All rounder needed

sw1ft

sw1ft

sw1ft

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Joined
13 Aug 2008
Posts
221
Hi guys, thinking its about upgrade time and so I've put together a spec, what do people think?

System will be used as a proper all rounder, I'm a .net developer so I'll be compiling applications and running multiple instances of built apps simultaneously. I will also be using (at times) up to 3 remote desktops at once for work. As well as that I'm a diehard CS:S fan and want to get skyrim (or other rpg game) on pc after playing on Xbox. I'm interested in overclocking and future proofing myself so please keep that in mind.

Finally my girlfriend is due to start uni this September, studying psychology, with the aim to go for an MA and then a doctorate so no doubt she will be using it for essay writing and large amounts of research. The main aim is to convince her that the current system won't cut it for everything we need although it will probably make very little difference to her!

So the current system is:

Q6600 G0 @ 3.0 but going to go for 3.2 in the short term
Arctic Cooling freezer pro 7
Asus P5Q deluxe
GeForce 8800GT alpha dog edition
4x1GB OCZ PC2-8500 sli ready
Corsair TX550 (I think)
500GB seagate barracuda HDD
Antec 900
2 mismatched analogue monitors

The proposed system is (on iPad so can't paste basket):
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £339.95 (£283.29)
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail - £179.99 (£149.99)
Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - £112.99 (£94.16)
2 x OcUK E2250SWDA 22" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black - £199.90(£166.58)
Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) - £84.98 (£70.82)
Fractal Design Arc Midi Tower Case - Black - £79.99 (£66.66)
OCZ ZT 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - £69.98 (£58.32)
Thermalright True Spirit 140 CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA775/AM2/AM3) - £39.95 (£33.29)
GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) - £33.59 (£27.99)
Sub Total : £951.10
Shipping : £25.45
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £195.31
Total : £1,171.86

Is anything here hugely over/under spec? Can I save money elsewhere? And will this system support the lot with scope to upgrade in the future (SLI, watercool etc) while being as future proof as possible?

Thanks for any help, any suggestions in regards to convincing the girlfriend that 1k plus is necessary for a pc she is essentially using for web browsing and word processing would also be great :D
 
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Forgot to say budget is flexible but if I can avoid spending over £1200 that would help a lot.

Alternatively if things are hugely over spec and I can just do a bit of upgrading here and there rather than a full new system let me know, maybe reusing my 8800GT until the 670 comes down in price?
 
looks good, couldnt spec much better for the price
although if you ever do want to sli in the future, a 750w psu would be better
 
 
Hmm ok, on the futureproofing idea I guess it's better to do that now rather than later. I've only used corsair PSU's before now but there seems to be much more choice, is there a huge difference between OCZ, CoolerMaster etc?

If worse comes to worst and the girlfriend says no, is there much I can do to upgrade my current spec? Or save money by dropping monitors and GPU and buying them at a later date?
 
SSD would be the best improvement to your current spec.

And no all 80 Plus rated psu's are similar Some are just easier to work with/look nicer.

When you start looking at 1000-1200W psu's then brand is more of an issue but for a small wattage there isn't a great deal of difference between the 80 Plus Bronze rated ones.

A gtx 460 is pretty cheap would be an improvement on the 8800gt without breaking the bank or requiring a new psu. Anything over that you may experience some (not a lot) bottle necking by the cpu. A colleague here is still running a Q6600 with a 670 he say's the improvement from his old gpu was noticeable despite the potential bottleneck.
 
Cheers TwsT, any reason for sandy over ivy? And I was under the impression the GB windforce GFX card was better than the DirectCU? PSU needs to be modular really, non modular makes me want to Hirt myself in the face every time I look inside!

Is the crucial m4 preferred over the Samsung 830? I have read mixed reviews!

I might swap out the dragon ram for Samsung green purely for space, it might be an issue with that board and cooler in my build. Also not sure about the case now so might have another look. Realistically is this spec enough for what I want? Is it too much?

I want to avoid spending out over a grand for something that's either not going to last, or something that I'm never going to utilise to even half it's potential!

Sorry for all the questions, I'm a worrier as you can probably tell!
 
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you cant go wrong with either the 830/m4
get the cheaper one of the 2
my preference is the 830, but others may differ
 
sandy runs cooler than ivy is the only reason.

M4 is like the Samsung a great drive. It's all preference Personally I think the m4's are more reliable.

Samsung memory is really nice and great value for money.

I understand the modular issue too If I could justify it I would recomend the Antec High Current Pro 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply. You really don't it's just such a great psu and the cables are so easy to manage on it.

It's enough for what you want and will give you some room to ask it to do more should a game come out you want to play or w/e

If you are looking really tight why not go in bits

YOUR BASKET
1 x Krypton Z68 TURBO Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.00GHz Overclocked Bundle £305.98
1 x Samsung 128GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC128D/EU) £84.98
Total : £403.56 (includes shipping : £10.50).

 
I just think modular will make life a lot easier in the future and won't leave me regretting not spending the extra ~£20!

Does sandy overclock as well as ivy? If heat is the only thing I'd rather go ivy and deal with cooling as a separate issue.

I think in terms of SSD I may just do as tamzzy says and get whichever is cheaper at the time.

It's not so much about being tight it's more I want to spend once and get it right, I want a system that will last at least 5 years really!

I would say you're right to buy in bits but I don't want to get half way through and then something new will come out and be a total game changer!

I guess another question would be if I was to go for a new system, how much could I sell my current system for?
 
sandy (last generation) overclocks better than ivy
but clock for clock, ivy is 10-15% faster than sandy
ivy usually has no problems hitting 4.4ghz so tbh, i'd get an ivy over a sandy if the budget isnt constrained
with the ivy, the only problem lies when you're starting to ramp up the voltage, but for a 4.4ghz oc, you dont have to up the voltage by much (mostly) and any decent heatsink would perform just fine
and you get a better integrated gpu with the ivy, which can be used with the lucid mvp software that comes with the z77 mobo for increased fps. the sandy igp can too, but it isnt as good as the ivy igp
 
Brilliant information thanks tamzzy!

I think I'm pretty muh decided on the CPU and mobo combination, the GFX card, SSD and PSU I will most likely let the deals at the time decide. I'm trying to prioritise things into what I can buy now and what I can see as a future upgrade, but that's really difficult!

I could just get case, PSU and SSD and then get mobo, CPU, GFX and monitors at a later date, but that won't yield anywhere near the upgrade I want now. And if I get the lot but leave the GFX and monitors I'll feel like I'm not getting the most out of the system due to a 4 year old GFX card and ancient analog monitors!

What are the normal steps or upgrades? All at once or in parts? It seems a problem that's easier avoided by selling up and replacing completely, any ideas on how much I can sell my system for? I know it wont be much but every little helps and all that!

Cheers for all the advice guys!
 
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Ahh ok, bit of googling required then! No problem sorry for asking!

What about the upgrade steps, is it more prudent for me to just do the lot at one?

Are there any things I should consider changing from a development perspective or will this system support everything I have to throw at it?

I guess the better question would be, what couldn't I use this system for? HD movies?
 
no, your specs in your original post are fine for the next 2-3 years...it'll be up to any task you throw at it and the kitchen sink too
 
Cheers tamzzy you've been a huge help, read a lot of posts recently and you seem to be helping a lot of people out so hopefully some good karma heading your way!

Is there any way to do this sort of upgrade step by step or is it really best to go all in one lump? The temptation to just go for it is really strong but as always the girlfriend will be able to think of hundreds of better ways to spend a grand haha
 
becuz im bored lol just graduated and waiting to start work, can only go out so much before you get bored of town too =x
if step by step its mobo+cpu+heatsink first then gpu
or the reverse depending on where your bottleneck is
 
Well my system currently runs fine it's just old and I have the itch!

I think leaving out the monitors and gpu will drop the price considerably and I can buy them at a later date, will the new build be terrible with an 8800gt and analog monitors?
 
Ok, will the 670 be ok on a system as old as mine? I'd have to get new monitors as well but that's inevitable really.

I guess the reason I'd be sceptical to do that is because the amount of GPUs that come out every year, it seems you can be out of date in 6 months whereas CPU and mobo choice seem to last longer, or am I wrong?
 
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