System Overhaul for new games (like Skyrim!)

Bloodrayne

Bloodrayne

Bloodrayne

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8 Feb 2004
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258
Location
In the wetlands...
I posted this in the wrong forum before so I hope that no one minds me posting it here to get further feedback.

Basically, my PC has been neglected in favour of the 360 of late, which has been great fun to play with and has lasted longer than any console I've owned previously - however, Skyrim is coming, RPGs are made to be played on PCs (and the mods are always better) so I'm in need of some serious upgrading advice if I'm going to get anywhere close to what the screenshots promise.

I currently have:
  • Windows XP
  • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU - 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs)
  • 3GB RAM (PC2)
  • Radeon X1950 Pro
  • SoundMAX HD Audio
  • P5B Deluxe
  • Both IDE and SATA HDD with plenty of space (although I hear that SDD is something I should consider now too)
  • Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE(W)SFMA 600watt PSU

I'm not keen on overclocking anything (it would end in tears) but would welcome recommendations of improvements that I could make; since I was basically considering replacing my PC entirely - let's say a budget of around £800?

Cheers!
 
Start with an i5 2500k and whichever p67/Z68 board takes your fancy.

Add 8GB of decent fast ram.

Add a graphics card of something around a 560ti or 6950 (the later is probably a better bet for price/performance but i've had a few ATI cards now so hoping to change).

Add any decently quick SSD you like. The crucials are nice. The OCZ vertex models on here are all pretty good.
 
as mentioned 2500K for gaming, don't worry about being a bit wary of overclocking , easy to do and plenty of people to help talk you through it.

mobo wise check out the asrock z68's.

gfx card wise, should be able to fit a nvidia 570 or 560ti into there.

ssd i'd go for the crucial m4 128gb.

cpu cooler like the Gelid Tranquillo.

with 8gb of memory , 570 gfx card, card asrock z68 extreme 4 gen 3 etc you'd be looking at around £816.

you could drop the 570 to a 560ti and include a new psu , but if your current one is performing ok i'd stick with that for the time being.
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £173.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.98
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £143.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £77.99
1 x Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Certified Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXV2) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £49.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £41.99
1 x Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
1 x Samsung SH-S222AB/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Total : £808.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).




The PSU should just about cope with SLI in future for the 560's if it starts to struggle with games

SSD in there as well - a good one, You'll struggle to fit a 128GB into a £800 budget.

If you need Windows, well either stretch the budget slightly or I'd drop out the SSD for it, and you could pick it up in future when the money is available
 
Thanks for these - I think XP is on it's final legs, so may venture for Windows 7 (too long a wait for 8)

I have the LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc - they're old, but they still work well enough to slot into my upgrades much later on. My current case is a Lian Li PC-60 (or thereabouts) I've had it for a good few years now, but it does the job well enough and doesn't look too bad for it's age.

Good to see common recommendations already; means that I'll have less of an ordeal picking out the parts.

Cheers!
 
unless your running xp64 the 8gb will be wasted, due to the limits of the o/s.

on saying that xp isn't totally dead, think there are a couple of games set to be released that won't run with winxp, but mostly your still okay.
 
It IS true about X64 version of XP needed for the ram to get used.

If you look around you can get the win7 pro 64bit upgrade for £35 or ultimate for £70 if you or "anyone in your household" is a student. It's kind of like; software four students, as it were (ahem! ;) ).
 
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Yeah, it's 32-bit XP - hence last legs... I hear that the 64-bit version isn't that well supported anyway? For drivers and the like...

Reviewing the recommendations, it sounds like a need a completely new system - I'm tempted to hold off on the upgrade and then spend a bit more and get something brand spanking new built for me.
 
double check your case fits the gfx card, keep the psu you have and the sata hard drives, not sure if you need a dvd drive so spec'd a sata one, includes win7 64bit oem, and a 3rd party cooler so you can overclock if needs be and 128gb ssd.

could reduce price by swapping the mobo for the asrock z68 pro3:

hopefully not missed anything out :)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99 (£139.99)

Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.98 (£129.15)

Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
(£112.49)

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £119.99 (£99.99)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99 (£66.66)

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99 (£39.99)

Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £22.98 (£19.15)

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 (£14.16)

Sub Total : £621.58
Shipping : £10.00
VAT : £126.32
Total : £757.90
 
Or, as suggested, save £25 and get the student upgrade version of win7 pro 64bit. It installs exactly the same it just asks for a key from an "old" windows version too :)

XP X64 was the absolute dogs danglies too, was running it for ages before I moved to win7 and it was VERY stable.
 
mp260767 said:
double check your case fits the gfx card, keep the psu you have and the sata hard drives, not sure if you need a dvd drive so spec'd a sata one, includes win7 64bit oem, and a 3rd party cooler so you can overclock if needs be and 128gb ssd.

could reduce price by swapping the mobo for the asrock z68 pro3:

hopefully not missed anything out :)

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99 (£139.99)

Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £154.98 (£129.15)

Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £134.99
(£112.49)

Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE DIRT3 & Deus Ex PC Games £119.99 (£99.99)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.99 (£66.66)

Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99 (£39.99)

Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £22.98 (£19.15)

LG GH22NS70 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99 (£14.16)

Sub Total : £621.58
Shipping : £10.00
VAT : £126.32
Total : £757.90
Click to expand...

change motherboard to this

put the £55 towards this you've left ~£40 in the £800 budget so it'll still be under budget.

or other option keep the asrock and get this
 
Dang.

Have just taken a look at what I have available space wise and don't think that it would work in my current case (or if it did it would be VERY snug); which is a shame as it's a nice case...

What is the tipping point on price? When do I spend too much on parts when I could just get an entirely new PC and some added freebies thrown in?
 
Bloodrayne said:
Dang.

Have just taken a look at what I have available space wise and don't think that it would work in my current case (or if it did it would be VERY snug); which is a shame as it's a nice case...

What is the tipping point on price? When do I spend too much on parts when I could just get an entirely new PC and some added freebies thrown in?
Click to expand...

in your case i'd look at what i realistically could salvage from the current build, whether the current system could be used for something else (htpc etc).

psu should be ok, some of the hard drives, and maybe the case (depending on space for a graphics card), aside from that you really have nothing you could use in the new system that you want.

how much space do you have from the edge of what would be the graphics card and the front hard drive bay ?
 
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