Up dating old PC

MalMeac · 6 Mar 2012 at 21:44

I was just wondering if I am going about sorting out some new parts for my PC correct, with the 7 series cards and SSD's its about time I thought

Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2)
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan Quiet CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA1156/LGA1155/LGA775/AM2/AM2+/AM3)

I'm thinking of upgrading that SSD for one with slightly more space having the operating system and a majority of my games on it, I seen a nice little programme aswell which can swap Steam games from their default drive to another to free up space which would help.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-023-IN&groupid=701&catid=2104&subcat=1427

As for motherboards I was thinking this but dont really know what i'm looking at and what would suit me the best

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-364-GI

Nice and cheap seems good but will I gain the most benefit from it with all the new stuff? Its just a gaming PC with web browsing nothing else playing on a 1920X1200 screen.

I will be upgrading my graphics card aswell but waiting to see what is going to happen when the new 7850 cards come, if they are a decent price I will get a 78XX series failing that or temptation grabs me thinking of a 6950

Probably update my ram and PSU in the end

but they are decent enough for now whilst I sort out everything else.

shadow_boxer · 6 Mar 2012 at 21:51

Hi and welcome to the forums. I would go with an i5-2500K so that if you pair it up with a Z68 motherboard you can overclock your processor. Add in a cheap but effective cooler such as the Gelid Tranquillo (£25) and you should be able to get it running fine at 4.5GHz. As the the motherboard, depends on what features you're after. That board you selected is popular and gets good reviews. If in the future you'd ever consider going Xfire then you'd need one that does X8/X8 (such as the Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3). If you want a good cooler I would go with the Thermalright Silver Arrow, slightly cheaper than the Noctua and performs very well too.

MalMeac · 6 Mar 2012 at 22:04

Thanks for the welcome and quick reply!

Yeah I ment the K must have miss clicked the buy for my basket good save! :eek:

Xfire is a possibility and want something that could make that happen but I thought the one I selected had that available, what is this x8/x8?

shadow_boxer · 6 Mar 2012 at 22:11

x8/x8 is essentially the bandwith available on the PCI-E slots (ie where the graphics cards are installed).

A single graphics card will use X16 and if a second one is add on a Z68 motherboard it becomes x8/x8. With the Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 it will run at x8/x4 ie crippling the second card.

The Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 is a good budget board that can support SLI and Crossfire. Not sure whether I'd personally spend so much on an SSD. I would go for the Crucial M4 which can be had now for as little as £119.99 and put the savings towards a better graphics card, perhaps the 7870 or see what nvidia release in your budget.