upgrade help

fobose

fobose

fobose

Soldato
Joined
6 Dec 2005
Posts
5,198
Location
Cambridge, UK.
Hi Guys,

I am looking to upgrade my PC for gaming purposes, as my spec in sig is struggling (obviously).

I will be reusing the following for my new build:

Antec P182 ATX case
Corsair HX 520 PSU
Intel 520 180GB
Nvidia GTX 570 GPU
4x SATA hard drives
Windows 8
Dell 2007WFP (1680x1050 res, eventually would like to upgrade to a 27" monitor).

I am thinking of buying the following:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM
Corsair Hydro H60 V2 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard
TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYD38G2400HC11CDC01)

Total: £403.36 inc vat

I am a bit out of the loop of latest hardware, but have been searching through the forums. I have chosen a MATX motherboard as I would eventually like to down size my case to a smaller one. Is there much difference between a ATX and MATX motherboard these days apart from losing some expansion slots?

Any suggestions/changes?

N.B I don't really plan to overclock and would like to keep the upgrade cost down. I realise the CPU I have picked might be wasted in my build, but I could overclock in a few years.

Many thanks
fobse
 
Hi,

That looks pretty good so far.. Have you got an idea about what case you may be going to: TJ08-E, Prodigy M, Corsair 350D? If we know this we can spec you bits (CPU cooler mainly) which will fit that case too. :)

I would 100% change the H60 to any high end CPU cooler..

Do you have 2 spare 120mm fans by any chance, if so i can spec you a great cooler. :)

fobose said:
N.B I don't really plan to overclock and would like to keep the upgrade cost down. I realise the CPU I have picked might be wasted in my build, but I could overclock in a few years.
Click to expand...

This confused me, which is it? Do you want to save money on not overclocking or spend money and potentially reap the benifits in the future? :)
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I have to go to work now and can't access the forums from work but I will think about the case I will hope to upgrade to. Thinking about it now I might even just keep the P182 to save myself the money and time rebuilding in to a new case. P.S if I do decide to keep my current case, is it worth changing the mobo to an ATX one (is there any main benefit other than expansion slots)?

Doomedspeed said:
This confused me, which is it? Do you want to save money on not overclocking or spend money and potentially reap the benifits in the future? :)
Click to expand...

Sorry yes I am in two minds about what I want to do. I dont want to have to source a new CPU in a few years so I think I best just stick to the 4670k. Especially as there is only a £40 difference between the 4440.
 
Doomedspeed said:
I would 100% change the H60 to any high end CPU cooler..
Click to expand...

For the first time ever im incline to disagree :O I have this cooler its probably why lol.

Using the same cpu as you and playing crysis 3 for a couple hours stright my cpu never gets hotter than 38 with this cooler i think its bang on. Its small and nice looking too :)

I've no doubt doom could spec a better one but i dont see anything wrong with it.

Saying that if your unsure your even going to overclock i'd not bother full stop. One must make upeth ones mind :P

Its better imo to plan for an overclock coz sods law dictates you wont then a year or two down the line wish you did
 
Ripjaw said:
For the first time ever im incline to disagree :O I have this cooler its probably why lol.

Using the same cpu as you and playing crysis 3 for a couple hours stright my cpu never gets hotter than 38 with this cooler i think its bang on. Its small and nice looking too :)

I've no doubt doom could spec a better one but i dont see anything wrong with it.

Its better imo to plan for an overclock coz sods law dictates you wont then a year or two down the line wish you did
Click to expand...

There always a first, im sure it won't be the last either..

I completely understand.. I personally had a H50 in my rig until recently (february, actually not that recently) and its performed well but my D14 blows it out of the water..

I assume the H60 is a little biut better than my H50 but i got a 4.4 overclock with my H50 at 70C Max and a 4.7 on my D14 with 60C max.(my H50 was push/pull too, where as the standard H60 is pull only).

Im not saying its a bad cooler atall, its not but for £60 you can get better.
 
fobose said:
Thanks for the quick reply. I have to go to work now and can't access the forums from work but I will think about the case I will hope to upgrade to. Thinking about it now I might even just keep the P182 to save myself the money and time rebuilding in to a new case. P.S if I do decide to keep my current case, is it worth changing the mobo to an ATX one (is there any main benefit other than expansion slots)?
Click to expand...

Sorry i completely missed this.. :)

The P182 is a nice case, though if you have ou mind on it no reason not to keep your options open..

The only real advangtage of at ATX board is Xfire/SLI.. Are you considering upgrading your PSU and adding another GPU? If not Matx is fine (its still possible with mATX boards).

I think the mATX board you've picked is great, it atleast gives you the option to grab a 350D/TJ08-E/Prodigy M in the future if funds appear. :)


fobose said:
Sorry yes I am in two minds about what I want to do. I dont want to have to source a new CPU in a few years so I think I best just stick to the 4670k. Especially as there is only a £40 difference between the 4440.
Click to expand...

Yeah good plan. :)

Though if you ween't overclocking you could save another £20 going for a H87/B85 Motherboard too.. and cheaper RAM (as H87/B85 don't really support above 1600mhz RAM).. and you won't need so good a CPU cooler. So the differnce will be about £90.
 
Doomedspeed said:
The P182 is a nice case, though if you have ou mind on it no reason not to keep your options open..

The only real advangtage of at ATX board is Xfire/SLI.. Are you considering upgrading your PSU and adding another GPU? If not Matx is fine (its still possible with mATX boards).

I think the mATX board you've picked is great, it atleast gives you the option to grab a 350D/TJ08-E/Prodigy M in the future if funds appear. :)

Though if you ween't overclocking you could save another £20 going for a H87/B85 Motherboard too.. and cheaper RAM (as H87/B85 don't really support above 1600mhz RAM).. and you won't need so good a CPU cooler. So the differnce will be about £90.
Click to expand...

I have never had more than one GPU in my PC as of yet, and don't think I ever will (cost, power, potential noise - I like my PC to be silent). My HX 520 is about 5 years old but I think it will be ok for the new build.

Looking at some of the cheaper boards, a lot of them only have 2 memory slots. If I was to swap over to one with 2 slots, should I perhaps go for 2x8GB modules, or is that just over kill for gaming (what about in a couple of years)?

N.B I have kept my current PC since 2006, with the only additions of the intel 520 and GTX 570 which are being held back. So I probably wont upgrade for another 5 years at least lol.
 
Okay here are you options. :)

Non-overclocking version:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £137.99
1 x Gigabyte H87M-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £73.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED38GM1600HC11DC01) £49.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £303.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Overclocking Version (using the 2 fans you already have)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87M-D3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £97.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLD38G2400HC11CDC01) £59.99
1 x Prolimatech Megahalems Rev C CPU Cooler £42.98
Total : £392.35 (includes shipping : £9.50).



8GB will be enough for gaming though like you say 4 slots gives you chance to expand.. (i think 16GB is overkill)

As you're not interested in SLI, no real need for an ATX board. :)

Obviously the overclocking version would perform better at stock (high stock freq and RAM speed) but with a 4.2-4.5ghz overclock it will fly :) That cooler is upto the job. :)

EDIT: I was bang on with £90. :)
 
Many thanks Doomedspeed. I think I will pay the extra and get the o/c spec, and use the CPU cooler you have suggested too.
 
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