The hardest decision to make on a computer.

[airboatr]

when to upgrade and when to move on to bliss of smelling new electronics burning in for the first few days of a new one.

my question
What could I upgrade to get say 30 % increase or more in performance

My current PC is a Gateway GT5016E
http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/GTMod ... 7sp2.shtml
It’s a dual core 2.8 Ghz 820
800 FSB
945 chipset
775 socket

4 gig of PC4200 533mhz DDR2 SDRAM

Nvidia 8600GT 512mb DDR2 800mhz ram

300 watt power supply

Plus it has XP Media Center with a tv capture card …../ remote

I’ve seen 3ghz dual core processors that are 940 instead of 820
Does that matter if they are both 775 sockets?

And would a power supply help…. maybe a 600 watt?

A budget of around 200 US is about all I want to spend on this machine. As It has almost two years one her
So do I upgrade or leave it for what it is and buy a new one

The new quad core machines are running on average 1.8 to 2.2 Ghz speed

Since MSFS is run through only one processor by default (although there is a patch to get it running on both)

Would the faster dual core 3.0 machines be a better choice, keeping in mind FS9 will be it’s main job?

Hope ya’ll can help.

Joe

[DaveB]

A 3 0 0 watt PSU :o :o :o

Strewth Joe.. I've not had a psu that small since I ran an XP1400

I really don't know what sort of performance increase you'd see by upping to a dual core 3ghz mate but I doubt it'd be in the region of 30%. Could be wrong though as I know JS about multi-core systems Your RAM isn't particularly fast even though you have lots of it. If the 3ghz will run on your mobo and they're cheap as chips.. (IF they're cheap as chips).. I'm sure you'll see some increase but will it be worth it??.... I really don't know

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Charlie Bravo]

Hi Joe,

I'd say you would benefit from upgrading the CPU and RAM, however that depends on whether your existing motherboard will support Core2Duo CPU's or faster RAM.

I searched the Gateway site for motherboard firmware updates and there weren't any so it doesn't look great. Thats the problem with pre built systems.

[Tako_Kichi]

You could try using this page to see if you would get a suitable increase in performance.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

Plug your current system into the top box, the system you would like in the middle box and then select the various benchmark tests one by one. In each case you will get a chart with the two systems highlighted and compared to the full list. There is also a similar chart for comparing GFX cards too. A very useful little tool.

As CB says you should also check that your current mobo is capable of running the latest dual/quad cores. I was in a similar situation a few weeks back and had hoped to upgrade both my CPU and mobo and get a new GFX card but couldn't afford to do all three and settled on a better GFX card for now instead.

[ianhind]

This page
http://www.btxformfactor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=182
says the motherboard is an Intel and a BTX format (so adding a new one into the existing case is a problem since BTX is not exactly common - an Intel concept that went nowhere).

Checking out the motherboard at
http://support.intel.com/support/mother ... 026632.htm
and assuming that Gateway have not tweaked it, it will not take the new Core 2 CPUs.

So the RAM and graphics card will fit a new motherboard, although the slow RAM will be a limiting factor for the latest CPUs.

New case, new motherboard, new CPU - what can you get for $200? What are the compromises? Intel E4300 chip + almost any Core 2 motherboard?

Ah, almost forgot a power supply with a bit more oomph - is it really only 300w?

[airboatr]

A 3 0 0 watt PSU :o :o :o

Strewth Joe.. I've not had a psu that small since I ran an XP1400

ATB

DaveB :tab:

it is a real shot in the pills isn't it...
Understanding load calculations, the original 300 watt supply may be in line
with what is being powered when it left the factory. But there isn't any room for serious upgrades.
This is one of the upgrades I mentioned as I realize it's not enough power to run a big ol honkin graphics card
which is one of the considerations when I chose the 8600GT , just wish the DDR3 version was available...

I'll have to do some more research on the board to know what it's able to run.

what to do what to do

thanks for the input guys