System upgrade!

Dan J

Dan J

Dan J

Associate
Joined
3 Apr 2009
Posts
118
Hi, had a great experience getting advice on here on my first build and ordering from OC about 3+ years ago but now the system is getting very rusty and definitely needs an upgrade!! :cool:

New games (Shogun 2 FOTS etc) are having to be run in medium / low or the whole system is crashing...

Anyway - I do not have a huge amount of cash to play with, MAX £400 I reckon. I know I need a new graphics card but otherwise I'm unsure of where the bottlenecks are and no idea on what new products to buy... any advice is much appreciate...I guess it's gaming performance that interests me most.

Here's the current system...

Operating System:
Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) Service Pack 1

Case:
Cooler Master Elite 335 Case - Black

Motherboard:
Asus M4A78-E AMD 790GX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

Memory:
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz TwinX Dual Channel (TW3X4G1333C9)

Graphics card:
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4850 "XXX Edition" 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X3 Tri Core 720 Black Edition 2.80GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail

Power:
OCZ StealthXStream 500w Silent Power Supply

Cooler:
Sunbeam Core Contact Freezer CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM3/LGA775)

WD 1TB 3.5" SATA-III Caviar Green Internal Hard Drive - 7200RPM 64MB
Philips 221V2SB TFT LCD Full HD 22" DVI Monitor
Pioneer DVRS19LBK 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM with Labelflash SATA Optical Drive



Not sure whether this system needs mainly starting from scratch or whetehr can upgrade critical components in budget and maybe leave 1 or 2 bits for another upgrade in 6 months or a year??

Any help very gratefully received :):)
 
Lemin said:
Id get...

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99

MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99

ASRock Z77 Pro4-M Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £77.99

Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £41.99

Sub Total : £319.96
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £65.89
Total : £395.35
Click to expand...

Thanks Lemin...

Are the power supply and cooler up to scratch then?
 
Lemin said:
Ram not on offer now, so get...

Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) [KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX]
£41.99 inc VAT
Click to expand...

Thanks Lemin...if I could get another £50 together would any part be worth spending a bit extra on?
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
(£149.99) £179.99
(£149.99)
MSI HD 6850 "Dual Fan Edition" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £83.99
(£69.99) £83.99
(£69.99)
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
(£69.16) £82.99
(£69.16)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £41.99
(£34.99) £41.99
(£34.99)
Sub Total : £324.13
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £66.73
Total : £400.36

:)
 
Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £41.99
Sub Total : £349.13
Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £71.73
Total : £430.36


^^ That's affordable
 
Samsung 64GB SSD 830 Desktop Series SATA 6Gb/s KIT with Norton Ghost - (MZ-7PC064D/EU)[/url] £59.99

excuse my ignorance mate but what's that about?
 
This ATM:

1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - OEM £167.99
1 x MSI HD 6870 OC 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £113.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98 OR Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz £41.99

Total : £409.42 or £416.43(includes shipping : £9.50).


Can update to SSD later this year - whats the difference between the 2 motherboards? Will maybe get a cooler if necessary later...
 
jennidc said:
Have you tried overclocking your CPU and GFX card for a bit of a free boost in power?

For example my 1055T overclocks from 2.8ghz to 4ghz and my 6950 overclocks to 6970 levels.

If you could get your tri core close to 4ghz that would give you quite a boost - I would recommend a Gellid Tranquillo as a cheap highend cooler.

Your gfx card is getting on a bit now a second hand 6950/6970 would give you a big boost in power for around £120-150.

If you have 400 to spend I would say build a good base and update the graphics card later. You could get a i5 2500k and a budget z77 mobi (Gigabyte D3H) with 8gb DDR3 and a 60gb SSD temporarilly use onboard gfx. You could then sell your current system and use the money raised to buy a new or used graphics card.
Click to expand...


TBH whenever I've given overclocking a go my system has become unstable shortly after... :(
 
passey89 said:
an ati 6850 is getting towards the lower end here you realise.

Your looking at last years cards and not even the top of the line of last year.

You could really go with a 6950 minemum now at 1GB VRAM if really cutting it short in games now.
Click to expand...

So what would you go for at around £450 budget for MOBO, CPU, RAM and GPU?? :confused:
 
tamzzy said:
if you're getting an OEM cpu, you have to get a cooler, it does not come with the stock cooler. if you want the (lousy) stock cooler, you'll have to get the retail box, which is 12 quid extra, but warranty is 3yrs vs 1 year on the oem
Click to expand...

Will my old cooler not cut it? Looking at GPUs and checking stuff out a bit more I might go for 7850 or 6950... looks like that budget is gonna hit £500 (I knew this would happen!) but 500 is an absolute ceiling!

Thanks again all for help - need the build to last a couple of years and do not want to get it wrong :)
 
Ok then I better throw a cooler in too then :P

What GPU to go for in the £150 - 200 bracket? would a 6950 or 7850 be better?
 
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £149.99
HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £69.16
GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £27.99
Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 Intel Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1155/1156) £21.49
Sub Total : £418.62
DPD Next Day Parcel Shipping : £10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £85.72
Total: £514.34

£115 over budget but might go for this...
 
Lemin said:
Hey thats cheating, changing budget ! ;) Looks ok but you had better get a new psu if your suddenly rich.

Edit, it still should be ok, but if you start overclocking. i dunno.
Click to expand...

lol!

It's not that I don't have the money it's more trying to explain the outlay to the girlfriend . . . especially seeing as we 'can't afford' new windows we desperately need at £400 a pop :o
 
tamzzy said:
and with regards to your better half, just tell her that upgrading ur rig = can see prettier videos and pics, that's so much better than looking out of the window and seeing it rain all the time
xD
Click to expand...

Not that you should (cos that would be weird) but you clearly have not met my lovely girlfriend :D
 
OK gonna order I think...

Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99

HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) w/ Nexuiz & Dirt Showdown PC Games £179.99

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99

GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £33.59

Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler (Socket LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775/ AMD AM3/AM3+/AM2/AM2+/FM1) £29.99

Sub Total : £422.12

DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £10.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £86.42
Total : £518.54

OK gonna order I think...girlfriend never needs to know and the windows can wait.

If I need to start seriously overclocking and need more power I'll order that in a while in 6 months or so and get a SSD.

Thanks all for the help I know you get a lot of threads like this - it is appreciated xxx :cool:
 
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