Computer Upgrade

Thermo Nuclear Penguin · 6 Feb 2010 at 20:06

Hi,
I am considering upgrading my PC soon ready for Bad Company 2.

I started to slowly upgrade my PC at the end of last year so have a few bits that will be used for the new PC;
2x VelociRaptors in RAID 0 for boot/games drive,
ATI 4870 1GB,
Seasonic M12D 750w PSU,
and a Coolermaster Cosmos S.

my major bottleneck is now my processor, motherboard and ram so was considering..
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-043-OE

I like the look of that as I have no idea how to overclock, but are there any other better options out there?

Maximum price limit is £650 so any suggestions are much appreciated.

Sildeh · 6 Feb 2010 at 21:15

If all you want it for is gaming, go down an i5 or 955/965 route.

Fledge · 6 Feb 2010 at 23:31

i7 is overkill, I agree.
Go for i5 so you can afford a better GPU

bJN · 7 Feb 2010 at 00:28

If all you are doing is gaming and only "basic" video editing work then the i7 is pointless for you, don't be dragged into thinking "bigger is better" or "more money is better". An i5 system will do everything you want and last you for a while yet, however I would suggest going down the AMD route of the Intel in this case as AMD have confirmed they will still be using the same chipset in their future processors whereas Intel are only releasing one more generation on the i5's chipset whereas the rest will be the i7 base or completely new.
Also, an AMD setup is likely to be cheaper than an Intel, so you could splash out a bit more on a better graphics card

Marvin · 7 Feb 2010 at 00:34

Agreed - for what you (appear) to want it for, an i7 set-up is overkill. An AMD 955BE or i5 750 would suit you far better.

Marvin · 7 Feb 2010 at 00:38

Try this for an i5 clocked at 4GHz

Or this for an 955BE clocked at 3.8GHz, with an excellent motherboard.

These would both suit you better, and then you have £200 left to spend on something like an SSD or some other hardware that'll improve your overall system.

4Play · 7 Feb 2010 at 00:41

Right this is what I would do in your position.

CPU= http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-301-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1672

Despite not been overclocked it still is a mighty performer. Im guessing you allready have a cpu cooler?

Mobo= http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-360-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495

Ram = http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Ram is great and on a weekly offer so saving you a further £10. With this upgrade it will come to roughly £370 to £380 off the top of my head. Saving you a massive amount on the bundle you was thinking about. This money that you save you could think of saving and investing in a new GPU with the release of the new DX11 cards been relased soon.

As above have stated dont take the asssumption that the top means the best in all areas. The I7 is a beast with video editing but when it comes to gaming there is no difference between the I5 and the I7. Right now the I5 is the best all around cpu and is the route I would take. AMD may be more future proof but the I5 will last a long while anyways.

Fledge · 7 Feb 2010 at 18:44

4Play said:
Mobo= http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-360-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1495

BEWARE this mobo doesn't do crossfirex.