Upgrading - advice needed

[Cronus4771]

This thread spans CPU, MoBO, GPU etc so I thought it was best placed here. Basically, I need a little advice.

I'm looking to update my old desktop (specs below) and need to know I'm looking in the right direction. I'm looking for a solid gamer platform that will last for the next couple of years. Any way......

Old specs

Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8), Nvidia Gforce 7800GS, 250GB HDD (IDE), onboard sound, ASUS A8V(deluxe) Mobo, Windows XP.

Obviously needs updating.

I've found this for around £870

Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9550 (2.83GHz) 1333MHz FSB/12MB Cache, 8GB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz, ASUS® P5Q DELUXE: DUAL DDR2, S-ATA II,2 x PCI-e x16, 2 x PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, Windows Vista™ Home Premium 64-bit + Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher, 4 PORT USB 2.0 INTERNAL PCI CARD (TOTAL: 12 USB 2.0 PORTS), x2 500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm) (seagate or WD),22x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM, 1GB ATI RADEON™ HD 4870 PCI EXPRESS (powercolor or palit), onboard sound, COOLERMASTER HAF 922 MID TOWER BLACK GAMING PC CASE, FSP 700W Quiet Quad Rail PSU, ARCTIC COOLING FREEZER 7 PRO QUIET INTEL CPU COOLER

Worth it? overboard or not enough??? I had thought of looking at the Intel i7 CPU but the Quad was the cheaper option by nearly £200

thoughts plz?

 

[mp260767]

i'd go with a AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) setup for around the same price.

EDIT: checked and the i7 system would come out around £100 dearer, but could drop some of that by going with just the 1 hard disk instead of 2 in the spec u listed.

could always reduce the psu to 500-650w put the 750 to allow you another 4870 if wanted at a later date.


EDIT2 : go with the corsair 550w psu and the antec 300 gaming case instead of the HAF and it would come in around £860 .

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £205.99 (£179.12)

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £143.99 (£125.21)

HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - OEM (H487F1GP) £103.99 (£90.43)

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM + Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher (66I-03525) £99.99 (£86.95)

Corsair TX 750W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-750TXUK) £95.99 (£83.47)

Coolermaster HAF 922 Case - Black (No PSU) £94.99 (£82.60)

Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (TR3X6G1600C9) £78.99 (£68.69)

Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (WD5001AALS) £44.99 (£39.12)

Titan TTC-NK85TZ Fenrir CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/LGA775/LGA1366) £33.99
(£29.56)

Sony Optiarc AD-7241S 24x DVD±RW SATA Lightscribe Optical Drive (Black) - OEM £18.99
(£16.51)

Sub Total : £801.66
Shipping : £12.50
VAT : £122.12
Total : £936.28

 

[Cronus4771]

thanks for that

The specs are for a bought machine. When I priced the specs to build there was only around £40 difference and although I built the last one, I'm a little nervous doing it again.

Did a respec with the AMD chip you recommended, was only £788 - very tempting.

Thanks for the i7 build but wanted to keep it below £900, if went for around a grand it would be 4890 cards instead of 4870.

The i7 would be want I want so it will last, but not convinced they are worth it.

 

[mp260767]

Thanks for the i7 build but wanted to keep it below £900, if went for around a grand it would be 4890 cards instead of 4870.

did you see the edits i made ?, you can have an i7 with a decent psu for the 4870, the antec 300 gaming case, but only 1 hard drive for £860, roughly the same as the q9550.

 

[Cronus4771]

I saw and you got me thinking - dont really need to HDD, but fancy a 4890 instead of a 4870 (looking at the XFX 1GB XXX version for £150ish).

Will the Antec 300 be able to handle 2 ATI cards if I look to add another later - a lot of reviews say its big enough, but not big, if you get my drift. The other alternative I thought of was a Antec 900, but they are only slightly cheaper than the HAF. But basically all I want is a good looking case that will keep everything cool, so a 300 may do.

Wanted to stick with a 750W PSU if I go for the self-build as I may want to go for the dual graphics. As for mobo, I was looking at the ASUS P6T SE around the same price as the Gigabyte board you mentioned, I haven't yet look at te differences, but I like ASUS boards, the last two where ASUS, with my first being Gigabyte (no issues with any of them that wasn't a factory fault)

Of course I could chuck the whole thing and stick with an older CPU - probably the Phenom x4 black edition now instead of the intel. Still contemplating the whole thing.

 

[mp260767]

being as its for gaming i'd deffo go with the quad core amd.

came up with a few changes to go amd, stick with everything else in the previous spec save for the cpu/mobo/memory and gfx card, so you keep the 750w psu and haf case.

mobo listed has 2 pci-e slots at x16 rather than 1x16 and 1x8 and comes in under £900.

If your not bothered on the pci-e speed then the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard at £104.99 inc VAT (£91.30 ex VAT) would do the job and knock the price down by £38.

XFX ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £145.98 (£126.94)

AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail £145.98
(£126.94)

Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £142.99 (£124.34)

Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX) £60.00 (£52.17)

 

[Cronus4771]

.
Asus Crosshair III Formula AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £142.99 (£124.34)

Corsair XMS3 DHX 4GB DDR3 1333C9DHX Twin3X (2x2GB) (TW3X4G1333C9DHX) £60.00 (£52.17)

Still going to stick with 6-8GB RAM. EDIT scratch that, it has to be 4 or 8

How about this Asus Mobo instead - slightly cheaper

Asus M4A79T Deluxe AMD 790FX (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard - £127