Relapsing gaming addict with no money!

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Poprin

Poprin

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Dec 13, 2012
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This is my first post so hello!

I have a dilemma, that being I have ended up returning to PC gaming and loving it at a very bad time. I've just bought my first house and have basically no money!

So my situation is I have the following PC I built myself in about 2007. I'm relatively knowledgeable with computers as I work in IT but I've been out the game so long I'm a little lost with new tech.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4ghz)
ASUS P5N32-E SLI PLUS C55 motherboard
600W FSP Epsilon FX600GLN PSU
120GB WD SATA2 WD1200JS
Corsair 2GB DDR2 XMS2 PC5400 (matched pair 1GB sticks)
nvidia geforce 560ti 1GB (which I recently got for free)
Of course I have a generic SATA DVDRW combi and associated peripherals.

Now I want to play Planetside 2, even on the lowest setting for now for the minimum capital outlay. Can I flog something out of my existing system or do I need to totally update my CPU / MOBO combo?

I was thinking of picking up 4GB of DDR2 800mhz off ebay (roughly £15 should get me some second hand sticks) and upgrading my HDD to an OCZ Vertex 120gb SSD (£69 at my fav online shop) Do you think this would be enough of a kick to be able to run Planetside 2 on the lowest setting?
Roughly £90-£100 cost

My other option was upgrading to an AMD FX6300, ASROCK 970 pro3 board with 8GB Crucial Balistix 1600mhz RAM + the OCZ Vertex SSD for roughly £260 - £280

I would love to go intel but I just can't afford it.

Also final question, is there an advantage to running an nvidia / intel combo to running an nvidia / AMD combo?

I don't really have a budget as I have basically no spare cash, whatever I spend is splashing out!
 
Have you tried playing it yet. You will be way above min as you sit right now. Throw in a 3ghz core 2 quad and you will be good for another year or two at mid level graphics. I would do the 4 or 8 gigs of ram upgrade but otherwise not a junker yet.

Thent
 
Well I have tried playing it yes, this is how I've discovered it doesn't work! Your comment though does make me think maybe I have a fundamental problem with the machine. I think maybe the HDD has seen better days. I think I might stick with my original plan of trying to flog my dying horse, the SSD and the RAM is looking like a good option.

Out of interest, anyone have an opinion on the nvidia / intel and nvidia / AMD standpoint?
 
You will never get a straight answer with AMD VS Nvidia I like nvidia never had an issue but 7970 ghz is the top king right now. If you play the few games out that use physx then nvidia. The 560 you have is not a bad card though should be fine at 1080 for most games.

Thent
 
Grab 2 gb of ram and a cooler and overclock your CPU. Then I would say pick up an amd CPU and board later and 8 gb ddr3 ram, the 560ti should carry over. Then you can upgrade a bit at a time.
 
Thanks for all the input guys (possibly girls). To update on what I've done so far...

I've got an Intel 330 120gb SSD which I'm just waiting to fit into the machine when I've upped the RAM. Currently my RAM is too low I think (2GB) and the current HDD is taking a hammering from page file access so don't want to stress my brand new SSD!

I'm currently on the hunt for a reasonably priced set of 2x2gb sticks of DDR2 800mhz. When I've installed those bad boys I will also install my E8500 which I've sourced from ebay for £34 including postage :) (I did concider the Q6600 but foolishly went for clock speed over cores and after doing some research I think I may have made a mistake). Also the Q6600 is holding a stronger price on ebay and money is tight.

So basically just scouring the classifieds for some cheap RAM atm (don't want to pay over £30) and as soon as I find it I'm going to stuff it all in and re-install Win7 on my new SSD. Hopefully this will breath some life into the old girl for less than £70 (bear in mind my SSD was £80 but I got it as a christmas prezzie!)

Hopefully I've made the cheapest and right choice to allow my to get on planetside 2.... I'll let you know :)
 
Discovered the main source of my problem and I'm kicking myself big time over it. Decided to tidy the case up and install the SSD (Which is awesome by the way, highly recommend!) and in the process of tidying and dusting and moving cables I discovered that my stock intel CPU cooler was not correctly seated!!!

OMFG! one of the stupid push pins had popped out at some point, probably when I moved house and the damn thing was running way too hot. I re-attached the cooler and instantly noticed a performance increase! Lucky I've bought a new chip because I think I've probably fried my E6600 due to stupidity and not checking the basics first!
 
OK... another update!

Installed my replacement E8500, cleaned up the processor and heatsink with ArctiClean remover and purifier and then applied Arctic Silver 5.

Had another good tidy up inside the case and put it all back together and I'm up and running. Desperate for RAM now as my processor is getting bottlenecked by my 667mhz RAM.

Absolutely loving messing with computers again after such a lay off... my special edition star wars xbox is gathering dust! Also so glad I didn't just buy a whole new mobo, getting the most out of this 5 year old rig has been as much fun as playing games on it!

I think I will be building another rig when funds alow... the bug has once again bitten!
 
Wolfdale chips as i read, were good back then, and still good now!
I currently use Core2Duo @ 3.0ghz (E8400 - Wolfdale).

 
oh and that 8GB of DDR2 Ballistix could be sold (as i got 4GB i can put back in the machine anyway).......... if the buyer was offering a good amount..
RAM was bought in July 2012, still have the original packaging too...... :)
 
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