Please help me upgrading my computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter mbegz
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mbegz

Hi all

My computer is 2 years old and I like to upgrade CPU and Memory. The
spec of my computer is below.

As u can see I have DDR2 800MHz, do you think if I replace it say with
DDR3 1600. would if make any difference to the performance of the
computer ?

Which CPU I should go for. My budget for it is £100.

By the way beside surfing and I do flying using MS FX.

Thanks for your suggestion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abit IP35 Pro

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail
Boxed Processor

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit Non-ECC
Unbuffered CL5 1.9V

SAMSUNG 500GB ATA Hard drive
 
Hi all

My computer is 2 years old and I like to upgrade CPU and Memory. The
spec of my computer is below.

As u can see I have DDR2 800MHz, do you think if I replace it say with
DDR3 1600. would if make any difference to the performance of the
computer ?

Which CPU I should go for. My budget for it is £100.

By the way beside surfing and I do flying using MS FX.

Thanks for your suggestion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abit IP35 Pro

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail
Boxed Processor

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit Non-ECC
Unbuffered CL5 1.9V

SAMSUNG 500GB ATA Hard drive
Click to expand...

For that spec and budget, you are not going to get a performance improvement
for £100, unless you simply upgrade the graphics card - you need to think of
power requirements if you go for a 'hungry' card. Given your stated uses,
this would be the most sensible thing to upgrade anyway.

If you are happy with your current graphics setup, then just leave it alone,
or simply get a bigger/faster hard disk or more memory. You haven't
mentioned operating system, but if you are on Windows XP 32 bit, then I
would save your money and do nothing to the RAM (it can't use much over 3GB
RAM)! If you are on a 64-bit operating system, then you could increase the
amount of RAM, but for your stated uses it would probably be a waste.

You *could* upgrade the CPU and go for a slightly faster 4 core version
(recommend ebay for that), but 775 socket is old technology now, so you
would be throwing away the money really and it doesn't sound like you use
any software that would benefit from 4 cores?

You would need 300-400 to do a 'real' upgrade of your system. £100 would
barely afford a new motherboard, never mind the different RAM (and CPU)
required for the newer Core i3, i5 and i7s. An upgrade like this would make
things quicker, but would only improve the flight sim - the internet speed
is your surfing bottleneck.

The newer AMD processors are more 'budget' than intel, but you still
couldn't do it on £100.
 
Hi all

My computer is 2 years old and I like to upgrade CPU and Memory. The
spec of my computer is below.

As u can see I have DDR2 800MHz, do you think if I replace it say with
DDR3 1600. would if make any difference to the performance of the
computer ?

Which CPU I should go for. My budget for it is £100.

By the way beside surfing and I do flying using MS FX.

Thanks for your suggestion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abit IP35 Pro

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail
Boxed Processor

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit Non-ECC
Unbuffered CL5 1.9V

SAMSUNG 500GB ATA Hard drive
Click to expand...

You cannot replace DDR2 memory with DDR3 -- they are not in any way
compatible. Your motherboard will support DDR2-1066 memory but it is
unlikely that you will see any real improvement from faster memory. On the
other hand if you could find another kit of the same type of Corsair memory
and doubled your total memory then you could see an improvement in overall
speed. For £100 it seems unlikely that you will be able to do much more
than this. The video card should do fine for almost anything except
hard-core gaming. The hard drive is probably fine too unless you are
running out of space. The CPU is likely adequate -- you could put in a
quad-core processor which your MB supports but you will immediately run
into the budget limit. In the US I could buy a compatible Q8400 processor
for just about £100 before tax and shipping but you know how the prices
compare here vs. there and I doubt that it would be possible in the land of
VAT.

From my experience, it is seldom economical to merely upgrade an existing
computer just a bit -- some people say that anything less than twice as
fast is an unnoticeable improvement. In any case it takes a major
performance increase before you will notice it in everyday usage. If you
can limp along with your present system perhaps you can save your pence
until such time as you can buy a completely new system or at least gut your
present system and stuff in a new MB, processor, and memory. That way you
will get a serious thrill when you turn it on and find it is five times
faster than your old system.
 
Hi all

My computer is 2 years old and I like to upgrade CPU and Memory. The
spec of my computer is below.

As u can see I have DDR2 800MHz, do you think if I replace it say with
DDR3 1600. would if make any difference to the performance of the
computer ?

Which CPU I should go for. My budget for it is £100.

By the way beside surfing and I do flying using MS FX.

Thanks for your suggestion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abit IP35 Pro

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail
Boxed Processor

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit Non-ECC
Unbuffered CL5 1.9V

SAMSUNG 500GB ATA Hard drive
Click to expand...

This is always a hard question to answer.

First, you can get acceptable frame rates, by turning down the level of detail.
So that option is what Microsoft would suggest you use. They have a
ridiculous minimum system requirement for the game.

I'd recommend visiting one of the web forums that discuss FSX, as
a lot of characterization work has already been done, as to what
helps with FSX performance. You need to find out from those experts,
where the best investment would be, to help game play.

The results here are all over the place. The problem is a lack
of discipline amongst the participants.

http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=140426

And more weirdness here. A 9800GTX seems to hold the frame rate,
even at high resolutions like 1920x1200 ultra quality. Maybe the
game has a frame rate lock, preventing the frame rate from getting
higher ?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-comparison,2007-18.html

The processor seems to help. They used a GTX 275 video card for the
processor comparison here. Maybe a quad which was overclocked
a bit would be the answer.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3580

The implication is, a "minimum" video card, plus a better processor.

*******

So if I were to go by that, what hardware would I buy.

The 9800 GTX+ might be a start. Rebranded, that is the GTS 250.

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=606&card2=571

That's £106 right there (if you can find one in stock some where),
so the upgrade budget is exhausted.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/47267/XFX-GeForce-GTS-250-1GB-GDDR3-PCI-E-2-0--x16-

The cheapest quad core processor, is £116.99, and you'd
need to overclock this a bit, to make it worthwhile for
other usages. The clock rate is slower than your current one,
but the quad cores helps compensate.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Quad Core CPU 2.50GHz 4M Cache 1333MHz LGA775 £116.99

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/S...lue_string|Processor+Socket=LGA775+(Socket+T)

The Q9550 has more cache, but I don't know if that makes a
difference to FSX. And at £228.26, that's out of your
upgrade price range. In my testing here, comparing dual core
2MB cache to 6MB cache, I don't see the cache make a difference
very often.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/37897/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q9550-Quad-Core-CPU-2-83GHz-L2

I'd think about £225 would be a minimum upgrade. Or
just move the sliders down in FSX :-)

This is the CPU support chart for your motherboard...

http://www.abit.com.tw/cpu-support-list/mb/intel_p35_ip35-pro.htm

and BIOS updates are still showing here.

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/down...pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=IP35+Pro&pSOCKET_TYPE=LGA775

Paul
 
Hi all

My computer is 2 years old and I like to upgrade CPU and Memory. The
spec of my computer is below.

As u can see I have DDR2 800MHz, do you think if I replace it say with
DDR3 1600. would if make any difference to the performance of the
computer ?

Which CPU I should go for. My budget for it is £100.

By the way beside surfing and I do flying using MS FX.

Thanks for your suggestion.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abit IP35 Pro

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Socket 775 (2.66GHz) FSB1333 6MB Cache Retail
Boxed Processor

Inno3D 8600GT 256MB 128bit DDR3 Dual DVI PCI-E Graphics Card

Corsair 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit Non-ECC
Unbuffered CL5 1.9V

SAMSUNG 500GB ATA Hard drive
Click to expand...

It's pretty much as simplest as this.

1. Point your browser to an online store which you plan to buy from. Or if
you want to learn more about the price and selection then stop by some web
page like www.newegg.com to READ the feedbacks to learn the possitive and
negative of the selection. And it may give you some idea about the price.

I do understand you are from UK and may not order from Newegg, but to READ
to learn more about the choice.

2. I would suggest to upgrade the CPU + Motherboard, and Memory. And you
may be able to get by with £100, then add more memory later.

That's it! you should be able to find out which motherboard will accept
the CPU, and what type of memory the motherboard will accept, and go from
there. ABout the Samsung 500GB I have no idea, and would worry about it,
unless you don't have any hard drive at the moment.

And I would go with 1TB SATA hard drive. I don't know if the price is
getting any lower lately, but around a year ago I paid around 65-70US$ for
1TB SATA (they were probably onsale?)
 
I do understand you are from UK and may not order from Newegg, but to
READ to learn more about the choice.
Click to expand...

In which case, a visit to <http://www.ebuyer.com> would be more appropriate
as they have a good selection of items and usually offer the best price
on fast selling items.
 
J G Miller said:
In which case, a visit to <http://www.ebuyer.com> would be more appropriate
as they have a good selection of items and usually offer the best price
on fast selling items.
Click to expand...

Thanks and if it's a best place then why not. Me? I buy from whatever
company gives me the lowest price, and I do shopping.

I have never bought anything from Ebuyer, so I guess they don't do very
good with advertising or their price isn't the lowest so I never heard of
it.
 
Joel said:
Thanks and if it's a best place then why not. Me? I buy from whatever
company gives me the lowest price, and I do shopping.

I have never bought anything from Ebuyer, so I guess they don't do very
good with advertising or their price isn't the lowest so I never heard of
it.
Click to expand...

Some of us shop around without relying solely on advertising. eBuyer are
typically competitive on price. So are CCL Computers, in my experience, but
I have never seen a single advert from them. Scan are another good company
in the UK - best way to get a price from them is to find the serial or model
number of what you want and search their site using that - they don't seem
to list all their items in their online catalogue, but model numbers turn up
most things!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q="computer+components"++UK

eBuyer is position 6 on the list today!
 
Hi all

Perhaps I did not explain properly. £100 or there about is for CPU and
another £100 for the memory . Anyway thanks everybody for helping me
especially Paul. I appreciate it. Now I have to digest what you
folks have advised.
 
GT said:
Some of us shop around without relying solely on advertising. eBuyer are
typically competitive on price. So are CCL Computers, in my experience, but
I have never seen a single advert from them. Scan are another good company
in the UK - best way to get a price from them is to find the serial or model
number of what you want and search their site using that - they don't seem
to list all their items in their online catalogue, but model numbers turn up
most things!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q="computer+components"++UK

eBuyer is position 6 on the list today!
Click to expand...

Ohh.. so eBuyer is UK company? No wonder I never heard of eBuyer, because
I am in USA and eBuyer often not found in my shopping list.

Like in my previous message I told the OP to read www.newegg.com which is
US company just for the end users' feedbacks not to order from oversea
company.
 
J G Miller said:
Was that not obvious from the context?
Click to expand...

Not really but could be. The OP is from UK so I would say that getting
information and buying from UK would be a better choice for him/her. I just
suggested checking with www.newegg.com because it has many feedbacks from
end users.
 
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