Opinions over some upgrade options (Asus Motherboard)

Citadel · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:36

First post so a big /wave to the community here

Right so I've had a PC which over time has needed some love, with an up coming game release (Tera Online) I'm looking ahead and wanting to recycle as much as I could - but of course some major parts will need upgrading.

My current system is -

Asus M2N-SLi Deluxe (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.60GHz (Socket AM2)
Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 XT 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache (main drive)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache (Second drive)
Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU
(included for compatibility issues with any replacements)

I run Windows 7 64bit, and the hardest use it goes through is gaming.

I've been asking about, and looking around so have come up with a list of two potential upgrades. I'm hoping some one a lot smarter than me can put my mind to rest before I order either of them (assume I know very little about the insides of a PC)

Option 1: Best and most expensive (after a lot of looking up)

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 980 Black Edition "140W Edition" 3.70GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail - £119.99
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £239.99
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel - £53.99 and currently on offer.

In total it's £413.96

Option 2: Second best and cheaper (by quite a bit)

AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 645 3.10GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail - £89.99
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5770 Single Slot 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £89.99
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel - £53.99 and currently on offer.

In total that's £233.97

There's quite a difference in price range, but quality and performance is obviously compromised, so my two questions are -

Are both options fully workable with my motherboard and power supply?
And if so the added performance from choice 1 worth the extra £179.99 spend out?

Many many thanks to anyone who provides input on this, for me it's not an easy choice to make and I'm the sort that is so unsure about these things.

Many many thanks in advance.

stulid · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:39

Switch to Sandybridge,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £339.96
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 20.00% VAT : £69.89
Total : £419.35

i5 2400 vs a Phenom 980be - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/363?vs=362

More here

- http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_7.html#sect0

Rik1254 · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:41

*Awaits stu to say about the dead socket*

Damn...he beat me to it

Stu...surely he could get a 2500k within the £400 bracket and get a cheap p67?

stulid · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:44

Rik1254 said:
Stu...surely he could get a 2500k within the £400 bracket and get a cheap p67?

he can with a XFX 6870,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Dirt3 & Shogun 2 PC Games £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £340.80
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 20.00% VAT : £70.06
Total : £420.36

Rik1254 · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:48

stulid said:
he can with a XFX 6870, *SNIP* £420.36

Man with the know how found a way.

I was considering this set up personally (minus the GFX), but I then decided on a P8P67 Pro. Very well equiped and nice looking boards.

cmndr_andi · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:48

+1 for switching to a new board if you can afford it.

If you look here, some AM3 CPUs (like the Phenom II X4 955BE) are supported via a beta BIOS on your existing board. However, others like the Athlon II X4 645 and Phenom II X4 980 are simply not mentioned.

If you really want to keep costs low and are willing to risk a beta bios then the Phenom II X4 955BE (C3 125W) would be a good value upgrade.

However, if you can I would upgrade the core system and go for something like the sandy bridge system stulid outlines.

Citadel · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:49

stulid said:
Switch to Sandybridge,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £339.96
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 20.00% VAT : £69.89
Total : £419.35

i5 2400 vs a Phenom 980be - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/363?vs=362

More here - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_7.html#sect0

I'm humbled and kind of assuming the notion of keeping my motherboard was totally silly then!

So if I'm willing to spend roughly £400-£500 this is the best setup I can possibly achieve with that budget ?
(only asking to be double sure - although it seems you're knowledge is infinite

)

EDIT* .. I know nothing of how to overclock.. so it's very interesting but something I'd be scared to try

stulid · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:51

Citadel said:
I'm humbled and kind of assuming the notion of keeping my motherboard was totally silly then!

So if I'm willing to spend roughly £400-£500 this is the best setup I can possibly achieve with that budget ?
(only asking to be double sure - although it seems you're knowledge is infinite )

Theres now a I5 2500K and P67 option above, this will mean you can overclock the CPU to 4ghz safely with the stock supplied Intel heatsink, spend around another £30 on a performance heatsink and you could be doing maybe 4.5ghz.

EDIT* .. I know nothing of how to overclock.. so it's very interesting but something I'd be scared to try

Its simples

enter the BIOS, change the CPU multiplier to say 40, and that gives you a 4ghz core speed without changing anything else, even the worst Sandybridge chips do this.

An important question is what case you currently have? as theres no point suggesting a cooler if you cant get the side panel back on as the cooler is too tall.

Citadel · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:55

stulid said:
Theres now a I5 2500K and P67 option above, this will mean you can overclock the CPU to 4ghz safely with the stock supplied Intel heatsink, spend around another £30 on a performance heatsink and you could be doing maybe 4.5ghz.

Its simples enter the BIOS, change the CPU multiplier to say 40, and that gives you a 4ghz core speed without changing anything else, even the worst Sandybridge chips do this.

I forgot to list this item which I have in there

Akasa EVO 120 Heatpipe Copper Heatsink (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

although the thing itself was touch and go fitting into a Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case (I didn't buy it for the name)

Any thoughts on that ?

stulid · 15 Aug 2011 at 23:57

Citadel said:
I forgot to list this item which I have in there

Akasa EVO 120 Heatpipe Copper Heatsink (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775)

although the thing itself was touch and go fitting into a Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case (I didn't buy it for the name)

Any thoughts on that ?

It needs to have Socket 1156/55 (they are the same) to fit the board.

Only ASrock boards will also take a LGA775 heatsink.

So you can keep it with a Asrock board,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Dirt3 & Shogun 2 PC Games £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Asrock Z68 PRO3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £361.63
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 20.00% VAT : £74.23
Total : £445.36

Or get a new cooler,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Dirt3 & Shogun 2 PC Games £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £360.79
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £74.16
Total : £444.95

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:01

stulid said:
It needs to have Socket 1156/55 (they are the same) to fit the board.

Only ASrock boards will also take a LGA775 heatsink.

Okay, so I've suddenly had my original list chucked. (I'm so wishing I came here earlier)

For that budget (£500 top ish) .. what would your full recommendation be ?

(you're exalted on the forum and amazingly agile with your thinking.. I'm kinda trusting your judgement over mine atm :rolleyes:

)

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:02

You're far too quick for me lol amazing!

stulid · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:04

Citadel said:
Okay, so I've suddenly had my original list chucked. (I'm so wishing I came here earlier)

For that budget (£500 top ish) .. what would your full recommendation be ?

(you're exalted on the forum and amazingly agile with your thinking.. I'm kinda trusting your judgement over mine atm )

This really,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £389.12
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £79.82
Total : £478.94

This is the graphics card - http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_560_Twin_Frozr_II/

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:05

*EDIT... beat me to it.. *hugs*

Reaper 392 · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:09

if you want the stuff the Z68 chipset comes with then this is the cheapest motherboard that does them all:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

still within your £500 max budget with stulids latest spec.

if the Z68 chipset features dont interest you then save the money and go with stulids motherboard

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:09

stulid said:
This really,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti Twin FrozR II 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £74.99
(£62.49) £74.99
(£62.49)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £389.12
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £79.82
Total : £478.94

This is the graphics card - http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_560_Twin_Frozr_II/

Right, this is something I feel I can trust.

My list was built up over a couple of days and my limited knowledge, I can't thank you enough. You are a credit to this community my friend :-)

stulid · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:10

Citadel said:
*EDIT... beat me to it.. *hugs*

This is going to completely dump on what you currently have,

So fit it to the case with the existing PSU, attach the Harddrives and optical drive and do a fresh re-install of Windows, install all the drivers for the motherboard and the latest Nvidia drivers.

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:11

Reaper 392 said:
if you want the stuff the Z68 chipset comes with then this is the cheapest motherboard that does them all:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

still within your £500 max budget with stulids latest spec.

if the Z68 chipset features dont interest you then save the money and go with stulids motherboard

Any thoughts on that Stulid ? *grin*
(btw thank you for the input - it's all about getting the best I can afford atm)

stulid · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:12

Citadel said:
Any thoughts on that Stulid ? *grin*
(btw thank you for the input - it's all about getting the best I can afford atm)

You dont need it and Gigabyte boards are ****

You got nearly £20-£30 in your pocket to buy the latest game with.

Citadel · 16 Aug 2011 at 00:15

I'll shortcut this thread, just in case!
It's past midnight so will be going to bed with a load off my mind!!

You guys here are gems, big thanks to you Stulid :-)