Reviews/Advice on my upgrade

R

randomfever

Geek
Hello. I have been planning on upgrading my current computer (SOCKET 478 - Pentium 4 2.53ghz, 512MB RAM, ASUS P4V8XMX Motherboard, NVIDIA 6800xt 512MB, 450watt PSU) for quite some time now, in order to run future games such as Call of Duty 4. I don't want a really great gaming PC that will give me top-notch performance, but something that will be able to upgrade (video card-wise) in the future and will run Call of Duty 4 just fine (I was told it would run great).

I have got much help from friends. My budget was $500, but I threw in just a bit more. Here is the setup I plan on getting:

Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

I will be keeping my current case and my DVD drive/burner aswell.
 
Biggest mistake I see there is your choice of video card. The 8600 is absolute crap. For how much you will be paying for that card, you should get something that should perform a decent amount better than what you'll get. If you can hold off two or three months get an 8800 GT for $200-250 and not have to worry about having to upgrade the video card too soon in the future. I understand that $140 for that 8600 sounds like a good deal, but it's a HORRIBLE deal if u can wait the two months.You can get the 256 8800GT for $200 soon which will run circles around that card.
 
Yup, yup, I know exactly what you mean. I had the biggest doubt when I was suggested this card, but to tell you the truth, the only other cards I could find in my price range are 7900GS and x1900PRO (which are cheaper). Plus, I was told the 8600gt would run the game fine.

Do you think we can lower other parts and what not so we can spend more on the video card? So everything balances out to the same price and I get the same amount of power overall.

Yes I know about the huge price drops that are about to take place with the 8800's
 
Actually I do know where you could save some money and get ALOT better performance. It is in your CPU and GPU. Take your C2Duo and switch it out for Newegg.com - Intel Dual-Core E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail .
The chip has the same overclocking headroom (You can take the E2160 to 3.4GHz +) as your C2D. The only difference is that the L2 cache is a bit lower, however, this will only lower your cpu performance by 2-5% and that's ONLY while gaming. By going with this proc (which is exactly a core2duo with a smaller cache) you will save yourself what, over a hundred dollars on your cpu and can afford to go with Newegg.com - XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail for your gpu. Guaranteed you would actually double your available framerate (especially if you run XP.)
 
Alright, so how does this look?

Newegg.com - Intel Dual-Core E2160 Allendale 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX ATX12V V2.2 450W Power Supply 90 - 264 V UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TUV, CCC, C-tick - Retail

Grand total (including shipping, tax): $348.96

the video card 8800gt,

Newegg.com - XFX PVT88PYDF4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

is sold out unfortunately. What if we took advantage and got a little cheaper video card along with that setup ^^ that will also let me play Call of Duty 4 fine?

(also, when I get that cpu, is overclocking easy? Will I just have to run a program? No messy work?)

EDIT**
what about this?
Newegg.com - GECUBE HV195XTG3-E3 Radeon X1950XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
 
I don't think you'll be able to play COD4 fine with any lower card. That 8800GT is a beast and would certainly be worth waiting for.
 
You definately want to wait for that card.
As far as overclocking, it's quite easy and the board you chose will do you EXTREMELY well. Gigabyte usess solid capacitors, and it's got the best overclocking chipset available atm (minus the brand new x38 chipset.) If you're unsure on how to overclock you will want to look it up and study. There are a few ways to overclock, but you will be focusing on FBS. It's all done through your BIOS (unless you have an ASUS board with the uGuru utility.)
 
Here is one that is in stock. Will it go along with the other setup just fine?

Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N802-A1 GeForce 8800GT Superclocked 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Yes, I read a good amount about OC'ing and looks like this motherboard and CPU go well together. I did read somewhere it has to do with BIOS.

I could NOT find a specific guide on overclocking the e2160 to 3.0ghz or over though, if you could help me with that, then that'd be great.
 
Basically leave the Multiplier at 9, make your bus speed 400 and make your cpu voltage 1.212-1.215 volts and you should be set. All of these are accessible in you BIOS, probably under advanced or something to that effect. Look up your motherboard and you may find a "virtual BIOS" on the gigabyte website.
 
 
That's actually a good choice, cause it can help cool your northbridge too. And yes, you will need an aftermarket HSF if you overclock that E2160 to 2.5GHz+
 
Well the 7950GT is a great card for all your DirectX9 games. However, titles like Call of Duty 4 and Crysis are built for DirectX10 graphics cards, with backwards compatibility to DirectX9 cards.
If you want to take full advantage of all the bells and whistles offered by DirectX10 in these games, you're going to need a nice DX10 card and Windows Vista.

If I were you (and I'm in pretty much the same position), I'd push for that 8800GT, it may feel like a lot of money but if you go for the 7950GT, chances are you're going to want to upgrade to DX10 at some point anyway.
If you want to wait for the 8800 price drops, buy a second hand 7900GS (this is what I did for £38). I can play recent games at good FPS.
The Crysis demo runs on my system at a 1280x1024 resolution, medium settings 0xAA 0xAF. And even then its a little laggy.

Some benchmarks of the 8800GT performing in Crysis:
New Nvidia GeForce 8800GT Surprises | Tom's Hardware
 
Personally, I'm stickin to XP and obviously Dx 9.0c . Games simply run faster. If you think that you can't get an amazing looking game in dx 9.0 check out jericho. It has some AMAZING graphics and is built around 9.0. but you really, really, really want that 8800 GT. It is a card that will last you forever and a half, and if you end up needed something else you can get a different mobo with an x38 chipset or whatever is the "new chipset" in a few years and SLI it. I really have to implore that you think about that 8800GT...
 
Ya, I really wouldn't pay much attention to that article. Although the speeds are correct, the manufactorer HSF is actually crap. You really, really are going to want to get one of the aftermarket coolers(either the one i showed you or the one you found yourself.)
 
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