New upgrade, comments needed...

SiroVai123

SiroVai123

SiroVai123

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Joined
10 May 2010
Posts
41
Hi,

It's upgrade time again for me. :eek:
My current system is:
C2D6850
680i Nforce mobo
GTX 8800 Ultra
Enermax Galaxy 1000W
WD Raptor 150g
Win XP

The budget I have is around £550. I want an upgrade that will let me play Crysis 2 in DX11, on high settings and would be capable of running future games on high settings for the next couple of years. I wont be overclocking anything. Keeping in mind my modest budget, I have come up with the following: (Any parts not listed, are already covered by my current system)

Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-283-GI

- the budget level Am3 mobo from GA, excellent reviews across the web. No Crossfire support but I'm not intrested in that. It comes with a large range of useful features.

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 965 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.40GHz
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-253-AM

- No need for X6, I think this CPU will deliver what I need with ease.

Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-044-ZA

- Always wise to have a good cooler, I think this will do, I have used Zalmans before and have always been impressed. Comes with a fan controller too.

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-203-CS

- XMS Is the cheaper version of corsair ram, and will suit me fine running at 1600mhz on the board?

XFX ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-147-XF

- I couldnt justify spending more on a new nvidia card, when this card is very powerful and can do DX11 anyway. This should see me through the next 2 years on max?

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-364-WD

- Going for a new HDD to replace my old WD raptor. Lots of space and 6gb/s.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-127-MS

- Needed for DX11.

All this comes to £535 inc VAT. I already have a 1000w PSU, and a antec 900 case which having checked, can fit the new GPU. Can anyone spot problems or give me reccomendations? It would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
 
just bear in mind that if overclocking is your cup of tea, you will need a p67 and a "k" series cpu from the sandy bridge. All other combinations dont overclock whatsoever.
 
You could possibly save a bit on the video card m8 the GTX460 you can buy for about £100 now ish and is DX11 though I have no idea if it is as good as the ATI one you put originally but it could save you nearly £60 give or take a bit (depending on where you buy it from) which you could use for a better CPU or motherboard maybe? On the other hand if you could stretch another £50 you could buy the GTX480 which is just an epic card (I have one myself) though I would recommend buying a third party cooler for it since they do run very hot. Just trying to give you options ;)

Here is a link for the GTX460 ---> Click Me

Stoner81.
 
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If you do go the AMD route, you could just get the X4 555 rather than 565 and bump up the multiplier by one notch. I know you said you won't be overclocking but this wouldn't require any increase in voltage or a better cooler, tis just one setting in the BIOS. That £12 could be used better elsewhere, like getting an AMD 6950 and unlocking it to a 6970. ;)
 
Still £38 better off though ;) just depends on how it compares to the ATI one in the OP's listing, personally I am not an ATI fan never have been but many people like them which is fair enough.

Stoner81.
 
Thanks for the replies. The new intel chips look very appealing.

Regarding my gpu choice, hd 5870. Has anyone ran crysis 2 on it, and what settings can you achieve? The net is full of varying answers. Maybe i should go for a 6 series instead?
 
SiroVai123 said:
Thanks for the replies. The new intel chips look very appealing.

Regarding my gpu choice, hd 5870. Has anyone ran crysis 2 on it, and what settings can you achieve? The net is full of varying answers. Maybe i should go for a 6 series instead?
Click to expand...

6870 is actually worse than the 5870 by a fair way:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/294?vs=290

if you do go 6 series, it should be a revision 1 6950. i say revision 1 because you can 'flash' them into a 6970
 
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