What Upgrades Could I Buy On A Budget?

XavierCastiel

XavierCastiel

XavierCastiel

Associate
Joined
4 Nov 2012
Posts
75
Hello,

My last upgrade was in 2009 quite a long time ago. I have never bought the likes of water coolers etc, as I have never actually overclocked my CPU, GPU etc. I generally just buy parts and leave them at stock so I don't risk damaging my PC.

I'm thinking about buying new parts in the next week but I'm on a small budget. I don't need a graphics card as I bought a Radeon 7970 XFX in February this year, that should be sufficient. I am looking to upgrade my CPU, Motherboard and RAM. My computer is aging so I feel I need to upgrade these parts.

My current specifications.

Intel Core I5 650 @ 3.20 GHz Clarkdale
RAM 6.00G Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 683 MHz
Motherboard Gigabyte Technology P55A-UD6 Socket 1156
Graphics Card AMD Radeon HD 7970

The Power-Supply is 950 W so I believe I don't need to upgrade that just yet, my graphics card is fairly new, soundcard I don't need.

I am looking to get an I7 CPU, RAM atleast 8 GB and a motherboard upgrade. I have roughly £400-£500 to spend at a stretch £600. I may also buy a HDD/SSD but I may wait until Christmas for them parts.

I just feel that I need a second opinion or that extra bit of advice before I can purchase. I do know quite a bit about computers, but ones who deal with hardware everyday, possibly some of you guys will know a lot more than I do, that goes for wicked deals, great hardware, hardware on a budget etc.

So I do hope you can help me find good parts on the budget I set.

*No competitor talk please*

Anyway I hope you can help, thanks in advance.
 
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I just changed it? and you remove the whole sentence? No competitor talk? I wasn't exactly advertising their services, I was just saying that I could buy the parts from a range of different stores. So I'm guessing this forum only accepts Overclockers products? "Hi, buy this for such a price when it could be much cheaper elsewhere." It's not exactly the best piece of advice is it? I am sorry, I'm just a little annoyed that my message has been edited, when I'm seeking some help.
 
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YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 830 Series SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive - (MZ-7PC256B/WW) £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £53.99
Total : £561.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Would do the trick but you can always hold off on the SSD as the prices are still falling
 
XavierCastiel said:
I just changed it? and you remove the whole sentence? No competitor talk? I wasn't exactly advertising their services, I was just saying that I could buy the parts from a range of different stores. So I'm guessing this forum only accepts Overclockers products? "Hi, buy this for such a price when it could be much cheaper elsewhere." It's not exactly the best piece of advice is it? I am sorry, I'm just a little annoyed that my message has been edited, when I'm seeking some help.
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You accepted the rules when you joined. Your fault end of.
 
Bacon? said:
You accepted the rules when you joined. Your fault end of.
Click to expand...

Smart arse, do many actually even read the rules or terms and conditions? because I don't, and I'm sure many others would just click accept. This is just another way for people to lay down the law on a forum.

You should be free to talk about whatever you want. Have you seen the prices online on most Overclockers products? I ended up paying £444 + postage = £452 or something like that for a 7970 when I saw it elsewhere for much much cheaper, I won't say anything more than that as I risk a warning or whatever.

Thanks to the ones who have actually tried to help.

The I7 3770 is the CPU I was looking closely at. As I wrote on another forum, I just wasn't sure an Ivybridge CPU was the way to go as there have been many complaints about the Ivybridge CPU's since their release.

I will take a look at the RAM and Motherboard links you sent and compare the prices elsewhere.

Thanks Gav.

Yes, the PC is and has been used for PC gaming amongst video editing, Photoshop editing etc. But mainly PC Gaming. I do record gameplay and render regularly but that's in between gaming. Other than that it's basically just browsing the web. Why what else would the system be used for? Usually it's just gaming, browsing based or a business based computer isn't it?

I was going to get an SSD anyway Doomedspeed.
 
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Its best to read the forum rules before you post... And I wouldn't say its wise to retaliate like that...

But either way each to their own...Maybe try something like this?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x OCZ Agility 4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (AGT4-25SAT3-128G) £98.99
1 x Adata XPG Gaming v2.0 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (AX3U1866GC4G9B-DG2) £49.99
Total : £532.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
I would definitely go for an SSD. The rest of your components are fine (although I would recommend overclocking your cpu).
 
just stick a cheap decent quality ssd in there and maybe a i5 750/760 cpu,should last you a few more years,no need to spend silly money
 
I am surprised people are actually helping considering the tone that came across in the posts. If you didn't read the rules that is your issue. Don't break them and claim ignorance.

On another note this is a forum directly linked to Overclockers the computer retailer so if you want to discuss computer components from other retailers may I suggest you use another forum that is not linked to any retailers.

There are plenty out there of which many people on here are most likely members on there also.
 
Curlyriff said:
I am surprised people are actually helping considering the tone that came across in the posts. If you didn't read the rules that is your issue. Don't break them and claim ignorance.

On another note this is a forum directly linked to Overclockers the computer retailer so if you want to discuss computer components from other retailers may I suggest you use another forum that is not linked to any retailers.

There are plenty out there of which many people on here are most likely members on there also.
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Plus I bet he wouldn't like it if he owned a shop and people came in telling his customers where to get cheaper things from.

You can still buy from other places we're not forcing you to buy from OC.
 
Curlyriff said:
I am surprised people are actually helping considering the tone that came across in the posts. If you didn't read the rules that is your issue. Don't break them and claim ignorance.

On another note this is a forum directly linked to Overclockers the computer retailer so if you want to discuss computer components from other retailers may I suggest you use another forum that is not linked to any retailers.

There are plenty out there of which many people on here are most likely members on there also.
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Why shouldn't people reply?

The only person I challenged was the moderator who edited my post, and the one who decided to feel that it was ok to lecture me on the rules in a sarcastic manner. Well, the way I perceived it. I apologised for my initial reaction, but never agreed to it.

I have thanked the ones who actually have tried to help me, and I have done no harm to any of these users. My issue was with the moderator and the person who felt it was fine to mock my intelligence.

All I ever wanted was some help on parts, and I feel I have somewhat received that help, amongst replies that just like to fuel the fire.

Thanks to the ones who have given me good advice and suggestions so far.

I will make sure I look at all of these parts and also take everything into consideration as I do plan to buy these parts for my system this week.
 
XavierCastiel said:
Why shouldn't people reply?

The only person I challenged was the moderator who edited my post, and the one who decided to feel that it was ok to lecture me on the rules in a sarcastic manner. Well, the way I perceived it. I apologised for my initial reaction, but never agreed to it.

I have thanked the ones who actually have tried to help me, and I have done no harm to any of these users. My issue was with the moderator and the person who felt it was fine to mock my intelligence.

All I ever wanted was some help on parts, and I feel I have somewhat received that help, amongst replies that just like to fuel the fire.

Thanks to the ones who have given me good advice and suggestions so far.

I will make sure I look at all of these parts and also take everything into consideration as I do plan to buy these parts for my system this week.
Click to expand...

The mod was just doing their job.
 
That is fair play. I am not meaning to sound arragont or anything towards you but you set yourself up to get some abuse when you stated you hadn't read the rules. I always read the rules on forums as there are often little parts that certain forums don't like such as sigs normally.

Anyways I believe it was the way it came across. Glad you are getting the help and advise you need. Also check out non retailer related forums. They are great for more general product info or for odd parts you may not be able to get hold of easy.

Also on a note to actually be helpful since that is why I first clicked on the post. Below is what I would be selecting though for the money.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £89.99
1 x Patriot Viper Xtreme 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-15000C9 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (PXD316G1866C9K) £89.99
Total : £563.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
Offers change on the wednesday so what we spec can differ as we do try our best to exploit these offers. Stulid kindly posted the forum rules so you could read them. Their is also free delivery for loyal forum members, it's worth sticking around for that.

From your brief I would have gone i5K and a nvidia 670 as CUDA support would help you with video encoding. As you have bought an AMD GPU you'll have to decide if you do enough video editing to justify the i7s Hyperthreading that's the only benefit over the i5K

Ivybridge does more clock for clock. It has an improved IGP which is used by Quicksync (speeds up video encoding if your software supports it) and LucidMVP which is supplied with decent Z77 mobos. People complained about the extra heat but this is to be expected. Intel sold "duff" i5 2500Ks off as 2550Ks. The IGP was dead so wasn't putting out heat so they put some spin on it and said the 2550K will overclock higher.

From what you have said something like this would be good.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3770K 3.50GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £269.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Notebook/Apple Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128N/EU) £89.99
1 x Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E CPU Cooler (Socket LGA 2011/1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3/FM1) £49.20
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
Total : £564.16 (includes shipping : £10.00).



If you want the i7 there it is. Included an excellent heatsink on offer, just check it fits your case.

8GB of RAM at a good price, anything over 1600mhz makes little odds on the 1155. The mobo does SLI/Xfire as your PSU is good enough to do this it makes sense. There is the cheaper Z77-D3H which is for single GPU setups but I hate the "cheap" look with the blue PCB.

Of course there will be alternatives but hopefully this helps you somewhat :)
 
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