Looking to upgrade

neilwhiteley

neilwhiteley

neilwhiteley

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27 Oct 2013
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118
Hi, i want to upgrade my ageing PC, but im not at all sure what to buy.

The PC will to used for games, mainly FPS such as CoD, MoH, BF3 and BF4 if its possible, it will also be used for music playback from a NAS and surfing the Net.

I already have a case - a Silverstone LC20, a GPU - EVGA GTX 680, a PSU - Corsair HX 650, along with Windows 7, a 2TB HDD, optical drive and monitor etc etc.

It needs to be a substantial upgrade from my current components which are...

Motherboard.. Asus P5Q SE2
CPU.. E8400
Memory.. 4GB DDR2

It will be used on a single 1080P Dell monitor, i have no brand loyalty towards either AMD or Intel and i have a budget of around £400

So, what i need is...

Motherboard
CPU
Memory
Heatsink
 
CPU + Mobo + Ram + Cooler, an i5 build would be a measurable upgrade and would fit the budget perfectly, i'm sure some of the locals will be along to spec you up shortly.. ;)

If you're not into overclocking, you could consider getting some pre-overclocked kit, and keep within the budget..(just about)..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-157-OE&groupid=43&catid=2512&subcat=2513

Naturally, you're paying for the overclock though(and it's guarantee, no CPU lottery), but if you're happy doing that yourself you could fit a better cooler(and different choice of mobo/ram) into the budget.
 
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TooMuchCheese said:
CPU + Mobo + Ram + Cooler, an i5 build would be a measurable upgrade and would fit the budget perfectly, i'm sure some of the locals will be along to spec you up shortly.. ;)

If you're not into overclocking, you could consider getting some pre-overclocked kit, and keep within the budget..(just about)..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-157-OE&groupid=43&catid=2512&subcat=2513

Naturally, you're paying for the overclock though(and it's guarantee, no CPU lottery), but if you're happy doing that yourself you could fit a better cooler(and different choice of mobo/ram) into the budget.
Click to expand...

Thanks TooMuchCheese, but what do you mean by CPU lottery?
 
With the launch of haswell there has never been more of a lottery as to whether you will get a good clocking cpu or not. They are all over the place. Some max at 4.4ghz, some 4.5Ghz etc. Batch codes seem to make little difference plus they are hot running.
 
Thats sounds reasonable,

With that in mind, could someone please link me to an overclocked bundle that would be the best for playing FPS games for around £400-£450?

Neil
 
135mm is reasonable height, it certainly limits the options, but that's a fair amount of space when you consider ATX cases usually offer somewhere around 160mm or less clearance for air coolers.

Not sure exactly how much you'd want to spend and how good you want cooling, but this will certainly fit.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-018-NC&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2346

As will this one..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-103-TR&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2352

I'm sure there are others, but there's way too many coolers to sift through and check specs on(plus OCUK have the height and depth round the wrong way in some of the specs, notably the coolermaster ones).

Else, there's always the low profile coolers(designed for systems where height is an issue).

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=2330&subid=2334
 
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That's not something i can answer for you, and i've not built an AMD based system in quite some time, to make any kind of fair comparison.

I can tell you my upcoming build will be based around that chip 4670K though, but i'd understand if you opted for AMD if you need to bring costs down(or just prefer them).

Either way, i don't think you'll be disappointed with either, but why not have a google around and read some reviews of the two chips, then make an informed(with a pinch of salt) decision from there.

In *my personal opinion*, yes it would be worth the extra cost.
 
One thing i would say is that if you are only looking at 4.2Ghz overclocked bundles then unless the bundle works out cheaper than the individual components forget it. I would say all Haswell K series cpu's will hit 4.2Ghz with ease. In the case of that Quasar 210i bundle the individual components come to £367.97 so you are paying nearly £30 for a smallish overclock. I would swap the motherboard to the similarly priced Gigabyte Z87-D3HP which comes with a decent cooler (so that's another £25 saved) although at 158mm it may be a tight squeeze in your case. Alternatively with some of the £30 saved by not going with the bundle get the excellent Gigabyte Z87X-D3H. 4.2Ghz on either of these boards would simply be a case of changing the multiplier to 42x and maybe a slight increase in voltage although it may be possible on stock volts.
 
Thanks for everyones thoughts, it has become very clear that Intel is the way to go, so after looking at my finances, i maybe be able to stretch the budget to go with a 4770k bundle.

If i was to extend the budget to £500, what is the best 4770k bundle available that includes a Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU Cooler?

And, is my EVGA GTX680 good enough to keep up with a 4770k?
 
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Depends how hardcore a gamer you are and what resolution your screen runs at, and most of all what settings you want to run games at..

I'd be inclined to say, go with the upgrade, see how you feel then worry about a GPU upgrade later if you feel it is bottlenecking with the games you play. If games aren't a factor, sure it's definitely adequate for playing movies at least, and then some.. :)

P.S. i7 is a bit of premium to pay, and i'm not sure that's offering you as much bang for buck(relatively speaking), i think you'll see a significant improvement in an i5 system alone, and less spent on CPU is more to put toward a GPU upgrade if you find it bottlenecking you in games(which is more likely to happen before the i5 does). Don't take my word alone for it though, wait for others to chime in to..
 
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