View Full Version : Time to upgrade some components
Well, the current refurbishment work at my place of work has given me more hours than usual (figure that) so my payslip for this month is a bit more reasonable than usual. Therefore I'm looking to do a spot of upgrading with my CPU, and of course with the CPU I have to upgrade the mobo.
Been looking at a nice little bundle on Amazon that gives me a:
Intel Dual Core E5300 2.6GHz CPU Processor -
Gigabyte GA-G41MT-ES2L Motherboard -
4Gb (2x 2Gb) DDR3 1333MHz Memory Bundle BU001E
For about £132.95.
This is my current spec:
<<< System Summary >>>
> Manufacturer : Hewlett-Packard Company
> Mainboard : Hewleet-Packard Asterope
> Chipset : ATI RS400/RC400/RC410
> Processor : Intel Pentium 4 524 @ 3066MHz
> Physical Memory : 2048MB (2 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series
> Hard Disk : Maxtor 6V160E0 (160GB)
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3250823AS (250GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : Toshiba-Samsung CD/DVDW TS-H552D
> Monitor Type : Hewlett Packard HP vs17 - 17 inches
> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8139/810x Fast Ethernet Adapter
> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2 (32-bit)
> DirectX : Version 9.0c (May 2010)I might pay another forty quid and throw a 1TB SATAII HD and SATA power cable and data cable in there as well. After that, I think really it's just a little upgrade on the graphics card front, I'm looking at a HD5570 and mulling it over. It might just do it.
Thoughts?
the_tyrant
03-03-11, 10:29 PM
bad choice, you might as well just get a better CPU
I mean you upgrade choice doesn't seem to be much better than what you have now
Castout
03-04-11, 01:59 AM
My suggestion is to save for a few months. I mean you're going to use the PC for years to come so saving up for a better PC would be worth the waiting and patience.
Get an i5 and a Gigabyte Ultra Durable series for durability and long usage life.
Skybird
03-04-11, 03:30 AM
I tend to agree with tyrant and Castout. The benefit you get from this upgrade plan imo does not justify the costs, however small they are.
Save some months like I just did, and then dare a bigger jump.
HunterICX
03-04-11, 06:39 AM
Thoughts?
if it where me?
I would as said above, save up money....put money aside with each paycheck that makes it possible.
till you can buy components that upgrades your computer to a point that it can look foward in games to come instead of just today if you catch my drift.
HunterICX
Makes sense. Well, if things go according to plan (which knowing British builders they won't) I'll have another month of good pay, maybe a month and a half and then things will go back to their old self.
Arclight
03-04-11, 10:15 AM
I'd look into more mainstream components as well. Say a P45 board instead of G41, for example. But yeah, more expensive.
Well, my budget range is around the £250-300 mark, I don't really want to go over that because there will be many other things vying to take my money from me in the coming two months, the other halfs birthday for one thing. Hopefully though I'll get a bit more money in eleven days when I clock up another yearly milestone. I could possibly stretch to £400 but I'd want something for it, like a CPU, RAM and Mobo bundle.
Also, how easy are CPUs to install?
Arclight
03-04-11, 12:10 PM
Drop it in the slot, lock it, apply thermal paste and install cooler.
Not difficult; applying thermal stuff can be messy/tricky (just a really thin layer needed) and mounting the cooler can be finicky (damn you, LGA775!) but wouldn't say it's difficult.
the_tyrant
03-04-11, 12:24 PM
Well you have a 775 mobo now,
Why buy a new 775 motherboard?
Its already outdated now
Might as well wait until you are willing to spend a bit more
Hmmm, it's now or never really. Can't see the financial situation improving any time in the next three or four years, short of winning the lottery. I guess I thought I'd be able to get something good at a low price but they do say that you get what you pay for and I don't have the money available for that.
Ah well. Thanks for the help guys. We'll see how it pans out, I'll keep scouring Amazon.
HunterICX
03-04-11, 01:28 PM
Ah well. Thanks for the help guys. We'll see how it pans out, I'll keep scouring Amazon.
Apart from the CPU,MOBO and RAM bundle you'll be needing a new card too.
if your going for a card do not I say do NOT get that HD5570
spend about £50 more and get the HD5770 at least that card has something to show.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapphire_hd5770_hd5750/
HunterICX
Well, chaps and chapettes
Here's what I went for in the end:
Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 45nm, Quad Core, 2.8GHz, DMI 2.5 GT/s, 8MB Cache, 21x Ratio, 95W, Retail + Asus P7H55-M/USB3, Intel H55, S 1156, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 2200(OC), SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, mATX
CPU and Mobo combined. Cost a little under three hundred but that should see me through for a while. Now to freeze all assets until next month and get some more RAM and a better graphics card.
Castout
03-06-11, 05:13 PM
That's terrific! :up:
Arclight
03-06-11, 07:33 PM
We will miss waiting for your game to load. :haha:
We will miss waiting for your game to load. :haha:
:haha: :up:
It arrived today! Alas, the CPU was not fitted to the mobo like I thought it would be, so I will have to do that myself, which means I'll have to wait for Nagy to get home from work so I can steal some of his thermal paste. :yep:
Nagy has misplaced his thermal paste but it would appear that it is not necessary. Looks like the mobo has a clip type arrangement to hold the CPU in, first time I've seen such a thing but I haven't seen a new mobo in a decade.
Anyway, before I could be cheerful about it, I tried to put the RAM from the current mobo into the new mobo...
http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/LS016169.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=EDF6F2F4F969CEBD0785B5C847524E3AC7192BDFD626AAE6 A34174E7BD21BA0C
http://operatorchan.org/s/src/s23887_ffuuuuu.jpg
It would seem that my current RAM is DDR2... :damn::damn:
So, back to square one until next payday...next month.
Arclight
03-08-11, 03:55 PM
Dude, you really need thermal paste/grease. If it is a boxed CPU, one that comes with cooler, there might already be a pre-applied pad on the bottom of the cooler.
Not the best quality, but it will do for standard application.
No surface is perfectly smooth, and air is an insulator. The grease serves to fill the (microscopic) gaps between the CPU and heatsink.
It could well be on the bottom of the cooler, there is a strange pad like design on it, however I've put it to one side and I will look at it again next month after I have the RAM to put into it. Perhaps sooner, don't know yet. Hopefully by then Nagy will have found his thermal paste and we can put that in.
Castout
03-08-11, 11:33 PM
Yeah Oberon you need the thermal paste as it connects the CPU to the heat sink! Otherwise they are not connected directly and probably needs to go through gap which means air and this eventually will fry your CPU because the heat won't distribute to the heat sink.
Skybird
03-09-11, 08:33 AM
Sorry to hear about your delay, Oberon. Hope you can work it out quickly. Such disappointments suck.
Keep going! :yeah:
So, it's my birthday pretty shortly, as a part of my birthday present my mother got me some RAM and some thermal paste. They both came today. :rock:
Pulled the old mobo out, put the new one in, fitted the CPU and followed the instructions to wire everything back up. Found a couple of wires that had nowhere to go but the main wires were in. Plugged it in, pressed the on button.
Nothing.
Moved a few wires about, tried again.
Nothing.
Gave up and called Nagy who has a lot more experience with this than me, he came around and had a look, firstly the DVD is now out of commission because it's too old for the mobo, so I'll need to pick up a SATA DVD drive sometime soon, then he discovered that the plug from the on/off switch at the front isn't the right type for the mobo, and that the PSU wasn't giving enough power to start the mobo up.
http://joespage.animalicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/ffuuuuuu.jpg
So, he's taken it back to his and will hopefully be able to rig up a PSU from one he has already and then get the On/Off switch plug sorted.
The trials and tribulations of putting modern components in an old tower system. :damn: Still...just have to be patient for now. :yep:
Jan Kyster
03-12-11, 01:52 PM
It could well be on the bottom of the cooler, there is a strange pad like design on it..That is the thermal paste. And it's perfectly adequate :up:
...firstly the DVD is now out of commission because it's too old for the mobo...That is just plain silly. Of course your mb has an IDE slot.
the plug from the on/off switch at the front isn't the right type for the moboThat doesn't make sense either.
Standard types...
http://www.pctechguide.com/images/tutorials/MBoard/Power.jpg
the PSU wasn't giving enough power to start the mobo up.What? Didn't you update your mb only? How many Watts is the PSU?
But good luck!
Arclight
03-12-11, 02:06 PM
I'm guessing the old PSU doesn't have the 24-pin plug for the motherboard and might be lacking the one going to the CPU. :hmmm:
* and indeed the IDE connector seems to be missing.
That is the thermal paste. And it's perfectly adequate :up:
Well, there's more now just to be sure.
That is just plain silly. Of course your mb has an IDE slot.
This one doesn't.
That doesn't make sense either.
Standard types...
http://www.pctechguide.com/images/tutorials/MBoard/Power.jpg
My plug is a combined version of all three of those, well...without the reset sw because the front doesn't have a reset switch. But it does have a HD 'working' light.
What? Didn't you update your mb only? How many Watts is the PSU?
This was an old mobo that I have upgraded from, but we shall see. No idea on the Wattage of the PSU, I didn't buy the machine the other half did and she brought it with her when she moved in.
But good luck!
Thanks, I'm hoping that this will be the last of the hurdles.
I'm guessing the old PSU doesn't have the 24-pin plug for the motherboard and might be lacking the one going to the CPU. :hmmm:
The PSU has a four point plug for the mobo, but the mobo needs an eight pointer, it has enough power to put the little light on the mobo on, but not enough to actually get it all running. I'm just hoping Nagy has been able to find his PSU and rig it up.
I've just received word from home that Nagy has got the machine going. When I finish work tonight, she will be getting her first test run. :yeah:
Nagy is a legend :rock:
Arclight
03-12-11, 04:00 PM
Oh good, then I can do this:
http://joespage.animalicity.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/ffuuuuuu.jpg
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj2/EZatHome/HAHA.jpg
:O:
Gargamel
03-12-11, 04:30 PM
Recently while shopping for a new Mobo (just pricing, never bought), I found quite a few that had 4 SATA, and no IDE. Apparently it's becoming an option that you must request/search out, and not a standard option anymore.
Oh good, then I can do this:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj2/EZatHome/HAHA.jpg
:O:
You could have done that anyway, I'd have just waited for our next ARMA2 mission and...accidentally...drop a load of M799 HEI on you. :yep:
As it is though, I think I'll just shoot Spud instead. Just because. :yeah:
Arclight
03-12-11, 05:00 PM
Recently while shopping for a new Mobo (just pricing, never bought), I found quite a few that had 4 SATA, and no IDE. Apparently it's becoming an option that you must request/search out, and not a standard option anymore.
Right you are, seems to be lacking from the LGA1155 boards. :hmmm:
You could have done that anyway, I'd have just waited for our next ARMA2 mission and...accidentally...drop a load of M799 HEI on you. :yep:
As it is though, I think I'll just shoot Spud instead. Just because. :yeah:Are you kidding? I have peripheral vision now. You'll never catch me. :smug:
And otherwise I'm sure I can wrangle up another mortar shell somewhere... :D
It is a curious thing, but I suppose as many people are going over to SATA these days, that, like A: drives, they're being phased out on new machines.
Jan Kyster
03-12-11, 06:56 PM
...quite a few had 4 SATA, and no IDE. Apparently it's becoming an option that you must request/search out, and not a standard option anymore.Indeed! And I've suddenly realised that neither my own board is with IDE! :88) :rotfl2: :D
Glad you got it solved, Oberon! :up:
The urge to kill Bill Gates is at an all time high. :hmmm:
Well, after a brief battle with Bill I've reactivated Windows and got back onto it. There's good and bad. Games run faster, Railworks 2 steam locomotives no longer make stuttering chuff noises when running at speed, IL-2 looks beautiful with higher graphics settings although I might knock hi-res clouds off because there's little difference. Dirt clouds from bullets hitting the ground do lag things up a bit though so still a little bit of tweaking to do.
Windows on the other hand doesn't seem much faster, if anything it seems slower in places, I ponder if it's recognising the Quad-core.
So, we're nearly there, it's just getting things to the way I like them. :yep:
Thanks to everyone for their support, I may yet be fielding questions for you as I continue, however my time on the main computer is fairly limited as I spend 6 to 8 hours here at work five days out of seven and don't get back till 11 pm, however tomorrow it's cake-day and I have Monday and Tuesday off so I'll have lots of time to tweak things and sort things out. :yeah:
VEGETA, what does the scouter say about his power level?
<<< System Summary >>>
> Manufacturer : Hewlett-Packard Company
> Mainboard : Asus P7H55-M/USB3
> Chipset : Intel P55
> Processor : Intel Core i7 860 @ 2800MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096MB (2 x 2048 DDR3-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
> Hard Disk : Seagate ST3250823AS (250GB)
> Hard Disk : Western Digital WD10EARS-003BB1 (1000GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : Toshiba-Samsung CDDVDW SH-S223C
> Monitor Type : Hewlett Packard HP vs17 - 17 inches
> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2 (32-bit)
> DirectX : Version 9.0c (May 2010)
http://www.blenderguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/over9000.jpg
Well, it's crammed of cables and boy is that 5870 is a monster in size, but I do think it's all working...well...until the next crash. :haha:
Arclight
05-09-11, 12:37 PM
Solid setup. :yep:
Obligatory; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik
VEGETA! What does PCWizard say about his CPU and GPU temperature levels?
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/6985/over9000ie.jpg
It's over 70 celsius!
So, back to the 3000 card and 450w CPU we go until I can get a bigger case and fans. At least the games I've got at the moment run pretty well with the old card so it's not so bad.
We'll get there one day. :haha:
Arclight
05-11-11, 01:31 PM
That's normal for the card, but a little high for the CPU. You can pick up an adequate 3rd-party cooler for that for 10-20 quid I think. :hmmm:
That's normal for the card, but a little high for the CPU. You can pick up an adequate 3rd-party cooler for that for 10-20 quid I think. :hmmm:
Yeah, I've got World of Tanks running in the background here, and the CPU is at 66 degrees and the GPU at about 84 degrees, and that's with the old card. Still, at least I know that it's handled it alright up to now. I'll be looking around for a new cooler over the next month or so.
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