Any glaring issues or recommendations for this mid-range upgrade?

Kaiju · 31 Mar 2011 at 09:32

Gigabyte GTX560Ti SOC
2500K
OCZ Vertex 3 100GB (just waiting for this)
ASRock Extreme 6
G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB 1600/CL9
Coolermaster CMII Adv Case
X-Fi Titanium
Corsair HX620W PSU (Currently own)

Going from this:

9800GTX+
E4300@3GHz
WD Raptor 74GB
Gigabyte G41-M
2GB OCZ RAM
Unknown brand case
Onboard sound

olivier renault · 31 Mar 2011 at 10:49

x58 and 2500K?

What CPU cooler?

Hydrogoo · 31 Mar 2011 at 10:56

Kaiju said:
Gigabyte GTX560Ti SOC
2500K
OCZ Vertex 3 100GB (just waiting for this)
ASRock Extreme 6
G.Skill Ripjaw 8GB 1600/CL9
Coolermaster CMII Adv Case
X-Fi Titanium
Corsair HX620W PSU (Currently own)

I would go down the Xonar route mate, Creative are falling behind in the sound card race, bad drivers etc. This would be a better addition to your rig. Based on the fact that I saw the titanium for 90 quid.

Kaiju · 31 Mar 2011 at 11:06

Hydrogoo said:
I would go down the Xonar route mate, Creative are falling behind in the sound card race, bad drivers etc. This would be a better addition to your rig. Based on the fact that I saw the titanium for 90 quid.

I did take a look. Thanks for the heads up, I will do some more research. Concerned about not having EAX5.0.

olivier renault said:
x58 and 2500K?

What CPU cooler?

You mean go X58? Why? The AsRock is P67 and reviews suggest it's easily getting 5Ghz from the 2500K.

Ah, CPU cooler will be the Artic Cooler 7 rev2.

Scone · 31 Mar 2011 at 12:56

msi twin frozr 560ti gets good reviews?

Kaiju · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:04

Scone said:
msi twin frozr 560ti gets good reviews?

It does, but the Gigabyte SOC gets better reviews. Handpicked cards that reach 1000Mhz and above for a minimal price increase.

Thanks for the input.

Hydrogoo · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:31

@Kaiju - Check the reviews for the Xonar on the OCUK website, its on the product page itself, its surpassing all of the creative stuff.

pastymuncher · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:52

I had a lot of problems with a Xonar. Most of them involved having the GX mode on (pretend EAX). A lot of games do not like this feature and crash or lock up. Disable it and the problems go away but you only have EAX 2.0 then. Could'nt get my 5.1 speakers working right either. The rear set would only work as a side set due to the options in the control panel. Got rid of mine and went back to my X-Fi Extreme Gamer. I have had no problems at all with it.

olivier renault · 31 Mar 2011 at 13:58

Kaiju said:
You mean go X58? Why? The AsRock is P67 and reviews suggest it's easily getting 5Ghz from the 2500K.

Ah didn't see the P67, thought you'd gone X58 by mistake. Better be sure even if it makes me look like an idiot.

Ah, CPU cooler will be the Artic Cooler 7 rev2.

Don't know how far that cooler will take the 2500K tbh.

Kaiju · 31 Mar 2011 at 15:32

Thanks for the heads up Hydrogoo and pastymuncher. Still weighing up the pros and cons of the Titanium HD and the Asus Essence ST.

olivier renault said:
Don't know how far that cooler will take the 2500K tbh.

Good thinking! I'll see how the cooler does in online reviews.

Kaiju · 1 Apr 2011 at 20:56

olivier renault said:
Don't know how far that cooler will take the 2500K tbh.

How about the Coolermaster Hyper 212+? I'll want to get around 4.5Ghz stable.

olivier renault · 1 Apr 2011 at 21:48

I's a cooler that punches above its weight, and a 2500K is cool enough for that cooler. I wouldn't use it on the big i7s. It's just assumptions but 4.5GHz seems achievable (relatively easy on SB with a little voltage tweak).

Also there is the A50 just above.

Kaiju · 2 Apr 2011 at 08:06

A50 looks good, as does the Noctua NH-D14 but will have to be wary of how big it is.

Difficult decision. Thanks again for the heads up.

May just stick with the 212+ as there is a big chance I can get 4.5Ghz with a small volt tweak.

olivier renault · 2 Apr 2011 at 12:33

A thread about some overclocking results and motherboard specs.

It also depends on the quality of the CPU you'll get. Maybe worth you ask them directly. I see a lot using a 212 and achieving 4.5GHz painlessly. The motherboard shouldn't affect the results at this kind of overclock.

olivier renault · 2 Apr 2011 at 13:22

Oh BTW, the A50 is £23 on offer.

Kaiju · 2 Apr 2011 at 13:41

olivier renault said:
Oh BTW, the A50 is £23 on offer.

Cheers, however I live in Hong Kong.

I may just get the H50 as I do hate cleaning dust. What do you think?

olivier renault · 2 Apr 2011 at 14:01

I'd recommend the Antec Kuhler over the H50. Dunno about its availability in HK.

Also Corsair will release the H60 relatively soon.

Kaiju · 2 Apr 2011 at 14:58

Cool, I'm still waiting on the Vertex 3, so I can wait till the H60 comes out and see how that fairs against the Kuhler.