Is an upgrade worth it, or should I wait?

[jeller]

Yeah thats the standard. I mean there is DDR3 but its too highly priced now.

The tutorial in the hardware tutorial says that you should up by only 5 just in case when overclocking. Do the core clock and the memory clock seperately. Make sure to test it before setting it to "apply when starting windows". I think if you want to be safe start with like a 5% overclock. Its not a lot at all but make sure it works with something like CS:S and then if it works perfectly fine without a lot of heat work up slowly from there.

It can be dangerous if you are reckless to overclock but its perfectly safe so long as you're slow and careful about it. There are usually warning signs before it completely overheats though. You'll see dots appear randomly on the screen.

Like I said I don't know if you'll see any real improvement but if you just need more frames that might just do the trick. Now if you want to increase that detail setting from medium to high then it won't help much.

Thanks.

 

[Nagasama]

wait a minute wait a minute...
what kind of advice is being given here..?
first a core 2 duo would have to be some kinda strange to work in an s939 motherboard..and
there is NO WAY you should upgrade an agp graphics card man. they cost way too much, for one thing. i mean you can get a 7900gs for like 170-180, but it is totally not worth it. for 170 you can get a new mobo and a new chip and be well on your way to a new rig (missing only GFX). a 7600gs is 100 bucks, maybe a little better than that 9550, but not much.
depends on how much cash you have you can go new mobo, new cpu, another gig of ram.
or you could go with an x2 s939 and another gig, but your card is still going to limit you in gaming.

 

[jeller]

wait a minute wait a minute...
what kind of advice is being given here..?
first a core 2 duo would have to be some kinda strange to work in an s939 motherboard..and
there is NO WAY you should upgrade an agp graphics card man. they cost way too much, for one thing. i mean you can get a 7900gs for like 170-180, but it is totally not worth it. for 170 you can get a new mobo and a new chip and be well on your way to a new rig (missing only GFX). a 7600gs is 100 bucks, maybe a little better than that 9550, but not much.
depends on how much cash you have you can go new mobo, new cpu, another gig of ram.
or you could go with an x2 s939 and another gig, but your card is still going to limit you in gaming.

That's what I thought. I'ma wait a little while and get a whole new one.

 

[Nagasama]

that would be smart. you are going to spend a whole lot of cash to get that rig up to current snuff. and that money could be MUCH better spent buying new stuff. one new component at a time if you have to.

 

[lancec2c30]

I agree, if you had a pci-express motherboard I think you could get away with a dual-core cpu upgrade, a new video card and some more ram.

But it would be best for you to just wait it out until you have the funds for a brand new build.

 

[Dakaggo]

After looking over what his specs are maybe it would be better to save up. Although for now buying a little extra ram and overclocking wouldn't hurt.

You would need to either find a very compatible but better motherboard or basically replace the whole computer. If you're replacing the processor, the motherboard, the graphics card and you're buying ram you're pretty close to just building a second computer. All you need is a case, a hard drive and a power supply.

Also you might want to think about making another post to put together some parts. Just don't let everyone on here talk you into upgrading everything unless you want to end up spending $1500.

 

[Nagasama]

tru nuff, but its possible that he can re-use his current PSU and case.
has one gig of ram already, needs two but can get by with one.
he can buy a cheap am2 mobo for 80 bucks, an x2 4000 for 65 bucks, thats 125. can look for a 7900gs on ebay or a cheap open box on the egg for maybe another 100.
225.
anyways, thats irrelevant, because one thing i think you should never cheap out on, no its not the PSU...the motherboard.

 

[Dakaggo]

Really though it'll cost him at least $400 to upgrade and at least $600 for a new computer. If he upgrades his graphics card then it only costs him $100-200. Its definitely a better long term decision to save up but not everyone can afford it.

To upgrade properly that is. If you're going to upgrade you should do it right.

Decent card for upgrade:
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

If he needs an upgrade later he can get a second and put it in SLI if he wanted or simply sell it and get a new one.

Very Good MB for upgrade:
Newegg.com - ABIT IX38 Quad GT LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Good Processor for upgrade:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

So yeah it comes out to about $450 but its a rather good setup. So if he wants to upgrade it'll be about $450 and if he wants to build a new one it'll be about $700. Not exactly wallet friendly.

 

[Nagasama]

okay, so with that 7600gs (which is low end), even if he spends 120 on a mobo, he's looking at 275. (120 mobo, 65 cpu, 90 GFX).
if you are suggesting that he buy that card now (i hope not)...he CANT use that card right now, man. it has a different interface than his mobo. thats what im saying. he cant upgrade to a pcie graphics card when his mobo has an agp slot. lol i suppose "doing it right" would involve buying a card that you can actually use, wouldnt it? <,<

 

[Dakaggo]

okay, so with that 7600gs (which is low end), even if he spends 120 on a mobo, he's looking at 275. (120 mobo, 65 cpu, 90 GFX).
if you are suggesting that he buy that card now (i hope not)...he CANT use that card right now, man. it has a different interface than his mobo. thats what im saying. he cant upgrade to a pcie graphics card when his mobo has an agp slot. lol i suppose "doing it right" would involve buying a card that you can actually use, wouldnt it? <,<

What? I'm talking about upgrading the mobo.

Quote from the 7600gT review

"Very nice clock speeds for the price. Runs CoD4 at near max @ 1024x768, runs f.e.a.r. at max @ 1024x768, maxes out everything I throw at it. With the exception of Crysis, of course."

How is that low end?