dual core to sandy bridge

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 15:35

Hi there,

My current system is as follows:

antec 300
be quiet 650W psu
p5q pro board
ddr2 4gb ram
e8500 dual core
freezer 7 pro rev 2 cooler
gtx 460 1gb
intel 80GB ssd
2 samsung 320 F1's in raid 0
win 7 x64

With the release of the sandy i'm thinking it's time i finally upgraded to a quad system. The timing feels right and I have some money to spare and a couple of my games are struggling now with the dual core.

Ok so what I really want to ask you fella's is what sandy system do you recommend I upgrade to?

I use my PC for gaming mostly but may do some video editing, and i'm willing to spend upto/around the 500 mark.

I've had a look around but am starting to get a bit confused with what bits and bobs will go best togethor. Also am debating what parts I should bring over from the old system. Any help suggestions appreciated. thanks.

Kouba · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:26

Everyone is recommending either the i5 2500k or the i7 2600k, its ultimately up to you.

Parts from old system:

Antec 300
Be quiet 650W PSU
Freezer 7 pro rev 2 cooler
GTX460 1GB
Intel 80GB SSD
2 x Samsung 320 F1's in raid 0
Win 7 64

There you go

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:32

thanks for the reply. so the freezer pro will be ok with an 2600k say? or would it be better to go for something like a h50?

Kouba · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:36

Yes, the freezer pro is fine with either of them, but ofcourse it would be better to go for something like a h50, it may not be necessary unless you were going for high overclocks.

Serpantine · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:36

The pro will do the job however Bit Tech are saying heatsinks at the level of the thermaltake frio will get you 4.5ghz no problem so it may be worth look at something like:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-031-TT&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=

ps the H50/70 is pointless.

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:38

Also is it worth keeping the samsungs in raid 0 to use for games?

I'm thinking of getting another 80GB ssd for games only and using the samsung's for storage but can't decide if its worth the extra cash. :/

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:41

Dirty-Blade said:
Yes, the freezer pro is fine with either of them, but ofcourse it would be better to go for something like a h50, it may not be necessary unless you were going for high overclocks.

i do plan to overclock. nothing massive though.

i just know this will be a nightmare trying to remove the plastic push pins without breaking them.

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:44

Serpantine said:
The pro will do the job however Bit Tech are saying heatsinks at the level of the thermaltake frio will get you 4.5ghz no problem so it may be worth look at something like:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-031-TT&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=

ps the H50/70 is pointless.

thanks for the info. i'd be grateful if you could elaborate on why the h50 would be pointless though. i've been out of the loop for a while and just noticed a lot of people use them and get good reviews.

Kouba · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:45

Well, its been said that air cooling alone manages to get pretty high overclocks for these CPUs, so it should be ok.

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:50

oh right i see. so would it be worth using the freezer pro over the stock intel?

it's just i may rebuild my family pc using the old motherboard and cpu, so it would be less hassle if i didn't have to remove it.

Kouba · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:53

TBH, there probably wouldnt be a significant difference between the stock coolers and the arctic 7 cooler, I remember one of the reviews saying "Both my Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K hit ~4.4GHz, fully stable, using the stock low-profile cooler."

You should probably wait until someone with more knowledge answers this question though.

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 17:00

hm interesting, but do the 2500 and 2600 have different stock coolers? maybe the 2600k cooler is better and he used it for both.

cmndr_andi · 8 Jan 2011 at 17:03

Hi there,

If you are mainly gaming then I would strongly suggest going for the i5 2500K - its £85 cheaper and performs almost exactly as well in games.

As for re-using you current cooler - as a cooler it will be plenty and will allow you to run a nice overclock. However, for it to fit you need it to have a s1156/1155 mount - if you bought the cooler at the same time as the E8500 then it won't come with this. Therefore you will either want to source a compatible mount or buy a new cooler. If you go down the new cooler rout I would suggest this one.

As for which motherboard to go for, you have a single GTX 460 and a PSU that is good enough to power two. If you are considering adding a second card in SLI, then going for a board like this would be my reccomendation. If you don't plan to run a second card, then this board would be good.

para08 · 8 Jan 2011 at 17:17

thanks for that reply mate. was very helpful.

My freezer pro isn't actually that old so i'll have to check my packaging to see if i have that mount. though i'm very tempted by that cooler you linked.