Hi all,
I'm going to upgrade my long-suffering PC, currently running off an Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 2GHz Socket 775 800MHz FSB L2 1MB Cache - admittedly running at 3GHz comfortably on an overclock. It was bought when I had NO money 4 years ago, but now I have MORE money It still plays UT2k4 and CSS just fine, even plays Crysis (well sort of - it struggles with the ending!)
I can feel the sluggishness especially after upgrading to Windows 7, on XP it was ok but it's old now! (the CPU). I play games, less these days but nevertheless when I play I want good performance of the latest titles and - having read Tom's CPU for the money I'm going for an i5 2500k - with the backup of the graphics capability in case my GPU dies at any stage (rather than the 2550 one).
I will upgrade my GPU at a later date, budget £150-200 in the next few months.
As I do this only every 4 years, I'd really value your input on if I've got a good plan together. Comments and suggestions completely welcomed. Thanks in advance even - here we go:
CPU: Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) £158.10
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004FA8NX2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
I can't be bothered to wait for Ivy Bridge - I know it's out soon but I have time this week (and rarely have time usually), so I need to move on my decision really. Yes I appreciate it's supposed to be 5-15% faster and more efficient on power, but life is too short!
Motherboard: AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard, Socket 1155, PCI-Express 3.0, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, 7.1 HD Audio, ASRock Instant Boot - ASrock £112.63
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005FGQLQQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Thought behind this is a) it's got SLI and I've already got an NVidia card (see below - tis might be redundant) b) it's got PCI 3.0 for the future (nice to have), c) I might add an SSD to speed it up (a big MIGHT).
ALTERNATIVE MOBO: Asus P8Z68-V LX Motherboard (Socket 1155, DDR3, 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16, ATX, LucidLogix Virtu) £76.64
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-P8Z68-V-LX-Motherboard-LucidLogix/dp/B005FSHIVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1334171607&sr=1-1
Reasoning - I can save £35 and I'm not really sure I'll use any of the extra features that the ASrock has if I'm honest with myself... The wife and my bank manager might be happier if total budget came in under £300...
(Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard is my current mobo)
RAM: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit £40.98
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
This is just the one everyone on amazon seems to be buying - I have no strong opinion on RAM and it seems much cheaper than I remember!
GPU - I currently have a point of view 8800 GT 512 - I'd appreciate thoughts on a) whether to SLI this? Or b) should I just buy a replacement card in the future? The mobo above supports 8x/8x SLI so it's an option. I'll no doubt come back to this decision as my budget doesn't cover upgrading my GPU at the moment. I have a cooler for the 8800GT as it was really hot - Thermalright T-Rad² VGA cooler - looks like that's going to be a new brick with an upgrade too. I'm a bit worried about it overheating if I SLI - and is it possible to SLI with a heatsink on it? Methinks this might be a critical problem but I don't know?
Here's the rest of the pro-forma:
______________________________________________________
Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - will likely order this weekend
Budget Range: - depends on upgrade price/performance. I can spend £300 British pounds on this upgrade for the moment, will allocate another 150-200 for graphics card upgrade later in the year.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming. All else follows from that, surely? ;-) OK - obviously web-browsing, but not much else.
Parts Not Required: keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, case (Antec Sonata 3 - still fine after 10 years of different builds in it!) I have some cooling but mainly fans. I have a cooler for the 8800GT actually (see above), also for the CPU but these are surely redundant now.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon - UK - as I have a few vouchers. Am in the UK.
Overclocking: Yes I intend to do this.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe - if appropriate see above.
Monitor Resolution: usually at 1280x1024 on a CRT. Might well consider a flat screen at some point in the next year. Hence will need to ensure good res when upgrading GPU (later this year). For years I could not understand why everyone swapped to flat screen monitors! My monitor still does any resolution I choose and so I can turn down the resolution if I need to - such a useful feature! Hey ho, what do I know...
Thanks again for the help!
I'm going to upgrade my long-suffering PC, currently running off an Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 2GHz Socket 775 800MHz FSB L2 1MB Cache - admittedly running at 3GHz comfortably on an overclock. It was bought when I had NO money 4 years ago, but now I have MORE money It still plays UT2k4 and CSS just fine, even plays Crysis (well sort of - it struggles with the ending!)
I can feel the sluggishness especially after upgrading to Windows 7, on XP it was ok but it's old now! (the CPU). I play games, less these days but nevertheless when I play I want good performance of the latest titles and - having read Tom's CPU for the money I'm going for an i5 2500k - with the backup of the graphics capability in case my GPU dies at any stage (rather than the 2550 one).
I will upgrade my GPU at a later date, budget £150-200 in the next few months.
As I do this only every 4 years, I'd really value your input on if I've got a good plan together. Comments and suggestions completely welcomed. Thanks in advance even - here we go:
CPU: Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) £158.10
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004FA8NX2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
I can't be bothered to wait for Ivy Bridge - I know it's out soon but I have time this week (and rarely have time usually), so I need to move on my decision really. Yes I appreciate it's supposed to be 5-15% faster and more efficient on power, but life is too short!
Motherboard: AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 Motherboard, Socket 1155, PCI-Express 3.0, DDR3, USB 3.0, HDMI, 7.1 HD Audio, ASRock Instant Boot - ASrock £112.63
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005FGQLQQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
Thought behind this is a) it's got SLI and I've already got an NVidia card (see below - tis might be redundant) b) it's got PCI 3.0 for the future (nice to have), c) I might add an SSD to speed it up (a big MIGHT).
ALTERNATIVE MOBO: Asus P8Z68-V LX Motherboard (Socket 1155, DDR3, 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16, ATX, LucidLogix Virtu) £76.64
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-P8Z68-V-LX-Motherboard-LucidLogix/dp/B005FSHIVG/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1334171607&sr=1-1
Reasoning - I can save £35 and I'm not really sure I'll use any of the extra features that the ASrock has if I'm honest with myself... The wife and my bank manager might be happier if total budget came in under £300...
(Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L iP35 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard is my current mobo)
RAM: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit £40.98
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
This is just the one everyone on amazon seems to be buying - I have no strong opinion on RAM and it seems much cheaper than I remember!
GPU - I currently have a point of view 8800 GT 512 - I'd appreciate thoughts on a) whether to SLI this? Or b) should I just buy a replacement card in the future? The mobo above supports 8x/8x SLI so it's an option. I'll no doubt come back to this decision as my budget doesn't cover upgrading my GPU at the moment. I have a cooler for the 8800GT as it was really hot - Thermalright T-Rad² VGA cooler - looks like that's going to be a new brick with an upgrade too. I'm a bit worried about it overheating if I SLI - and is it possible to SLI with a heatsink on it? Methinks this might be a critical problem but I don't know?
Here's the rest of the pro-forma:
______________________________________________________
Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - will likely order this weekend
Budget Range: - depends on upgrade price/performance. I can spend £300 British pounds on this upgrade for the moment, will allocate another 150-200 for graphics card upgrade later in the year.
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming. All else follows from that, surely? ;-) OK - obviously web-browsing, but not much else.
Parts Not Required: keyboard, monitor, mouse, speakers, case (Antec Sonata 3 - still fine after 10 years of different builds in it!) I have some cooling but mainly fans. I have a cooler for the 8800GT actually (see above), also for the CPU but these are surely redundant now.
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon - UK - as I have a few vouchers. Am in the UK.
Overclocking: Yes I intend to do this.
SLI or Crossfire: Maybe - if appropriate see above.
Monitor Resolution: usually at 1280x1024 on a CRT. Might well consider a flat screen at some point in the next year. Hence will need to ensure good res when upgrading GPU (later this year). For years I could not understand why everyone swapped to flat screen monitors! My monitor still does any resolution I choose and so I can turn down the resolution if I need to - such a useful feature! Hey ho, what do I know...
Thanks again for the help!