E6420 & 8800gts 640 - Upgrade help...

[Nda]

Hi all,

This is my current spec. Not playing a tons of new game, but would like to get better on fps on some of the games. I typically played L4D, L4D2, Starcraft2, Dragon Age, The Witcher. Hopefully the Witcher 2 and DA2 when it comes.

Played on 1920x1080 and typically is fine on low-medium, but would like to enjoy abit more. Have budget around $300. Please help. Should i just get Radeon 5770 and call it a day? Someone is selling in For Sale for GTX260 Core 216 for $100, that might work too i think. What do you guys think?

Somehow the 4GB memory is only being recognized as 3GB on Vista, o well...

Spec:
* Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz LGA 775 Processor
* ASUS P5B-Plus LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
* Thermaltake Purepower RX W0144RU ATX12V / EPS12V 600W Power Supply
* CORSAIR XMS2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
* BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
* Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
* Vista 32-bit

Thank you.

 

[mfenn]

Its pretty typical for only ~3GB or so of memory to be addressable under a 32-bit OS. You'd need to upgrade to 64-bit to see all 4GB.

I'd probably do something like this:
GTX 460 1GB $170 AR
Noctua U12P $75 - OC that E6420!

 

[fffblackmage]

OC that E6420!

+1
You should have no problems getting to at least 3 GHz with the E6420.

 

[Nda]

i am a chicken to open my computer, remove the existing fan, putting the new ones and all thermal paste and anything....

If i can get gtx 260 core 216 for 100 bucks, that should be good too no? The 460 will be heaps better though.

 

[fffblackmage]

lol, my little brother's computer is still running an E6300 overclocked at 2.8GHz with the stock cooler. The fact that the E6300 can do 2.8GHz without increased voltage (only 1.26V or so) helped to keep temps reasonable.

Well, even if you're unwilling to overclock, just upgrading the graphics card will make a huge difference.

 

[mfenn]

i am a chicken to open my computer, remove the existing fan, putting the new ones and all thermal paste and anything....

Replacing the GPU requires opening the computer.

If i can get gtx 260 core 216 for 100 bucks, that should be good too no? The 460 will be heaps better though.

I'd get a 460, the Core 216 is pretty hot and loud