PC Upgrade - Gaming spec

[WiseBat]

Hi,

Looking to upgrading my PC from my current Q9550 @3.4GHz, 1 GB 5850, 8GB Ram DDR2 800Mhz, 20" LCD. An after some thoughts on the below. Budget to be around or less than £600 - 700 for CPU, MB, RAM, GPU, 24" LCD.

Something like the following below:

Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £219.98

Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Triple Channel (CMX6GX3M3A1600C9) £53.99

LCD 24"

Just wondering if i7 processors are worth it or i5 cost saving?
How much DDR3 ram is really needed 4GB, 6GB or 8GB?
Do I need to upgrade my 5850 GPU on a 24" LCD for maxing out games?

I believe the Asus motherboard above has good overclocking features so that why I keen on it, plus my current MB is ASUS. If GPU is worth upgrading I need to to be sim dimensions to the 5850 due to my case and prefer ATI.

I'm wanting the comp to last a few year playing all top games as my old spec did / still does.

Cheers

 

[Reaper 392]

go for i5 over i7, there is barely any difference in gaming.

4GB is fine for gaming, no need to get 8gb, and you cant have 6GB in the sandybridge motherboards

dont go for the asus, many people have been having problems with it. MSI are currently the OcUK favourite because they offer the best value for money features wise (and dont have a million complaining customers)

your graphics card is still pretty good, but theres no harm in buying another one to go crossfire

 

[sk82jack]

i7 is not worth it for gaming, i7 has hyperthreading which is used by video/image/audio editing software. The i5 performs just as well for gaming.

Asus has had their fair share of problems with the P67 range. Look at the MSI range.

Sandybridge is only compatible with dual channel RAM not triple channel

This?


Acer GD245HQ 23.6" 120Hz 3D Widescreen LCD Monitor (ET.UG5HE.004) - Black £221.99

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £164.99

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £119.99

MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.99

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98

Total : £671.04 (includes shipping : £11.75)




and with crossfired 5850s

 

[Reaper 392]

something like this:
(i dont know much about the monitor, im just going by the numbers)


YOUR BASKET
1 x IIyama Prolite E2473HDS 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £167.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £149.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £119.99
1 x MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £99.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
Total : £693.91 (includes shipping : £12.50).

5850 crossfire performance vs 5850 single: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=295
vs single £250 ATI card: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=305
vs single £350 Nvidia card: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=305

 

[WiseBat]

OK cheer for the above. So I understand a sandbridge mortherboard can only do duel channel ram. So guess I looking at none Sandybridge version (future prof for extra ram really). Already have a cousair 750W PSU and a 5850 but is the 5850 worth upgrade on a 24" at this stage for max DX 11 graphics.

 

[Reaper 392]

you can get up to 16GB RAM in the sandybridge motherboards (4x4gb sticks). theres no way your going to need more than that any time soon. normally you want 4GB for gaming, with 8 GB for heavy photoshop/video editing/3D design

also, windows 7 only recognises 16GB RAM in total, so theres very little reason to go for anything but a sandybridge

corsair 750W PSU will be fine for two 5850's

at the resolution you will be playing at with the new monitors we are suggesting, the 2nd card will come in handy when you are playing the graphics card killers on the high settings. will also future proof it too


jack, did you mean to select a 120hz monitor, because ive heard 3D with ATI cards is a bit poo (or did you just select it because 120Hz is better for gaming?

updated upgrade:


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £149.99
1 x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850 Extreme 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **OcUK Exclusive** £119.99
1 x MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £99.98
1 x Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
Total : £445.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).

leaves £255 for a monitor

 

[Shadz]

I have the i5 Sandybridge as you can see via my Sig, and a friend of mine has the i7 we
both benchmarked our systems on futuremark06 and there was pretty much no difference in
the scores. He was well cheesed off. I would definately suggest getting the i5 instead of
the i7

 

[WiseBat]

Looking at these now from info above.

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £149.99

MSI P67A-GD53 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £109.99

Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98

Asus VE247H 24" Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor - Black £164.99

Poss GPU upgrade also?

By looks of things the MSI board have a 1 click overclocking feature which is really handy. Any reason not to opt for the board above?

 

[Shadz]

I think that looks like a pretty solid setup to me, should be fine with that.

Excellent choice on the RAM, very good stuff.