Updating my PC

[ash]

dude its a game of COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF FUN


maybe not

[cronulus]

HP Pavilion dv6-3011so

Processor: AMD Turion II Dual Core , 2,3GHz, CPU memory 2MB L2a
RAM: 4GB DDR3 @1333 MHz, max 8gb
HDD: 640gb
GFX Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1GB
Screen: 15,6" LED, max resolution 1366 x 768
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Aluminium case

I have to agree with Heeuge! A laptop given to me with that low a resolution would receive the same treatment as that printer being thrown in your signature. I can't believe they still dare sell resolutions that low on laptops which aren't netbooks. Ah well, at least you can easily count your pixels during dull moments.

[Heeuge]

I'm thinking £150-£200 budget, though could probably go a bit over if necessary? Also whats the situation with sockets, my current PC is about three and a half years old so I guess the PCI socket has improved? Are they backwards compatable, all be it with poorer performance?

As an alternative, I do want to be able to pass my old PC on, so will need another card for that anyway. Any suggestions on a cheapish replacement for my 8800gtx? Guess I should be able to get something fairly cheap that will perform as well?

Grateful for any advice.

How much is 'cheapish'? You might as well get whatever classes as cheapish to pass on and when the time comes to get your new PC bits, get the £150/200 card you want and pass the entire thing on like you plan.

Tom's Hardware periodically run a 'best VGA card for $xxx' article, the last of which appeared last month. Swing the dollars into sterling and you get a good idea what you can get for whatever budget you choose.

[Roper]

Cheers Heeuge. I'm thinking around £100 for cheapish, obviously it would be nice to pay less but realistically I think I probably need to pay this.

Was tempted with this, though annoyingly its now out of stock. May get a 5770 instead.

I was trying to rush to beat the vat increase, but the I guess 2.5% isnt going to kill me anyways.

Thanks for the link, very useful.

[Heeuge]

Ebuyer have a 5770 for under £95 delivered.

The GTX460s all appear to have jumped back to £120 or so, even for the 768mb versions. The Asus model that Scan have (but not in stock) for £112 is currently in stock for £117 delivered at Dabs

[Roper]

Cheers Heeuge. Yeah its annoying that they seem to have crept up, I’d probably go for that scan one if it wasn’t out of stock. I guess the dabs one isn’t much more really, but its creeping up to more than I ideally wanted to pay. If I was planning to keep it long term I would generally be happy to pay a little extra, but I think I may just go with the 5770.

[Roper]

Any thoughts on this?

Should I worry about the lack of brand, or does it not really matter? Its a few quid more than Ebuyer, but the advantage is that I can pick it up on the way home from work, where as ebuyer is either a tenner for next day, or 5 days delivery for free.

[Heeuge]

The specs and connections are identical, in fact the coolers look the same as well so if you can pick one up on your way home I'd go for it!

[Juan]

I give it a week for the 5-15% price increases due to manufacturers and retailers putting some cream on top of the VAT hike.

Just a heads up.

[Heeuge]

That's a good point - once the sales finish prices won't just jump back up to what they were before, retailers will use the confusion to throw on a few extra hikes here and there.

In CPU news, rumblings from OcUK indicate the Intel 2500 is looking like hitting at £170 or so. There'll no doubt be an 'early adopter tax' added on to start with but woooo for good ol' VAT & the pound premium \o/

[Heeuge]

PC Pro have now confirmed the pricing structure for the Sandy Bridge CPU line:



The 2500K has an unlocked multiplier for the £10 premium over the 2500 which gives you free reign to get overclocking if/when the bug hits you. Reports are coming in claiming that:

We were actually told by Asus that approximately 50% of Sandy Bridge CPUs can hit 4.4-4.5GHz, 40% can hit up to 4.6-4.7GHz, and about 10% will reach up to 4.8-5GHz.

Not a bad boost for 'free' if you want to give it a go!

Another thing PC Pro mention is that the IGP seems capable of coping with WoW to some extent - it even managed 35+fps in Crysis @ 1366x768! Who needs a £300 VGA card?

[ash]

Whats the default clock on those then? Just so I can compare, otherwise those numbers could be anything

[Heeuge]

To help anyone that can't combine pictures and numbers, the 2500K's stock clock (or 'base frequency' in apparent over-Ashee's-head speak) is 3.3GHz with Turbo boosting to 3.7GHz...




OcUK have started selling the new CPUs at a pretty hefty 'early bird' premium..... the 2500K is nigh-on £190. Expect that to drop considerably (I bloody well hope it does!) once other retailers start selling as well.

The joys of early adopting!

[ash]

ah I now see the text that says "image" in really small letters that tells me it was blocked, thus I could not help myself out. Didn't want to google due to current location

thats pretty sweet to get +1ghz on a cpu.

[Vincenoir]

They're gone again! Sooon