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SiroVai123

SiroVai123

SiroVai123

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10 May 2010
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41
Hi, following on from a previous post, I have seen the light and decided to go with a sandybridge setup.

My current system is:
C2D6850
680i Nforce mobo
GTX 8800 Ultra
Enermax Galaxy 1000W
WD Raptor 150g
Win XP

The budget I have is <£600. 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 P67A-UD3-B3
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-324-GI

- Lower priced P67 board, I dont need CF or SLI, I will only use 1 HDD and contains some good features.

Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz (Sandybridge)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-362-IN

- Dont need a K series as wont be overclocking.

Zalman CNPS10X-Quiet CPU Cooler
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=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.

G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-057-GS

- This RAM was specifically designed for sandybridge, so should be good.

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?

Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SW-000-OP

Win 7 and a HDD 500gig 6gb/s bundle.

All this comes to £588 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.
 
The XMS3 is cheaper now anyway, so you'd be a fool not to! :p

How about the Gigabyte PA65-UD3 motherboard.
For £81 you get full ATX size, 10 USB 2.0 and 4 USB 3.0, and 4 SATA 3GB/s and 2 SATA 6GB/s.
 
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Ok ty for replies.

I have some more questions.
Apart from Memory timings, are there any other BIOS settings I need to adjust manually? E.g. CPU Voltage etc. Or will the mobo put these on auto and I wont need to change anything?

Will I need to set the memory to dual channel mode?

I will be using 1x 6gb/s HDD, 1x 1st gen sata HDD and 1x 1st gen sata dvd/rw. Are there specific sata ports I should put these in? Or can I just put the 6gb/s hdd into the 6gb/s port 1 and put the older ones in the 1st gen sata ports 1 and 2?

Do I need to enable Turboboost? And should I keep this on or off, I heard some people have had problems with it for gaming?

Will the new GPU (ATI 5870) need its fan speed increased in windows when gaming? I currently do this with RivaTuner for my 8800GTX. If I dont the temps go really high.

Thanks!
 
Everything is just AUTO.

when you fit the ram correctly into the ram slots it works in dual channel mode automatically.

do you actually know what your doing to assemble this spec? its a lot of money to just guess it.

Leave Turboboost to auto.

increase the fan for gaming? what? the card will auto the fan when it gets to hot automatically.
 
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stulid said:
Everything is just AUTO.

when you fit the ram correctly into the ram slots it works in dual channel mode automatically.

do you actually know what your doing to assemble this spec? its a lot of money to just guess it.

Leave Turboboost to auto.

increase the fan for gaming? what? the card will auto the fan when it gets to hot automatically.
Click to expand...

I havent done a build for 4 years so theres no harm in asking some simple questions, just to double check?

The 8800 GTX doesnt automatically adjust its fan speed when it gets hot. So thats why I asked that.

Also, is it really worth buying this or should I stick with my trusty AS5:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=TH-001-ID
 
If you have some AS5 lying around use that.

If buying new then IC Diamond is, iirc and according to OcUK internal benchmarking better.

Regarding your build, it would be almost silly to get an i5 and NOT get the K variant. You don't want to overclock now, but a few years down the line it will effectively be a free upgrade to increase longevity of your spec.
 
Not really, that's what graphics settings are for. If you want everything on max then sure, it's gonna hurt.

Not a big fan of tesselation tech. It's a bit of a gimmick, a cheap way for manufacturers to up one another without breaking new ground technologically. A bit like Antialising in 3D, but in terms of what it does, and how much I rate it :)

I would also consider a 6950 2GB, for around £180. So not much more than a HD5870. They are about on par, but the price of the 6950 is now much more competitive, and a bit more 'up to date'.
 
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olivier renault said:
Not really, that's what graphics settings are for. If you want everything on max then sure, it's gonna hurt.

Not a big fan of tesselation tech. It's a bit of a gimmick, a cheap way for manufacturers to up one another without breaking new ground technologically. A bit like Antialising in 3D, but in terms of what it does, and how much I rate it :)

I would also consider a 6950 2GB, for around £180. So not much more than a HD5870. They are about on par, but the price of the 6950 is now much more competitive, and a bit more 'up to date'.
Click to expand...

So tesselation is a option i can turn on/off in the games graphics setting?
 
SiroVai123 said:
So tesselation is a option i can turn on/off in the games graphics setting?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but that definitely something that can be tweaked up and down. It's soemthing that easily scales. It's possible it's hidden away under 'high', 'medium' or 'ultra' graphics settings, or you get a custom adjustment for it. I wouldn't worry about it at all personally.
 
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