Short term graphics upgrade, longer term system upgrade - thoughts?

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

Jed Shields

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Joined
23 Apr 2007
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1,782
Location
Cardiff-ish, Wales
Hi guys,

I'm putting together a list for a potential upgrade. I've currently got a Q6600 o/c @ 3.0, ATI 4890, 4Gb DDR, 120Gb SSD drive, 2x 1TB HDD (SATA2), Corsair 620W PSU, can't remember the Mobo at the moment ...

Anyway, it's struggling on a few new games with bells and whistles at 1920x1200 resolution on my Dell 2407 monitor. I've come up with the following:


Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD4 - had some good reviews
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-361-GI

Intel i5 2500k - seems to be a given
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-360-IN

MSI GeForce GTX 570 OC Twin FrozR III Power Edition 1280MB
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-129-MS

4x 4Gb DDR3 RAM - overkill probably, but the price seems reasonable. Not sure what brand / type

Corsair AX850 - I'd like this to last a while, will 850W be enough to run a couple of high powered cards in SLI if I go that route in the future?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-028-CS

Corsair 650D water cooled case http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-034-OE&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=2087
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-034-OE&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=2087

No need for additional HDDs, DVD-ROMs, OS etc ...


I'm still in negotiations with my wife regarding a full system change (feel my pain), but I'm sure I can squeeze out the graphics card now, new system a bit later.

1. How does the system look? Geared towards high level gaming, but also some photoshop, video and audio encoding, heavy spreadsheet use.

2. The graphics would be a stepping stone solution. Short term hopefully it'll kill BF3, Skyrim etc. Maybe add a bit of life to my Q6600 so I don't need a full system change for a little while. The next phase would be to get another cheaper 570 and SLI it when I do get a new system, or sell it on and buy a next gen card. Any thoughts?

3. I may also go up to a Dell 3011 a lot further down the line, 2560x1600 resolution, so this will impact the graphics options.

Budget - based on the above items, £1200 - £1300 I guess.

Any thoughts, suggestions, warnings, tips on getting a purchase req past my wife?

Cheers,

Jed.
 
have a look at the OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' psu.

case wise check out reviews for the Corsair Obsidian 650D.

new monitor wise, new graphics card releases will be out soonish so hold off on any decision til there around to see what they do.

new gfx card now would be ok.
 
mp260767 said:
case wise check out reviews for the Corsair Obsidian 650D.
Click to expand...

It's the Obsidian 650D I'm interested in, it seems to be getting good reviews. The 700 & 800D are overkill for me. I'll never need loads of HDD space as I have a seperate server. The link I posted is for the 650D with pre-installed watercooling that seems good value over buying seperately as it works out the same but with free fitting. Plus I've never looked at WC so this would be a painless first step!

PSU - I liked the look of a completely modular PSU, but I'll check out the one you mentioned.
 
Jed Shields said:
It's the Obsidian 650D I'm interested in.
The link I posted is for the 650D with pre-installed watercooling that seems good value over buying seperately as it works out the same but with free fitting. Plus I've never looked at WC so this would be a painless first step!
Click to expand...

ah my bad, saw the ocuk v8 at the start and read incorrectly.

mm not good news on the ocz psu, thought they'd sorted out the quality issues :(.
 
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