Upgrade me with £300 (with a twist)

leemonk

leemonk

leemonk

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Joined
13 Aug 2006
Posts
114
Hi all,

I want to upgrade my PC experience.

I'm looking at a number of things that need reworking including my home network powerline systems, but that is a separate issue.

I have around £300 to spend and want to upgrade the machine listed below.

Some previous idea's were around an SSD and Windows 7 upgrade and if those still stand then fine, but I was surprised to find that my RAM is very low and it turns out my Mobo can't handle much more of it.

What I want to try and do with this thread is get some good suggestions but also to learn from it. So...... what I am proposing is that if you post an idea that is different to the person above, can you please explain WHY you'd do it the way you suggested.

One thing I ask, not that it's an issue on these forums, but please keep it friendly and explanations such as "it sucks" doesn't help me learn ;)

I generally use my machine for lots of internet stuff, a little basic word/excel and I play EvE online, Football Manager and Civilization and very little else (though, I do play these games a lot and often double/triple client with EvE).

I have dual monitors

I also stream movies from my PC to my PS3

One last thing. I will NOT upgrade the graphics card.


My current PC:

Lian-Li PC-7B PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black (No PSU)
Corsair HX 520W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-520HXUK)
Samsung SH-183LBEBN 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer Serial ATA Lightscribe ReWriter (Black)
Samsung T240 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor
ATI Radeon HD 5800 (overclockers model - detail not in old orders)
Noctua NF-S12 1200RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
Samsung SpinPoint T 400GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD401LJ)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (ST31000528AS)
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (66I-01939)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/LGA775)
G.Skill 2GB DDR2 PK PC2-6400C4 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400
OS - Windows Vista


Regards

Lee
 
Thank you for the replies, and the information with them.

I am more inclinced towards a motherboard and more RAM at this stage as it does seem to be the main thing holding everything else back at this stage.

However, if there are any more suggestions along with a lesson to be learnt, then I am happy to keep listening.

Regards

Lee
 
Hi,

I just wanted to re-visit this..... though, I now have £500 to spend! Yay..... new job and all :)

Thus could I please ask for your recommendations on what to upgrade for £500.

Thanks

Lee
 
thank you very much for the prompt replies chaps.....

Quite a bit of crossover on a number of the products, so it should make a decision a bit quicker :)

Interestingly you all seem to be mostly split on the OS.... Is this a cost issue? with the Windows 8 being an upgrade costs and 7 being a new setup? Or are there performance differences too?

One other thing that worries me a little is space.... I bought a OC branded (not sure the makers though) graphics card a while back and it only fit when I push some other stuff around.... it is enormous!

How do I check this and know if it will all fit? Can I just send the list of components to OCUK and ask them?

Also...... if I squeeze another £25 or so out of the boss (read the wife), could that MoBo take 12 or 16 gigs of RAM? (And would it be worth it?).

I looked and saw it was 4xDDR3, but I could see four slots on the Mobo itself.



Regards

Lee
 
Isn't windows 8 more 'tablety'?

I love my iPad and can certainly see the benefits of this but how well does it translate to a mouse and keyboard?

What other benefits (without turning it into a 8 vs 7 thread) are there?

Regards
 
Getting close to ordering all this kit, but will my power supply manage what I currently have along with the proposed upgrades?

Corsair HX 520W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-520HXUK)

Regards

Lee

*EDIT*

1. Also... will most of the proposed upgrades allow me to upgrade fairly easily in the future? ie I have to upgrade a lot now just to get up to speed, but will the mobo be good for a few years etc etc????

2. If I wanted to 16gigs of memory in, am i better off with 4x4gig or 2x8gig (thus still having space later). The Mobo says it can handle 4x3DDR's, but it doesnt say if they are 4 or 8 gigs?.
 
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Thanks for that! Hopefully it has worked.

I put this list of things together,mostly based on the above. But just wanted to make sure it all worked together.


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Plextor M5S 128GB Solid State Drive - (PX-128M5S) £82.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £71.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (TED316GM1600HC11DC01) £59.99
1 x Noctua Mounting Kit NM-I3 - Socket 775/1156/1366 £5.99
1 x Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal Paste (1.75g) £3.98
Total : £496.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

 
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Forgive me for asking but what is the difference between Retail and OEM? Is it that the retail comes with a heatsink?

I'm not sure which heatsink I have and if it's compatible.

Also....I'm feeling a little flush at the moment and was wondering if 32gig of ram would make much difference rather than 16?
 
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eek.... it does say it's a NOctua..... I really should read what I write.

Thanks for the heads up on the RAM too. I might just save on the next paycheck and perhaps get another SSD for my games....

I wish to thank you all for your responses as I am now about to order my kit !!! (FINALLY)

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
 
Well.... the only reason I don't want to upgrade it is that it was the most recent upgrade I did... though I can not recall when it was I did it.

If, by todays standards, it's considered weak, then I will certainly re-consider my position in a few months or so. Especially if two SSD's aren't going to make much difference.

It's just that having spent whatever I spent on it and trying to limit myself again now, I didn't want to throw more money at something that is likely to be the most expensive thing in my basket having only recently upgraded it.

When I bought it, it was highly rated, at least within it's price range..... .such is the way of computers :)

I guess in two months or so I could consider something around the £200 mark

Regards


*EDIT*

If I purchase the Retail version of the CPU, why would I need a Mounting Kit? Is my current cooler better than the one that comes with the Retail kit?
 
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