Upgrade help please

davejh666 · 9 Oct 2012 at 08:53

Hi all,

Okay I bought a 2nd hand PC nearly a year ago now. These are the full specs:

Antec 902 v3
Intel i7 930 processor with Artic Cooling Rev 2
Gigabyte GA EX58UD5 motherboard
Nvidia geforce gtx 480
6GB GSkill triple channel DDR3 1600mhz gaming ram
Intel 80gb solid state drive
Patriot Torx 128 solid state drive
OCZ Mod X Stream-Pro 700W PSU
LG DVD R/W

I have done little things to it since buying it such as adding the Artic cooling to the CPU and adding a graphics card cooler too. However, I would now like to upgrade the CPU, and change the motherboard and RAM. I realize that my CPU is becoming a little long in the tooth now and would rather do something about it now while I have some money than wait another year (we have a baby due) and not have any money!

Well, I have decided on an Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155. What I am stuck on is the rest. I know I need to change my motherboard, and want to change my RAM. However, not sure which ones I should be looking at. In total I have about £500 to spend on the upgrades.

I am presuming my PSU, case, SSD drives etc will all be okay for a new build? There is nothing wrong with them, which is why I was planning to use them again. I am just unsure as to what sort of motherboard will fit the case.

Thanks for you time. Dave.

Gav_881 · 9 Oct 2012 at 11:40

Tbh, i don't think your going to see the sort of difference that makes it worth upgrading, but that is ofc just my opinion. However should you wish to upgrade anyway i would go for this - everything else should be transferable.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £23.99
Total : £292.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).

ubersonic · 9 Oct 2012 at 11:45

Your CPU is fine for anything currently on the market tbh, overclock it if you havent already and buy a new GFX card, job done

Idleman · 9 Oct 2012 at 12:00

ubersonic said:
Your CPU is fine for anything currently on the market tbh, overclock it if you havent already and buy a new GFX card, job done

This.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £339.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £23.99
Total : £375.34 (includes shipping : £9.50).

And sell off you tri-channel ram.

NeverWinter · 9 Oct 2012 at 12:08

Don't even think it really needs the memory upgrade, just the graphics card should do it.#

Maybe get a 256GB SSD too?

mickyflinn · 9 Oct 2012 at 12:15

You will only gain between 10 and 20% performance upgradeing you cpu, so as stated before a decent gpu and may be a sound card would be the best option.