Upgrade or replace?

Muppetman50 · 3 Mar 2011 at 15:23

First time post so be gentle with me please...

Current machine is :

Asus P5N-E SLI Mobo
Intel Core 2 6600 @ 2.4GHz
4Gb RAM
BFG Nvidia GTX 275

My question is, is it worth/possible to upgrade this or am I looking at a new PC. I want to play Rift at top settings and that is currently not possible at all with this. I also like to be able to dabble with new games and like them to look decent. I don't do anything else intensive on the machine - no video encoding etc

If I do go for a new machine I would like

SSD drive - probably at least 120Gb
1TB HDD for everything else
4-6GB or RAM as more seems overkill for what I do
Not sure about sound, I have a decent set of headphones so want the sound to be good but I'm not an audiophile
Also needs to be quiet, reasonably power efficient and I'd also like a boring case - not a fan of lights and stuff.

Don't need mouse, keyboard, monitor or OS.

So - do I need an i7 or will an i5 do? Do I need one of the overclocked bundles or will standard parts do the job? Budget would be £1000 at the absolute top end and less would have course be nice.

Any assistance would be most appreciated.

Muppetman50 · 3 Mar 2011 at 20:17

Thought I'd add that I'm running my monitor on 1680x1050.

Cookeh · 3 Mar 2011 at 20:33

Could upgrade, but not much point now - its 3 gens behind

OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £207.98
(£173.32) £207.98
(£173.32)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £185.99
(£154.99) £185.99
(£154.99)
Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1) £179.99
(£149.99) £179.99
(£149.99)
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £129.98
(£108.32) £129.98
(£108.32)
Antec TruePower New Modular 750W Power Supply - With FREE 3D Mark 2011 Advance £86.99
(£72.49) £86.99
(£72.49)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM 1yr Warranty (ST31000528AS) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £11.99
(£9.99) £11.99
(£9.99)
Arctic Cooling MX-3 Thermal Compound (4g) £7.14
(£5.95) £7.14
(£5.95)
Sub Total : £743.37
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.25
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £150.92
Total : £905.54

- 120GB SSD - the fastest around atm.-
- Fastest 1TB HDD around (and one of the cheapest

)
- i5 2500k is perfect for gaming, the i7 doesn't produce enough performance gain to justify the extra cost.
- Mobo supports CF for a performance boost in the future, as does the PSU.
- HD6950 which can be flashed to a HD6970 - one of the fastest graphics cards around.
- 'K' series chip so can be overclocked in the future - one of the big +ves of SB.

N.B. Didn't choose a GTX480, despite being cheaper - as you would need a bigger more expensive PSU for SLI in future, which would negate the £10 price difference between cards.

Bear in mind this is complete overkill for your res, but will last a very long time.

Muppetman50 · 4 Mar 2011 at 18:09

Many thanks for this, exactly what I was hoping for - now to sweet talk she-who-must-be-obeyed

Muppetman50 · 5 Mar 2011 at 07:43

Quick question, if I miss out on SLI/CF would a different card and perhaps motherboard be better? I bought an SLI board for my current machine and never bought a second card, I suspect unless I bought two cards to start with the same would happen.

Cheers

VoG · 5 Mar 2011 at 08:04

definatley change the mobo, you need a B3 ( or rev 3 as there also known ) motherboard like this one as non B3's have a chipset design flaw, so get the right board now to save yourself having to swap boards at a later date. also, if your not bothered about CF/Sli, then ide definatley also go for the ASUS GTX480, tho be aware, some people find them v noisy

Muppetman50 · 5 Mar 2011 at 12:22

thanks for that, noise may be an issue so will have to look at alternate gpu

Cookeh · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:48

Just to let you know, the number of affect boards is 5%.

And if you're unlucky enough to get one it wil be replaced free of charge.

The features of the MSI board match the PRO and it runs cooler for a cheaper price, personally I'd stick pick it, even with the SATA-2 ports failing in 5% of all boards xD

GTX480 is as mentioned very good for the money, but if noise is an issue, its worth sticking with the HD6950 I specced earlier

Dark_Angel · 5 Mar 2011 at 14:49

I'd do a full SB upgrade personally (oh wait I did

), and maybe go for a GTX 480 type of GPU. (in other words a high spec gaming card, not saying a 480 specifically!) and you'll be better off TBH.

Trusty · 5 Mar 2011 at 15:01

You could always sell you processor and GPU, could probably get £100 for both. Then buy a Q6600 2nd hand (£70) and 6950. £180 or thereabouts for a significant jump in performance. That would happily tie you over until Ivy, that's an option anyway.

Edit. Maybe get an nice new case so it feels like a new build but actually is'nt.

Muppetman50 · 9 Mar 2011 at 10:26

Asus ATI Radeon HD 6950 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £209.99
(£174.99) £209.99
(£174.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £191.99
(£159.99) £191.99
(£159.99)
Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1) £173.99
(£144.99) £173.99
(£144.99)
Asus P8P67 Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** £124.99
(£104.16) £124.99
(£104.16)
Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold 800W Power Supply £106.99
(£89.16) £106.99
(£89.16)
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £65.99
(£54.99) £65.99
(£54.99)
Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £49.99
(£41.66) £49.99
(£41.66)
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Ultra Low Voltage Dual Channel Kit (OCZ3P1600C9ELV4GK) £29.99
(£24.99) £29.99
(£24.99)
LG GH24NS50 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - Retail £19.99
(£16.66) £19.99
(£16.66)
Sub Total : £811.59
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £11.75
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £164.67
Total : £988.01

Is what I've come up with. I have a couple of questions though...

Is the PSU up for the job?
Will the CPU come with a heatsink/cooler and will it be up for the job.
Do all parts come with the relevant cables or will I need to buy some?
I've also chosen components that are hopefully not too loud, could I do better?

This will be my first build, I have KB/Mouse/Monitor - have I forgotten anything?

Any and all help will be most appreciated.