Hey all, Thinking of upgrading my computer to i7 and was wondering wat needs upgrading to it, my current build is: Antec P182 Black Case (no PSU) Arctic Cool. Freezer7Pro s775 500G SAMSUNG SATA2 HD501LJ 640MB BFG 8800GTS PCIE O/CLOCK ASUS P5K SE S775 MOBO Corsair DDR2 TWINX 2GB PC6400 CORSAIR HX 520W MODULAR PSU Logitech G5 Laser Mouse PS2/US Saitek Eclipse PZ30AVR Red LED LiteON 20x DVDRW RAM SATA RETA Hope u guys can help. Thanks
Well, what do you have currently, and what do you generally use your computer for? What resolution is your display?
+1 on that ^^ What is your current CPU? What do you use your PC for? Gaming? If so, which games? Video editing? Photoshop? Simple web browsing? Don't be shy, do tell.
Sorry guys, my CPU is Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 95W Energy Efficient 2.4GHz SLACR G0 Stepping. I'm hoping to do alot of gaming and maybe learn some video and photo editing.
sorry if i've got this completely wrong but doesn't your current mobo have an LGA775 socket... and i7s need either LGA1156 or LGA1366?? also you'd need an X58 chipset on it - at least according to last months cpc motherboard article Photoshop CS5 extended runs great on my pc with core 2 quad (2.5GHz) + 4GB of ram and one external HDD as a scratch disk. To really make the experience better you need a GPU which adds to many of photoshop's features (some detailed here and here) so it's well worth having. If you are considering using premiere pro cs5 for video editing you will need a 64bit OS and a heck of a lot of RAM - not to mention multiple high speed scratch disks... at least according to what i can see. i7 wouldn't do to badly with it either for exporting Hope that helps (at least as far as photo and video editing are concerned)
Have you not overclocked you CPU? As I'm still running a C2Q 9450 @ 3.4GHz and it still flies through everything, I wont be upgrading until socket 2011. If you do want to upgrade your going to need a new CPU, motherboard and RAM minimum.
You could reuse your Case / PSU / DVD / Hard drive / Mouse and key board everything else would have to be upgraded for a i7 build. So that would be CPU + Cooler and Mobo and Ram.
If you overclocked your CPu you'd probably get enough performance out of it to last until socket 2011 is realeased...
get a mobo with usb3, sata6, tri channel ram capabilities and an LGA 1366 socket. That should make sure it's future proof. Look at some of the bundles on overclockers.co.uk - this one has everything you need.. but look around and price everything up first
Trying to be helpful here (please dont shoot me if it doesn't appear that way) but ever since my computer knowledge became of an enthusiast kind of level i forever get friends saying "how much would it be to build me a computer for x,y andz?" and "what should i buy?" I keep stressing to all of them set a budget first. This way you can easily spread that budget to make the most out of each component. Its no good buying a £300 extreme overclocking motherboard if you can then only afford to put a bottom of the range CPU with stock cooler and bargain bucket RAM in it. Some people will probably disagree with me on this point but from having to be budget minded i really have found this the easiest way to go and hence i have a rig which runs any current game (not with all bells and whistles for something like Crysis but certainly everything on at least high) for well under £275 all in. It has also saved me from trying to explain why i can't build someone a PC to play CoD:MW2 for £150 Once you give an approximate budget all these lovely chaps on the is forum can give you better advice since their knowledge is probably far in advacne of mine
And a new processor? All of this to get a performance increase that really isn't worth the money? Sorry, but I can't agree with this one. The last thing that I would do is upgrade your core components. You have a fast enough processor right there, a Q6600 is quick enough for anything at the moment. I'd learn how to overclock it, and getting going at that. You should be able to get around 3.4/3.5GHz at least. I'd try overclocking a bit, then if your temps become too high, upgrade your cooler, or just go for a milder overclock. Depending on your voltages, your F7P will be sufficient. What resolution is your display? This bit is almost vital. Upgrading your graphics card to a GTX460 would make a good upgrade, and would be the only upgrade that would actually make a noticeable difference, but it only really be worth it if you are playing at 1680x1050 or above.
I agree: Overclock the Q6600 to 3GHz or 3.2GHz: £free, just the time needed to learn (a couple of hours). Another 2GB of RAM (make sure it it the same as what you already have): £40-£50 depending on timings. Buy a 1GB GTX460: £170-£200 depending on the model chosen. Sorted.
