Upgrade or New PC?

Slade2

Slade2

Slade2

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Joined
14 Apr 2011
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1,154
Location
Stafford
Hey guys,

Here is my current spec below.

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD4 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION**
RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel
Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced Dominator Case
OCZ Vertex 60GB 2.5" SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM
Sony Optiarc AD-7260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black)
XFX 750W Black Edition Modular Power Supply
Dell Ultrasharp U2311H 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey

This was all purchased in 2011.

I have added a couple of hard drives to this machine over the last few years and the machine now has made use of 5 out of the 6 sata ports.

Now the question I have is I want to upgrade, the orginal system cost me around £1200. I have the same budget if needed again to spend on upgrades and or a new PC and or a mix of upgrades and a NAS to help with extra storage.

It has been suggested my CPU would be ok for another couple of years if I was to get a better GFX card and perhaps a new SSD and some extra memory?

I mainly game at 1080p on a 23 inch monitor but have a duel monitor setup and often watch films via HMDI on my 46inch TV, the 6950 has been good at all this so far. I dont plan on getting a new monitor unless it was within my budget and would give me an upgrade that I could benifit from. I have a load of games on my steam collection that I am wanting to play when I upgrade to take advatage of the better GFX.

So, OCUK, what would you advise given my situation, the least I can spend the better if I`m honest as I will be probably taking out finance over 3 years and so whatever I do will have to last me another three years at least.

So, should I just upgrade what I have (bigger SSD, more powerfull CPU, more memory?) or new a whole new PC? and look to sell my old one on the MM?
 
Thanks Shivy011, I actually had that SSD already in my basket.

I do think I need more ram and what is the concensus? would it be better to get a new 8gig kit or add another 4gig? Since the one you lists is £42 but I could get a new 8gig kit for around £65 which isnt a lot more. Also if I get a new 8gig kit could I still use my 4gig to make 12gig of memory in my system?
 
Nah it wouldn't work like that, generally you have to have 4 sticks of the same stuff, not different sizes etc

If I were you I'd probably go for a fast DDR3 kit new (2x4GB) then flog your current stuff
 
Ok great, thanks again. I will do that :)

Is it worth getting a monitor upgrade along with your suggestions? uping my gaming to the next resolution? I would imagine the 970 can handle that but can my cpu?
 
New Monitor? are you unhappy with the current one?

I'd be inclined to save your cash for a new CPU and motherboard when Broadwell finally comes out - probably looking like 9 months from now.
 
No, not unhappy with the current one at all. Just wondering if I could make the step up was all. If I can get away with spend £400 on some upgrades then I can get a Nas and some drives at the same time and that would see me right for a while.
 
Shivy011 said:
Nah it wouldn't work like that, generally you have to have 4 sticks of the same stuff, not different sizes etc

If I were you I'd probably go for a fast DDR3 kit new (2x4GB) then flog your current stuff
Click to expand...

It would work fine if the memory has the same spec. (speed, timings and voltages) and it would even work fine if the memory has different speed and timings, all the sticks would have to be run at the lesser spec. Also the sticks absolutely do not have to be the same sizes. You can have two 8GB sticks and two 1GB sticks if you really want!

As long as they are all the same voltage, it will be totally fine. :)

As an extreme example, I ran a system with a 2GB stick of Kingston 1333MHz DDR3, a 2GB stick of Crucial 1600MHz DDR3, and a 2x 4GB kit of Corsair Value 1600MHz DDR3, and they all ran happily together at 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5v in dual channel. :D
 
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Ok, after some discussion I have the following basket of stuff.

Asus GeForce GTX 970 DirectCU II OC Strix 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
Seagate Barracuda 4TB 5900RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST4000DM000) HDD £106.99
Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £78.98
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99

Any suggestions or alternations to the stuff I have added? The gfx card isnt in stock as of yet some I have a few days to think it over and make some changes. How long would this system keep me gaming for? another 3 years? or will I been looking at some more upgrades after 12 to 18 months?
 
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I realised I edited the above post and it probably wouldnt get read if people had read what it was before so bumping it :)
 
Acme said:
It would work fine if the memory has the same spec. (speed, timings and voltages) and it would even work fine if the memory has different speed and timings, all the sticks would have to be run at the lesser spec. Also the sticks absolutely do not have to be the same sizes. You can have two 8GB sticks and two 1GB sticks if you really want!

As long as they are all the same voltage, it will be totally fine. :)

As an extreme example, I ran a system with a 2GB stick of Kingston 1333MHz DDR3, a 2GB stick of Crucial 1600MHz DDR3, and a 2x 4GB kit of Corsair Value 1600MHz DDR3, and they all ran happily together at 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.5v in dual channel. :D
Click to expand...

:o Never knew this, cool - thanks!

Will you really need the 4TB of storage? Could save ~£45 and get the 2TB Barracuda instead which is still enough storage for most people's uses?
 
The 4TB drive is to replace a 1TB one currently inside my PC and its more to do with connections on my PC rather than the space but also a little bit of future proofing.
 
Okay that's up to you then :) If you want it then get it!

I suggest the H105 over the H100i as the Corsair Link software has problems with Win 8.1 should you upgrade and the H105 has the thicker rad which has a bit better cooling
 
I was just looking at the coolers and this cooler is currently on the deal of the week.

I assume the H110 is a little better than the H105? and at the moment its only like 2 quid more.

Will it fit inside the top of my CM 690 II? if so I`ll sort it out this week and get it all ordered waiting for some items to come into stock anyway.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-017-CS&groupid=701&catid=2330 This is the one I am thinking about
 
So, people wouldnt suggest me getting the H110 or the H105?

I could get a better air cooler than the A50 I have its been ok for three years but it is showing some age now. The reason I am going for a new cooler is I would like to push my overclock up above 4Gz to something like 4.6Gz which would be good for me for a while.

I have read about the corsair issues with the LEDs and the failures and that is something I dont really want since my PC is running 24/7 most of the time.

Would a good air cooler be better and help me to keep the price down? suggestions please given my motherboard and memory I need to make sure the cooler will fit.
 
I have read online that the CM690 does support dual 140MM fans in the top, but it doesn't support a 280MM radiator and dual 140MM fans. I'm not entirely sure why, but I imagine it is either due to the hole spacing meaning that the fans would interfere with the top of the motherboard, OR the hole spacing being incorrect for the holes on a radiator.

So the H110 is probably a no go.

The H105 has a radiator which is 11MM thicker than that of the H100i, so I would go for the H105.

If you wanted to get the H100i you could, I mean, theres no reason why you can't just not install Corsair Link.
 
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