Moving to I5 set-up

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:33

New build.

-CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.60GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (default choice)
- RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel
- Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler Cooler

Same one as an OcUK bundle which £50 more but they do overclock it for you. I currently have intel e7400 nad have overclocked that so is it pretty easy to do the same for the above cpu?

Would anyone change anything else in that spec?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:35

Nope, Is 8GB no good to you? do you have a 64bit OS?

BluSky · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:38

Seems solid to me. Overclocking on sandybridge is pretty easy if you wanted to do it yourself.

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:43

Don't really no much about the Iseries but yea i do have a 64bit Win 7 so presuming 8gb the way forward

Intel E7400, XFX 4870, 4GB OCZ 6400, Antec P180b,
OCZ GameXstream 600W, WD cavier blu 320GB, M4 SSD that is my current spec? Is there anything else you would think about changing?

mickyflinn · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:44

Do you need crossfire or sli ?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 12:45

lynchy6789 said:
Don't really no much about the Iseries but yea i do have a 64bit Win 7 so presuming 8gb the way forward

It is silly not too, its so cheap now £35-40 for some 1600MHz 8GB kit

Overclocking these chips is really a simple case of setting the clock ratio multplier to say 44X from 33X and seeing if it boots up and is stable ny running Prime95 for over 8 hours, it may or may not need a slight increase of Vcore.

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:15

mickyflinn said:
Do you need crossfire or sli ?

stulid said:
It is silly not too, its so cheap now £35-40 for some 1600MHz 8GB kit

Overclocking these chips is really a simple case of setting the clock ratio multplier to say 44X from 33X and seeing if it boots up and is stable ny running Prime95 for over 8 hours, it may or may not need a slight increase of Vcore.

Nope I doubt I shall go down that path. I do play games bf3, crysis and maybe a few of new games coming out but only for probably 2-4hours a week so not to bothered about getting maxium settings as long as I can reach medium/high

I see your point yea for an extra £18 mays well go down the 8gb root. Do you think it is worth saving and going for a Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler or not to bother?

Yea i familiar with all that prime stuff from ocuk e7400 I shall have a read up about the i5 and overclocking

Any other options I could look at to save a few penny's? or is this probably the best value for money set-up in terms of performance and reliability?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:16

Do you think it is worth saving and going for a Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler or not to bother?

Nothing wrong with the Corsair A50 mate, it is easily able to cope with that overclock and a bit higher too.

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:20

stulid said:
Nothing wrong with the Corsair A50 mate, it is easily able to cope with that overclock and a bit higher too.

Thanks for your help think I shall just go with the above. Would you suggest a gc upgrade?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:22

lynchy6789 said:
Would you suggest a gc upgrade?

Yeah

more is always better

what resolution do you play at?

Budget?

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:28

1688 x 1050 Res. I don't really play load of games but will my current GC hold back rest of the spec?

£120-200. Best value for money GC in terms of performance

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:30

For that resolution , your PSU, a GTX560 or 6870 is good and are around £130
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-156-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

Rusty0611 · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:32

GTX 560ti or HD6950 at the top end of your budget
HD 6870 in the middle of your budget
HD 6850 or GTX 460 at the low end of your budget

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:38

Is there a big step up in performance from the 6870 to 6950 is it worth the extra?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:39

lynchy6789 said:
Is there a big step up in performance from the 6870 to 6950 is it worth the extra?

6870 vs 6950 (2GB, there is a 1GB version too) - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=293 - the extra VRam would help at much higher resolutions than you use. Doesnt seem worth it does it?

mickyflinn · 29 Feb 2012 at 13:40

You could also save a money by choosing a diffrent motherboard.

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 14:27

This is what I think i am going to go for. Plus should be able reclaim the VAT back.

Going to see how much money I get for my current pc then I shall look at choosing a graphics card. Will my case be fine for the above set up?#

Could get Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II TOP 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with Battlefield 3 PC Game** which is £185. Then sell bf3 game for around £13-15 so that be £170 or get a Sapphire HD 6870 OC Dual Fan 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £154

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 14:27

Get 1600Mhz RAM

thats the sweat spot for performance/price.

Will my case be fine for the above set up?

Measure form the PCI slots to the HDD cage, then you can visit the manufacture sites of the GFX cards and get the length.

Could get Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II TOP 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with Battlefield 3 PC Game** which is £185. Then sell bf3 game for around £13-15 so that be £170 or get a Sapphire HD 6870 OC Dual Fan 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £154

If I was buying a GTX560ti I might be tempted to just get the cheap one - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-173-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

lynchy6789 · 29 Feb 2012 at 14:35

stulid said:
Get 1600Mhz RAM thats the sweat spot for performance/price.

Measure form the PCI slots to the HDD cage, then you can visit the manufacture sites of the GFX cards and get the length.

If I was buying a GTX560ti I might be tempted to just get the cheap one - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-173-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

This the correct one

Need to read up on it but going to hopefully try and put it through my dad business then claim back the VAT. As I do quite a bit of his finance for him but need to read up on it.

I shall keep my case for the time being then once I upgrade the graphics card shall check case measurement. As there any new graphics card in the horizon that I should wait for as its going to be about another 3-4 weeks before I can afford one?

stulid · 29 Feb 2012 at 14:37

This is actually cheaper - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-132-CR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

As there any new graphics card in the horizon that I should wait for as its going to be about another 3-4 weeks before I can afford one?

ATI 78** series are Due MArch so could be tomorrow or next week or at the end of the month, Nvidia also have Kepler 6** series but when is anyones guess.