Vista, or waiting for Windows 7

[Nebulous]

While I agree that Felon is greatly overexaggerating prices, the GTX 260s aren't under $200. You'll be spending ~$250 for one. But as you say, building a great gaming PC in no way costs over $1000. Even if you demanded an i7 -- which has no real mainstream version yet -- to have a current upgrade path, it would at most add another $300 between extra CPU, RAM and motherboard costs.

Okay guys, i'm currently looking into upgrading a year old 3GHz Dell desktop that was never meant to be a game rig. I have a new 24" LCD for it, and i'm looking to get an Intel i7, 4 GB of RAM (DDR2 or DDRe, what's the big difference, and is it worth it?), a good (but not bleeding edge video card), a fast hard drive.

What would i reasonably be looking to spend? Don't need speakers or anything, i have that. It's running XP now, but i want like to see how games run with DirectX 10-11.

 

[TwistedBishop]

Okay guys, i'm currently looking into upgrading a year old 3GHz Dell desktop that was never meant to be a game rig. I have a new 24" LCD for it, and i'm looking to get an Intel i7, 4 GB of RAM (DDR2 or DDRe, what's the big difference, and is it worth it?), a good (but not bleeding edge video card), a fast hard drive.

What would i reasonably be looking to spend? Don't need speakers or anything, i have that. It's running XP now, but i want like to see how games run with DirectX 10-11.

You won't be able to upgrade the CPU to an i7. Your motherboard won't have the appropriate socket for it. If you want to replace the motherboard to get one, as of right now you're looking at: $300 for the CPU, $200-250 for the motherboard and ~$100 for 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

You'll want DDR2 RAM for your current CPU (guess it's a Core 2 Duo). It's very inexpensive. Around $20 for 2GB. (Your RAM type will be decided by your CPU, btw. Core 2 Duos use DDR2, while i7s use DDR3. The difference between them is operating frequency and latency. Overall it's not something to be concerned about. All you need to know is what your CPU requires.)

You'll be spending around 4x the amount for a fast HDD of comparative size to an average speed one. About $200 versus $50 for 250GB, as an example. I don't personally believe the performance increase is worth the price you're spending there.

The ATI 4870 is leading the price vs. performance war at the moment for single-GPU video cards. A 1GB 4870 will cost you about $240. The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is comparable and costs about $250. If you have a 24" monitor (which is what I have, btw) and run at a native resolution, these are your sweet spot cards for current games.

If price is a major concern, the ATI 4850 or Geforce 9800GTX can be had ~$180. Stepping down even further, the ATI 4830 and the Geforce 9800GT can be had for ~$130, sometimes even near $100.

And, of course, the Vista software will cost you $100 for the OEM version.

 

[Nebulous]

Thanks Bishop. A friend of mine who is more saavy than myself is suggesting just start from scratch, don't even bother using the original. He's not even sure if the Dell case would be good for upgrading, he has to take a look first. It's more money than what i wanted to spend, but on the other hand, i can get a really, really good custom built PC for ~1,500. That includes $250 for the monitor.

 

[TwistedBishop]

Honestly, you might want to try just buying a nice $200 video card to begin with. Your PC probably already has a good CPU and at least 2GB RAM. It's easy to buy a lot of expensive components you don't exactly need. The Intel i7s are great chips, but so are the Core 2 Duos, and you'll be bottlenecked by your video card long before your CPU as a general rule.

Do you know what CPU you have?

 

[XCorvis]

Okay guys, i'm currently looking into upgrading a year old 3GHz Dell desktop that was never meant to be a game rig. I have a new 24" LCD for it, and i'm looking to get an Intel i7, 4 GB of RAM (DDR2 or DDRe, what's the big difference, and is it worth it?), a good (but not bleeding edge video card), a fast hard drive.

What would i reasonably be looking to spend? Don't need speakers or anything, i have that. It's running XP now, but i want like to see how games run with DirectX 10-11.

Generally speaking, you should start a new thread rather than asking an unrelated question in an existing thread. That said, check out the Ars Technica system guide. It's a little out of date now and a new version should be showing up soon, but it'll help you spec out a good system. Ars Technica System Guide: September 2008 Edition: Page 1

 

[drothgery]

Honestly, you might want to try just buying a nice $200 video card to begin with. Your PC probably already has a good CPU and at least 2GB RAM. It's easy to buy a lot of expensive components you don't exactly need. The Intel i7s are great chips, but so are the Core 2 Duos, and you'll be bottlenecked by your video card long before your CPU as a general rule.

Do you know what CPU you have?

Given a 1-year old PC with a 3 GHz Intel dual-core CPU, it's almost certainly an E6850 (unless it's overclocked, but you wouldn't do that with a Dell). An X6800/X6850 or an E8400 would be possible in theory, but the E8400 is really too new, and the X6800 or X6850 too expensive to drop into something that's not set up for gaming.

And given that, I definitely agree with TwistedBishop -- you certainly don't need a CPU upgrade (even a 3.2 GHz i7 won't show any major improvement except in the most heavily multithreaded of tasks). If you've got a slimline case so it's hard to upgrade your video card, it might be easier to replace everything, because low-profile graphics cards tend to top out at the midrange, but that's about the only potential problem (assuming you don't go crazy on the video card upgrade; a dual-GPU solution or a GTX 280 will probably draw more power than your Dell's power supply can handle).

 

[Steel_Wind]

You won't be able to upgrade the CPU to an i7. Your motherboard won't have the appropriate socket for it. If you want to replace the motherboard to get one, as of right now you're looking at: $300 for the CPU, $200-250 for the motherboard and ~$100 for 4GB of DDR3 RAM.

You'll want DDR2 RAM for your current CPU (guess it's a Core 2 Duo). It's very inexpensive. Around $20 for 2GB. (Your RAM type will be decided by your CPU, btw. Core 2 Duos use DDR2, while i7s use DDR3. The difference between them is operating frequency and latency. Overall it's not something to be concerned about. All you need to know is what your CPU requires.)

You'll be spending around 4x the amount for a fast HDD of comparative size to an average speed one. About $200 versus $50 for 250GB, as an example. I don't personally believe the performance increase is worth the price you're spending there.

The ATI 4870 is leading the price vs. performance war at the moment for single-GPU video cards. A 1GB 4870 will cost you about $240. The GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 is comparable and costs about $250. If you have a 24" monitor (which is what I have, btw) and run at a native resolution, these are your sweet spot cards for current games.

If price is a major concern, the ATI 4850 or Geforce 9800GTX can be had ~$180. Stepping down even further, the ATI 4830 and the Geforce 9800GT can be had for ~$130, sometimes even near $100.

And, of course, the Vista software will cost you $100 for the OEM version.

TwistedBishop got it right, and across the board, too.

FWIW, I would vote for the Asus version of the GTX260 over the 4870. To be clear, I have one Sapphire ATI 4870 and two Asus GTX260s.

Performance on the 4870 is in theory slightly better - in practice no noticeable difference at all. In real world terms, the driver support and vastly reduced noise level on the GTX260 gives it the edge, imo. The GTX260's two external power hook ups are on top of the card - not at the back of the card like the 4870. In a tight case, this makes a difference and also makes it much easier to install the GTX260. (Power hookup on the 4870 is fiddly given the tight fit and location of hooks ups)

Both are very large video cards, but each should fit in a standard ATX case - unless you have a hard drive sticking out more than it should. Your only choice at that point will be to move the drive - because the card slot on your mobo won't be moving

Both cards will require that you get a new power supply in the 600w-650w+ range.

 

[Nellisir]

I've got a HP Pavilion dv9000 with Vista. I'm not happy with the HP (flimsy CD/DVD drive; using the volume "slider" freezes the computer for several minutes; awkwardly placed ports), but have no problems with Vista.

 

[Thanee]

Since you do not seem to want to waste your money, do not upgrade your CPU. The one you got should be more than fine for what today's software (even games) need. Wait another year at least until you go there.

For the GFX card, I would also go GF-GTX260.

DDR2 RAM is inexpensive. Get some good DDR2 RAM (2x2GB 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit from a Name Brand).

PSU is very important. Get a new one, a good one, and a sufficiently powerful one (better a bit too much, than too little). Also definitely a Name Brand here.

What else do you need? A new Mainboard maybe (some ASUS P5Q for example), unless the one in the Dell can be re-used (not sure what they use there), maybe a new Case (also depends on what the Dell has, but that is inexpensive, unless you want something really fancy), Drives (2x 500GB S-ATA II HDD plus a CD/DVD drive/burner or CD/DVD/Bluray drive/burner -- or reuse what you got in the Dell).


I would probably just take the CPU from your Dell, and custom-build everything else new, but some parts might still be good and could be reused. You should end up way below $1000 with a really nice machine.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Aus_Snow]

PSU is very important. Get a new one, a good one, and a sufficiently powerful one (better a bit too much, than too little). Also definitely a Name Brand here.

Oh yeah, make sure you do this. My personal recommendation, unless you have really hardcore or wacky hardware, is the Corsair HX-520 or HX-620, each being quiet, powerful, rock solid, efficient and modular. And not overpriced, either.

But there are a whole bunch of good ones out there. Some research can make all the difference, as always.