Thinking of upgrading - comments please

Vanilla_Ice

Vanilla_Ice

Vanilla_Ice

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Ipswich
Hi there,

I am looking to upgrade my PC that is mainly used for gaming. I trying to decide whether spending money on upgrades is feasible or if should I start again.

Current spec:

Intel i7-920
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R
GeForce GTX 295 1792MB
6GB DDR3 RAM
1 x 1.0TB HDD
Windows 7 64 Bit

I have a budget of £400-500. I was thinking of installing an SSD (for OS and games), replacement graphics card and more RAM if funds permitted.

Any suggestions or comments welcomed.

ICE
 
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The CPU is still good, so I don't see you NEEDING to start again.

(I assume your GPU is a 295 not 925) Like you say a GPU upgrade and an SSD would be a good use of money.

What PSU do you have?

Have you got the 920 Overclocked? What cooler do you have?
 
new cpu cooler + overclock
new gpu
new ssd

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £215.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £325.97 (includes shipping : ).




rig sorted.

edit: of course if you want to spend more, you can do ;p

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £299.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £159.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
Total : £509.96 (includes shipping : ).



radeon 290
512gb ssd
monster cooler
 
tamzzy said:
new cpu cooler + overclock
new gpu
new ssd

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Card £215.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £325.97 (includes shipping : ).




rig sorted.

edit: of course if you want to spend more, you can do ;p

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11227-03-40G) £299.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £159.98
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler £49.99
Total : £509.96 (includes shipping : ).



radeon 290
512gb ssd
monster cooler
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly, Possibly the 290 spec with a 256Gb SSD. :)
 
Thank you both for your help guys. OC'ing scares me a little, will need to look into whats involved with my spec.

Upgrade is looking to be something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £319.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £159.98
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £509.96 (includes shipping : ).

Could the above cooler see close to 4Ghz?

Is the 290X worth the extra with my CPU?

Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
Vanilla_Ice said:
Thank you both for your help guys. OC'ing scares me a little, will need to look into whats involved with my spec.

Upgrade is looking to be something like this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 OC WindForce 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-R929OC-4GD) £319.99
1 x Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter CT512MX100SSD1) £159.98
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £509.96 (includes shipping : ).

Could the above cooler see close to 4Ghz?

Is the 290X worth the extra with my CPU?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

That's nice.

That cooler may get it to 3.8ish, worst case.

The k2 would manage 4ghz but it is 165mm high (check your case) and memory (high profile).

The isn't really great, the 290 is much better value. :)
 
Seeing as those MX100s are £80 for 256mb and £160 for 512mb, why not see how you get on with one and buy another if you need it.

If you don't need it for a while, prices could have come down by then. If you never need it you've not wasted your money.

If you add a 2nd 256mb later you can just use that for Steam.

You can also move your less commonly playes Steam games onto the mechanical drive.
 
Vanilla_Ice said:
Thanks for heads up.

Not disputing your suggestion, just curious, is the difference in core speed not worth worrying about? 947MHz vs 1040MHz?
Click to expand...

Not really, that is a fairly mild OC which you can do yourself (as long as its stable).

(I don't know if it only Nvidia, I very much doubt it) But I got a lot more FPS from Overclocking the memory rather than the core. The 'Green' cards I've had could overclock the memory like a beast. :)
 
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