Upgrade advice (original title!)

Tonytank

Tonytank

Tonytank

Associate
Joined
4 Sep 2006
Posts
514
Hey y'all

So it has become that time again where I think an system upgrade is in order and I would like some sage like advice from the people here who are as smart as I once thought I was.

Here is my system as it currently stands.

Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 760 2.80GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156)
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
MSI GeForce GTX 460 HAWK "Super-OC" 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Sapphire Pure 625W Modular Power Supply
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler
Windows 7 (64bit)
Xtreme gamer XiFi sound card
1920x1080 monitor

That is all wrapped in my old "faithful" pc case, a beautiful Chieftec Dragon case (green!).

DRG-C-G-AL-c.jpg


Now, my budget is around the 700 to 800 mark. Obviously if cheaper then 700 is possible then great, also if a little over 800 will provide that bit of extra value then that is ok as well.

Mainly the system is used for gaming, but it will also be doing a lot of video editing and after effects work, so I am thinking perhaps 8 maybe 16gb of ram?. Also I would like an SSD drive for Windows and then a separate SATA drive for back ups etc.

The rest I am really just looking for solid advice. I have no particular allegiance to either Nvidia or ATI/AMD. I just want value and a system that will last.

As always any advice, help or suggestions would be appreciated. I would also add that I am extremely not keen on overclocking. I would rather avoid that at all costs.

Again, thanks for any advice or help.

Regards

Tony_Tank
 
 
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £269.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Windowed Tower Case - Black £44.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £28.99
Total : £879.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



this is my more expensive option, although it is over the 800 budget this would be great for both video editting and also gaming as the 7870 allows you to play pretty much all games on ultra setting and also the 4770k will be perfect for videos encoding. i have only included 8gbs of ram as that is all you should really need, i have 16gbs in mine and i never use over 8 even when gaming.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £194.99
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £106.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020063-UK) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £49.99
1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU) £49.99
1 x Zalman Z9 Windowed Tower Case - Black £44.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 412S CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £28.99
Total : £804.01 (includes shipping : £11.75).



this is on the 800 mark, it would be as good for gaming as the i7 system however it would fall down in video encoding. also both the system are overclockable however if you really do not want to overclock you could get a 4770 or 4670 which are not overclockable and save 10 quid also you could get a lesser motherboard aswell and save about 30~ quid
 
@ the OP, can you not reuse your existing hdd for storage?
How old is your Psu, as it has an Enermax OEM, it should be a decent unit.
Are you also looking for a new case?
 
Thank you for all the advice. I think I have finally decided what I will go for now.

Final_zps503a270b.jpg


I have taken the advice and only gone for 8GB of ram. I discussed this with a few friends and a friend of mine who free lances for the likes of Ardmann and Dark Horse and does a LOT of rendering has never needed more then 8, so it seemed like a sensible way of saving £50.
It seems that my current power supply is sufficient for this new rig so I guess that a little bit more money saved, I have also decided to take a chance and keep my current ITB drive. I shall format obv when I built the new rig and just keep an eye on it. Windows will be running from the SSD anyway so if it does go belly up and data loss should be down to a minimum.

2 things really, if any one has any advice on this kit before I buy, please let me know. I am happy with it and I think it will pack a fair whack, but if anyone can say a way to save a few quid here or there without sacrificing muscle then I am all ears.
Also could anyone recommend some case fans that offer good cooling and actual low volume/sound operation. I know some sound is always inevitable but fans that don't sound like the Millennium Falcon would be a nice extra for me.

Once again thank you for any advice or help.
 
Ah, that would make more sense.

Also how good is the graphics card? I had always envisioned grabbing something from 700 series, I admit I am way out of the loop when it comes to knowing which graphics card is the best, but for the sake of say an extra £50 is there better to be had?


Rich
 
Last edited:
Will work, couple of changes to add a better cooler, SSD & GPU.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x MSI HD 7970 GHz Twin FrozR OC BE 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE GAMES £259.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £95.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - Military Green £94.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £84.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £65.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £37.55
1 x Corsair SP120 Quiet Series High Pressure Low Noise - Single Pack (CO-9050005-WW) £13.99
Total : £944.44 (includes shipping : £12.50).



I'd recommend going with the motherboard in your spec however, but didn't want to drag your budget out too much.
The 7970 will perform better than the 760 for just £20 more.
 
A quick update guys. I have decided to tighten my budget a bit more and so figure I can probably get a half good upgrade by just popping in a new graphics card, more ram and a ssd.

Could anyone offer some advice for this upgrade without bottlenecking.

Thank you in advance.
 
So I am thinking about grabbing these for my upgrade.

Asus GeForce GTX 760 DirectCUII OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-308-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1830

Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-020-AR&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517

Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA

Will they compliment my current hardware?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom