Upgrade advice - been out of the loop for a while

Booner!

Booner!

Booner!

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2005
Posts
9,128
Upgrade advice - i5 bundle or i7...

Hello chaps,

I currently play TF2, LFD2, BFBC2 and a few other games....but I like to run things at max visuals.

Current set up:
Intel 975X Bad Axe
Socket 775 Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.85ghz
4 gb of OCZ DDR2 ram
Powercolor 4890 1gb @ stock
640gb WD sata drive + 74gb raptor too
Windows 7 home premium (uses 1.3gb of ram on idle..)

89022183.jpg


I have a dell 20.1" at 1680 x 1050. I believe that my CPU which is now overclocked is helping, but bottlenecking my GPU?

This year I want to upgrade to play BF3 later on and generally upgrade to the latest kit. I was thinking of doing this in stages though, so:
>Mobo, CPU, Ram now
>Decent GPU around BF3 time
>1080p 120hz Monitor for Xmas

Would a pre-OC bundle for ~£400 be a good start and leave me with a relatively solid base to work from, or is it worth waiting and doing all in one go?

Any advice welcome :)
 
Last edited:
Buy a complete overclocked bundle - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-062-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1802

the 2500K is just as fast in games - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

And you are getting a Gigabyte board so none of the ASUS complaints.
==========================================================

Or buy the individual parts,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98
(£116.65) £139.98
(£116.65)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £304.95
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 : £62.89
Total : £377.34


but for £13 more, the overclocked bundle is done for you, and warrantied.

Edit, its actually £22, because you get free delivery.
 
Last edited:
stulid said:
Buy a complete overclocked bundle - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-062-OE&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1802

the 2500K is just as fast in games - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

And you are getting a Gigabyte board so none of the ASUS complaints.
==========================================================

Or buy the individual parts,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor with FREE Operation Flashpoint Red River Game £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £139.98
(£116.65) £139.98
(£116.65)
Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9) £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £23.99
(£19.99) £23.99
(£19.99)
Sub Total : £304.95
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 : £62.89
Total : £377.34


but for £13 more, the overclocked bundle is done for you, and warrantied.

Edit, its actually £22, because you get free delivery.
Click to expand...

I always refuse to pay extra for overclocking, but in this case I'd make an exception and just get the bundle.
 
I think I'm leaning towards the bundle, seems like a reasonable deal to me - as much as I've loved manipulating individual components together in the past.

Added 2 x 12cm Akasa fans, some artic paste (req?) and that should keep me going till the GPU, soundcard and monitor upgrade nearer the time of BF3 :)
 
The bundle has,

- Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound

if thats a whole tube or pre-applied to the heatsink I dont know.
 
Yeah I was hoping to keep the 4890 for a little longer and pick up a cheaper 480 or 580 later this year.. I think the CPU update will unlock some more power and FPS in my games for the time being.
 
Just before I push the button, would I have any noticeable gains from this slightly more expensive bundle in comparison with the Radon Torosaur ? I'm pretty much settled on the Torosaur and I doubt I am going to notice a huge performance gain in games? The only difference between the i7 and the i5 is the HT?

"Radon Torosaur"

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-062-OE
This Week Only Offer
was £409.98 inc VAT

Bundle Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte P67A-UD4 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard **B3 REVISION**
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel
- Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler
- Artic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Click to expand...



Krypton

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-029-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1801

This Week Only Offer
was £469.99 inc VAT

Bundle Specification
- CPU: Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz @ 4.00GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard
- RAM: GeIL 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Triple Channel
- Cooler: Corsair A50 CPU Cooler
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Booner! said:
Just before I push the button, would I have any noticeable gains from this slightly more expensive bundle in comparison with the Radon Torosaur ? I'm pretty much settled on the Torosaur and I doubt I am going to notice a huge performance gain in games? The only difference between the i7 and the i5 is the HT?

"Radon Torosaur"

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-062-OE




Krypton

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-029-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1801
Click to expand...

The Krypton is also socket 1366 which is at the end of it's life - it will be replaced by socket 2011 with the year. So you may get a slightly faster PC today but sacrifice future upgrade potential.
 
I'm sold! 2500K bundle it is. Thanks for all your help guys. I think my PSU should be sufficient, it's a Tagan modular 580watt.

I'll take an HDD drive out and give all my old parts as a donor to my parents computer with an old 8800GTS for them.
 
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