Cheap upgrade check

Stardog

Stardog

Stardog

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30 Aug 2009
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I'm looking to do a cheap upgrade. I already own a monitor/HD/graphics card/TX650 PSU

I'm looking for suggestions on the case and MB, but I don't want to pay much more.

Code: 
CASE - Cooler Master Elite 330            = £31.48
CPU  - i5-2500k                           = £163.71
MEM  - Corsair 4GB XMS3 PC3-10666 1333MHz = £27.30
MB   - Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3             = £78.99

                                          = £301.48
 
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do you have a cooler that will fit on the 1155 socket? the processor you have chosen (the OEM one) doesnt come with a cooler. it would probably be best to add a decent 3rd party cooler, rather than get the retail version, because of the price difference

if your happy with 1333Mhz ram, the go for the corsair value 4GB kit, as its cheaper and has the same performance. if you want 1600Mhz ram, then there is some available for a very similar price

the coolermaster elite 430 is a much better case for slightly more than the elite 330. also, the Xigmatec asgard is a better case for slightly less.

the motherboard you have chosen does not support lucid virtu (major power saving feature) or crossfire/SLI (multiple graphics cards) at x8/x8 speeds. (any slower than x8/x8 and the motherboard becomes a major bottleneck for the two graphics card)

so, depending on how much more you are willing to spend, i would do something llike this:


CHEAP
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
1 x Asus P8P67 LE Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** *LOWEST UK PRICE* £72.98
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Midi Tower Case - Black £29.99
1 x Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit £23.98
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £19.99
Total : £316.43 (includes shipping : £11.25).
basically the cheapest half decent stuff i could find


better
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £155.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.38
1 x Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £35.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
Total : £339.34 (includes shipping : £10.00).
cooler is way better, RAM is 1600Mhz, not 1333Mhz and case is a lot nicer, with a window. motherboard is the one you chose that does some of the Z68 chipset features, but not all of them

if you wanted a better Z68 motherboard, i would suggest one of these:
No crossfire/SLI
crossfire/SLI available
 
Thanks. I think I'm going for your first one with the Z68 MB instead of the Asus. The power saving doesn't sound good, but I won't use crossfire, and the lack of integrated graphics will be OK since I have a few backup graphics cards.

Do you know if this Windows 7 is the full version for a clean install? It's £45 cheaper just because it's OEM? http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-127-MS

EDIT: Just ordered anyway. Read OEM can only be installed on 1 motherboard for anyone arriving here by Google.
 
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