Suggestions for uni computer upgrade

-Exodus-

-Exodus-

-Exodus-

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ok well i'm going to uni in under a month so i thought i would upgrade my computer a bit, currently i have:

e6600 @ 3.4 (could go higher)
4x1GB crucial ballistix
gigabyte p35 ds3
4870 512mb
lian li pc-7+
1.5TB of hdds
thermaltake 120 ultra extreme
corsair HX 520W

but i'm looking to downsize to a Micro-ATX rig, i already have a Lian Li V350
so obviously i'll need a new mobo, i've been looking around for a good micro-atx board that clocks well and the DFI LANPARTY JR P45-T2RS iP45 seems to be pretty good.
the best cooler i've been told that fits in this case is a Scythe Mini Ninja

now my question is if i have another £100-£200 spare, what would be the best things to upgrade.

BTW i'll be running this under Windows 7 64bit. it will be used for a lot of 3D modelling and rendering as well as gaming, the main programme i'll use (solidworks) is multi-threaded, would quad core and maybe 8GB of memory be the best option?

EDIT: i am willing to buy second hand
 
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have you looked at the am3 route?

Also you can mod a v350 to fit a true by modding the back plate & moving the psu

edit : linkage to v350 with hr-01
 
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i don't really fancy modding the case just now tbh. ah i assumed intel was better, as i could changed the board now and get the cpu later. do amd chips clock as well/are there any good amd boards there?

any other options?
 
-Exodus- said:
i don't really fancy modding the case just now tbh. ah i assumed intel was better, as i could changed the board now and get the cpu later. do amd chips clock as well/are there any good amd boards there?

any other options?
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Fair enough the mini ninja is good enough.

Amd are offering better bang for buck & upgrade abilty.

You would be far better of getting a new board & cpu now & selling you old bits.

For 200 you could get :

955

& a 785g mobo

& carry on your ram.

You could also try & wait to next month & get I5 but who knows when a decent matx for that will come out.

You could also look at a matx i7 which will cost around £450.
 
siumatfung said:
just lug your beloved PC around:D and you can spend the 200£ on a newer pc or laptop later on this semester:D
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well i'm going across the water for uni so it's bit more of a hassel, plus, i want a change :D lol

i'll look into amd stuff, though i've always been bit of an intel fanboy tbh lol
 
i did the same thing last year, its worth it over a full ATX system.

i got this:

Intel E5200 @ 3.6GHz
DFI Jr P45-T2RS Micro ATX
4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500 Geil Black Dragon RAM
Samsung F1 640GB HDD
Pinoeer DVR-216DBK ODD
Silverstone NT-06E CPU cooler (passive)
Sapphire 4870 512MB
Silverstone Sugo Micro ATX SG02-F Evolution

the only problem was the loudness of the silverstone fans so i replaced them.

how about a mini ITX case the SG05, which has support for a dual slot 9" card and the zotac mini ITX mobo with C2Q support?

but since you have bought your case, does it have a 120mm fan mount? if so go for the new corsair all in one watercooling, its FANTASTIC for £50 and very compact.
 
shaffaaf 27 said:
i did the same thing last year, its worth it over a full ATX system.

i got this:

Intel E5200 @ 3.6GHz
DFI Jr P45-T2RS Micro ATX
4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500 Geil Black Dragon RAM
Samsung F1 640GB HDD
Pinoeer DVR-216DBK ODD
Silverstone NT-06E CPU cooler (passive)
Sapphire 4870 512MB
Silverstone Sugo Micro ATX SG02-F Evolution

the only problem was the loudness of the silverstone fans so i replaced them.

how about a mini ITX case the SG05, which has support for a dual slot 9" card and the zotac mini ITX mobo with C2Q support?

but since you have bought your case, does it have a 120mm fan mount? if so go for the new corsair all in one watercooling, its FANTASTIC for £50 and very compact.
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what sort of overclock did you get out of that board? is it worth getting then?
yea the case has a dual 120mm fan mount at the front.
 
from 2.5 to 3.6 @ 1.2V thus far, not tried any more :)

IMO get the ASUS Maximus II Gene. the bios of this is horrible IMO, no absolute values for voltages, and so was a b!tch to find out voltages!.

there was no S3 Wake from USB and even the extra patch doesnt help, somtimes u have to replug the kb/m to get them workign after you do resume Sleep form the pwoer button and little bugs like that. i have always had an ASUS board before but i thought id switch up, but id take the asus asap, its a shame as a student durign the sumemr funds are below short, AND its not worth it, but if i were buidling this again, i would go for the asus.
 
shaffaaf 27 said:
from 2.5 to 3.6 @ 1.2V thus far, not tried any more :)

IMO get the ASUS Maximus II Gene. the bios of this is horrible IMO, no absolute values for voltages, and so was a b!tch to find out voltages!.

there was no S3 Wake from USB and even the extra patch doesnt help, somtimes u have to replug the kb/m to get them workign after you do resume Sleep form the pwoer button and little bugs like that. i have always had an ASUS board before but i thought id switch up, but id take the asus asap, its a shame as a student durign the sumemr funds are below short, AND its not worth it, but if i were buidling this again, i would go for the asus.
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hey thanks very much, i'll look into that board.

ok so would upgrading to quad core provide the best performance boost or would a better gfx card? also would upgrading from 4gb to say 8gb memory make a significant difference?
 
siumatfung said:
just lug your beloved PC around:D and you can spend the 200£ on a newer pc or laptop later on this semester:D
Click to expand...

Heh, I used to lug my Antec p180, 19" Sony CRT and Tannoy Floor Standing Speakers to uni and back :/ I moved house 3x and only lived on the ground floor once. Never again!
 
shaffaaf 27 said:
4870 will rape that res. go for a quad and 8gb instead :)
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yea i've no problems with any games atm, but was just curious what would provide the best preformance increase

ahh i'm so confused whether to go down the AMD or Intel route.

the Asus Maximus II GENE and DFI LANPARTY JR P45 seem to be awesome little Micro-ATX boards that are near par with standard ATX boards. Are there any good AMD micro-atx boards like this them, that can clock well?

also is ddr3 much better than ddr2?
 
ddr3/ddr2 hardly anydifference to real life, just to benchmarks.

as for amd vs intel, the 955 @ 3.2 is just about the performance of the q9550, overclocked, the Q9550 will rape the 955 overclocked.
 
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