Advice please...

Jayman

Jayman

Jayman

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
364
Location
Derby
Hi,

Currently I'm running a 5yr old Intel core 2 6420 @2.23ghz with 2gb RAM & a 256mb gfx card, its getting rather slow so I'm thinking bang an extra 2gb in there or start over...

If I start over I'm looking at one of the following..

Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Socket 1155 VGA DVI HDMI 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
EVGA GTX 650 Ti SuperSuperClocked 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 1600Mhz

OR

AMD FX-4 4100 Black Edition 4 Core 3.6Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3 Cache
Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 Socket AM3+ 7.1 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard
Sapphire HD 7850 OC Edition 2GB Dual DVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card
8GB DDR3 1600Mhz

Now, assuming the 2gb upgrade on my current beast is a waste of time, can you offer me some advice on which of the above is best to go for & also any advice on PSU & casing for the above would be greatly appreciated.
 
Top option (Intel i5) with the 7850 would be the best option. Case is down to personal preference really, depends what you want from it.

How much you looking to pay for a PSU? Enough for the specs or do you want some future proofing?
 
Just want the PSU to do the job really, gonna have a dvd writer & a couple of HD's in there, dont want to spend too much on it.
 
520w is plenty at it's efficiency. You'd be lucky to draw 400w peak with that setup let alone the full 520w.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660Ti Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Intel 330 Series 60GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - Retail £52.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £618.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



Take away SSD to go under-budget.


Or if you really want it cheap ;

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £179.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x OCZ CoreXtreme 500w '80 Plus' Power Supply £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £478.94 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795Q3G2M) with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £227.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £626.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



7850 is cheaper and will bring you in on budget, if you like the games then paying the extra would be worth it. I wouldn't use the cheap DS3H mobo Lazder has used, plus you wanted a case didn't you?
 
Last edited:
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795Q3G2M) with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £227.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £626.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



7850 is cheaper and will bring you in on budget, if you like the games then paying the extra would be worth it. I wouldn't use the cheap DS3H mobo Lazder has used, plus you wanted a case didn't you?
Click to expand...

660 is a better choice over 7850, they cost same dont they?? 2 gig ones
You do love that case dont you :D
 
Lazder said:
660 is a better choice over 7850, they cost same dont they?? 2 gig ones
You do love that case dont you :D
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £554.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



Case is a bargain. Sound proofing, cable manangement, 3 fans supplied all for £65.....what's not to like. Think I'd prefer the MSI 7850 with the Frozr cooler though, they are priced close to the 660 but you dont get the games with the 660. AMD have released new drivers which improve performance, great bang for buck with the 7950 as it's snapping at the heels of the 670 which is £300+
 
honosuseri said:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £167.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £64.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £554.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



Case is a bargain. Sound proofing, cable manangement, 3 fans supplied all for £65.....what's not to like. Think I'd prefer the MSI 7850 with the Frozr cooler though, they are priced close to the 660 but you dont get the games with the 660. AMD have released new drivers which improve performance, great bang for buck with the 7950 as it's snapping at the heels of the 670 which is £300+
Click to expand...

you get CUDA in GeForce and ability to get 3d nvidia vision + drivers always have been better than Ati`s...

I would pick 7950 over 670 but not 7850 over 660... Depends how much do you really need those games...

About cases, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA Zalman Z9 is pretty good.. Doesnt have as good cable management or soundproofing but is cheaper and has fan controller.
 
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"drivers always have been better than Ati`s..."

You havent tried any of ATI's latest cards or drivers have you.
 
I have a Z9. It's gone up in price here again, was £40 last week. It doesnt compare to the Antec which has the USB3 ports. OCuk dont stock the Z9 U3 :(

I have nothing against Nvidia. Cuda support is handy, it's main use is for video encoding and to be fair Quicksync is a better option for that which you get from the CPU
 
Lazder said:
I did say "have been" I did not say they are better "NOW" :p
Click to expand...

It's taken nvidia two generations to catch up on AMDs eyefinity or in laymans terms, 3 screens from a single GPU. AMD have dropped their prices and give away the games to stay competitive, no shame in taking advantage of them ;)

I miss the mouse gestures in the old nvidia drivers, if anyone remembers them :'(
 
I used to have a Nvidia card. About 10 years old now. So I cant even remember what model it was let alone the features :p

Lazder why mention drivers at all then? Hes not going to be using old ones after all ;)

But anyway back on topic.

7850 is brilliant for the price and I imagine the 660 and 7850 are similar at stock? The differences would be 7850 overclocks and 660 has CUDA and PhysX.
Cant really trusts benchmarks these days since the drivers always vary :/
 
Bacon? said:
I used to have a Nvidia card. About 10 years old now. So I cant even remember what model it was let alone the features :p

Lazder why mention drivers at all then? Hes not going to be using old ones after all ;)

But anyway back on topic.

7850 is brilliant for the price and I imagine the 660 and 7850 are similar at stock? The differences would be 7850 overclocks and 660 has CUDA and PhysX.
Cant really trusts benchmarks these days since the drivers always vary :/
Click to expand...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/660?vs=549

Well there is a difference in anandtech, but yeah I agree that drivers vary..

I was speaking on my past experience didnt think AMD would change its ways in drivers department.
 
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