Full Upgrade or partial. Opinions please

smithy1988

smithy1988

smithy1988

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Joined
3 Jul 2007
Posts
354
Location
Newcastle UK
Hello.

Im just wondering whether its a good time to upgrade my system. I will be interested in buying the new cod/GTA and other titles in the next few months/ next year.

I dont know whether i should just upgrade my GPU and make do with the rest or go for a brand new system.

If i just go down the new GPU route im not sure what GPU will be able to fit in my case? I have noticed they seem to have gained in size/length.

Opinions would be great.
Screenshot of current spec below (stock never understood OC'ing enough to have a go)



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Overclocking looks limited in that case and setup, but generally that's a place where you get a good boost for older CPUs.

Some GPUs nowadays are rather small. There was a time where they would be quite large, to the point where even some ATX cases would struggle.

I would say, a 7850 / 660ti should fit in there.

PSU should cope as well.

I think you should do more research and see how much performance you can extract, though it looks limited. GPU would be a start.

Personally, I would sell most of that kit and start again (3570K, Z77, HD7950, 8GB, 128GB SSD, 1TB drive, 550W PSU, £30 CPU cooler, Fractal R4, £900). It also depends on your budget.
 
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Your current will happily run CoD and at this stage it looks like GTA V may never make it to PC.

If you want to look into a new graphics card then it would be a good idea to overclock your CPU. You can get some good cards with short PCBs, reference 670s.

If you want to look into a new system do you have a budget in mind?
 
Thanks for your input guys.

I have a feeling that if i start O'cing temps are going to be a problem in such a small case, which then may mean i dont see the full potential of a new GPU.

If i was opting for a new build £500-£750 would probably be in my range. If i could sell any current components as suggested to help then that would be all to the good.

I do like the smaller M-ATX forms. I dont need the portability but like the smaller foot print rather than the golliath tower systems. However this time round, something with perhaps better cooling potential may be a wiser move?

1 HDD maybe a SSD and an optical drive are the only racks i would ever need.
Not really interested in the 2x GPU. Would rather pay a bit more for a good performing single.

But your opinions/ thoughts are appreciated.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III OC V2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £259.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £86.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £84.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Xigmatek Dark Knight SD-1283 Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA 2011/1366/1156/1155/775 and AMD FM1/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £34.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
Total : £778.92 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Keep your HDD and PSU and look at upgrading Vista to windows 8 for £25
 
Thanks for this.

The computer i have now is 4.5 years old. Whats the typical life span of a psu and hdd?

Is there enough wattage for the gpu and cpu mentioned?

How much do you think i could look to get for my current componenets (minus hdd and psu)?

Thanks
 
smithy1988 said:
Thanks for this.

The computer i have now is 4.5 years old. Whats the typical life span of a psu and hdd?

Is there enough wattage for the gpu and cpu mentioned?

How much do you think i could look to get for my current componenets (minus hdd and psu)?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Q6600 don't sell for much, but a nice Lian Li matx case, a decent CPU with a cooler, decent RAM could interest someone looking for a cheap HTPC. Even the GPU is quite good, although not very energy efficient. You might have more luck selling it all as a bundle, but don't expect miracles price-wise.

Check if the HX520 has the right PCIE connectors for the graphics card. Some require 6pin + 8pin connectors. Not sure what the HX520 supports (I know my HX620 only came with 2 x 6pin connectors).

Not sure if safe to use a 6 -> 8pin PCIE power adapter.
 
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If i remember rightly it also has 2 x 6 pin connectors.

The card spec posted above states

■500W (or greater) power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended

So this would probably be ok- just!
 
Those requirement are for the reference cards, although the power requirements should be very similar, the MSI card in my spec may require a 6+2 pin PCI e power connector.
 
Build with a 600W PSU

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £86.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £69.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
Total : £748.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
Fire_fly said:
Those requirement are for the reference cards, although the power requirements should be very similar, the MSI card in my spec may require a 6+2 pin PCI e power connector.
Click to expand...

Ah my bad im with you.

Done a quick google on MSI's website but no reference to the power pins on the cards specification that i could see.
Whats the easiest way of finding out?
 
Fire_fly said:
Build with a 600W PSU

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7870 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £199.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £86.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III Series 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - White £69.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99
Total : £748.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

Thanks mate- that could also work in my favour for selling on my current rig- Means its complete apart from a HDD. Could always see if Santas willing to donate any money to the cause and maybe look to upgrade in the new year.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus HD 7950 DirectCU II V2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE FARCRY3, Hitman Absolution, Sleeping Dogs & 20% off MOH Warfighter PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £161.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £86.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £81.98
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX550M High Performance 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020001-UK) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
1 x Xigmatek Achilles II SD1284 CPU-Cooler - 120mm (Socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366 AMD AM2/AM3/FM1) £23.98
Total : £749.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
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