Upgrade - what should I change?

Smurfin

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
22,502
Reaction score
5,420
Points
4,193
Hi all

Looking for some advice on what to upgrade in my current PC.

The spec is as follows:

1 x Asus P5Q Deluxe P45 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping (2.4GHz 1066MHz) Socket 775 L2 8MB Cache (2x4MB (4MB per core pair) Retail Boxed Processor
1 x ASUS HD 4670 512MB GDDR3 VGA DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
1 x OCZ 8GB Kit (2x4GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance CL5 (5-4-4-18)
1 x Coolermaster Elite 330 Black Case With CM eXtreme Power 650W PSU
1 x LG Electronics Blu-Ray Re-Writer
2 x Samsung SM2032BW 20"TFT Monitor Widescreen 1680x1050 3000:1 300cd/m2 2ms
1 x Seagate ST3500320AS 500GB Hard Drive SATA II 7200rpm *32MB Cache* - OEM
1 x Windows 7 64bit

Currently the main issue with the PC is that it's damn noisy, which I've identified as being the power supply, so as I've got to unplug everything I might as well rebuild the whole thing.

Things I'm looking for are a new case (no more than 450mm high), power supply, possibly graphics card? (wouldn't mind playing BF3), but not sure if I really need to change the motherboard, cpu and RAM? (I'd rather not).

I'm also curious about SSD, but the HDDs look really small? Would I need a 60gb or 120gb? I would also have a LP 1.5TB drive for data/games etc/

Just to confirm, the main PC uses are the usual low-impact browsing etc, but I also (still) do quite a bit of bluray ripping, and as I've mentioned I wouldn't mind doing a bit of gaming.

I have no clue on budget (which doesn't help), but let's just say that I don't want to be spending £200 on a graphics card!

Any advice would be appreciated :)

Cheers
Matt
 
Last edited:
I think like you say the PSU is the main priority if it is making the noise and you can get a good quality branded one about 500W or even more for about £40-£50 and this would be able to provide enough juice for any graphics card you may wish to buy.
If you change the motherboard, CPU or RAM then pretty much the whole lot would have to be changed so you may as well keep all that as it is pretty decent even by todays standards.
The graphics card is a little on the weak side and even buying something like a 6770 for £70 ish would be a massive upgrade and let you play any games on good settings.
Now is a fairly decent time to consider an SSD with the crazy high prices of HDD's making them un buyable unless you are completely desperate for the space.
Plenty of option for you:)
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom