrade of the case (which i know will be like 100 for a decent one and ram like 20)

 

[Muffin Man]

ok, i think that something you should consider replacing should be the mobo. i think your mobo only supports a few other athlon 64 x2's which are becoming pretty dated and thats about it. i dont know if it supports any other cpu's not listed in its list.

these are kinda pushing your budget, but would allow for future upgrades

Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TA790GX XE AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 3AXT6400C5-2048K - Desktop Memory

total is $268 + $25 shipping

that case has good airflow and is from a good brand. the mobo supports up to am3 cpus, so you will have alot more choices for cpu upgrades that will perform alot better.

the 4850 is one of the best bangs for your buck gfx cards, and should be able to handle most games.