Upgrading Suggestions...

[Lord Dakier]

In this ever changing world of computers, I'm looking to soon focus on re-upgrading my precious. After spending a good £650 on getting her running about 2 and a half years ago I figured its time she gets another few extra's.

Now I like my music loud and as well all do on here I like to play my games. In the case of Total War I'll take number of soldiers over quality any day but I try to get the best of both. I'm always moving files and adding or removing files to make space so hard drive will be one more thing to add to my shopping list.

I don't really want to spend over £200 on a new cpu or graphic card so I tend to look at bang for buck. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Lord D.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

PC Wizard 2010 Version 1.92
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Owner: Jay
User: Jay
Operating System: Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate Professional 6.00.6002 Service Pack 2
Report Date: Sunday 12 June 2011 at 14:32
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<<< System Summary >>>
> Mainboard : Asus M4N78 PRO
> Chipset : nVidia nForce 720a
> Processor : AMD Phenom II X4 940 @ 2300 MHz
> Physical Memory : 4096 MB (2 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM )
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
> Hard Disk : Hitachi (500 GB)
> Hard Disk : Maxtor (300 GB)
> DVD-Rom Drive : DVDRW IDE1004 ATA Device
> DVD-Rom Drive : DAZUFQR LMVOH27856 SCSI CdRom Device
> Monitor Type : AOC International F22 - 21 inches
> Network Card : MCP77 Ethernet
> Operating System : Windows Vista (TM) Ultimate Professional 6.00.6002 Service Pack 2
> DirectX : Version 11.00
> Windows Performance Index : 5.3
<<< Mainboard >>>
> Manufacturer : System manufacturer
> Mainboard : Asus M4N78 PRO
> Bios : American Megatrends Inc.
> Chipset : nVidia nForce 720a
> Physical Memory : 4096 MB DDR2-SDRAM
> LPC bus : Yes
> PCI Bus : Yes
> Bus PCI-Express : Yes
> USB Bus : Yes
> SMBus/i2c Bus : Yes
> Bus HyperTransport : Yes
> Bus QPI : No
> Bus CardBus : No
> Bus FireWire : No
<<< Processor >>>
> Processor : AMD Phenom II X4 940
> Frequency : 2300 MHz
> Number of Core : 4
> Support : Socket AM3 (939)
> Cache L1 : 4 x 128 KB
> Cache L2 : 4 x 512 KB
> Cache L3 : 6144 KB
> Voltage VID : 1.500 V
> FPU Coprocessor : Present
> Core 1 Activity : 21%
> Core 2 Activity : 45%
> Core 3 Activity : 21%
> Core 4 Activity : 33%
<<< Video >>>
> Current Display : 1440x900 pixels at 75 Hz in True Colors (32-bit)
> Number of monitor : 1
> Monitor Type : AOC International F22
> Video Card : ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series
> OpenCL : Yes
> OpenGL : Yes
> GDI Plus : Yes
> Direct2D : Yes
<<< IO Ports >>>
> Port installed : Communications Port (COM1)
> Port installed : Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
> Port installed : Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
> Port installed : Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
> Port installed : Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
<<< Drives >>>
> Number of Disk Controller : 2
> Number of Hard Disk : 2
> Number of CD-ROM Drive : 1
> Drives Letters : A:\ C:\ D:\ E:\ F:\
> Floppy Disk : 3½" HD (1.44 Mo)
> Drive C: (Hard Disk) : 45 GB available on 300 GB
> Drive D: (DVD-Rom) : 0 KB available on 0 KB
> Drive E: (DVD-Rom) : 0 KB available on 0 KB
> Drive F: (Hard Disk) : 104 GB available on 500 GB
<<< Printers >>>
> Default Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer
> Printer installed : Send To OneNote 2007
> Printer installed : Microsoft XPS Document Writer
> Printer installed : Fax
> Universal Driver : Not Installed
> Spooler : 0 jobs in queue
<<< Devices >>>
> Type of mouse : USB Human Interface Device
> Type of keyboard : Standard PS/2 Keyboard
> Joystick : 1 connected
> HID Devices : Yes
> TWAIN Device : PC VGA Camer@ Plus
> SCSI Host #0 : 1 Device(s)
> SCSI Host #2 : 1 Device(s)
> SCSI Host #3 : 1 Device(s)
> SCSI Host #5 : 1 Device(s)
> SCSI Controller : AOYU1IOC IDE Controller
> SCSI Controller : Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
> Trusted Platform Module : No
<<< Multimedia >>>
> Device Audio : High Definition Audio
> Device Audio : High Definition Audio
> Audio Playback : Speakers (VIA High Definition A
> Audio Playback : SPDIF Interface (TX1) (VIA High
> Audio Playback : SPDIF Interface (TX0) (VIA High
> Audio Playback : Microsoft Sound Mapper
> Audio Recording : CD Audio (VIA High Definition A
> MIDI Output : Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth
> MIDI Output : Microsoft MIDI Mapper
> Mixer Device : Speakers (VIA High Definition A
> Mixer Device : SPDIF Interface (TX1) (VIA High
> Mixer Device : SPDIF Interface (TX0) (VIA High
> Mixer Device : CD Audio (VIA High Definition A
> Device multimedia : AVIVideo
> Device multimedia : CDAudio
> Device multimedia : Sequencer
> Device multimedia : WaveAudio
> Device multimedia : MPEGVideo
> Audio Compression : Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC
> Audio Compression : Microsoft CCITT G.711 A-Law and u-Law CODEC
> Audio Compression : Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC
> Audio Compression : Microsoft ADPCM CODEC
> Audio Compression : Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (decode only)
> Audio Compression : Messenger Audio Codec
> Audio Compression : AC-3 ACM Codec
> Audio Compression : LAME MP3 Codec v0.9.2 - 3.98.2
> Audio Compression : Microsoft PCM Converter
<<< Network >>>
> Network : Yes
> Internet Connection : Yes
> RAS Connection : No
> Passport.Net : No
> Winsock32 : v2.02
> Network Connection : Local Area Connection
> Network Card : NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
> Local Network : 1 Network Computer
> Local Group : Administrators
> Local Group : Backup Operators
> Local Group : Cryptographic Operators
> Local Group : Distributed COM Users
> Local Group : Event Log Readers
> Local Group : Guests
> Local Group : IIS_IUSRS
> Local Group : Network Configuration Operators
> Local Group : Performance Log Users
> Local Group : Performance Monitor Users
> Local Group : Power Users
> Local Group : Remote Desktop Users
> Local Group : Replicator
> Local Group : Users
> Local Group : AMD Fuel
> Local Group : IIS_WPG
<<< Power Status >>>
> Power Status : Yes
> Battery : No
> Supply : Main supply
> Active Power Scheme : Balanced
> UPS : No
> ACPI Tables : 14
<<< Voltage, Temperature and Fans >>>
> Hardware Monitoring : ITE IT8720F
> Voltage CPU : 0.99 V
> +5V Voltage : 5.21 V
> +12V Voltage : 16.46 V
> VTT : 1.89 V
> VBAT : 3.22 V
> Chassis Fan : 2070 rpm
> Processor Temperature : 43 °C
> Mainboard Temperature : 29 °C
> Processor : Thermal Diode
> AMD Phenom II X4 940 (Core 1) : 41.6 °C
> AMD Phenom II X4 940 (Core 2) : 41.6 °C
> AMD Phenom II X4 940 (Core 3) : 41.6 °C
> AMD Phenom II X4 940 (Core 4) : 41.6 °C
> Hard Disk Monitoring : S.M.A.R.T
> Hard Disk Maxtor 7B300S0 (Assembly) : 50 °C
> Hard Disk Hitachi HDP725050GLA360 (Assembly) : 42 °C
<<< Windows Hardware Experience Index >>>
> Performance Global : 5.3
> Performance CPU : 5.9
> Performance Memory : 5.9
> Performance Graphics : 5.9
> Performance Gaming : 5.9
> Performance Disk : 5.3
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***** End of report *****

[Freddie]

For a free performance upgrade I suggest you look at overclocking your CPU but if you haven't already invest in a decent 3rd party cooler (plenty of decent ones can be had for £30 such as the Thermaltake Frio, Arctic Freezer Pro 7 Rev2) i.e don't use the stock AMD cooler if you plan on going down this route.

If your not looking to replace your video then how about adding another HD5770 and running it in Crossfire (just make sure you PSU can handle it, a good make 600 watt will enough with comfort)? They can be picked up now for around £83 and 2 of these will give =/>HD5870 performance levels.

Of course any upgrade you make also depends on what games your playing and what resolution your monitor is.

[Lord Dakier]

Well when I done that report through PC wizard it was in energy saving mode. My CPU I've never actually seen at 100% when in turbo mode to be honest. My current PSU is 700w. I've often wondered the effectiveness of crossfire is it something that will majorly boost the system?

Lord D.

[Freddie]

Well when I done that report through PC wizard it was in energy saving mode. My CPU I've never actually seen at 100% when in turbo mode to be honest. My current PSU is 700w. I've often wondered the effectiveness of crossfire is it something that will majorly boost the system?

Lord D.

Does your PSU have a brand name like Seasonic, Antec, Enermax, OCZ etc? Do you know how much it cost? It's always worth checking these boring details before running you starting adding new video cards and/or overclocking the CPU.

Your CPU will rarely hit 100% because most games can only make use of 2 and a bit cores. Some can use 4 like Bad Company 2 for example but on the whole multithreaded games don't use 4 cores so to get more performance you up the CPU clocks so each core works harder. Of course if you do any video encoding performance will improve from the overclock as well.

As for a HD5770 to go in crossfire you can expect a 50% to 100% improvement in most games you play, newer games don't always have crossfire support out the box so you have to wait for an update (Withcer 2 is a good example).