Advice on upgrading mobo, Ram and CPU

Daniel C

Daniel C

Daniel C

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11 Feb 2011
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291
Evening all. After some advice from you fine people. I have owned my current system since February 2010 so its very ready for upgrading. Here is the spec.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit
AMD AthlonII X4 620 Processor 2611 Mhz
ATI 5670 512MB
Asus M2N68-AM SE2 DDR2 AM2/AM2+
Rendition 4GB DDR2 PC6400 800mhz
Maxtor 500GB Sata2
Optiarc dvdrw 24x sata
Corsair TX650 PSU
Coolermaster Elite 310

I'm liking the look of the i5 Intel CPU's as they seem in the price bracket and I've read good things about them for gaming. But I'm unsure on the motherboard and RAM. All the different specs of the motherboards is quite confusing to a novice like me :) My budget is around the £250 mark give or take.

Also, I think I'm gonna go for a 5850 or 6850 card in the future as well. My current Resolution is 1366x768 and the 5670 seems quite happy but I'd like a new display at 1920x1080

Appreciate any help chaps
Dan

Also I should say, are these new sandybridge cpu's worth it? Are they well out of my budget? (I could stretch the budget perhaps :) )
 
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Hi there.

I shall try and answer the q's for you.

There are now 2 socket types for Intels i5 setup.

1156) Is the older version, with the best cpu being the i5 760(quad core, the i5 6** are dual cores with hyper-threading and an onboard gpu) there is also a i7 8** series cpu which is a quad core with hyper-threading that fits this socket too.

Motherboards are H55 and P65 chipsets with the H55 allowing the onboard gpu of the i3 and i5 6** series being passed through and out to the back connections.

====================================================================

1155) This is the newer Sandybridge stuff, with the best being the 2500 and 2500K cpus.

The K series cpus differ by having a more powerful onboard gpu than the non K cpu's, and also have an unlocked multiplier allowing easy overclocking, the i7 2600 and 2600K cpu are also socket 1155 fitment.

the motherboards are H67 and P67 with the H67 allowing the onboard gpu to be utilized but zero overcloking options for the cpu, the P67 motherboards is what you want for overclocking.
 
Can you stretch too £20 more?

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £154.99
(£129.16) £154.99
(£129.16)
Foxconn H67A-S Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £79.98
(£66.65) £79.98
(£66.65)
OCZ Special OPS 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3SOE1600LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £220.80
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £46.06
Total : £276.36

this review shows 2400 and 760 comparisons well - http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/7

And so does this - http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_7.html#sect0
 
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Stulid, thanks for taking the time to explain that mate, that's cleared things up for me. Looking at those comparisons I think I'll be having a Sandy bridge. They seem quite cheap for the performance don't they?!

That basket looks good. I notice the motherboard has integrated graphics. Will this not interfere with my independent card I'll be using? Also, its a 'micro ATX' does this mean its smaller?

Thanks again for the advice.
Dan
 
It has onboard graphics supplied by the cpu(its part of the cpu die) but when you insert your Graphics card it automatically disables.

Having something like this feature can be useful to fall back on if you ever think you have a graphics card problem, or if you sell your current card and have a period of time until you purchase a new card you can still use the pc for simple tasks.

I think the description is wrong, it looks normal size.

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/product/Motherboards/detail_overview.aspx?ID=en-us0000512

201012031111350952_H67A-S_Over-1.jpg
 
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Stulid, thanks for that. I suppose its a benefit having that backup then.

Maxi, Cheers for the info. So I would use 2 Sata ports, one for the DVD drive, and another for hard drive?

I think I'll give it a bit before I buy and see what happens. The Sandys seem awesome value for money.
 
just use the sata3.0 ports for the two drives, the issue only affects sata2.0 ports.

if your clever you could RMA the board back before the end of the warranty period, and get sent a new board with a whole 3 year warranty again.
 
Ok, roll on Friday (payday) and I'll buy that setup. Hope it goes smoothly fitting. Ive done a lot of research so I'm feeling quite confident.

Now on to look for a 1080 monitor!

stulid, you are a genious
 
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Just a bit of an update. I now have the P2450 monitor which is brilliant. After about 10 minutes I realised the 5670 couldnt hack 1920x1080 so I've got the 5850 which is 300% better.

It is too big for my case though, the power cables on the end of the card are touching the hard drive chassis. Will this be ok for a short while until I get a bigger case? Also is 55 degrees a safe temperature for the card?

Now to sort my new mobo out :)
 
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