Yet Another Upgrade Thread!

TheSkateyBird

TheSkateyBird

TheSkateyBird

Associate
Joined
4 Apr 2011
Posts
775
Location
Kent
Evening Guys,

I recently posted in the GPU forums regarding a replacement for an old card:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=24975866#post24975866

There were mentions of going for a bigger upgrade was mentioned. I'm currently running an AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.6 Ghz on an basic MSI board with a bordering on dead HD 6770.

The graphics upgrade is going to happen however I've managed to scrape together enough for a serious upgrade. I'm looking for a new CPU, MB, GPU and Monitor for around £450-£500 that'll thrash the pants off my current setup for a while to come.

Suggestions much appreciated,
Cheers :)
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - OEM £173.99
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T) with FREE GAMES £149.99
1 x BenQ GL2460 24" Widescreen LED Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £109.99
Total : £565.96 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Drop down on the GPU to get a 24" in there, motherboard comes with a cooler.
I'd recommend getting Micky's spec, with either a 670 or 7970 & waiting to get a monitor.
 
Well Micky's spec looks good, hopefully the monitor will come soon so I can get the full benefit of the 670, currently running and 1600x900 Aoc from about 4 years ago.
 
The 670's a nice performer, but not in the same league as the 7970. Unless you're playing old games only, you'll get better results with an 8320/7970 and more future proofing (newer games using more cores, and more VRAM for newer games).
 
As far as I was aware AMD shouldn't even be considered for gaming anymore? Plus the piledriver is supposedly a heat generating tool for things like virtual machines but this rig is only used for gaming as my Mac has taken over on productivity.

Just based off what I've read on past threads.
 
mickyflinn said:
If your not going to overclock your cpu then this is a good option that includes a Monitor.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3330 3.00GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £149.99
1 x HIS HD 7870 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H787QN2G2M) £149.99
1 x Packard Bell Viseo 243D 24" Widescreen LED Monitor - Black £107.99
1 x MSI H87M-E33 Intel H87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Micro ATX Motherboard £71.99
Total : £494.05 (includes shipping : £11.75).

Click to expand...

That spec is fundamentally wrong..

A Ivybridge CPU with a Haswell motherboard, Tut, Tut!

TheSkateyBird said:
As far as I was aware AMD shouldn't even be considered for gaming anymore? Plus the piledriver is supposedly a heat generating tool for things like virtual machines but this rig is only used for gaming as my Mac has taken over on productivity.

Just based off what I've read on past threads.
Click to expand...

It should definatly be considered. If your on a budget and want to overclock the 8320 is a great choice but if you can afford an intel chip (i5) (and don't want to overclock) that is the better option IMO (others will disagree).
 
After all these years having an AMD and not mind, since I've been a member here it's always been said that Intel i5s are the best for gaming so I'm going to scrape together and go for Micky's first spec unless there would be a massive difference between the GTX 670 and HD 7870? I am comfortable overclocking GPUs and CPUs if it close the performance gap to allow the monitor to fit in.

How's this? Or too many cheaper end parts?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x MSI HD 7870 Black Knight 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R7870-2GD5T) with FREE GAMES £149.99
1 x MSI Z87-G43 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £95.99
1 x BenQ G2250 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £83.99
Total : £509.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



I could then OC the CPU and GPU to get a bit more kick out of it.
 
Last edited:
TheSkateyBird said:
After all these years having an AMD and not mind, since I've been a member here it's always been said that Intel i5s are the best for gaming so I'm going to scrape together and go for Micky's first spec unless there would be a massive difference between the GTX 670 and HD 7870? I am comfortable overclocking GPUs and CPUs if it close the performance gap to allow the monitor to fit in.
Click to expand...

Well Bulldozer was rubbish, thats why AMD CPU's get a bad rap (and rightly so) but piledriver is a pretty good CPU and has closed the gap on the i5's.. Though for overall consistant performance the i5 is the way to go..

If you considering the 670 id personally go for this 7950 for the same price:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **Voltage Unlocked** £185.99
Total : £196.79 (includes shipping : £9.00).



And this is coming from a guy who has a 670. :D
 
Yes, Bulldozer was a massive disappointment, and was launched when practically no games could use more than 4 threads. Things are a bit different now, and Piledriver's a lot better too, especially when overclocked.

I would go for an 8320 and 7970 over an i5 with a lower performing graphics card. If with the same graphics card, it's debatable which is best.
 
I have the 8350, and an 3770k with the same 7870s in crossfire i actually get about 5-10 fps more in BF3 on the 8350 than the i7, with using both i find next to no difference between the two, however if you look at benchmarking you will find a difference
 
Right, thrown this together:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795F3G2M) £173.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-8 Eight Core 8320 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £119.99
1 x BenQ G2250 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black £89.99
1 x ASRock 970 Extreme3 R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £65.99
Total : £462.55 (includes shipping : £10.50).



Is there anything wrong with the Asrock as I'm a sucker for black or should I suck it up and go with the Asus?
 
For boards under £100 only look at the Asus EVO R2.0 for the 8320/50s. If you shop around you can get the Crosshair Formula Z (ROG, so red and black) for a decent price, but it's still well over £100 - it's the best AM3+ board there is though.
 
Alright, thanks for the advice. I'll have a little hunt but leaning to AMD after this. Regardless of colour. All of the pointers definitely help, haven't done a decent upgrade in over 3 years.
 
So after some looking around at benches and forum posts I noticed the FX 6350. Is this processor as viable as an alternative or is it only worth it if I go for FX 8320?

Also would the 6350 end up bottlenecking the HD 7970/50?

As a side note, managed to push my X4 to 3.8 whether that makes any difference when it comes to upgrading the GPU now and CPU/MB later?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom