Upgrade time

Varsh

Varsh

Varsh

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Joined
24 Oct 2008
Posts
424
Location
W-s-M
It's been quite a while since I last upgraded fully and the only thing holding me back now with a bottleneck is my CPU so I feel it's now time to ditch my 3 year old Phenom II and upgrade it to a *gasp* Intel i7.

Unlike last time I have more money to spend (some of you might know in April I picked up a GTX680 and a triple Samsung setup during that crazy offer) but want to keep it to no more than £700 (if possible) at the top end but would rather prefer to spend £500 so I can get a new case - I think my P180 has ran its 7 year course and it's time for a new upgrade with better airflow and cable management.

Currently I have:
Case: Antec P180
Mobo: Asus M4A785TD-V Evo
CPU: Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition II
RAM: Corsair 8GB (4x 2GB)
GFX: KFA2 (BFG) GTX 680
PSU: Seasonix X-650

What I need this time is either 16GB or 32GB RAM, and a silent case like my P180. I'm up for any mobo manufacturer though I would much prefer either an MSI, Asus, or a Gigabyte, and lastly a CPU that would last me another 3 to 4 years, this Phenom II has done swimmingly but for what I do graphically now it's starting to feel the strain.

The GTX 680 powers the three Samsung monitors I got off here 6 months back (with the card) so with that in mind and the new rig I'm hoping the PSU would still be enough? I'm thinking also of picking up an SSD too as my current 64GB SSD is a little bit too small for my liking.

If I can get all of that under £700 I'll be happy, any thoughts?

Overclockers prices:
CPU: Intel i7 3820 - £240
Mobo: Gigabyte X79-UD3 (Socket 2011) - £180
RAM: GeIL EVO Corsa 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 - £150
Case: Antec P280 - £80
HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 - £33
Total: £683

If I'm able to cut the prices down here and there or have alternatives then I might be able to squeeze in that SSD (128GB).

Edit: Forgot to mention that this is for 3D Art (Studio Max/MudBox), compiling, video editing, and of course games.
 
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Windows 7, not planning on upgrading to Windows 8 at all. I do on the odd occasion hop into Gentoo when needed.
 
 
Not overly too sure about the HSF, the Arctic CF i30 is 10db quieter. Liking the SSD and the RAM change - Kingston's always my extremely close #2 choice so happy with that otherwise looks pretty similar. :)

Not sure if any one else has any other ideas?

p.s. the reason for the Arctic i30 is because I currently have 3 other Arctic PWM fans running (with an Arctic HSF) and coupled with my fanless mode Seasonic my PC is almost noiseless.
 
Don't care for the PCB colour as my case won't have a window (hate the things), plus it tends to be on almost 24/7 due to rendering. I don't overclock at all so the extra cfm2 isn't really needed.

Mind you I must admit to being a little concerned on the first DIMM slot with the i30 though I've just this second been Googling and there are some people running the same mobo with all 4 DIMMs in use so I guess it should be fine.
 
Guess I'm pretty much sorted on what to get then. Still a shame that I can't use 32GB RAM though because of the stupid OS constraints. I'll get round to ordering this when I get back from Holiday. It'll cost a tiny bit more as the offers would've finished but I can live with that. :)
 
Well it seems that the Kingston RAM is no longer available (it was when placing the order though) so I've decided to switch it with this: GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit.

Think that's good enough? Hopefully the OcUK team gets back to me shortly as I have the other parts coming tomorrow. ^^;

Managed to get the whole build down to £740 including a new Logitech G19. :D
 
Varsh said:
Well it seems that the Kingston RAM is no longer available (it was when placing the order though) so I've decided to switch it with this: GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit.

Think that's good enough? Hopefully the OcUK team gets back to me shortly as I have the other parts coming tomorrow. ^^;

Managed to get the whole build down to £740 including a new Logitech G19. :D
Click to expand...

What spec did you go for in the end?

Did you order two of those Geil RAM kits for the X79 setup?
 
I've just asked them about it but yes it would be two sets so 4x4GB (about £72).

The spec is pretty similar in the end, I went for:
CPU: Intel i7 3820 - £225
Mobo: Gigabyte X79-UD3 (Socket 2011) - £165
RAM: GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit x2 - £72 (2 kits) - awaiting feedback for switching from Kingston)
Case: Antec P280 - £65
HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer i30 - £30
SSD: Samsung 128GB 830 - £75
K/B: Logitech G19 - £100
Total: £732 inc P&P :)

Crazy price for the P280, it was £80 on OcUK last week and when I got back from Holiday, but on Sunday it was slashed in price and it wasn't even on offer so what the hey! £65 it is. :D

Replacing my old G15 r1 though as some of the function keys, some of the numpad keys, and some of the G keys no longer work on it, even some of the main keyboard keys too like TAB! Oh well it's done well for 7 years.

Edit: Just phoned OcUK and apparently there is 1 of the Kingston's left in stock which I'm currently the only order for it so I told them to ignore my webnote if they ever got it. :p
This was the RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz
 
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So far the keyboard has come (it's so small compared to the G15 r1!), the motherboard, HSF, P280, and the SSD has arrived so I'm now just witing on the RAM and the CPU. The CPU should be here tomorrow though the RAM I'm not sure where it is, I only received the case from OcUK and in the order notes it has said that both have been sent and delivered. I hope the RAM will come in a later delivery otherwise I'll have to contact OcUK later.

At least for the time being I can fit some of stuff in.
 
All I got was the case and no other boxes, I even asked the driver and he said that this was all he had. Still no RAM delivered. Going to give it another hour then I'll get back to OcUK.

And ooo what did you get?
 
Just checked out the what it is and wow, that DIE looks complicated! Don't want to even think about how they can even cram so much of that into such little space.

Oh and I just got off the phone from OcUK and I can't wait for the RAM so I went for the GeIL - might come tomorrow but most likely Friday which is fine by me, at least I'll have everything ready by then except for mounting the CPU and HSF until I fit the RAM in first. xD
 
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