3 years already...

e36Adz · 26 Jul 2013 at 01:58

I upgraded to the following from the MM towards the end of 2009...

Intel i5 750 2.66Ghz
Corsair H50 Cooler
Asus P7P55D Evo
8GB G.Skill RipJawsX DDR3 1600Mhz

At that time I had a GTX260 but in 2011 I upgraded to a GTX460 which I still have. Last month I upgraded my 2x Kingston 40GB SSD's to a single 128GB Plextor SSD drive. My other parts (which I intend on keeping) are...

Antec 1200
OCZ ModX 700W
Zalman Gaming Keyboard
Gigabyte 3200dpi Mouse
2x Dell 2405FPW

Last month I signed up to Steam and from the sales and MM I've picked up over 40 games!

In a month or so I intend on upgrading my cpu/mobo and gfx card. I feel 8GB ram is still plenty, is it? I am mainly after a decent gaming PC. I will probably buy from the MM once again, but I'd like to know what combo of cpu/mobo and gfx card I should be looking at which will be a worthwhile upgrade from what I currently have. I don't have any idea what's even been released in the past 3 years in terms of PC tech hence this thread. I'd probably be looking to spend around £200-£300 in total but would be willing to stretch.

Any recommendations?

e36Adz · 26 Jul 2013 at 14:42

How about if I say, £500 for a gfx card/mobo/cpu/ram/cooler spec'ed from ocuk? It would give me some ideas what to look at and would be cheaper in MM, plus I'd get some money back for my parts.

Kinsy · 26 Jul 2013 at 15:03

If I were you, with 2x Dell 24"s, I'd spend £340 on a GTX770 and wait another 2 years before upgrading CPU/board. £500 isn't enough to pick up a decent i5/i7 AND a GPU worthy of upgrading from - better to do one or the other properly.

d_brennen · 26 Jul 2013 at 15:08

Personally I'd just pick up a 7950 level GPU and stick on the rest for now

e36Adz · 26 Jul 2013 at 15:22

I only game on one monitor. Will weigh up my options next month but I see your point, although in the past whenever I've upgraded (every 2-3 years) I normally bag a bargain for around £2-300 from MM.

Excluding the gfx card then, what would be a good upgrade for the cpu/mobo/ram? I may have someone interested in my current parts therefore if I can upgrade those, at least I know I'm set for another 3-4 years. I can always upgrade the gfx card at a slightly later date.

Kinsy · 26 Jul 2013 at 15:29

If you're primarily gaming stick with a GPU upgrade - a much better use of your money.

e36Adz · 26 Jul 2013 at 15:33

Kinsy said:
If you're primarily gaming stick with a GPU upgrade - a much better use of your money.

You reckon the rest of the setup can see me through another 3-4 years?

bfar · 26 Jul 2013 at 16:27

I'd see about looking for a cheap 7950 first, and then an i5 2500k & mobo on the MM. £500 should cover that with change.

I found going from lynnfield i7 to Sandybridge i5 a fairly noticeable upgrade from a gaming point of view. Overclock that i5 and you have a very respectable system that should last a good while.

e36Adz · 26 Jul 2013 at 20:08

Spoke to a friend and he reckons I could quite easily pick up the following from MM in a month or so -

3570k cpu ~£120
Mobo ~£80
16GB Ram ~£60
H100 cooler ~£40

Just had a quick look on ocuk I've spec'd the following brand new. Not sure how good the mobo is, or if everythings compatible but -

Intel Core i5-4570 3.20GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail
~£160
Gigabyte H87-HD3 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
~£80
Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (PV38G240C0K)
~£65
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit
~£40

Total: ~£345

Surely similar to this could be picked up from MM for under £300? Selling my gear off and I'd hopefully get half this amount back meaning it'd only cost around £150. Seems do-able?