Upgarading parts

[Simaszg12]

Processor: Core 2 Quad 9300, 2.8 ghz clocked

Mainboard: DFI Lanparty x38  T2RB

Ram: 3 gb ddr2  800 mhz  (1 + 2)

HDD: Samsung Sata HDD 160

Graphic Card: GT 9600 512 ddr3

OS: win 7 32bit

Power Supply: 420w no name

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3696738048

 

I want upgarade to

 

8g ddr2,

SSD 64 gb for OS,

Power Suply to 650w 80+ modular,

 

graphic card max that my 2.8 cpu can support without big bootleneck....

my price range is limited, and i want play SL in ultra...so ill searching for local markeplace used one

 

ASUS GTX 650 100e new

ASUS GTX 660 150e new

ASUS GTX  750 OC new (dont require strong-new PSU) 120e

ASUS GTX 760 OC new 200e

 

Im looking in cheaper segment for used ones too

Gigabyte GTX 460 768 MB  70e

throw one more gt 9600 512 in SLI  40e max

or used GTX 295 (double gpu)  60-70e

 

I play SL in high-ultra (without Ambient Occlusion and draw disstance to 144, OpenGL vertex buffer off, Streamed VOB off, and antialiasing set at 4x)

 

Do i bennefit more with 8 GB ram and good Gpu like GTX 460 or with 4 gb rams and GTX 660?

[Ohjiro Watanabe]

The one thing that I can tell you is that I have a 660 and it is a great card in its price range. I run SL in ultra and it never uses all of it's 2GB of memory.

Other than that, I would have to say that:

A: I wouldn't upgrade this old box you could put in a bunch of new bits, which will cost you and the mother board will blow. I understand you have a budget but you would be much better off with a cheap new box with an upgraded graphics card (and maybe power supply).

B: Your connection speed is horrible. I am surprised that you can even log in. I am not sure that you will see that much of an improvement if you don't take care of this.

[Cincia Singh]

There's no point in more RAM without a 64 bit OS.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Ohjiro Watanabe wrote:

The one thing that I can tell you is that I have a 660 and it is a great card in its price range. I run SL in ultra and it never uses all of it's 2GB of memory.

Other than that, I would have to say that:

A: I wouldn't upgrade this old box you could put in a bunch of new bits, which will cost you and the mother board will blow. I understand you have a budget but you would be much better off with a cheap new box with an upgraded graphics card (and maybe power supply).

B: Your connection speed is horrible. I am surprised that you can even log in. I am not sure that you will see that much of an improvement if you don't take care of this.

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Thats not even a test to one of SL servers sites..

My Speedtest to dallas.

[Perrie Juran]

4MB is more than sufficient to run SL. 

I'm limited by my location with what I can get but I do perfectly fine with a  6MB Connection .

It would be better to see a test from the OP to Dallas.

And a ping test would be more telling to see what kind of packet loss and latency they are encountering.

[Crim Mip]

I recently upgraded to a new system. I looked into updating my old one, but it just didn't make sense as there were failing electronics involved. I'm not sure it does in your case either. If your system is using DDR2, it's probably got fairly slow I/O by current system standards and some of the benefit of your proposed upgrades will be lost because of that. I'd especially question the SSD. If you absolutely can't budget for a new MB and CPU, then certainly a graphics card upgrade and memory increase will add a few more years of solid use. You'll also need to switch to a 64bit OS which depending on your means of obtaining it could be a siginificant part of the upgrade cost. Your current setup is still workable. Far more so than my old one was. How long would it take to save up the remainder of what you'd need for a complete new system? Barring things actually failing on the current one, waiting another 3-6 months to save up some more might well be your best bet. If you absolutely gotta toss money into souping up the current one, here are my thoughts for what they are worth. 

The 650 or 660 graphics cards will both let you run in ultra with even higher draw distances. I have a 650 and run with everything on at 200m or more with no issues. FPS is usually up above 30. They are kind of in the sweet spot price wise and I don't know that you'd get any real benefit from anything faster. I'd be really leery of a used graphic card. You have no way of knowing under what conditions they were used. Were they run overclocked to the point just before thermal shutdown by their previous owner since they were new? Were they in an adequately ventilated case? The higher end the card, the more chances it was run hard and maybe was just starting to not take the abuse. I know a couple gamers that do that and then sell them off while they are still operating under normal clock rates to offset getting the next board to abuse.

Your 420W supply might well be enough, but as cheap as PSU's are, you might as well have the extra capacity. It usually means more stable power and a decent one can be used in your next system.

Going to 6-8 gigs and a 64bit OS will also help a lot, not just for SL but overall. I'm sure you've run into the viewer going unstable about the point it hits 1.5 gigs of ram use. I've had Firestorm use as much as 2.6 gigs. No more worry there and you could use the 64 bit version of of one of the third party viewers which are getting a repuation for being a LOT more stable. It makes absolutely no sense to go from 3 gig to 4gig. I wouldn't bother with anything less than 6 which might be viable if you have 2 1 gig cards and two .5 gig cards currently. You definitely want to add in matched pairs. Be aware that while the other parts might be able to move on to a new system in the future, money spent on DDR2 modules is gone when the current system is. There's no point in getting brand name modules for that.

As for the SSD,  I'd really consider whether my  keyboard, mouse, and headset were in good shape and worked well for me. If not I'd take care of those long before I'd worry about the fancy drive. Good luck.

 

[Simaszg12]

Ok i just upgarade to clean install of windows 7 64bit, and hd is clean and fast now (old sata 160hdd)

Im still on 3 gb, will purchase 2+1 more module tomorrow, and new cpu cooler+thermal paste. So i go with 6 gigs.

 

I got ssd 80 gigs only for OS

storage will be on 2x 250gb HDD in raid including SL chache

For GPU...thinking between 650 ti or 660... i think my cpu 2.8 clock can handle it without problems+ using 2 screens

 

power supply is priority

crossair CX600 full  modular 80+

 

 

 

[SaraCarena]

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Crim Mip wrote:

 

The 650 or 660 graphics cards will both let you run in ultra with even higher draw distances. I have a 650 and run with everything on at 200m or more with no issues. FPS is usually up above 30.

 

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Is that a 650 ti? coz my gtx 650 won`t do that at most places in sl but agree that 650 is reasonable bang for buck, personally will go for x60 on next upgrade. Read lots about putting sl cache on ssd making a big improvement to rez speed.

[Crim Mip]

If the 660 is in budget, I'd get that. Double the memory and a faster card. I wouldn't spend a ton on a PSU unless you plan to use it for a future system. If so, then go for it. Modular PSU's are nice. Keeps the minimum cables needed. This is more important if you don't have access to run the cables behind the motherboard mounting plate to help with airflow.