Future Upgrade Advice

jcb33

jcb33

jcb33

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Joined
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Notts
Hey all,

My current system is an old (5+ years) Socket 939 4800+ X2, 2GB DDR1, 1900XTX Radeon etc and in need of an upgrade.

Looking at the following:

Intel I5 2500K Retail
Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68
Corsair Vengeance Blue 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler
XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition 1024MB
OCZ Vertex 30GB
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB

Costing around the £650 mark.

It will be used for gaming, Diablo 3, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Witcher 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Left 4 Dead. As well as some 3D work, rendering mostly low poly game scenes.

My questions are,

1) Is this an ok spec? Any changes etc I should make? Money I can save?
2) Will my current 600W Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W) PSU be ok to power this?
3) Will the Heatsink be decent for overclocking the CPU to around the 4.5Ghz mark?
4) Is it worth paying the extra for the I7 2600K?
5) Is it worth getting an SSD? I am planning to install Windows on it, use an old 300GB drive for programs and the 2TB for storage.

Thanks for any help.
Jcb33.
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
1) Yes, but the RAM wont fit with the heatsink as its too tall, get two of these - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-094-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517
2) Model number? it might be:)
3) Yes.
4) No - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287
5) Maybe.
Click to expand...

Thanks, the PSU is an Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W) 600W, thought it was only 480W but Google says not!

My case is also a Cooler Master Praetorian 732, will this fit everything (Mostly the graphics card) in ok? I am rubbish at measuring, but I make it aprox 29cm from the backplate to the hard drive bay.

Thanks again!
Jcb33.
 
Last edited:
Atom said:
OCZ Vertex 30GB

Too small imo..
Click to expand...

Should be enough for Windows 7 though no? Either way having read more into SSD's, they look fantastic and I would love the super speed boot times, but they still seem quite unreliable. So I think I will wait untill they are cheaper and more reliable untill I upgrade to one. I don't want to be RMA'ing and reinstalling Windows all the time.

stulid said:
Theres a good chance it will be ok, a bit old mind you.
Click to expand...

Do they wear out? I would much sooner keep it if possible, as I am on a tight budget.

Jcb33.
 
Last edited:
I would try and stretch to a 64Gb SSD if u can, that way u can put an OS on it and have some space for a few apps u use most and a game or 2.
 
jcb33 said:
Do they wear out? I would much sooner keep it if possible, as I am on a tight budget.

Jcb33.
Click to expand...

They do weaken over time, luckily for you the spec you listed isnt that power hungry, so that PSU will be fine in all honesty, its a good make too and not some cheap rubbish.
 
Greavesy said:
think about dropping the ssd and getting a new psu?
Click to expand...

I think he will be fine.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/10
Measured power consumption - 6870
Advertised TDP = 150W
System in IDLE = 173W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 295W
Difference (GPU load) = 122 W
Add average IDLE wattage ~ 19W
Subjective measured GPU power consumption = ~ 141 Watts
Click to expand...

Radeon HD 6870 - On your average system the card requires you to have a 500 Watt power supply unit.
Click to expand...

Now the PSU he has. has 44A on the 12v - http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/enermaxnoisetaker/index.htm
 
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Krony said:
I would try and stretch to a 64Gb SSD if u can, that way u can put an OS on it and have some space for a few apps u use most and a game or 2.
Click to expand...

Are there any reliable ones out there? I notice that the OCZ ones have quite a high fail rate

stulid said:
They do weaken over time, luckily for you the spec you listed isnt that power hungry, so that PSU will be fine in all honesty, its a good make too and not some cheap rubbish.
Click to expand...

Thats good news then, will it be ok if I am overclocking the CPU still?

Also just to check a couple more things (Sorry guys)

1) Is the Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 my best choice of motherboard at the moment for that price range?
2) Is the 6850 1024MB card going to be ok for a while, running games lik Skyrim, Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2 etc or is there a better choice?
3) Because I have a Cooler Master Praetorian 732 am I going to be ok using it? Its quite old but and smaller than a lot of cases, but I do love it. My main worry is the size of the heatsink.
4) Which leads me onto, are there any smaller heatsinks that perform well enough to hit around 4.5Ghz on air?

Thanks again,
Jcb33.
 
jcb33 said:
Are there any reliable ones out there? I notice that the OCZ ones have quite a high fail rate
Crucial M4



Thats good news then, will it be ok if I am overclocking the CPU still?
You should be fine with OC.
Also just to check a couple more things (Sorry guys)

1) Is the Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 my best choice of motherboard at the moment for that price range?
Unless you can stretch to ~£150 for a Gen3 board, yes its the best board.

2) Is the 6850 1024MB card going to be ok for a while, running games lik Skyrim, Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2 etc or is there a better choice?
Try and stretch to the 6870

3) Because I have a Cooler Master Praetorian 732 am I going to be ok using it? Its quite old but and smaller than a lot of cases, but I do love it. My main worry is the size of the heatsink.
Could you measure the distance between the mobo tray and the side panel.

4) Which leads me onto, are there any smaller heatsinks that perform well enough to hit around 4.5Ghz on air?
Depends on the answer above.

Thanks again,
Jcb33.
Click to expand...
 
jcb33 said:
Are there any reliable ones out there? I notice that the OCZ ones have quite a high fail rate



Thats good news then, will it be ok if I am overclocking the CPU still?

Also just to check a couple more things (Sorry guys)

1) Is the Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 my best choice of motherboard at the moment for that price range?
2) Is the 6850 1024MB card going to be ok for a while, running games lik Skyrim, Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2 etc or is there a better choice?
3) Because I have a Cooler Master Praetorian 732 am I going to be ok using it? Its quite old but and smaller than a lot of cases, but I do love it. My main worry is the size of the heatsink.
4) Which leads me onto, are there any smaller heatsinks that perform well enough to hit around 4.5Ghz on air?

Thanks again,
Jcb33.
Click to expand...


1) Yes.
2) This is faster than a 6850 for a bit less - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866
3) Use it, then look at getting a new one later, even if for some reason the cooler dont fit (unlikely) theres the stock intel unit to fall back on.
4) Gelid Tranqullio, or if you have a 120mm fan at the back of the case? use a Antec Kuhler620 as this dont need any height.
 
stulid said:
1) Yes.
2) This is faster than a 6850 for a bit less - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866
3) Use it, then look at getting a new one later, even if for some reason the cooler dont fit (unlikely) theres the stock intel unit to fall back on.
4) Gelid Tranqullio, or if you have a 120mm fan at the back of the case? use a Antec Kuhler620 as this dont need any height.
Click to expand...

Thanks muchly! The only real issue I see with the case is that there is a cone from the side panel to the heatsink, which If I remove it leaves a hole in the side of the case (About 120mm I think so could replacce with a fan?)

Otherwise no its just 2x80mm fans on the back of the case.

Jcb33.
 
stulid said:
But you cant fit a radiator and 120mm fan at the front for a water cooling system.

The Artic cooler I linked to is only 130mm high.
Click to expand...

Will the Artic Cooler be good enough to still hit around the 4.5ghz mark safely? It seems to get lower reviews.

Also could I not mount the Radiator to the side panel?

Thanks.
Jcb33.
 
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