What to buy/build?

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Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
4,692
Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade my computer on a budget of around £450 but it can stretch if need be.

All I need is a "bundle" of CPU, Ram and motherboard as I'm happy with my current graphics card for the moment (X1900XT) and my PSU should have enough juice, Tagan 580w.

I currently have an Asus A8N Sli Premium with a 4400X2 and 2gb of GSkill PC4000 ram, overclocked to 250x10.

My question is, should I upgrade to 775 or go to the new i7? A Q6700 setup is looking quite affordable and should be a lot faster than what I currently own, but is it worthwhile or should I go to i7 with Triple channel DDR3?

I run 4 HDD's 2x80gbs in Raid 0 on the NVRaid controller, has the controller changed on different generations of motherboards or should I be able to buy a Mobo with NVRaid and "plug and play"?

I'm a bit out of touch with current technology so I appreciate any info given.

Thanks,
Jonny
 
I suggest that you should go for the core i7, if you are doing anything cpu bound that chip is awesome.

450i7upgrade.jpg


If you want to do some overclocking on it I would recommend this cooler.

As for your RAID, I think you will have to set it up again.
 
Id get this

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £255.99 (£222.60)
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £159.99 (£139.12)
OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (OCZ3G1600LV6GK) £79.99 (£69.56)
Sub Total : £431.28
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £66.12
Total : £506.90
Its the D0 stepping version of the CPU so is better, and it comes with a stock cooler which should be fine unless youre clocking, the OEM version above doesnt come with any, and the RAM is only a couple of quid more and faster
 
Rusty_Noob said:
Okay, please can someone give me good reasons why I shouldn't go for a Q6700 setup for a little over £250, compared to an i7 build for over £400?
Click to expand...


At the moment, none at all.

Obviously, the i7 will blow the Q6700 away in terms of performance but the Q6700 will still be a good performer in everyday applications and games. Until the game developers start catching up, most of the bleeding edge technology available today isn't being stretched.

I'm still running a Q6600 and an 8800GTX. I've experienced no problems with any game (except Crysis).. Untill i experiance problems, I have no desire to change anything.
 
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what does your current system have trouble doing, gaming , video editing etc ?

if its performing fine and u're just looking to upgrade then i7 or q6700 are wasting money as there not really needed.
 
Well if you get a 775 board that supports SLI or FULL crossfire then youre not far off the cost of an i7 anyway. Basically if in a couple of years you want to upgrade, chances are a 775 system would have to be scrapped and start again, where as an i7 system is likely to be able to be upgraded meaning lower overall costs. imo
 
mp260767 said:
what does your current system have trouble doing, gaming , video editing etc ?
Click to expand...

Things such as encoding a DVD to burn or playing games at decent settings - 1680x1050 res on my monitor or 1920x1080 on the TV. I know my graphics card will still limit the gaming but that will be upgraded soon after the mobo/cpu/ram.
 
You say youre happy with your current card, but tbh thats the main problem, having re-read your original post properly Id recomend you get this

AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.8GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £120.74 (£104.99)
Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £112.99 (£98.25)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4770 512MB PCI-Express - Retail (21149-00R) £86.99 (£75.64)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel (OCZ3P13334GK) £51.74 (£44.99)
Sub Total : £323.87
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 15% VAT : £50.01
Total : £383.38

This will be a massive step up in all departments compared to your current set up, just check your PSU has a PCI-E connector, if not you might need a new PSU too, unless you can use a molex to PCI-E converter
 
95thrifles said:
You say youre happy with your current card, but tbh thats the main problem, having re-read your original post properly Id recomend you get this
Click to expand...

I'm happy with the card for the time being, I'm happy to upgrade my graphics card a week or two after the mobo/cpu/ram, my budget of £450 is solely for those 3 items. I can afford to spend a lot more than £450 but don't want to. My PSU is a Tagan 580watt Sli compliant thingy majigy with dual PCI-E connectors, should have plenty of juice.

I think i7 has enough benefits to go with the setup you posted originally of the 920 D0 stepping. Is the motherboard any good or is it just being used to stay in budget?
 
That gigabyte board may be the cheapest x58 board, but it ain't no slouch. Its got SLI, crossfire and RAID. It seems to be a touch slower than the P6T, but there isn't much in it. (P6t can't do SLI though). I think the consensus is that there hasn't been a bad x58 board released yet.

Pretty much the only disadvantage is that it can only take 4 RAM sticks, so its less upgradable in that sense.
 
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