Cold_Gambler Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 I bought my current rig about 2 years ago, I'm not planning to get a new rig for at least another year (more likely 2012) and I'm wondering what I might upgrade... Current components (to the best of my recollection): Foxconn socket 775 board (don't remember the name) e8400 dual core (OC'd to 2.9GHZ, iirc) 2 X 4850 in crossfire 2 X 1 gig ram XP I've had a quick look and it seems like if I were to upgrade it would have to be both the CPU and the graphics cards because (I think) changing the CPU or the GPUs only would result in the other component becoming a bottleneck. I believe my machine is relatively well balanced as-is, though perhaps the 2 X 4850s may be waiting for the CPU a bit. If that is correct, I'm not sure that going to a quad core 775 socket is going to do much better. On the other hand, It doesn't make much sense to me to upgrade both those components as that would push it easily >$500. Over $500 I'd rather accept lower performance for the time being and use that money for the next computer... Am I generally correct that these are my options, or am I missing something? If I'm right it seems like it's best wait and eventually build a rig centered around a new MoBo+i7 core. Thanks for any and all input! C_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snacko Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 I think you are probably correct CG. But maybe someone who is more up on hardware will post. Have you ever reformatted your hard drive and reinstalled everything in the past two years? Have you ran disk defrag lately? Both of these things help a lot I think. Also, running something like FSAutoStart to shut down unwanted programs/processes before you game helps as well. I did all of these things with my old Dell when it was getting on 3+ years old and it helped a lot till I build my current pc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold_Gambler Posted September 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 I think you are probably correct CG. But maybe someone who is more up on hardware will post. Have you ever reformatted your hard drive and reinstalled everything in the past two years? Have you ran disk defrag lately? Both of these things help a lot I think. Also, running something like FSAutoStart to shut down unwanted programs/processes before you game helps as well. I did all of these things with my old Dell when it was getting on 3+ years old and it helped a lot till I build my current pc. Great advice, Snacko, thanks! I haven't done a reformat since I got this machine... it's just such a pain. I do defrag about once every 2-3 months though. I haven't tried FSAutoStart. All those are free, I'll definitely get FSAutoStart and defrag... Is there an easy (and relatively non-time consuming) way of re-formatting? C_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snacko Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 I highly recommend a reformat if you have never done one. Your pc will obviously run as good as the day you purchased it. And then update all of your drivers for video and such. Of course you want to back your personal stuff first. Many pcs come with a System Restore disk, that reformats the drive and puts everything back on it like the day you bought it. If it doesn't have that, then you have to do it all yourself. Boot from your Windows CD and select the option to format and install. Then install all of your programs. FSAutoStart has been replaced with a newer version called AlacrityPC. You can get it here. There is also a program called GameBooster that does kind of the same thing. Check it out here. Basically, these programs shutdown unnecessary programs and services, then you play your game. After you are finished playing your game you can have them restart (or not) those programs and services. At least that's how AlacrityPC works. I'm not sure about GameBooster. I don't use those programs since I upgraded so I am not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum FoolTrottel Posted September 30, 2010 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 No need to upgrade that hardware, and there's no sense in it. A bigger CPU might be the only option, but the investment would not be worth it, if it's just for IL2. Other games may benefit from more Cores... A re-format may do some good, but, what makes you think about an upgrade? Any issues with it currently? Like you said, the system looks fairly balanced... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD_Arthur Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 No need to upgrade that hardware, and there's no sense in it. A bigger CPU might be the only option, but the investment would not be worth it, if it's just for IL2. Other games may benefit from more Cores... A re-format may do some good, but, what makes you think about an upgrade? Any issues with it currently? Like you said, the system looks fairly balanced... I agree. I'm running an E6600 at stock 2.4 ghz, an Nvidia 9800gt 512mb, 2gig of ram on windows XP. Frame rate is locked to the refresh rate of my 22" monitor so I get a consistent 60fps in perfect mode. Everything looks great. When BoB comes out I'm hoping it'll run it too. If not then I plan to upgrade my processor to an E8400!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold_Gambler Posted October 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 No need to upgrade that hardware, and there's no sense in it. A bigger CPU might be the only option, but the investment would not be worth it, if it's just for IL2. Other games may benefit from more Cores... A re-format may do some good, but, what makes you think about an upgrade? Any issues with it currently? Like you said, the system looks fairly balanced... I agree. I'm running an E6600 at stock 2.4 ghz, an Nvidia 9800gt 512mb, 2gig of ram on windows XP. Frame rate is locked to the refresh rate of my 22" monitor so I get a consistent 60fps in perfect mode. Everything looks great. When BoB comes out I'm hoping it'll run it too. If not then I plan to upgrade my processor to an E8400!!!! Thanks for confirming my suspicions that the machine is fairly well balanced at the moment. It's working fine at the moment. Saving my money for a new i7 and MoBo in a year's time is the way to go In the meantime, a general clean-up of the rig is in order. I may even update Il2, LOL... Thanks, C_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snacko Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 When I was using FSAutoStart on my old rig, I checked my free memory using Task Manager before running it and then after. I think it freed up about 300k of memory, and I only had 1 gig, so that made a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum FoolTrottel Posted October 1, 2010 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 You sure Snacko? One third of a Megabyte is pretty little and quite insignficant vs. 1Gb I think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snacko Posted October 2, 2010 Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 Oops, yah, not 300k. It freed up about 30% of my memory. I didn't have much, and it was almost all being used and also a big swap file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum FoolTrottel Posted October 2, 2010 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted October 2, 2010 freeing up 300mb would be worth it, for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_O_A_D Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 Your only really worry is when your get SOW and find out it learns more on a quad core system, Thus you need a new cpu ad mobo at the-very least. At the moment though you Gould get a copy of win7 64 bit and ad 2 more gigs of ram, and push the duel core you already have, even harder. More ram with XP will be mostly wasted I haven't looked, but if your board supports some early quads, you might be able to find used reasonably. Otherwise, enjoy it for what it is and use it till you can afford a complete system on the more advance hardware Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blairgowrie Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 I have to agree with TOAD. You are shortly going to need a new mobo and a quad core CPU. I'd also consider 4 gbs of DDR 3 ram and Windows 64bit. Your cards are going to be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold_Gambler Posted October 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 I have to agree with TOAD. You are shortly going to need a new mobo and a quad core CPU. I'd also consider 4 gbs of DDR 3 ram and Windows 64bit. Your cards are going to be fine. Thanks for the replies... I hadn't thought about upgrading the machine's OS and doubling up the RAM while continuing to use the same MoBo + E8400. That's an interesting avenue since those parts could be re-used in a new build centered around an i7 CPU and MoBo... doing that would also mean reformatting killing two birds with one stone. When it comes time for a new build I could re-use: the case + PSU, the vid cards, the (new) RAM, the (new) OS, the HDDs, and all the various peripherals... meaning basically that I'd only need to buy the MoBo and CPU (though I'll probably be tempted to pick up a SSD as well). Gentlemen, thank you all very much for your input... one of these days I hope to get IL-2 '46 uptodate and fly again C_G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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