Help me upgrade my PC

[Darksider]

Well I built what was a monster gaming rig four or five years ago, and it looks like some of the parts are starting to hit the end of their service life. I used to be able to play UT3 and DoWII on high setting without any problem, but now they're starting to slip. DoWII is particularly bad, especially since the update for Chaos Rising. So i'm looking to replace my CPU and GPU, and i've got about 500 bucks to spare for it. I'm looking to get as much of an upgrade as possible, but I know i'm limited by the chipset of my current motherboard. The graphics card slot is a PCI express x16, with a couple of regular PCI express slots as well. The CPU slot is an LGA 775, so I don't know if I can support some of the newer CPUs. My current hardware is an Intel core 2 duo E6300 for the CPU, and a Geforce 9600 for the GPU. I'm going to spend a few weeks browsing newegg for deals, but any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[phongn]

Something like a Radeon 5770 alone would probably give you a nice framerate boost. The CPU is a problem - you'll have to look at what your motherboard will support (just because the socket is the same does not mean a newer - or older - CPU will be supported).

[Darksider]

hmm. The motherboard is an Asus p5nsli, and it's got a giant "nvidia compatible" logo on it, so i'm not sure a radeon GPU would work at optimum efficiency, or at all.

Do you know a good way to tell if my motherboard will support a certain CPU? All newegg lists is the slot number.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

What's your motherboard socket? The older Intel socket used by the Core 2 Duo? All the newer i7 and i5 chips wouldn't work. You probably could get the older Core 2 Duo/Quad chips.

If you are using AMD, even tougher luck. Socket 939 is no longer in use and was last used in 2005/6.

[Starglider]

The problem with replacing the CPU is that motherboards die much more often than CPUs do. If you buy a new CPU for your old socket, then the motherboard dies, you will be screwed. OTOH if you're using DDR2, then buying a new motherboard means replacing your memory as well.

I would replace the GPU first. It has the most impact on games and you can keep it if you have to replace everything else. Then I'd look at replacing/supplementing the existing HD with an SSD, for the same reason and because if your HD is 5 years old you're at increasing risk of it dying (you do have backups right?). If you have remaining funds and there are any spare memory slots stick some more DDR2 in there, it is dirt cheap now.

Leave replacing the CPU, motherboard and RAM to your next computer build.

[phongn]

He's somewhat limited with regard to CPU upgrades; see ASUS' CPU compatbility page. Just because a CPU is on the same socket does not mean it'll work.

The Radeon will work with an nVidia motherboard. It doesn't care.

[Darksider]

according to the compatability list, the best upgrade I can get is from my current one to this. How much of an upgrade is that?

EDIT: Maybe not even that. the model number is the same, but the frequency is different. maybe it's a different model.

[Tolya]

Actually, I don't think there will be a noticeable difference. I actually read somewhere that people sometimes chose E6300 (which you have) over E6600 because E6300 has a smaller cache and therefore is better to overclock.

I second Starglider. Get a new GPU. GeForce 9600 is currently a midrange card - go for any high performance stuff and you will easily see a big difference. Low budget solution would be to get a GeForce 9800GT (which I have) which is basically an 8800, just a bit better in terms of production. Above that you have your 2xx, 3xx and 4xx ranges which all offer performance increments but cost more.

Cant really get you any advice on ATI, since I abandoned Radeons since 2 out of 2 cards died on me, quite prematurely (no overclocking) but I guess I just had bad luck since people are buying and using them.

In considering what to get its good to consider what quality in games is satisfactory for you. I, for example, have an old 1280x1024 LCD which is currently the biggest bottleneck for the quality output, since my E5300/GeForce 9800GT can run pretty much anything on high without any problems. Going to a wide screen 1600 would probably make my box choke though.

[phongn]

Actually, I don't think there will be a noticeable difference. I actually read somewhere that people sometimes chose E6300 (which you have) over E6600 because E6300 has a smaller cache and therefore is better to overclock.

Cant really get you any advice on ATI, since I abandoned Radeons since 2 out of 2 cards died on me, quite prematurely (no overclocking) but I guess I just had bad luck since people are buying and using them.

AMD-ATI holds the bang-for-your-buck crown across the board for GPUs.

according to the compatability list, the best upgrade I can get is from my current one to this. How much of an upgrade is that?

EDIT: Maybe not even that. the model number is the same, but the frequency is different. maybe it's a different model.

It's a different CPU. However! It looks like some people are getting reports online that you can use newer processors with a BIOS update. That said, you will be limited to CPUs with a FSB of 1066 MHz (4x266) or less - putting one that requires a faster one (e.g. E8400 with its 1333MHz FSB) will effectively underclock your machine.

Try upgrading your GPU first: it may be enough performance mojo for you.

EDIT: It looks like you may be able to run the Core 2 Duo E7x00 series - see this CPU-Z post. YMMV.

[Darksider]

Since i'm operating on a budget, i'm just going to try and replace the GPU and wait until I build my next machine in a year or two to deal with the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Do the newer motherboards still support DDR2 ram so I can use my current stuff in a new machine? I'd hate to have to toss all my current parts. Hell, I might even need a new case since my current one only has a 500W power supply.

I might go for the 9800GTS since it seems cheapest, but according to Phongn I might get a better performance with a Radion 5770. I'll look into it.

[phongn]

Since i'm operating on a budget, i'm just going to try and replace the GPU and wait until I build my next machine in a year or two to deal with the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Do the newer motherboards still support DDR2 ram so I can use my current stuff in a new machine? I'd hate to have to toss all my current parts. Hell, I might even need a new case since my current one only has a 500W power supply.

The LGA1156 and LGA1366 Intel motherboards and AM3 AMD motherboards require DDR3.

I might go for the 9800GTS since it seems cheapest, but according to Phongn I might get a better performance with a Radion 5770. I'll look into it.

GTS 250 (aka 9800GT) is not too shabby but is a DX10 part only, so take that into consideration. The AMD 5000-series is DX11. See AnandTech for benchmarks.

[Joviwan]

I'm banging a 5770 right now, and it's pretty much the bee's knees. I always recommend ATI cards these days because they have the cheapest and lowest powered cards and still give fantastic performance.

[Darksider]

GTS 250 (aka 9800GT) is not too shabby but is a DX10 part only, so take that into consideration. The AMD 5000-series is DX11. See AnandTech for benchmarks.

Does that mean it can't play DX9 games, or can't use DX11? 'cause i'm in no hurry to upgrade to DX11. Are there even any games that require it?

EDIT: Also, I may not even need a new Video card at all. The only game that's having problems anymore is DOWII. Nothing else is having any slowdown. UT3 was having slight problems for a while, but a driver update seems to have fixed that. And DOWII has only been acting up since the update for Chaos Rising.

[Tolya]

Does that mean it can't play DX9 games, or can't use DX11? 'cause i'm in no hurry to upgrade to DX11. Are there even any games that require it?

EDIT: Also, I may not even need a new Video card at all. The only game that's having problems anymore is DOWII. Nothing else is having any slowdown. UT3 was having slight problems for a while, but a driver update seems to have fixed that. And DOWII has only been acting up since the update for Chaos Rising.

DX10-only means that it is not compliant with DX11. It does support DX9.