Maximising what rig i currently have

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Maximising what rig i currently have

2010-02-19 08:41:20

baggs: Member; +732|6463

Good afternoon young Sir(s).

I have a rig, which does just about ok at the moment but i'm anticipating it not being up to the job on some games that are up and coming. I do not wish to replace it really but i could be persuaded to upgrade a couple things. It's composed of:

Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2L Mobo
E5200 C2D Chip (@ Stock)
F7P Cooler
nVidia 9800GT GPU
X-Fi Xtreme Audio
2GB XMS2 RAM (4-4-4-12 @ 2.1v I think)
XP32 OS
Hyper Modular PSU (600watt?)
XA7-19i 1280x1024 LCD Monitor.

Now i would assume first step is to OC that chip some, right? Would Win7 and some more RAM be an option? A new GPU + Monitor?

I dunno!

2010-02-19 08:45:58

Rofl_My_Waffle: Member; +11|6950

The weakest part of you system is indeed the RAM. You have to upgrade if you want to play newer games. 4 gigs should be good for anything.

With that monitor your graphics card should be plenty powerful to display that resolution. If you decide to upgrade your monitor you might have to upgrade your video card depending how big of one you are getting. I say your 9800GT should be good up to 1680x1050.

Your processor either needs an upgrade or a overclock. Im thinking some hefty overclocking would actaully be fine but I don't have experience with Core 2.

I am assuming you want to play games like Bad Company 2 which is hard on the processor, RAM, and Video card unlike most games which is only hard on the video card.

Last edited by Rofl_My_Waffle (2010-02-19 08:46:22)

2010-02-19 08:49:32

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|6047|Catherine Black

Indeed OC the CPU. My E5200 is sitting at 3.2 Ghz.

A widescreen monitor would look nice, I'm getting this one on monday.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164143

2GB of RAM?.. how do you manage? When I had to send back a stick of mine to RMA I went from 4GB-2GB.. felt horrible. Get another 2 GB asap, try to get exactly the same type.

For the GPU, try the 5770 I recommended. Very good card.

2010-02-19 10:12:02

baggs: Member; +732|6463

But what happens when i use 4gb with an XP 32 OS? I thought it wouldn't run?

I'll have a butchers for the same ram, they are matched pair 1024mb XMS2 6400, i can probably still get that right?

Also, i did have a go at OC'ing that E5200 but it was total novice first timer stuff, any fool proof way of doing it?

2010-02-19 11:04:19

FloppY_: +1,010|6545|Denmark aka Automotive Hell

baggs wrote:
But what happens when i use 4gb with an XP 32 OS? I thought it wouldn't run?

I'll have a butchers for the same ram, they are matched pair 1024mb XMS2 6400, i can probably still get that right?

Also, i did have a go at OC'ing that E5200 but it was total novice first timer stuff, any fool proof way of doing it?

If you take a max capacity of 4GB on a windows x86 (32bit)

then take away the amount of ram on your GPU (e.g. 512mb)

That will give you ~3.5GB out of e.g. 4GB

You can put as much in it as you want but 32bit only uses ~4 GB total out of system & GPU ram..

And:

Finray wrote:
For the GPU, try the 5770 I recommended.

And if you got the budget. A E8400 will fit the same socket as your E5200

Last edited by FloppY_ (2010-02-19 11:10:43)

Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me

2010-02-19 11:08:26

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|6047|Catherine Black

baggs wrote:
But what happens when i use 4gb with an XP 32 OS? I thought it wouldn't run?

It's simple: Kill the Batman.

Spoiler (highlight to read):
Or install Windows 7 64 bit, it's much better anyway

It's not that it won't run, it's just that some of the RAM won't get accessed.

As for OC'ing,

http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=105804

2010-02-19 11:11:15

FloppY_: +1,010|6545|Denmark aka Automotive Hell

Finray wrote:
baggs wrote:
But what happens when i use 4gb with an XP 32 OS? I thought it wouldn't run?
It's simple: Kill the Batman.

Spoiler (highlight to read):
Or install Windows 7 64 bit, it's much better anyway

It's not that it won't run, it's just that some of the RAM won't get accessed.

As for OC'ing,

http://forums.bf2s.com/viewtopic.php?id=105804

I already told him about the ram

Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me

2010-02-19 20:23:25

The_Sniper_NM: Official EVGA Fanboy; +94|6372|SC | USA |

FloppY_ wrote:
And if you got the budget. A E8400 will fit the same socket as your E5200

No. Just no. At minimum I would recommend getting a a 775 quad.

Realistically -> more ram + GPU. Wait until the GTX4XX come out, allowing you to get a deal on the current series.

With only a 9800GTX, the Bad Company 2 beta (as unoptimized as it may be) kicked my rig's ass. Then again I probably will be a launch day order of GF100.

2010-02-19 20:28:30

TimmmmaaaaH: Damn, I... had something for this; +725|6698|Brisbane, Australia

The_Sniper_NM wrote:
With only a 9800GTX, the Bad Company 2 beta (as unoptimized as it may be) kicked my rig's ass. Then again I probably will be a launch day order of GF100.

Shit, with a 5870 it isnt that smooth. Its just not a good example, and it is particularly cpu driven (which not every game is).

https://bf3s.com/sigs/5e6a35c97adb20771c7b713312c0307c23a7a36a.png

2010-02-20 01:22:43

baggs: Member; +732|6463

So really, from what i gather, i should wait a little while, save some money up and just re-do the whole thing?

It looks like i need a) more ram b) a new chip c) a new GPU. and arguably d) up to date OS.

I'm gonna drop my box off at the local computer shop on Monday i think and they are going to see what they can do with it, perhaps they can overclock it successfully. I tried last night but i'm totally lost with that shit, i just have very little experience with it all so i don't know how to recover mistakes.

Maybe with some overclocking, some extra cooling and maybe i'll get another two sticks of RAM for now, it should see me through for a while longer?

Do you think it would be an actual option to add the extra 2gb RAM and move over to Win7? Perhaps even 64bit? And how do i check my other components are actually compatible with Win7?

Many thanks to all by the way, karma inc.

Last edited by baggs (2010-02-20 01:26:21)

2010-02-20 01:28:47

Flaming_Maniac: prince of insufficient light; +2,490|6966|67.222.138.85

tbh, I would wait to spend any money until you know what you're up against. If you want better performance in the games/misc apps you're running now, then yeah upping the RAM/OC/new graphics card would all be fairly cheap but reasonable upgrades. If you're happy with everything as it is now and are just worried about future games, wait until there is a game you want to play. Then you will be able to get tomorrow's hardware at today's prices or today's hardware cheap.

You are compatible with Win 7. If you do choose to get Win 7 get the 64 bit version. There is no reason not to get 7 except the price tag, though $100 is a pretty big "except".

2010-02-20 01:30:38

baggs: Member; +732|6463

Flaming_Maniac wrote:
tbh, I would wait to spend any money until you know what you're up against. If you want better performance in the games/misc apps you're running now, then yeah upping the RAM/OC/new graphics card would all be fairly cheap but reasonable upgrades. If you're happy with everything as it is now and are just worried about future games, wait until there is a game you want to play. Then you will be able to get tomorrow's hardware at today's prices or today's hardware cheap.

You are compatible with Win 7.

a good idea.

thanks

2010-02-20 05:10:26

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|6047|Catherine Black

baggs wrote:
It looks like i need a) up to date OS. b) more ram c) a new GPU d) a new chip

I'm gonna drop my box off at the local computer shop on Monday i think and they are going to see what they can do with it, perhaps they can overclock it successfully. I tried last night but i'm totally lost with that shit, i just have very little experience with it all so i don't know how to recover mistakes.

Maybe with some overclocking, some extra cooling and maybe i'll get another two sticks of RAM for now, it should see me through for a while longer?

Do you think it would be an actual option to add the extra 2gb RAM and move over to Win7? Perhaps even 64bit? And how do i check my other components are actually compatible with Win7?

Many thanks to all by the way, karma inc.

Fix'd your list in order of most urgent/best -> least urgent upgrades.

If you're not experienced with Overclocking, you shouldn't really practice on your gaming rig. I'd have someone else give it a shot, or see if you can find an old P4 rig or something to fry.

Your rig atm is quite good, you'll definitely notice the difference between 2GB RAM and 4GB. Is your RAM 2x1GB or 1x2GB? Also is it dual-channel?

All your gear will be compatible with 64 bit.

2010-02-20 06:43:42

baggs: Member; +732|6463

My current ram is: http://www.corsair.com/configurator/mem … px?id=9716 Corsair XMS 2 2x1GB sticks.

Which i have set at 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1v in my bios and set in channels 1 & 3 in the board.

I can get some more off scan.co.uk http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/2GB-%282 … S-4-4-4-12.

So probably do that first and OS next, is there any preference to which version of Win7 64? Home, professional? Any bother when buying an OEM copy from somewhere such as scan.co.uk?

2010-02-20 10:16:37

Finray: Hup! Dos, Tres, Cuatro; +2,629|6047|Catherine Black

Don't buy it

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baggs wrote:

Finray wrote:

baggs wrote:

Finray wrote:

baggs wrote:

FloppY_ wrote:

The_Sniper_NM wrote:

Flaming_Maniac wrote:

baggs wrote:

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