Upgrade

tibs · 28 Feb 2010 at 14:27

Hi, looking for some spec advice i.e best combination of CPU, mobo, Ram and GPU for £300 and £400 please. Use's are browsing and games on a dual monitor setup at 1280*1024 each. I have the intention of going to a 24" monitor in the future for 1900*1200 gaming.

All advice welcome and appreciated.

95thrifles · 28 Feb 2010 at 14:35

set aside £85 for RAM, that leaves £215 and £315, for £215 you could squeeze in a 5750 AM3 mobo and low end cpu,
eg
XFX ATI Radeon HD 5750 512MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £88.99 (£75.74)
Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GV34GB1600C9DC) £84.99 (£72.33)
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-ES3 MA770 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99 (£55.31)
AMD Athlon II X2 Dual Core 250 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £60.99 (£51.91)
Sub Total : £255.29
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £46.34
Total : £311.13

pushing budget to £400 would allow a 5770 and better cpu, eg
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.20GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £129.98 (£110.62)
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £124.98 (£106.37)
Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GV34GB1600C9DC) £84.99 (£72.33)
Gigabyte GA-MA770T-ES3 MA770 (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard £64.99 (£55.31)
Sub Total : £344.63
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 17.50% VAT : £61.97
Total : £416.10

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 28 Feb 2010 at 14:36

tibs said:
Hi, looking for some spec advice i.e best combination of CPU, mobo, Ram and GPU for £300 and £400 please. Use's are browsing and games on a dual monitor setup at 1280*1024 each. I have the intention of going to a 24" monitor in the future for 1900*1200 gaming.

All advice welcome and appreciated.

What is your current motherboard BTW??

tibs · 28 Feb 2010 at 14:48

currently have a DFI RDX200 Socktet 939. My current thinking was 5770, Phenom 550, Ram and a MSI 770-C45 mobo.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 28 Feb 2010 at 14:52

I would look on the famous auction site as dual core socket 939 Athlon X2 3800 processors have sold for between £30 to £55 including postage in the last few weeks. I would also look at selling your motherboard and RAM too.

I would probably wait for the Phenom II X2 555BE to drop down to around the £70 mark as it is a C3 stepping CPU. You could also try unlocking it too. I would also look at a motherboard with an 8+2 phase VRM too as you have the budget to do so!

Do you want to have the option of SATA 3 and SUB3 in your motherboard and is symmetrical Crossfire a useful option to have??

tibs · 28 Feb 2010 at 17:59

Thanks for your views all. The 8+2 phase VRM, does that really merit the extra money? I really appreciate bang for buck, as I usually look for 3 years out of my builds. Sata 3 doesn't really bother me, moving from Sata 1 to 2 will suffice. SUB3 eeek is all this voltage control etc so important?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 28 Feb 2010 at 18:10

Sorry I meant to say USB3!!

tibs · 28 Feb 2010 at 18:18

hahaha u made me Google SUB3 :S

IKMS · 28 Feb 2010 at 18:20

SUB3, you can't have found much on google with that.

I agree with the selling of almost everything you have

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 28 Feb 2010 at 18:49

I would probably look at the following motherboard:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3272

It has an 8+2 phase VRM,SATA 3 and USB3 too.

It is available for £76.49 delivered from a well known retailer.

I also look for at least three years out of my computers too and having SATA 3 and USB3 would be a good idea IMHO.

tibs · 28 Feb 2010 at 22:38

That's a nice board. It does make sense.