Take the plunge or wait a while?

solarp

solarp

solarp

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Joined
1 Mar 2011
Posts
120
Been um'ing and ar'ing whether to upgrade this year, what with the recent release of the 300 series, the 970 remaining the best overall choice and price drops, I'm starting to get the itch.

My current spec is as follows:

i5 2500 (non-K, d'oh!)
R9 280
16gb (4x 4gb) Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Cooler Master GX 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply

I'm looking to spend no more than £600 on upgrading the CPU & GPU and have picked out the below:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-010-GX

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-014-AS

First question, I want to reuse the PSU and RAM, I would imagine 650w should be more than enough for the card? And the RAM, although getting old, should still suffice?

Secondly is this good bang for my buck? Is it worth waiting a little longer with all the recent releases, and the fact prices haven't changed much in the last year, could they be expected to fall any time soon?

And lastly, I like a nice quiet system, can you recommend me a good silent cooler for CPU?

Thanks :)
 
To be honest I wouldn't do the CPU right now, are you just using it for gaming or anything more intensive?

Now is a good time for a new graphics card but there are new Intel CPUs due so everything could change price wise.

How old is the PSU?

I have found this brand good recently:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Raijintek EreBoss High Performance CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £39.59 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).



If I were you, and you are just gaming, then I would be looking for a 2500k/2600k on ebay and sell your chip. Probably end up costing you around £60 for an i7, mine is still fine for all current titles. Just have some fun clocking it.

What resolution are you running?
 
Last edited:
Yes that GPU will be great and no need to upgrade PSU or any other component for that matter.

We need to know what case you have so a suitable cooler can be recommended.
 
Thanks for your responses and suggestions guys, really appreciated :)

Cat_J said:
To be honest I wouldn't do the CPU right now, are you just using it for gaming or anything more intensive?

Now is a good time for a new graphics card but there are new Intel CPUs due so everything could change price wise.

How old is the PSU?

...

What resolution are you running?
Click to expand...

Just a gaming rig primarily. The PSU I bought back in May 2012 and hasn't given me any ounce of trouble, I'm also running at 1080p (LG 24" 144hz monitor) Was a shame about the CPU, I bought it thinking it was the K and didn't realise until it was a bit too late. With your suggestion I will probably keep an eye out for the 2500k or 2600k in that case, the comparison websites show the 2500 vs 4690 as being pretty minimal in difference anyway.

mickyflinn said:
What res are you gaming at ? Your cpu is still very capable, list your full sysstem.
Click to expand...

1080p.

Full system:

i5 2500 3.3ghz (stock) with Gelid Tranquillo Cooler
Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Mobo
XFX Radeon R9 280 3gb
16gb (4x 4gb) Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
Cooler Master GX 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Antec 302 ATX Case
LG 24" 144hz (LG24GM)
Samsung Evo 850 500gb
OCZ Vertex SSD 60gb for OS
Some generic Intel SSD 120gb for random storage

dacads said:
Yes that GPU will be great and no need to upgrade PSU or any other component for that matter.

We need to know what case you have so a suitable cooler can be recommended.
Click to expand...

Antec 302 :)
 
Yeah you'd be best just doing the graphics card and cooler. The cooler I quoted would fit of you like it.

A 970 would be a great update for 1080p.
 
That's great, thanks for the advice. I went ahead and ordered the gpu I posted, I just hope I don't get the dreaded coil whine!
 
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