Advice on upgrades please?

[koffeeuk]

Hey all,

First my current system (3 yr old)
e8500 (oc to 3.81)
4gb ddr2 800mhz
tpower i45 motherboard (775)
2x 4850's 1gb crossfire
1.5tb storage, (sata 2x hdd's)
650w 80% psu
Generally used for Gaming, some HD movie conversions, I originally started with 1 4850 and then upgraded to crossfire when some of the games needed it, i can still run most games on high/ultra but that was at 1440x900. I say most because bf3 and even swtor can suffer from sudden fps drops etc so its time to upgrade again.
Budget well i'm from the UK we pay top price it seems anyways,


i5 2600k
8gb ddr3 (whats all this about different voltages?)
Motherboard i'm stuck on, there all seem great and not really massive difference between grades, is there a tpower motherboard?
are the hybrid ssd/hdd's a good middle ground?
gfxs? Nvidia used to be power whores, and also massive cards, is this still the case? if u was looking for a single slot card that doesn't break the bank and gives u good potential for xf/sli in your next hardware cycle, what would u go for?

regards

 

[akxpckwb]

I believe AMD makes the best performance per dollar(or whatever your currency is) graphics cards and they are pretty much at the same level than Nvidia (except for the 860 but I doubt you have the cash to spend on it).
Try getting a 6870 or something like that.

I don't know what a tpower motherboard is so can't help you there. But I would pick one with a Z68 chipset if you can afford it. If not try at least a P67.

About the RAM voltages don't worry about that stuff. It's for heavy overclockers and enthusiasts.

Cannot help you with the HDD/SDD thing. Still a virgin to SSD's

 

[Proximon]

i5 2600k

i7 2600K or i5 2500K? Both options are good. You'll hear a lot about not needing hyperthreading, but I think it's reasonable insurance to have if your budget allows it. If the extra money will change your GPU choice, then get the i5.

8gb ddr3 (whats all this about different voltages?)

I don't know what you read. 1.5V 1600Mhz CL9 is just fine. Don't worry about further details as it makes no difference to game performance. get low profile RAM, no tall heatsinks so as to avoid some conflicts with CPU coolers.

Motherboard i'm stuck on, there all seem great and not really massive difference between grades, is there a tpower motherboard?

If you want to keep the SLI/crossfire option open ASRock Extreme 4 Z68 is a good choice for a moderate budget board
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asrock-z68-extreme4-gen3-intel-z68-s-1155-ddr3-sata-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-30-%28x16%29-graphics-on-board-

are the hybrid ssd/hdd's a good middle ground?

No. Get a good SSD, choose reliability over speed. Intel, Samsung, Crucial.

gfxs? Nvidia used to be power whores, and also massive cards, is this still the case? if u was looking for a single slot card that doesn't break the bank and gives u good potential for xf/sli in your next hardware cycle, what would u go for?

This is pretty hard with no budget. GTX 680 is a good choice if the budget is large, otherwise 7950 or 7870. Just pick your price point between those 3.

 

[koffeeuk]

thanks,
Tpower is a biostar range, used alot of biostar boards for customers but the tpower for first time i used one, and tbh its been the most stable, well built motherboard i ever used.

ah sorry, yeah i5 2500k , i was looking at i7 before i posted originally 😉 i5 vs i7 suppose my old mindset would be go for i7, but out of principle i'm starting to hate intel having more than 1 socket, so because AMD let me down again this cycle and i'm forced to go for intel, i wasn't prepared to hand them the extra £ when a i5 would do wht i wanted at about same speed, 😉 the hyperthreading business just reminds me of the p4, and i skipped it back then..lol and i still can't see games taking advantage of the tech within my next major cycle of 3-4 years

gfx budget, i left it out i was thinking about £100-200 ofc wanting to crossfire at a later date i also got to consider if the card will be in supply lets say next summer.

 

[Proximon]

Then you probably want a 7850.

Or wait to see what new GPU NVidia releases.