replacing mobo, ram, cpu and graphics for around £400

ape1980

ape1980

ape1980

Associate
Joined
14 Nov 2012
Posts
6
Hi,
Started a similar thread in 'systems and bundles' forum but thought it probably belonged here really.

I am looking to refresh my system with some nice new things but I am rather out of touch with what is good at the moment. After something that will handle most games at 1080 with no problems, my current E6600 and HD4850 set up is starting to struggle!

I am happy with B-grade, don't have any particular preference re: AMD/Intel or ATi/NVIDIA, and budget around £500-550 including a new monitor. I have overclocked before but I am not all that likely to actually get around to it, so OC potential is not a massive deal. The less noise the better too, as it will double up as tv/media centre.

Thanks one and all :)
 
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can you use your old PSU ? and HDD ? or would you rather have new ones ? what size of monitor ? new case ?
 
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Got a nice 650W psu and a couple of decent-ish hdd, a ssd wouldn't go amiss though if I can squeeze it into the budget. Don't need a new case, and looking for a monitor around 22", nothing fancy like 3D or anything.

Thanks
 
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Sweet, thanks Linwelin.
I was wondering, the RAM and the mobo both are XMP compatible... what does this mean exactly? I gather the RAM tells the mobo what overclocked settings are safe and fast and automatically applies them, is that right?

Appreciate your time, thanks :)
 
 
ape1980 said:
I was wondering, the RAM and the mobo both are XMP compatible... what does this mean exactly?
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you dont have to use that, but enabling XMP profile will set your memory multiplier and timings to their rated listing.

you could always add an SSD later, the prices seem to be dropping rather rapidly, i have been looking to get one myself, but i am holding off, since i have steam and a big collection of games (going to get bigger when they have there Xmass sale), i want a big SSD :P
 
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Thanks Indie,

I notice the main difference between the two suggested set-ups is i3/i5 (roughly £80 difference). Am I going to notice a difference when gaming or is it more something that would have an effect on running multiple programs or virtual boxes or whatever? Is it more of a future-proofing thing, like the i5 will still be ok in a couple of years but the i3 will be outpaced by software quicker?
 
ape1980 said:
Thanks Indie,

I notice the main difference between the two suggested set-ups is i3/i5 (roughly £80 difference). Am I going to notice a difference when gaming or is it more something that would have an effect on running multiple programs or virtual boxes or whatever? Is it more of a future-proofing thing, like the i5 will still be ok in a couple of years but the i3 will be outpaced by software quicker?
Click to expand...

i3 will out date quicker than the i5 go for the i3 if you want to save some cash, but i would recommend getting the i5, you can always upgrade at a later date if you choose the i3, but u may as well just spend that bit extra now rather than later, and as i said you can get that i5 cheaper if you look online :P
 
Wow, thanks to both of you. You have saved me hours of headscratching, appreciate it.
I really noted with interest that you both suggest the same graphics card and monitor; they look like great deals, will go for them.
Also no mention of nvidia or AMD, which helps make my mind up on those fronts too.

I think I will go with the i5 with the Z77-D3H mobo (so glad you both said Gigabyte, I have only used them in the past and been 100% satisfied, so wouldn't want to change brand if I could help it), and I will leave the SSD until next year at some point.

Thanks again :)

p.s. Thanks Dunn2010, I am glad that seems like the logical choice to you too.

p.p.s. found the i5 for £140 elsewhere, nice!
 
Just giving a bit of variety. I'd also have an i5 over the i3 but its all about cost.

If your just going to be playing a few games then there's not a great deal of difference between them, as not all games can fully utilise the 4 cores iirc.

Same build but dropped the SSD in place for the i5.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £179.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £169.99
1 x BenQ GL2450 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £89.99
1 x Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £29.99
Total : £589.94 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
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