I have a gaming system which I purchased in 2007 for a hefty amount and am looking to upgrade it rather than bin it. It looks like the graphics card has died on me. I am thinking of purchasing a motherboard bundle but have no idea where to start and what would be compatible. I have the full build spec of my current pc in front of me and am looking to spend sub £300 on a bundle. My current motherboard will only run 3gb memory and that is, I believe, what holds my performance back the most. can anyone point me in the right direction please or offer some advice? Can I run my current operating system and hard drive if I update the motherboard/memory/graphics card? Thanks.
Your memory is limited by your processor. By only having 3GB available you must have a 32bit processor. You'll want a bundle with a 64 bit processor. Basically, all you'll be keeping is the chassis as your current memory will not be transferable. You'll need to check your PSU (the box that distributes power) can supply enough for your motherboard. I'll be honest, you may well only be keeping the case which is the cheapest bit. Take a look at the link below and have a look at some bundles. Component Bundles | OVERCLOCKERS UK Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah I am looking to replace the processor/motherboard/memory/graphics card as a bundle. I have a 600w power supply and it is liquid cooled. My hard drive has been updated to a newer one not long ago plus I have the dvd rw/cd rw drives and an aftermarket sound card so I just want to replace the main part and not pay to replace all the other stuff by simply buying a new pc. I think I read somewhere that a replacement motherboard/gpu would require a fresh operating system, can that be right? It's all very confusing to a non tech like me.
You'll have a 32 bit operating system so yes, that will have to be upgraded. What connection is your hard disk? I'm guessing it's new enough to be SATA which will be fine on your new motherboard.
@Loz can help if he can be arsed - he's a professional 'turn it off and on again' kinda guy (currently working for the secret service, but even that is a secret :Finger::Bag
Your memory can also be restricted by the motherboard. I had one that would only recognise 8Gb so I changed it for a newer one and now have 24Gb on it. I run 64 bit Ubuntu Linux.
Yep the hard drive is sata JH. Yes Bob, I have x2 2mb sticks in my mb but it only recognises 3mb hence wanting to replace it. LOZ! CAN YOU BE ARSED????
I recon the first thing that you want to decide upon is the CPU. I bought an AMD 8 core CPU and motherboard and put 24 Gb of ram in it for video editing. The operating system is Ubuntu Linux 64 bit, so that is free. You would need to stick to Windoze if you want it as a gaming machine. The very latest and most powerful graphics cars are the Nvidia Pascal range (GTX1080 and 1070) they are streets ahead of anything that was available 6 months ago as they have been developed with virtual reality in mind. Trouble is that they cost a bomb at the moment.
One of the many areas where I have no expertise whatsoever is choosing a suitable gaming machine. I have never bought one and so have never researched it. My older son is far more of a whiz. Updating a 2007 box means buying up from scratch - if you want a games monster. The latest gaming video cards take a lot of cooling so you will want a modern case that is designed for the job. 600W PSU sounded a lot nine years ago but 750W is the new 600W. You'll run short of power with 600W. If you purchased your OS, which I am assuming to be Windows, in 2007, you are probably either XP or Win7? If you got the Windows software as part of the package (an OEM licence), you will possibly be unable to transfer it to the new machine. Even if you can, strictly you shouldn't, as the licence refers to the system, not to you. WinXP is deader than a dead thing that died, recovered and died again. Win7 is still a decent OS and still receives security updates. If you bought a separately licensed copy of Win7 (or WinXP), you should be able to load it onto the new machine but bear in mind, older OS's cannot always take full advantage of the latest GPUs, power settings, CPU capabilities etc. TL; DR Buy a new system, Win10 is pretty decent at running the latest games (but don't forget to turn off all of Microsoft's "phone-home" settings, they don't need to know every last thing about you and your new PC. Additional Splurge: If you aren't using Windows, best of luck, I'm of less help with Linux, etc than I am with Windows. If you don't want a super monster gaming machine, simply something that runs old games from a few years ago, just buy a cheap gaming package from a seller (EBuyer for instance but there's plenty of alternatives) with the fastest CPU, most memory and biggest HDD you can afford. Remember, if you by an SSD HDD, it with only really be of use when loading up Windows, they aren't a big help with the games themselves. They are wonderful for running Windows though, super speedy. If you do get an SSD, you'll still want (need) a traditional HDD to store the games on and run them from. That's it for now. I have been sweltering all day, losing the plot and I don't even know whether I'm actually posting in the Multistrada Forum. Apologies for spelling mistakes and outright wrong advice.
SSD is the single best upgrade I have ever done to a system. It's expensive though. Realistically I think you need to prepare to spend more. Like I said, your operating system will be a cost to factor in. Linux will be no good for gaming. My office PC is Windows 8, quad core AMD processor and 8GB of RAM with a 2GB graphics card. I don't consider that a good gaming PC at all and if I were building a gaming PC I'd be looking at spending quite a wedge. SSD's, twin graphics cards and a good chunk of ram with the latest greatest Intel processor. It's why I gave up gaming PC's and just use console now. One cost and it all runs on it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Experts? Hell yeah, this is the internet, and the Ducati forum Want gaming graphics, get some TITAN X in yer PC.
Okay so I spent 6 years working for a RAM manufacturer, most bits have been covered but to correct a few myths. The reason you can only get 3GB in your current motherboard is probably to do with the address channels supported, often cheap motherboards will cut down the channels of memory they support to save cost and complexity. In a 32-bit OS you will only see around 3.5GB of memory, this will be even less if other system resources have memory, this is because of the total addressable memory space that the OS can deal with. I believe all current CPU's are 64-bit now, AMD will be cheaper but some prefer Intel, personally I like Intel. For a decent system you need 12GB RAM, there is a bit of confusion as to where the limitations are in speed, for games, the texture memory is critical so the graphics card should have as much memory as you can afford, 1GB minimum. But a system with 12GB main ram will be fine if.... You fit a SSD. Get one in there! Perhaps a hybrid drive as a good compromise in performance, many confuse slow systems with lack of RAM though, and the chugging HDD noise is often the biggest clue!!! Finally make sure your power supply has a dedicated PCI-E power rail as all new graphics cards will need this, they can't drawer enough through the main board. I would say 600w is only just up to the job now unless it's a really good one, and you aren't going to run loads of water pumps and HDD's. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Just to amplify the great advice Phil ^ gave: System RAM, an SSD and a fast CPU are all a poor substitute for a dedicated gaming display card/GPU. If super-dooper graphics at the highest levels of resolution and FPS are required, invest in a real gaming graphics adapter.
Yep, it has to be a balance, if you can save £20 on getting a slightly slower CPU but that means you can get the next chipset faster on graphics card and you want to play games then you have to trim the budget here and there to get a balance. In Game though, the Graphics card is doing a lot of the work really within reason, the CPU can be a lot more basic if it's not having to compute any graphics type stuff. It's all a balance, and tbh I was going to build a gaming rig not so long ago and go frustrated by the shear variation and amount of different spec out there!! You end up spending your life reading! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Blimey! I am confused now lol. I am currently operating windows 8.1, I have the "download 10" icon but it will not install for some reason. I was hoping to continue to use my current disk drive with the new MB/processor/memory/graphics card. Like Phil says, you can waste half you're life on this stuff. My current card is an nvidia 8800 gts 648. I just want a basic transplant without it costing the earth. My machine runs battlefield 3 fine, or it did until the graphics card failed. I am not a huge gamer but like to have a look in sometimes. The whole idea of a transplant was to keep my current hard drive etc and not be paying for stuff I already have. Its looking more and more like a scrap the whole thing job and simply buy a new desktop for £500 ish. I know the memory holds the thing back but to be honest, i still thought the graphics were great for a 9 year old machine. The cpu is a quad core intel 2 q6600 2.4ghz 1066fsb 8mb 64 bit. Motherboard is a MSI P6N sli-nforce 650i ddr2. Seems such a waste to bin the whole thing, cost £1500 in 2007 lol.
Well, now you've given the specs I don't see what's holding you back on the RAM front. You are running a 64 bit OS and a motherboard running a 64 bit processor shouldn't be limited to such a small amount of memory. The problem with upgrading the board is the slot architecture. Better to buy a new processor as the latest slots are different and to buy one your old processor would fit makes little sense. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think my os is 32bit JH. A friend tried x2 4mb memory sticks in my machine but they were not recognised hence back to the 2 2mb sticks and the pc only recognising x3mb. My plan is/was to buy a new motherboard complete with processor. Apologies for the confusion.
I think you can do the freebie upgrade to Win10 64-bit from 32-bit 8.1 ... Microsoft seems to indicate this is the case. Don't do this before you buy the new system though as free upgrade Win10 won't port from one system to another. I think you are out of time for the freebie upgrade though, doesn't it end on 29 July 2016?
