New Build

Woodentop · 5 Oct 2011 at 21:41

I want to upgrade my machine, i currently have a E6600 Core 2 Duo with a ATI 4870 GPU so an upgrade is well overdue

My question is i am a bit confused by all of the different chipsets and sockets and not really sure what is the best option. I mainly use my machine for gaming so i would like a good fast motherboard & cpu combo. Any ideas?

RJC · 5 Oct 2011 at 21:52

Do you have a budget in mind?

RJC · 5 Oct 2011 at 21:56

Edit: done a build:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Dirt3 & Deus Ex PC Games £215.99
(£179.99) £215.99
(£179.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.98
(£54.15) £64.98
(£54.15)
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case with Fan Controller - Black £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £45.98
(£38.32) £45.98
(£38.32)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £26.99
(£22.49) £26.99
(£22.49)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £596.57
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £121.81
Total : £730.88

Woodentop · 5 Oct 2011 at 21:58

I would say about £1500 max but that includes a new graphics card was looking at a ATI 6990.

RJC · 5 Oct 2011 at 22:02

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK ATI Radeon HD 6990 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £599.99
(£499.99) £599.99
(£499.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
(£141.66) £169.99
(£141.66)
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
(£133.32) £159.98
(£133.32)
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £143.99
(£119.99) £143.99
(£119.99)
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Antec TruePower New Modular 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
Corsair Hydro H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1155/1156/775/AM2/AM3) £62.99
(£52.49) £62.99
(£52.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £45.98
(£38.32) £45.98
(£38.32)
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B) £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Sub Total : £1,224.90
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £13.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £247.73
Total : £1,486.38

Reaper 392 · 5 Oct 2011 at 22:13

6990 isnt the greatest choice imo - too noisy and not as good as two seperate cards. (about the same performance as two standard clocked 6950's in crossfire

heres my recommendation. not really sure what to spend the rest of the money on because the 6970s just seem so overpriced for what they are, and i guess from your posts you would prefer an ATI card over an Nvidia card (otherwise i'd recommend two of the Nvidia 570 GTX twin frozr III's)

YOUR BASKET
2 x MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Dirt3 & Deus Ex PC Games £215.99 (£431.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £143.99
1 x Silverstone Raven 3 RV03B-W Full Tower Windowed Case - Black/Gold £104.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 920 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM2+/AM2+/AM3+) £79.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £44.99
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £42.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £1,312.56 (includes shipping : £14.75).

Woodentop · 6 Oct 2011 at 09:59

Thank you for the replies.
I already have a nice Antec case that i will reuse so i will knock the case off the list. Maybe things have moved on a bit now but when i was looking before crossfire/sli cards were not recommended.

I like ATI cards but im not sold on them so if the 570's are a better option then i will switch to them. I will search for some benchmark tests (if you have any links please post them).

Also are the i5 CPU's the best bet rather than the i7?

subbytna · 6 Oct 2011 at 11:17

Two 570's in SLI will demolish any game on high settings. It is a VERY powerful GPU setup but power hungry, make sure you have a decent size PSU

numatic.nathan · 6 Oct 2011 at 11:21

subbytna said:
Two 570's in SLI will demolish any game on high settings. It is a VERY powerful GPU setup but power hungry, make sure you have a decent size PSU

I agree and overlcocked the 570 can beat a standard 580 and they're quite a bit cheaper!

Reaper 392 · 6 Oct 2011 at 11:34

in that case, heres a new setup:

YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £371.99 (£743.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £169.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £143.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.98
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler (Socket Intel LGA 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AMD AM2 / AM3 / AM2+ / AM3+) £54.98
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000524AS) £43.99
1 x G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ) £42.98
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
Total : £1,488.47 (includes shipping : £10.50).

ps. what antec case is it (i dont want to be putting 850W worth of heat into an antec 300 or similar)

Woodentop · 6 Oct 2011 at 13:34

I have an Antec P190 case. Quite old now but i like it.

Woodentop · 6 Oct 2011 at 13:42

Also i noticed that the 580's also come with a 3GB memory option, is it worth spending a little bit more to have double the memory?

olivier renault · 6 Oct 2011 at 13:59

Not right now, but the compromise is two 6950 2GB in crossfire mode. It's a lot cheaper, great performance single or dual card, and you have a good amount of VRAM. Power requirement is lower as well.

I recommend a reference design for crossfire, it will dump heat outside the case. The TOXIC 6950 does this, plus has more powerful VRMs, and can 'potentially' be unlocked to a 6970.

Woodentop · 6 Oct 2011 at 19:27

grrr it is hard to decide, so many options :confused:

I want to use 3D tech as well so another choice to be made on that side of things.

AndyL_95 · 6 Oct 2011 at 21:15

upgrade

I am looking to upgrade my computer for more performance and I am looking for some help.

Right now my system hardaware specs are..

Asrock n68c-s motherboard
Nvidia geforce 250 gt graphics card
2x 2GB DDR3 1600 MHz hyperlink memory
Hitachi Deskstar 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
AMD Athlon ll x2 240 2.8GHz (using standard AMD cooling fan)
Antec High Current Gamer 520W supply

The ram is new so i have no need to replace that unless someone has any better suggestions for better performance.

My limit is £800 so if anyone can help me it will be appreciated, Thanks.