Thinking about upgrading desktop. Thoughts anyone??

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#458308 13-Apr-2011 16:43

ok so basically i should just upgrade CPU, GPU, PSU

Would you just upgrade the Motherboard and go DDR3 as well? or is DDR2 alright?

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vinnieg

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#458314 13-Apr-2011 16:49

I'd do the whole system, starting with a new case.

Tt'll end up a similar amount as doing up your current system and yeah if you were to upgrade move to ddr3 and a new motherboard/CPU as the older board will support AM3 but only the older Am3 processors. A new motherboard will allow you to either go for the latest AMD or Intel(depending which one you fancy) as well as DDR3 memory

Plus if you wanted to do crossfire, you will get a bit of a boost moving to a new motherboard with 2x PCIe 16x slots, your current board would take both slots down to 8x in Crossfire

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ImHighAs

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#458320 13-Apr-2011 16:59

Ok yea looks like a new system it is. Ive read around the forums about custom built PCs and computerlounge seems to be the one to go with. Anyone actually bought a desky off trademe?

timmmay

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#458358 13-Apr-2011 18:45

With a new system you'll need new RAM, probably new everything.

ImHighAs

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#458993 14-Apr-2011 23:42

Silverstone ST650 $173
*Intel Core i7 2600K $481
*Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H $136(Crossfire capable)
*Kingston HyperX DDR3 8gb(2x4GB) $165
*HDD Keep your current one, find a cheap 250gb off trademe and put it on there for selling purposes
*Samsung SH223F DVD $32
*2x HIS 6850s(they are quiet, I've owned one $580
*CoolerMaster Elite 341 case $54
*2x Artic Cooling 120mm fans $40
*Kingston SSDNow 64GB SSD
= $1859

That definitly sounds like a plan. Do you think that build would be good with an i5 2500k be good for a year or 2? or do you think that the 2600k would be a better investment?

Could i ask where you quoted those prices? im gonna ask around see if any store would do a build like that.

timmmay

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#459044 15-Apr-2011 09:23

The new i5 chips are faster than the old i7 chips, so they'd be fine. Those graphics cards are pretty expensive. I'd get a new hard disk if you want performance, the newer, larger disks are faster than older disks, but if you're running off and SSD it might not matter much. As well as Kingston SSD consider the OWC ones I probably linked to earlier.

ImHighAs

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#459169 15-Apr-2011 14:31

Silverstone ST650 $173
*Intel Core i7 2600K or i5 2500k
*Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H $136(Crossfire capable)
*Kingston HyperX DDR3 8gb(2x4GB) $165
*HDD Keep your current one, find a cheap 250gb off trademe and put it on there for selling purposes
*Samsung SH223F DVD $32
*2x HIS 6850s or 1x HIS 6950
*CoolerMaster Elite 341 case $54
*2x Artic Cooling 120mm fans $40
*Kingston SSDNow 64GB SSD
= $1859

Ohk so would you reckon that getting an i5 2500k wouldnt be too much of a step down from the i7 2600k in terms of future proofing the system for around 2 years? Also just looking at that build would probably go with the single HD 6950 to cut down on heat power usage etc.

Also looking at the build do you think it would actually work? as my current desktop when under a heavy load will just randomly shut off and not start up for 10-15 minutes and its Pis*** the s*** out of me for a little over a year now so ive invested in some Arctic Thermal paste to try rectify the problem however i have no clue if the thermal paste doesnt work.

timmmay

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#459173 15-Apr-2011 14:39

You need the thermal paste removal stuff, as well as new paste. This kit.

Personally i'd buy the i7, but I do a lot of media work that takes advantage of extra cores. If you can afford it get the i7, but if money's tight the i5 is still a very fast processor.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/23

ImHighAs

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#459178 15-Apr-2011 14:48

Ohk yea really this desktop is only for gaming and the odd Graphics programs Autocad things like that.

So i guess i could skip the i7 however as far as future proofing goes and gaming advances the i7 would probably be the better option.

Really? would just wiping the stuff off with spray and wipe do fine or would it damage the chip?

Also what are your thoughts on factory OC'ed GPUs? im guessing its safer than actually OC'ing it manually.

timmmay

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#459183 15-Apr-2011 14:56

Look at the game benchmarks in that link I posted above. The i5 is generally pretty close to the i7. Games don't use a lot of threads/cores, apparently.

I've never tried to clean and reattach a CPU to a heatsink, i'd suggest you look on youtube or just google it. Make sure you use antistatic precautions. If you don't know what that means best google that too. Short version is use a wrist strap, or at least touch a grounded object (ie computer chassis while it's still plugged in) to reduce the risk of static damage.

I know nothing about GPU overclocking. Not a thing. I don't overclock anything in general, gains are too small to bother for me.

Gilco2

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#459296 16-Apr-2011 07:30

ImHighAs: Silverstone ST650 $173
*Intel Core i7 2600K $481
*Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H $136(Crossfire capable)
*Kingston HyperX DDR3 8gb(2x4GB) $165
*HDD Keep your current one, find a cheap 250gb off trademe and put it on there for selling purposes
*Samsung SH223F DVD $32
*2x HIS 6850s(they are quiet, I've owned one $580
*CoolerMaster Elite 341 case $54
*2x Artic Cooling 120mm fans $40
*Kingston SSDNow 64GB SSD
= $1859

That definitly sounds like a plan. Do you think that build would be good with an i5 2500k be good for a year or 2? or do you think that the 2600k would be a better investment?

Could i ask where you quoted those prices? im gonna ask around see if any store would do a build like that.

The i7-2600k or i5-2500K oeries are not comaptible with that motherboard. You will need the H67 or P67 sandy bridge motherboard. H67 series you can use either onboard graphics or separate graphics card. P67 you can only use separate graphic card. The H55 series board uses the older i series cpu's

HTPC Intel Pentium G3258 cpu, Gigabyte H97n-wifi motherboard, , 8GB DDR3 ram, onboard graphics. Hauppuage HVR 5500 tuner, Silverstone LC16M case, Windows 10 pro 64 bit using Nextpvr and Kodi

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#459433 16-Apr-2011 16:01

Ok so heres my build that ive come up with after spending 2 hours on playtechs website.

CPU - i5 2500 Sandy Bridge

GPU - XFX ATI 6950 2GB

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 Intel P67 Socket 1155 ATX

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2133 CL7 Dual Channel Memory

PSU - Corsair HX-650 ATX 650W 80Plus Broze Modular Power Supply

Case - Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Black Gaming Case (Front, Rear, Top 140mm fans)

Cooling - COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Universal (Intel Core i5/i7 ready) CPU Cooler with PWM + VR controller
also PATRIOT VORTEX Extreme Performance MEMORY active cooling fan ram cooler.

This will probably be my finalised build for this PC. unless someone sees somethings really wrong with this build?

timmmay

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#459440 16-Apr-2011 16:27

Only 4GB system RAM, but 2GB video ram? I'd double the RAM to 8GB, it's relatively cheap, but I guess you can add it later too.

You haven't listed disks. Old disks will slow it down.

ImHighAs

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#459448 16-Apr-2011 16:42

Oh sorry about that heres the correct build:

CPU - i5 2500 Sandy Bridge

GPU - XFX ATI 6950 2GB

MOBO - Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 Intel P67 Socket 1155 ATX

RAM - G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2133 CL7 Dual Channel Memory

HDD: OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Sandforce Solid State Drive (SSD)

PSU - Corsair HX-650 ATX 650W 80Plus Broze Modular Power Supply

Case - Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Black Gaming Case (Front, Rear, Top 140mm fans)

Cooling - COOLER MASTER V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Universal (Intel Core i5/i7 ready) CPU Cooler with PWM + VR controller
also PATRIOT VORTEX Extreme Performance MEMORY active cooling fan ram cooler

$2104 with GST already included. I have a 500GB internal HDD from my current desky as well as a 1TB seagate 7200rpm External would that be sufficient? and just have the SSD as the only internal drive?

Also yea i thought about going for the 8GB however i thought that since the RAM was 2133? or should i drop it down to the 1600 and go 8GB?

timmmay

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#459451 16-Apr-2011 16:46

As far as I understand things the number on the ram is the maximum speed it can run at, not the actual speed. Buy the cheapest quality memory that matches the speed the motherboard uses. Overclocking might be different, but honestly, why bother? 10-20% more speed max, above already screaming fast, hardly seems worth the hassle.

External disks are so slow you should only use them for backups, not for files you actually want to work with. Old disks can be significantly slower than new disks, go look at some benchmarks.

Game installs can be pretty huge. You might want to look at how much space you need. I have a full Win7 64 install including office, photoshop, lots of other random apps, but no data, and it comes to 32GB used. 60GB should be plenty of space I guess, unless games are huge.

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