Upgrading!

Rage474 · 12 Mar 2013 at 13:50

So it's been a while since I've upgraded, and would like a little help deciding what to get. I have a budget of up to £600.

I'll keep my current power supply, hdd and case (Coolermaster 690). So I need a motherboard, cpu, gpu and ram. I use it mostly for gaming and work.

Thanks in advance!

Rage474 · 12 Mar 2013 at 14:17

Thanks for your reply! My current power supply is a Coolermaster Real Power 1000w Modular Silent, so I reckon it should be able to handle most things? Also, I already have a Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler, which I think I should also still be able to use?

I've been looking at the Nvidia 660ti, as I've always gone with them in the past, is there much of a performance difference between it, and the 7950 you have posted?

Cheers

Rage474 · 12 Mar 2013 at 16:43

Hmm, well at the minute I'm happy with

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £85.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9) £47.99
Total : £345.37 (includes shipping : £9.50).

So right now it's just a toss up between a 7950 and 660ti, I'll be gaming at 1600x1050 on one monitor, with a secondary one just work and internet browsing.
Also, I think I may need low profile ram to fit my cooler in better.

Rage474 · 12 Mar 2013 at 22:45

Awesome! Alright, so I think I'm going to go for this:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Assassin's Creed III & FTP Currency £319.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £199.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £41.99
Total : £686.36 (includes shipping : £9.50).

It's a bit more than I had originally intended to spend, but I think it should turn out well.

Can anyone give it the once over before I commit?

Rage474 · 13 Mar 2013 at 10:58

Thanks a lot for the advice, but I think I'll go with the retail cpu, saving £12 just doesn't seem worth it to not get the full warranty and extras. The 7970 and 670 seem to be pretty evenly matched, I think I'll go for a 670 just due to personal preference

Rage474 · 13 Mar 2013 at 14:31

Cheers, but I don't need the cooler so I don't mind spending a wee bit more on the gpu to get what I want

. One thing which is concerning though, I've noticed the 670's need a 6 pin and a 6+2 pin pci connector, and I'm pretty sure I only have 2 6 pin's with my current PSU. Are these cables easy to come by, or is there an adaptor?

Rage474 · 13 Mar 2013 at 19:42

I think that I have this one:
http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2532
and also found an old 6pin to 8pin pci-e cable, along with a straight up 8pin pci-e cable, so I reckon I should be grand?

Also, thanks for the further advice, but I took the plunge and went for:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Assassin's Creed III & FTP Currency £339.95
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £112.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
Total : £694.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Going to be my first 'build', but I reckon it should go smoothly enough