In dire need of an upgrade, spec me, but, what can I keep?

UKMEDIASTORE

UKMEDIASTORE

UKMEDIASTORE

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Hi all newbie so go easy please,

My system is in dire need of an upgrade, all componants bought from ocuk in 2006, cost a fortune, but they had the best prices for the components then & they seem to be just as good today.

Current Specs = Never oc'd, everything runs standard. Never had the confidence to oc, now no probs.

CASE Thermaltake VA3000SWA
MOTHERBOARD Asus P5W DH Deluxe WiFi
PSU Enermax Liberty 620W ELT620AQT ATX2.2 Modular
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
CPU COOLER Coolermaster Hyper TX3 with EK Motherboard Back Plate & EK M4 CPU Waterblock Mounting Hardware (A solution I did myself because of high temps, got pics)
MEMORY G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ)
GRAPHICS HIS ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X ICEQ 3 SILENT Heatpipe
HDD Hitachi HDT72101 1TB, 7,200 SATA II
DVD Drive Samsung Super-WriteMaster SH-S222A
OS Windows XP Professional FULL OEM

Used for ms office lots, surfing the net & the odd games. (C&C/Civ)

Wanna get into pc gaming more when I get the time.

Very confused now as so much has changed since I built this system, would love sdd from vids seen on youtube.

I would like to upgrade to windows 7 64 bit, so would need the os.

The only thing worth keeping imo is the PSU? but as it's about 5 years old is it worth replacing or will it be ok?

Was thinking of keeping the case, but as seen so many cases with the psu at the bottom and upright rear space for cable management, well say no more.

Looking forward to all replies and also helping out on this forum.

Thanks Ron
 
Well my previous rig was built just before yours, I've been running a 939 rig for the past 6 years and I've just upgraded to a Phenom X4 955 chip, along with a cheap 5850, 4gb OCZ mem, new PSU etc etc, was a cheap upgrade and apart from some appalling ati drivers and a set of bad memory im going well.

Don't know if that helps, but it seems bang for buck the X4 chips are up there...

From other suggestions I had, it would appear if you had a little more cash to spend on it than me, you could get an i5 2500k....
 
You'll need CPU, motherboard, RAM, GFX, and a case. You can reuse your drives if they are SATA, and your PSU is pretty good.

Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION ** £89.98
G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL) £39.98
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Stalker Call of Pripyat PC Game Voucher £159.98

Total = £497.91 without shipping

That would give you a proper beast of a system. You could upgrade the cooling at a later date if you want a really high overclock. Sandybridge chips run pretty cool, so you could go quite a long way without.
If you have no interest in overclocking (you should do as k series chips will clock to as much as 5GHz), go for an i5 2500 without the k, and a H67 board to save a bit of cash.
 
Last edited:
If you can stretch it, I'd go with this instead:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99
(£91.66) £109.99
(£91.66)
Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black (with 500w Elite Power PSU) £64.99
(£54.16) £64.99
(£54.16)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333LV4GK) OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333LV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
Sub Total : £419.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £85.99
Total : £515.95

The board will be more future proof for you so down the line you can grab another 5850 when they're less than £100 and run then in crossfire at x8 x8.

I put the 430 case and 500W PSU combo because I'm not familiar with the PSU you have and so would consider upgrading anyway if you've had that PSU for the past 5 years.

And I didn't put a HDD in either as as said above if they're SATA you can use them again.

EDIT:

Oh, and invest in a new OEM like you said. Win7 Home Premium OEM is £79.99 I think.
 
Like both specs, looks like it's gonna be an Intel i5-2500k that I will overclock for sure.
The suggestion of possible crossfire at a later stage seems a very good idea.
My HDD & DVDRW are both SATA so will re-use them.
If I added a small SSD for the new os/office, would I be pushing my luck to stay in budget? or would it be a good idea to increase the budget?
 
To me an ssd is something that you can add at a later stage, whereas the other components are essentials and will get you gaming at the performance you want right now.

My advice use the money you have now on the core components, ssd later :)
 
Smithy0115 said:
I like Blue160s better.
Click to expand...

I don't. I prefer J-FRO's.

The XFX 5870s have had some issues and so would advise against them, 5850 is more than enough.

The RipJawsX RAM has very high heatsinks which will interfere with aftermarket coolers, OCZ Platinum won't.

And there's no CF/SLI support on the C45, as stated already.

Enermax PSUs are good but being 5 years old I would definitely update it.

You won't get any better than J-FRO's build for your budget.
 
sk82jack said:
I don't. I prefer J-FRO's.

The XFX 5870s have had some issues and so would advise against them, 5850 is more than enough.

The RipJawsX RAM has very high heatsinks which will interfere with aftermarket coolers, OCZ Platinum won't.

And there's no CF/SLI support on the C45, as stated already.

Enermax PSUs are good but being 5 years old I would definitely update it.

You won't get any better than J-FRO's build for your budget.
Click to expand...

I think I just got served.
 
Thanks all, I have taken onboard your comments sk82jack.
Checking out J-FRO's components at the mow.
Is the 500w Elite Power PSU good enough?
I mentioned the SSD as part of the upgrade so I don't have to re-install windows later on.
 
J-FRO's spec is fantastic, what an upgrade for the price.
4-Play - Taking your advice here, binning the SSD idea until a later date.

Would the 500w Elite Power PSU do to start, with a view to upgrade to a better 1 when I have more funds or should I spec in a good psu straight away?
 
It depends how strict your budget is. If you can stretch an extra £20 on top of J-FRO's spec then defo get a better PSU now. The Antec 620W @ ~£50 is great value for money but will extend your budget for now, but obviously saving you in the long run.


Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £173.99

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £124.99

Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £109.99

Antec High Current Gamer 620W Power Supply £49.99

Cooler Master Elite 430 Windowed Case - Black £33.98

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C7 1333MHz Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1333LV4GK) £29.99

Total : £535.54 (includes shipping : £10.50)

 
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