Possible Upgrade Plans... advice needed please

Danger Phoenix

Danger Phoenix

Danger Phoenix

Soldato
Joined
21 Jul 2004
Posts
6,360
Location
Harrow, UK
I am currently running:

Code: 
Motherboard 	- Asus P5K-E
Processor 	- Intel C2D E7200 2.53GHz @ 3.3GHz
Memory 		- 8GB DDR2 (4 x 2GB)
Sound 		- Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer
Graphics 	- nVidia 8800GTX
Power Supply	- Corsair 600W Modular
Hard Disk 	- 1 x 160GB Intel X25-M SSD
		- 3 x 2TB Western Digital Green
		- 1 x 640GB Western Digital Black
Monitor		- 2 x Samsung 22"
Keyboard/Mouse	- Logitech MX3000 Set

My Windows 7 installation is currently on its death bed so I am thinking that now is a good time as any to do a mass upgrade.

I am thinking something like:

Code: 
Motherboard 	- Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3
Processor 	- Intel Core i7-2700K 3.50GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155
Memory 		- 2 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Sound 		- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium 7.1 (30SB088200000)
Graphics 	- EVGA GeForce GTX 570 Classified 1280MB GDDR5 (EV-012-P3-1578-KR)
Power Supply	- OCZ ZX Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular (OCZ-ZX850W-UN)
Hard Disk 	- 1 x SSD (keep existing)
		- 4 x 3TB Western Digital Green
		- 1 x 1TB Western Digital Black
Monitor		- 2 x Samsung/Dell 24" or 27"... again not sure which?
Keyboard/Mouse	- Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution

I have quite a few questions/uncertainties which I am hoping you guys can help clear up :)
 
Last edited:
Hey
Look at the 1155 chipset Z68
Mobo wise an ASRock extreme4 gen3 would be my recommendation
CPU I'd go 2500k if gaming, 2600k if you do any heavy encoding etc
RAM you want dual channel, 8 gig should be fine for gaming, though maybe 16 if you do heavy editing/encoding again
Yes it's definitely worth a SSD, normal hdd prices are sky high ATM so if you can hold off for 6 months thy hopefully start coming back down around then
 
Any particular reason for the 1155 (not questioning your choice, but just trying to understand what the differences are)?

2600k would be more my thing then :)

Again, why dual over triple? Would this do:
Code: 
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9)

I already have a SSD, but was asking if it is worth upgrading that one?
 
Danger Phoenix said:
Any particular reason for the 1155 (not questioning your choice, but just trying to understand what the differences are)?

2600k would be more my thing then :)

Again, why dual over triple? Would this do:
Code: 
Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual/Quad Channel Kit (CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9)

I already have a SSD, but was asking if it is worth upgrading that one?
Click to expand...

1155 is a good option as the moment as the current range of CPU's it takes (sandybridge) out wiegh the competition. I think it's said that they offer 30% better perforance than the previous 1156. As the 1366 is being replaced in next month by 2011 i don't see any reason to go that route either.
In the future 1155 will run the new set of ivybridge processors which promise an increase in performance on sandybridge.
The newest i7 2700k is nothing that special, all it really offers is 0.2Ghz more stock clock speed, no more cache or overclocking potential.
The i7 2600k is a good CPU if you are going to be running aloot of multiple stressful tasks, video encoding and the like, if not the i5 2500k offer very simular gaming performance.

The 1155 motherboards don't accept triple channel memory, as i think these are 1.65V, they onlyaccept 1.5V Dual channel memory or Quad channel (i assume).
The 16GB pack you select will work fine.

The SSD you have at the moment looks really good, so i see no need to upgrade it for the near future. unless you feel its holding you back.

If you are going to overclock the CPU the P67 and Z68 chipsets are what you need. If not, then a H61/H67 chipset will be fine.

Have you got a budget for these upgrades?
 
Both of you have mentioned 2500k for gaming and 2600k for CPU intensive tasks... does that mean 2600k is not as good for gaming than 2500k, or just that if I am only gaming then its not worth my while spending the money on a 2600k?

My SDD was bought in April 2010, so I thought there might have been advances since then.

Motherboard wise:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-053-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-054-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-056-AK&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1990

^ not sure which one or what the primary differences mean for me (it has been a while since I built my current setup and I am a bit behind in the latest technologies).

Budget wise I am thinking ~£2000.
 
There seems to be little notable difference in gaming performance between the i5 2500k and the i7 2600k. The i7 2600k does offer better perforance under stress due to Hyper threading. If it fits in your budget it will be worth getting. That is a pretty big budget.
Is your primary use gaming? Are you wanting to overclock atall?

The newest step in technology to look out for is PCI-e gen3. This is set to be used on the new generation of AMD and Nvidia GPU's. It will run much faster than Pci-e 2.1.

As you have a big budget it may be worth looking at the potential of a LGA2011 (1366 replacement) Rig. Though we will help you spec up a rig in the mean time.

Are you looking to run Xfire/SLI.
Will the budget be just the tower or a full setup?

By the way congratulations on 5000 posts :)
 
Haha, I didn't realise I had reached 5000 posts... thanks :)

The £2k budget is for everything apart from PC case and speakers - this includes two screens so the budget isn't as big as it seems, especially when you factor in £300 graphics cards.. I do a little bit of gaming, but primary use is encoding, hosting virtual machines (I need a CPU with hardware virtualisation for that) etc. I am willing to overclock as that is exactly what I have done with my current setup.

All those motherboards I linked to have PCI-e Gen3 do they not?

When is LGA2011 coming out? I don't want to end up paying £500 for a CPU because that isn't worth it for me. I want something high end but not the latest technology because you enter silly cost territory then.

Nope, just single GPU... I don't game enough to justify dual graphics cards.
 
95thrifles said:
Hey
Look at the 1155 chipset Z68
Mobo wise an ASRock extreme4 gen3 would be my recommendation
CPU I'd go 2500k if gaming, 2600k if you do any heavy encoding etc
RAM you want dual channel, 8 gig should be fine for gaming, though maybe 16 if you do heavy editing/encoding again
Yes it's definitely worth a SSD, normal hdd prices are sky high ATM so if you can hold off for 6 months thy hopefully start coming back down around then
Click to expand...

I would suggest everything that has been said in this post, especially the
aSrock mobo. I personally would also have a look around on the members market, for the hard drive or just have a look round try saving some £.
 
If you are happy with your SSD performance i see no reason to upgrade. RAID0 is a possiblity though you'd need to get one with simulat read/write speeds to yours.

The best value SSD's at the moment (imo) are the Corsair Force 3's and the OCZ Agility 3. These offer SATAIII speeds of around 550Mps read 500Mps write (approx).

I do think the SSD you have will be more than fine, aslong you are having no problems with it.

Out of interest you say you do not need a pc case, which case do you have?
 
Not necessarily. Depends on the desk space you have, but I would expect they'll span the whole width, so the case will have to be under the desk. IMO, 24'' are big enough really. Remember that running 1440p will impact a little on your gaming performance. 1200p should be fine.
 
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