$600 Upgrade!

[gmvp]

Approximate Purchase Date: Beginning of February

Budget Range: $550-600 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: gaming, surfing the internet)

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS, case(CM690II),hard drive, optical drive.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg, microcenter.

Country: US

Overclocking: Not at the moment, but most likely in the future.

SLI or Crossfire: Possibly in the future

Monitor Resolution:1920x1080

Additional Comments:

Its time to upgrade from my old q6600 and gts 250. I've already decided to go with the 2500K since I can get it for $180 from microcenter, now I just need some help in selecting the rest of the parts. I don't really know what to look for so any help would be greatly appreciated! If I left some information you need to know let me know.

Thanks!

 

[sosofm]

550$-600$ with cpu included ?

 

[sosofm]

I excluded the cpu. I choosed mobo with SLI or Crossfire enabled, 750W to suport future SLI and 560Ti.
MOBO : ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271
RAM : CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196
PSU : CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021
GPU : GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401
TOTAL : $486.96 without rebates.

 

[Tavo_Nova]

Mobo: 229.99$
MSi Z68A-GD80 G3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130610

PSU: 210.99$
Seasonic x850W 80plus gold
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102&Tpk=seasonic%20x850

RAM: 46.99$
G.SKILL RipjawsX 8gb (2x4gb0 1600Mhz CL9
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

Video Card: 254.99$
MSi N560GTX-Ti Twin FrozrII/OC 1gb GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

total of 742.96$ well it's a bit tad expensive so if you don't want this, let's go for a different route, and choose a cheaper 560ti and mobo

mobo: 169.99$
Msi P67A-GD65 (B3)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127565

GPU: 209.99$
Gigabyte GTX560 Ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401

for a total of 637.96$

if you still don't want to add a little more, let's move on and find a cheaper mobo

Mobo: 119.99$ after mail in rebate = 109.99%
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781
587.96$ and after rebate = 507.96$

 

[inzone]

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
$44.99 and a $10 rebate makes it $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-900 900W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$129.99 and a $10 rebate makes it $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$249.99 and a $20 rebate makes it $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Total is $584.95 after rebates and that is not including the cpu and I'm not sure if you wanted the cpu included in the budget. If you go with the 2500k then you should bring up the other components to the same level since it doesn't do any good to have a really good cpu and low budget components to go with it. If you include the cpu that you are getting from microcenter then the total now is $764.95.

 

[blazorthon]

I recommend waiting a few more months before upgrading. Intel's Ivy bridge, Nvidia's Kepler, and AMD's Southern Islands are all coming out and besides Kepler are confirmed as considerable improvements over their predecessors.

Ivy Bridge CPUs are to be 10-15% faster than Sandy bridge while using 20-25% less power. AMD's 7970 is more than 40% faster than the 6970 while keeping a similar TDP. Nvidia has been quiet but they probably have something going too.

 

[gmvp]

550$-600$ with cpu included ?

600 with the CPU included, sorry for the late reply.

 

[blazorthon]

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
$44.99 and a $10 rebate makes it $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996995
$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226191

ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265

Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-900 900W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$129.99 and a $10 rebate makes it $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371050

ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$249.99 and a $20 rebate makes it $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Total is $584.95 after rebates and that is not including the cpu and I'm not sure if you wanted the cpu included in the budget. If you go with the 2500k then you should bring up the other components to the same level since it doesn't do any good to have a really good cpu and low budget components to go with it. If you include the cpu that you are getting from microcenter then the total now is $764.95.

Why are you recommending a 900 watt PSU here? This machine wouldn't even use half of that power unless it had another 560 TI, in which case it would still be overkill.

With a single 560 Ti you would be best to have a 500 to 600 watt PSU, two of them would mean an ~800 watt PSU. A 900 watt could be considered with SLI 560 Ti but at that point you might as well get a single Radeon 7970 instead to avoid micro-stuttering and other dual GPU problems and 900 watts would again be overkill.

Would be better off with a cheaper CPU cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, a much cheaper 600w PSU, a G.Skill or Corsair RAM kit instead of the Mushkin, and a cheaper motherboard to make room for the CPU. The better motherboard and cooler would allow better CPU overclocks but that doesn't help at all when the GPU isn't fast enough to use the extra speed.

 

[inzone]

I recommend waiting a few more months before upgrading. Intel's Ivy bridge, Nvidia's Kepler, and AMD's Southern Islands are all coming out and besides Kepler are confirmed as considerable improvements over their predecessors.

Ivy Bridge CPUs are to be 10-15% faster than Sandy bridge while using 20-25% less power. AMD's 7970 is more than 40% faster than the 6970 while keeping a similar TDP. Nvidia has been quiet but they probably have something going too.

You are recomending these high priced parts on a $600 budget " Intel's Ivy bridge, Nvidia's Kepler, and AMD's Southern Islands " and you are questioning my recomendation of a psu that is on sale???

 

[azeem40]

Get the Antec Earthwatts 750W PSU. It is more than enough for now, plus since you plan to OC and Crossfire/SLI in the future, it will future-proof your build.

 

[blazorthon]

You are recomending these high priced parts on a $600 budget " Intel's Ivy bridge, Nvidia's Kepler, and AMD's Southern Islands " and you are questioning my recomendation of a psu that is on sale???

I'm not recommending any high priced parts, I just provided an example with the 7970 because it is the only retailing example of the new tech.

There will be budget cards with the same NGC arch as the 7970, there will be budget Ivy bridge processors, and there will probably be budget Kepler video cards to compete with AMD's budget cards.

I question your PSU recommendation because way less than 50% of it's wattage will be used. That means that it's efficiency will be lower, resulting in more wasted power. It would be great for a high end Crossfire or SLI setup with two 6970s or 7970s or something similar but otherwise it is just too much.

 

[gmvp]

Best answer selected by gmvp.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey