Advice

Meloco

Meloco

Meloco

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Joined
25 Dec 2005
Posts
1,275
Location
Kent
Hey lads,

Got about 1200 to spend towards a new PC. But my dilemma is in not really knowing whether to spend the money or not. Current system is:

Antec 300 case
e8400
4gb ram
HD 4800 512mb

I've been reading up on toms hardware, and on the sticky above, but from the actual results of fps and in-game performance i'm just not too sure i'm satisfied on what performance I will get with the amount of money i'm spending. It seems like the games I would want to have 'maxed out' e.g. Battlfield 3, Metro 2033, Arma 2, Lock-on, IL2 etc. Some would struggle even with the predicted spec I'm thinking of.

So i'm just looking for views on this, if anyone has a similar spec to what they would advise for me on their performance notices. Also, If I should wait till mid sept before upgrading? Anyway, Just want to know your views etc.

Also on a side note, not really looking to build a PC again, unless there's a huge difference in money/performance.
 
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2qx5fn5.png

With something like this you would see a significant increase in performance
I think :P
 
Is there no chance my Antec 300 case would suffice anymore?

edit: also, how many extra fans do you need to buy with that case?
 
I have come from a similar position to you. I sold my then current stuff like yours for a nice return towards the upgrade because it's still fairly respectable, and you do not need to spend anywhere near the money you are quoting.

Buying something like the £200 ish gtx480 new or even something like a 5850 off the members market for £100 will give you good performance benefits and be perfectly useable in your current configuration(may need psu though).

I went for a sandybridge upgrade because I thought it was time to have a quad core as games really are starting to use them properly, and a good 775skt quad will still cost around £100 second hand. Decision made for me. sandybridge p67 board/2500k cpu/4gb ram generic starting cost of around £350 ish(minus the monies returned from old gear for your actual cost). Cheap upgrade for what you get.

Everything you do will benefit from the upgrade big time and it wont end up costing you a lot once you sell the old gear.

Of course there are loads of options and I have listed but a few, spending £600 will net a wicked upgrade including video card, but it's up to you;)

Also handy to list full current full spec/detail including the monitor.

Moodles list is very nice, but overkill if you dont want to spend the money.
 
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The Antec 300 is cutting it tight for fitting in new gpu's. You'd have to check the specifics to make sure, might be able to remove a HD cage.

The build above is solid but wastes money.

1- get the 480GTX SE or SOC. The SOC is the same performance as the 580GTX and the SE is the same performance as the 570GTX and both are quiet and cool (the two problems with normal 480GTX's).

That saves you quite a bit of money for the same performance.

2- The psu in that suggestion is a great psu but you could easily go for the 750w option to save money or other similar psu's.

3- Don't bother getting that heat sink. It's not much better than some of the top air cooling and a sandybridge just doesn't need that kind of cooling for a very easy 4.5ghz overclock and to still be under 60 degrees. They are briliant chips.

4- There are loads of cases, search around and find one you like not just what everyone else tells you to get. At least personally I find the case to be one of the most important parts both in terms of looking nice and cooling well while leaving space for expansion (which the antec 300 failed the latter).

5- 8gb isn't needed but the likes of metro can and will use over 4gb so why not get it. The price differnce isn't huge and its a lot more future proofed. Plus windows will be snappier with it as it uses spare ram to cache. I idle at 2gb-3gb of used ram in win7 now that I have 8gb instead of 4gb.
 
Liquid said:
I have come from a similar position to you. I sold my then current stuff like yours for a nice return towards the upgrade because it's still fairly respectable, and you do not need to spend anywhere near the money you are quoting.

Buying something like the £200 ish gtx480 new or even something like a 5850 off the members market for £100 will give you good performance benefits and be perfectly useable in your current configuration(may need psu though).

I went for a sandybridge upgrade because I thought it was time to have a quad core as games really are starting to use them properly, and a good 775skt quad will still cost around £100 second hand. Decision made for me. sandybridge p67 board/2500k cpu/4gb ram generic starting cost of around £350 ish(minus the monies returned from old gear for your actual cost). Cheap upgrade for what you get.

Everything you do will benefit from the upgrade big time and it wont end up costing you a lot once you sell the old gear.

Of course there are loads of options and I have listed but a few, spending £600 will net a wicked upgrade including video card, but it's up to you;)

Also handy to list full current full spec/detail including the monitor.
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying, but the upgrade is partly because I am having and have had frequent BSOD with this system ever since I got it. Tried various fixes etc. So just want to scrap the whole thing and start again fresh.
 
8igdave said:
The Antec 300 is cutting it tight for fitting in new gpu's. You'd have to check the specifics to make sure, might be able to remove a HD cage.

The build above is solid but wastes money.

1- get the 480GTX SE or SOC. The SOC is the same performance as the 580GTX and the SE is the same performance as the 570GTX and both are quiet and cool (the two problems with normal 480GTX's).

That saves you quite a bit of money for the same performance.

2- The psu in that suggestion is a great psu but you could easily go for the 750w option to save money or other similar psu's.

3- Don't bother getting that heat sink. It's not much better than some of the top air cooling and a sandybridge just doesn't need that kind of cooling for a very easy 4.5ghz overclock and to still be under 60 degrees. They are briliant chips.

4- There are loads of cases, search around and find one you like not just what everyone else tells you to get. At least personally I find the case to be one of the most important parts both in terms of looking nice and cooling well while leaving space for expansion (which the antec 300 failed the latter).

5- 8gb isn't needed but the likes of metro can and will use over 4gb so why not get it. The price differnce isn't huge and its a lot more future proofed. Plus windows will be snappier with it as it uses spare ram to cache. I idle at 2gb-3gb of used ram in win7 now that I have 8gb instead of 4gb.
Click to expand...

Would you suggest then forking out a little more cash for a good quality case, such as:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-025-CS&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

or

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-181-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

and save on the other parts, in part allowing me to upgrade in future without changing the case and possibly having cooling problems (like my antec 300 suffers from).
 
Meloco said:
I hear what you're saying, but the upgrade is partly because I am having and have had frequent BSOD with this system ever since I got it. Tried various fixes etc. So just want to scrap the whole thing and start again fresh.
Click to expand...

Sorry u gave no indication of issue in the first post, best change the whole lot then, base unit wise anyway lol.

Would you like a quote with a new monitor, or happy with your current one?

Also is solid state hard drive important?
 
Meloco said:
Would you suggest then forking out a little more cash for a good quality case, such as:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-025-CS&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

or

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-181-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=

and save on the other parts, in part allowing me to upgrade in future without changing the case and possibly having cooling problems (like my antec 300 suffers from).
Click to expand...

Well I currently run the 650d. The bigger brothers are massive. The 650d is still rather large. It is an absolute joy to work with and is definitely large enough for any gpu within the future I would have thought. It is also not a bad choice for water cooling (though I suspect there would be better) and it should accommodate sli/cf fine, though I'm yet to fully test this but will do soon when i go 480 sli.

Of course you don't have to spend this much to get a future proof case. The cost to benefit ratio of cases is really at it's max around £80-£100. Cases like the coolmaster haf series are very popular. The one recommended to you was the more budget haf case but still a good one. I'm not saying you should spend a fortune on a case, just make sure you have a look around as cases are personal preference. It's easy to google a case to get a few reviews and all reviews will state the max gpu size you can fit in the case as well. I would personally think you will find better info on cases from google than a forum as you have to have tested multiple cases out to know truly which are good and bad.
 
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Liquid said:
Sorry u gave no indication of issue in the first post, best change the whole lot then, base unit wise anyway lol.

Would you like a quote with a new monitor, or happy with your current one?

Also is solid state hard drive important?
Click to expand...

No i'm fine with the monitor. I think I would like to upgrade to an ssd, just to see the performance increase and use with a few games like ARMA 2. All i'm thinking about is the base unit right now, AND soundcard included. I'm sick of using onboard as it always seems to have a buzzing sound over any games.
 
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