Build Upgrade Suggestions

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Joined
8 Jan 2009
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743
Location
Gidea Park, Essex
Hi everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my current build to sandybridge.

Here's the components that I'll be looking to upgrade with, thoughts please:

build.jpg
 
Does your Megahalem have a socket 1156/55 fitment?

No it doesn't but I'll see if I can get the fittings for the socket. Or I may just buy another cooler.

May I ask why a £290 motherboard?

If it's mainly for gaming a 2500K processor will do nicely.

Much cheaper RAM on This Week Only:

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £65.99

I assume you have all the other components?

tbh I just really liked the features of the mobo and it just looked really cool :p

I went with the C8 Ripjaws just really because I didn't want to go with C9 or spend that bit higher for C7 so met in the middle for C8
 
It's all nice kit - but do absolutely need the £290 Z68 board? You can get nice Z68 boards like this which fulfil pretty much all the key functions of the UD7 at around half the price. Also, if you don't need the Z68 specific features (SSD caching, Intecl Quick sync) then you would do well to go with a nice P67 board like this - which is even cheaper.

In terms of RAM, I would look at this kit, it saves you £24 and the real-world performance difference between CL8 and CL9 1600MHz dual channel DDR3 RAM on a SB system is tiny.

Thanks for the info, I may just go for a cheaper mobo then, I am mainly looking at Asus and Gigabyte out of personal preference.

Memory timings has little effect on Sandybridge performance.

In that case I may go for the cheaper RAM
 
In that case I would look at this board. It does SLI/CF at x8/x8 and supports SSD caching. However, it doesn't have access to the graphics core like some Z68 boards - so Quick Sync isn't available.

I won't really be using SSD Caching, and I have my 5850 for graphics, may go Crossfire if I can find a cheap 5850 someones selling. So Quick Sync isn't a big thing for me.

I have the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard and its a really nice board to work with, not had
any problems with it at all.

Thanks for the info.

If you want a board that's in stock now then try this:

MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.99

None of the issues that some have had with the Asus boards and will overclock just as well as any.

The MSI P67A-GD53 is also a fantastic board at £109.99 but it's out of stock.

Hmm not really keen on MSI, I have had a MSI board before but I don't know
 
If you won't be needing SSD caching, Quick sync and completely discount MSI P67 boards (which are really nice) - but do want SLI/CF (at x8/x8 speeds), good overclocking and ASUS or Gigabyte brand then I would suggest going for this board. Anything more expensive doesn't sound like it is required.

I guess I'll go for that board, it seems good enough, and I may be able to chuck in an SSD with the money I've saved.

Actually worth it?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-076-OC&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1427
 
If your spending £150 on a Z68 board, it seems silly not to choose the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO as it has all similar features but it has integrated graphics, which the GIgabyte lacks, so if you ever have a problem with your GPU (touch wood) then you've got a backup, and you will also have Lucid Virtu which will switch between the integrated and discrete graphics to give you the best mix of performance and power consumption.

That's just my opinion though:)

You just confused it more, because that's also a good idea!

EDIT: looking at reviews, the lucid virtue feature isn't very reliable at all. I may just stick with the gigabyte.
 
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I tried buying everything today, my card got declined :| I've got £900 in my account, do banks usually put a lock transactions if they were high?

dfc4lu.jpg
 
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