Upgrade 4 year old PC. Where to start?

paintguy

paintguy

paintguy

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Sheffield
Hi all, sorry to add yet another "what spec" thread, but I'm well out of the loop as always.

My current PC hasn't been updated for 4 years, apart from a Crucial M4 SSD a while back. I spend 90% of my time browsing so it's more than fine for that, but with a bit more spare time on my hands lately I'd like to try out a bit of gaming. Nothing too taxing so I don't need (nor can I afford) the highest spec, but playable at 1680x1050 is fine.

Current spec:
E5200 @ 3.2
IP35 Pro XE
8GB Kingston Hyper X DDR2
Asus HD4670

I'm guessing most of that is well out of date and would need changing, but if there's any way to keep some of it all the better.

Stuff I think I can keep:
Crucial 128 GB M4 SSD
Corsair 450W VX PSU (not sure if that's enough)

Case (big old Antec 1080), KVM and storage drives will be kept and I'm running Win7 pro 64bit

Budget: I'd like to keep below £400 if at all possible, less is even better :D

Thanks for any advice,
Andy.
 
 
zakblood said:
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX2 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA1155 / LGA1156 / LGA1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM2+ / AM3+) £77.88
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £37.99
Total : £386.86 (includes shipping : FREE).



still got enough for video as well :(
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £187.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM3) (CWCH100) £81.98
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £37.99
Total : £397.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



Better alternatives

1) Gigabayte has uk RMA
2) H100 is 5 pounds more than 920 and it cools better... only question is do you have 2x120mm fans

but in all honesty, you dont need a 100 pound cooler... some 20-30 will do.
 
I am not the best at speccing balanced systems but given the OPs requirements would something like this be a valid option? The 7850 may be OTT at his res and not a good match with an i3 but I don't see the point of a 3570K and 920 cooler if you can't match it with a decent gpu.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-HD3 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Avexir Core Blue Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CW) - Blue Light £37.99
Total : £360.96 (includes shipping : FREE).



There is some budget left to play with if you want a quieter HSF too.
 
Looks like water cooling is common then :D

Lazder - Buying a couple of fans extra isn't too much of a problem, but the lack of a video card is :(

dcsarge - that seems to be more like it, although more suggestions are always welcome..
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7850 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards with Tomb Raider & Bioshock PC Games £149.99
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £92.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £37.99
Total : £370.96 (includes shipping : FREE).





if you can go over by 50 quid... i`d get 3570k... but 3220 and 7850 is a decent match... 7850 1gb will get bottlenecked very quickly, you need 2gb these days.
 
I'm sure I could raid the piggy bank for the i5 if it's going to be a decent step up.

Does that 3570K come with a stock cooler? I could always run it standard for now then OC when I can afford a better one.
 
I think ladzer has the right idea. The 3220 and 7850.are a good match, the 3570k would be ideal but may be overkill for your uses but always nice to have..

You can get a cheaper air cooler to keep the noise down too.. The true spirit 120 is only £25. :)
 
Thanks all.

I get carried away far too easily, adding an extra £50 here and there and before long I'm well over budget!

So sticking with the 3220, that particular mobo (Z77-D3H) is out of stock atm. Is it worth waiting for or will the Z77-HD3 also suggested be fine?
 
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