Better Deal/Kit Available?

phartars

phartars

phartars

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Looking to upgrade wife's PC, can this bundle bettered?

Intel Core i7-3770 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - £221.99
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard - £106.99
GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit - £61.99

If I could shave a few quid off ....

TIA!
 
Well this bundle won't even work! You're using a 1155 socket chip in a 1150 socket chip.

This motherboard deal will give you a free mobo upgrade in 3 years time. Can always get a slightly cheaper bundle if you dont fancy that.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK - Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£35 Saving** £365.98
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.99
Total : £425.96 (includes shipping : ).



Yeah, so its ~£25 more expensive, but its a much higher speed ram and the newest overclockable i7. Also, worth asking if you have a GPU to go with an i7? Better off going for an i5 unless you have the GPU grunt to use the i7, or its just wasted power. Like so:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z97 Gaming 5 Intel Core i5 DIY ATX Motherboard, CPU & RAM Bundle £331.98
Total : £331.98 (includes shipping : ).

 
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I'd go with the i5 then, really wont be able to use the power of the i7.

But the free mobo upgrade is a smashing deal, meaning 3 years down the line a CPU & Mobo upgrade will be nice and cheap. That said, unless she starts playing more games the i7 will still be powerful enough then (with the way these intel upgrades are going).
 
gradyhawks said:
I'd go with the i5 then, really wont be able to use the power of the i7.

But the free mobo upgrade is a smashing deal, meaning 3 years down the line a CPU & Mobo upgrade will be nice and cheap. That said, unless she starts playing more games the i7 will still be powerful enough then (with the way these intel upgrades are going).
Click to expand...

She had an i5 in her current rig, water cooled with a Corsair H50 and now the MOBO won't POST so I suspect she's burned it out?

Her i5 ran hotter and therefore nosier than my H50 cooled i7 which annoyed her so, i7 it is.

Although looking through the bundle deals ....
 
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That's a big assumption to make, it could be any reason?

The i5 and i7 won't be different in temperatures, did you check what they were?
Have you tried removing the CMOS battery & trying some diagnostics on the board?
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
That's a big assumption to make, it could be any reason?

The i5 and i7 won't be different in temperatures, did you check what they were?
Click to expand...

Nope, it just ran louder when she played second life, which annoyed her.

ThaReaperGuy said:
Have you tried removing the CMOS battery & trying some diagnostics on the board?
Click to expand...

Nope, it only failed to POST last night so just starting to go through the process.

I don't have a spare 1156 CPU to test whether the mobo or CPU is at fault, either.

Thinking of this kit instead now:

Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle £252.58
TeamGroup Xtreem LV "Frost Edition" 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit £59.99
Corsair Hydro H55 Quiet Liquid CPU Cooler £52.99

£365 all in...
 
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Neither might be at fault unless you check, and just replacing the heatsink would do the trick to bring noise and heat down.

Saving you about £300 unless something is broke.
 
ThaReaperGuy said:
Neither might be at fault unless you check, and just replacing the heatsink would do the trick to bring noise and heat down.

Saving you about £300 unless something is broke.
Click to expand...

The water cooler is functioning so unlikely to be that.

It needs doing asap, she needs to get work done, I'm working away next week .. and she's saved £300 for an upgrade anyway.

Easier for me to drop a new mobo, cpu, ram and cooler into the case, really.

Can you see any issues with the i5 bundle I specced?
 
Thanks for all the input everyone, I placed the order and will build it for her tomorrow.

Her PC will be better than mine ffs! .. Might have to do something about that!

The gfx card she has at the moment (MSI HD 7770 GHz Edition 1024MB GDDR5) is OK for now.

We'll see what Santa brings her for crimbo.
 
Second Life hardly uses any CPU resources, so an i5 is plenty. An i3 would be fine too. If it was somehow using a lot, then there must have been something wrong somewhere. However, to get more enjoyment out of the app, high graphics settings are ideal, and in order to run those quietly, a good GPU is a must and setting Vsync (or AMD equivalent) as Second Life runs the card at maximum performance on default, making the card noisy (and die sooner). More than 30 FPS isn't really needed for it, anyway. A 760/280 would be my recommended start-off point for users who want High settings. On Ultra, even 680s can struggle (in terms of noise not performance) @ 1080p.
 
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Danny75 said:
Second Life hardly uses any CPU resources, so an i5 is plenty. An i3 would be fine too. If it was somehow using a lot, then there must have been something wrong somewhere. However, to get more enjoyment out of the app, high graphics settings are ideal, and in order to run those quietly, a good GPU is a must and setting Vsync (or AMD equivalent) as Second Life runs the card at maximum performance on default, making the card noisy (and die sooner). More than 30 FPS isn't really needed for it, anyway. A 760/280 would be my recommended start-off point for users who want High settings. On Ultra, even 680s can struggle (in terms of noise not performance) @ 1080p.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. TBH I haven't really looked into SL requirements in any depth until today.

The 280 series are Xmas present prices so I'll probably treat her to one. Maybe a water cooler, too.

Odd Xmas prezzie for the Mrs :D

Best thing is I'll have a pile of bits to play with after the upgrades.

I can't believe how much kit has come on in the last couple of years, might have to have a fettle of my system, too.
 
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