Questions about my budget new build and overclocking?

[Deleted]

Hi I am upgrading my computer after 6 years of small upgrades to an outdated PC. I wanted to know if these are compatible, and if its suitable for new games such as skyrim, sw:tor and new releases. Also, how do I and even if it is possible to overclock (maybe a brief explaination of what it entails, pros and cons etc..) this new rig:

Computer Case: Black ATX Tower Case

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 960T (4 x 3.0 GHz) 8MB - Black Edition

Memory: Corsair 8GB XMS3 PC3-12800 1600MHz (2x4GB) - (DDR3)

Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 6850 - 1 GB - (VTX) (PCI-E)

Motherboard: Asus M5A78L-M LX (AMD 760G)

Networking: Edimax Wireless LAN 150Mbps (USB)

Power Supply: Cooler Master 500W PSU - Low Noise

Hard Drive: 80 GB SATA-II HDD 7200 RPM 8MB (also a 500GB external hard drive)

Optical Drive: Samsung 22x DVD Re-Writer/Reader /- RW- Black - (SATA)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 BIT (Genuine DVD & COA Included)

I live in the UK (Scotland) and I have spent about 500 - 580 pounds on this. If in future anthings should be changed, as of now it stays like this as I have bought it already. Thank you for any help you have including advice on how to or even if iI should overclock this machine.

-Thanks,
Jack


EDIT: Also, if this rig can run these on high/ultra/max details at a good fps rate? thank you again

[chaud]

That is a really tiny HDD. I would suggest saving a little more next time and buying something that would have lasted longer. You might get medium/high settings depending on your resolution.

[Deleted]

Could you elaborate more? I know it is a small HDD but a don't have anything apart from games on my computer and small utilities, and most my games are saved onto my portable HD. should i get more RAM, better graphics card, better cpu or anything else? As I stated this is a long awaited upgrade from an outdated computer maybe you can tell me how much of an upgrade from my last system? here is its specs:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor ~2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 430 1GB

HDD: 75gb

OS: Operating System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3

I think its a big upgrade from this but, I only want about 30-40 fps average on some new games, just so its not as bad as what I've got atm

[chaud]

A 2500k would last you significantly longer, the CPU you bought is already one generation behind. Tiny hard drives like that are overpriced and slow. Get a cheap CPU cooler and overclock. GPU will be a significant upgrade.

[Deleted]

Do you know if I can easily upgrade my CPU anytime like in Q1 or Q2 of next year(referring to the newer one with windows7)? Also I don't quite udnerstand how I would go around: 'Get a cheap CPU cooler and overclock' how would I go about doing/getting those?

Thank you for your advice so far

[chaud]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

Grab that and overclock. It is possible that you could upgrade your CPU, but compatibility on Bulldozer V2 hasn't been confirmed yet.

[Deleted]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103065

Grab that and overclock. It is possible that you could upgrade your CPU, but compatibility on Bulldozer V2 hasn't been confirmed yet.

Thank you. How would I overclock it? Are there any guides you could direct me to? Sorry if this is obvious but what is this bulldozer V2 what does it refer to?

Thank you again!

[glo]

80 gigs = 76 actual gigabytes of data - 23ish for windows - another 25 for WoW = 27 gigs of free space. Most games these days are at least 10-12 gigs. So you'll only have enough room for 2 games total on the computer in addition to WoW.

I'd strongly suggest investing in a proper HDD.

[Deleted]

80 gigs = 76 actual gigabytes of data - 23ish for windows - another 25 for WoW = 27 gigs of free space. Most games these days are at least 10-12 gigs. So you'll only have enough room for 2 games total on the computer in addition to WoW.

I'd strongly suggest investing in a proper HDD.

Is it bad to put my games onto a partable 500BG HD? Is there anything bad that can happen if I do this?

[Deleted]

@ The Boy, by glimpsing at your motherboard I'd strongly suggest against any form of overclocking and/or even unlocking your cpu for that mater. With weak voltage regulation you could burn it very easy.

[Deleted]

@ The Boy, by glimpsing at your motherboard I'd strongly suggest against any form of overclocking and/or even unlocking your cpu for that mater. With weak voltage regulation you could burn it very easy.

unlocking my CPU? Could you explain? Also, thank you for the word of warning

[Deleted]

Unlocking Link

[chaud]

@ The Boy, by glimpsing at your motherboard I'd strongly suggest against any form of overclocking and/or even unlocking your cpu for that mater. With weak voltage regulation you could burn it very easy.

Good catch, I missed that. The board might not support newer CPUs in the future either.

Is it bad to put my games onto a partable 500BG HD? Is there anything bad that can happen if I do this?

External access is very slow.

[Deleted]

Good catch, I missed that. The board might not support newer CPUs in the future either.


External access is very slow.

So it would be wise to updgrade the HDD? If so how would I know it is compatable?

[Deleted]

SATA standard for Hard disk/Optical drives is made to be backward compatible. Meaning you can plug in sata 1,2,3 into sata 3 mbo. Dont know but upward compatibility for sure, but i've got sata 3 drive in sata 2 motherboard.

On the safe side, get a sata 2 drive, should be plenty of them around.
If possible get a bigger drive, extra space never hurts, and being restrain by 80gb is really sad thing...

[Deleted]

Upgrade to a bigger HDD, a portable HDD is fine really... but you have to remember your limited to your USB speed, and I highly doubt its any where near the speed of a S-ATA 300/600 HDD

[Deleted]

Get a larger HDD and use an old CD key for windows, no need to get a new license for every new computer u buy. Skipping the OS is a huge save.

Btw, get an sandycore i5 instead.. Just saying ^^

[Deleted]

Get a larger HDD and use an old CD key for windows, no need to get a new license for every new computer u buy. Skipping the OS is a huge save.

Btw, get an sandycore i5 instead.. Just saying ^^

But how do I know that my motherboard is compatible with an i5 cpu? Or any cpu for that matter? Also, how hard will it be to replace/upgrade/add a HDD? And which one is compatible?

Thanks