Another BF3 hardware update advice thread!

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Heya, I am looking to upgrade my current system to more comfortably handle BF3 at 1920*1200 with preferably high/ultra settings at a steady 50+ FPS.

I would have liked to OC my current processor more until the release of IB, however I cannot seem to get it 100% stable whenever I OC. So I am looking to upgrade to SB now as they seem to be excellent processors which should last me a good few years.


Current Spec (Purchased November 2008, GPU purchased December 2010)
Monitor: 1920*1200 Samsung T260
CPU / Cooler: Q6600 @ 2.4GHz / Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU Cooler.
Memory: 2*2GB DDR2 Corsair XMS2, 1066MHz RAM
Motherboard: Asus P5Q Pro S775
GPU: POV GTX470 1280 MB
PSU:Hiper 780Watt Modular
Case: Antec P182
Hard Disks: Crucial CT128M225 (128GB SSD), Spinpoint F1 1TB and Spinpoint 500GB


Looking to upgrade to
CPU / Cooler: Intel I5 2500k or I7 2600k (If I do not need a new GPU, I will probably go for the I7 as I will have leftover cash? If the GPU needs upgrading I will save the £££ and put more into a higher end GPU)
Motherboard: Z68 or P67?
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance... Though every other post I look at, people are recommended only 8GB, where 16GB is only £10 more? Does having more RAM have a negative impact on the system such as reduce the ability to overclock???
GPU: Upgrade from a GTX470 to a GTX580/HD6970? Or should I wait for the next generation? I think the main problem with my current system is the processor?
PSU: Does this need upgrading? If I am having my system crash when OC'ing now, could this be the PSU? If so, should I replace the PSU just incase it damages my new system?
Case: Is a new case advised for better airflow and to get USB3 FP headers? Nothing uses USB3 yet anyway does it?


Any other advice, recommendations or alternatives you would recommend? Or any further information you require from myself?

Thanks for your time :)
 
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first thing first

CHANGE the psu ASAP, you're lucky it's not blown up on you in almost 2yrs.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-117-AN&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

or if you can do without modular http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18332109

motherboard I would say http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-054-AK has pci-e 3.0 support for when the pci-e 3.0 graphics cards are released, all you do is pop in an ivy bridge CPU(sandy bridge doesn't have the pci-e 3.0 controller) and a pci-e 3.0 graphichs card without needing to change motherboards.

the price of the 16gb ram reverts to normal in the morning as it was a 'today only'(well weekend only as it was fri-sun), when buying ram you need to be careful that the fins on it don't interfer with the CPU cooler as air coolers can overhang the ram slots so effect what ram/cooler combo you can/can't use(especially if you'r getting 16gn which means it uses all 4 slots).

your current cooler will work as 1156 and 1155 use the same mounting, but I can't say how well it performs in relation to the other decent but not too expensive coolers such as the gelid tranquilo, coolermaster hyper 212, corsair a50 etc(all around the £25 mark, your current one is like £15) or even the standard intel cooler.

if you can wait 3-6months for the new graphics cards to be released then i'd suggest waiting.
 
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Your PSU is utter garbage!

Everything else seems OK. If you want to upgrade. First thing to buy is a new PSU. Someting around 750W is ideal. Gives you plenty of headroom to go SLI or Xfire.

16GB of RAM wont effect your overclock. However, it is just not needed. 8GB is more than enough. 4GB is suffice for gaming.

If you want to upgrade. Get the 2500K with a Z68 board. The 2600K offers no improvement in games.

Keep your drives, they're fine. Keep the monitor, it's also fine (I have/had the same one)

Case is also a personal thing. Change it if you like, it's cheap enough to buy a new one.

If it was me. I'd be buying a second hand 470 and putting them in SLI. Will destroy BF3 at that res... surely?!

P.S. Sell your old board/cpu/ram for a bit of extra cash! I know a certain someone who would buy the board off you. Shame you don't have access to the MM area of the forum to carry out a deal.

Corsair memory is fine.

So your looking at.

2500K
Z68 board (pick one with the features you will use and that is SLI capable)
8GB Corsair Ram
750W quality PSU.
 
He's not using S1156. It's a 775 board and CPU. I doubt he has backplates for 1155.

New cooler time I think :)

it looks like a push pin like with the stock cooler and arctic freezer 7 pro rev2 etc so no back plates(if it did come with back plates etc as it's a multi platfor cooler it should come with all mouting for all the supported sockets, so as it supports 1156 it would come with the mounting plate, back plate etc for it not just 775).
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fowler002
your current cooler will work as 1156 and 1155 use the same mounting,
He's not using S1156. It's a 775 board and CPU. I doubt he has backplates for 1155.

I just bought the cooler last week (So I still have all the bits for 1156 if I need them!) as my old Freezer 7 fell off! All the plastic standings had snapped where I move it around so frequently (To and from Uni)! I would not mind upgrading to a decent cooler though to get the most out of a new processor.

Motherboard
Memory (For £10 I will get the extra 8GB, massive bragging, rights even if I will not use 12GB of it!)
PSU - Corsair / Antec OCUK seem to be completely out of 750W PSU's. Any PSU recommendations?
CPU

Any further input before I go ahead and order these bits tomorrow? All I need is further advice on the PSU/Cooler by the sounds of it. Maybe an alternate motherboard aswell? But as Fowler says, this mobo sounds very good if it is that future proofed.
 
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Hiper PSU's have a habit of going bang! I sold mine to a friend before i knew they were so unreliable and felt really guilty when it went bang and took half his system with it! Not good! Get a corsair.
 
I've a Hiper power supply running in my girlfriends rig - it has been going strong for 6 years, I guess I got a lucky one :D

Although it has never been stressed with an OC
 
ivy wont work despite same socket form factor intel needs you to buy a new mobo, a first i think...ha!

So you've only read the reports that say it wouldn't work? What about all the reports that it will work with BIOS update? We wouldn't know for certain until its released
 
Thanks for your help guys, would you all agree with the below bits to upgrade my current system then?

OCZ ZS Series 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - As Modular ones are out of stock.
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz
Asus P8Z68-V Pro - Reading the comments here, it seems pointless buying a gen 3 motherboard? Worth just buying this excellent current gen mobo instead?
i5-2500K Retail - Retail edition for the 3 year warranty?
Gelid Tranquillo with Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

Then when the next gen nVidia/AMD GPU's are released I will purchase one of those I suppose!
 
The cooler will come with thermal paste so no need to buy the as5.

Everything else look O-K, or anything you would disagree with/recommend differently? I have not looked into different components in a long time and I am hoping to not need to upgrade these bits for a good couple of years so want to get it right! :)
 
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