Build Advice To upgrade or not?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Elton, 8 Apr 2010.

  1. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Seeing as I have a fairly robust build, which consists of a E8400, a HD4850 and 4GB of DDR2-800 on a EP45-UD3P, I'm wondering if there's any need to upgrade either my graphics or my CPU.

    For reference I use a 1280x1024 monitor, well 2 of them.

    The thing is, there really isn't much to upgrade to without dumping +$300 on either a CPU+mobo+RAM or a GPU.

    I could opt for the HD5770, but it isn't that quantum jump I would get. Although I could buy myself a copy of Win7, which isn't a bad idea honestly as I'm using 32-bit XP.
     
  2. Anarki

    Anarki CULV fan

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    If you don't need the upgrade, don't do it. I mean, do you have problems running any of the programs you need? If not, why upgrade? Unless you're a technology enthusiast of course, by I think that this enthusiasm is more of a result of marketing techniques than genuine interest in most cases.
     
  3. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    That's my dilemma, I currently would love to have a bit more GPU power for a few texture heavy games, but I'm really wondering if any costs even merit the upgrade. Especially since I run games at a relatively low resolution.
     
  4. Domestic_ginger

    Domestic_ginger What's a Dremel?

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    Nah, wait for the next generation to come along next year. On paper it looks good to me; unless its gettting sluggish i can't see any reason to upgrade.

    Windows 7 may see you through for a while yet though.
     
  5. DragunovHUN

    DragunovHUN Modder

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    On your resolution, i really wouldn't. I'd probably get myself a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium though. That should keep things fresh for a while.
     
  6. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    That's what I was thinking...I can't bear to re-install all those games!
     
  7. javaman

    javaman May irritate Eyes

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    I would save up for your next build unless. The only purchase worth making is something that you could carry over. Although its tempting to upgrade just stick with what you've got. Would it be worth installing windows 7 if a year later you change your core hardware? Might as well do it all at once
     
  8. featherz

    featherz What's a Dremel?

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    another 4850 and crossfire? that would be a improvement for as little as 50 pound.
     
  9. Domestic_ginger

    Domestic_ginger What's a Dremel?

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    Not sure xfire scales very well at his res.

    Its the same I have until my 17" crt dies; and it does not look like doing that anytime soon even after 10 years.
     
  10. gavomatic57

    gavomatic57 Minimodder

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    Very little has come out since Crysis to challenge the GPU. Call of Pripyat has a good go though. If you can run Crysis I don't see much point upgrading. A new OS is a good idea though - 64bit of course.
     
  11. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Well I guess I'll just stick with what I have, mind you it runs everything quite smoothly except I really do want that better AA/AF quality of the HD5xxx series.

    And some more AA goodness.
     
  12. Otis1337

    Otis1337 aka - Ripp3r

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    if i was you i would get a nice new monitor!
     
  13. Ph4ZeD

    Ph4ZeD What's a Dremel?

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    Bad Company 2 can be quite taxing, I run it at medium at 1680x1050 with a 260 GTX to keep the FPS smooth. Still looks awesome :D
     
  14. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Your wallet's going to hate me for saying this, but I just got my 5870 yesterday and it is fantastic. I'm an AA whore myself and am just tickled pink by being able to slap 2x AA at least on every game I own (such as Crysis or BC2 on max settings) or often more. Have yet to mess around with the profiles for other AA types, looking at the demo in the "CCC" they look great, gotta see the fps drop.

    That all said, Win7 is another huge change. It's very fresh and revitalizing for your general computing experience. For the price:happiness ratio it's probably your best bet.
     
  15. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Hmm, then Win7 it is! Although I'd still have to wait a bit. Short on cash,. just planning right now.
     
  16. SkinnerJones

    SkinnerJones Banned

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    Upgrade is not worth it at all mate. Your better off using your money elsewhere. Windows 7 is good, you'll like it, let us know how it goes.
     

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