Time to upgrade (part 2)

[geekyadz]

Ages ago I enquired about my mate upgrading his computer. Unfortunately, we never got around to it. Call it lazyitus on both of our parts.

However, he has now reached a point where he now has to upgrade his motherboard, memory and processor cos I wont allow him to upgrade his virtually out-of-date (current) motherboard (he wants to spend £119 on a new processor for a socket that is now obsolete; Ive told him there is no point) to play Battlefield 3. His system is not liking it, and its "laggy as hell".

So, what we have decided on is a new graphics card as he is currently using a Nvidia 9400GT (the 1gb version) to try and help his current rig out until he saves up some extra dosh, and if it doesnt work in his current system then it will be put by until he gets the rest of the system. He is thinking about purchasing this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-039-HS

Motherboard Im thinking of: Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P (rev revision unknown at this stage) http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3912&dl=#ov

Memory: Corsair Memory Vengeance Black 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz (dual channel, 2x 4GB)

Processor (for now): Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz

Can I have some opinions, and what you would change if anything? Personally I would go for an Intel Core i7 2600k 3.4GHz, but his current budget wouldnt allow it (which I hope will change soon)

As I say though, this time he is getting whatever is recommended

[Dark Mantis]

Hi again,

The first thing I would want to point out is that the graphics card he has been looking at is a very capable card but HIS has an extremely bad record for aftersales service so if you don't mind taking the gamble then it is probably a good buy but if you have any problems with it don't say you weren't warned!

The rest of the upgrade package that you have listed I would certainly agree with as they are al quality components that have been proven to work well together. Tio be honest the difference between the i5 and the i7 is not going to be that  noticable anyway unless he is doing something that requires a lot of hyperthreading.

[geekyadz]

Hi Dark Mantis.

Was kinda hoping you would pay a visit, as Im not too "hot" on the Intel scene

Graphics card: If that manufacture are kak with warranty/support then I will try to find a card thats about the same spec or better (and dare I say, cheaper), unless you can recommend one that shouldnt need upgrading for a while?

EDIT: he has now brought a card that someone else has recommended, and ironically it was one I was eyeing up for him anyway

i5 or i7: well, as far as Im aware he mostly plays games. In fact Ive sent him a link to this thread so I hope that he actually states what he does (this would also help me out). Oh and he likes DJ programs a lot too

Just a silly question now but is the 1155 socket going to go out of fashion soon like the 775 has? Thats about my only concern as there seems to be loads of sockets for Intel, hence why Im triple checking everything.

I know the memory is good as both yourself and Absic have recommended it for myself (when I get my act together and upgrade my board - speaking of which I now need a memory upgrade to play MW3 when that come out (apparently), but thats another issue....) so I cant see any problems there

[absic]

Hi cchaos,

My personal view is that the i5 & i7 chips will be around for a little while yet, especially when you compare them to the current crop of Bulldozer CPU's which haven't quite lived up to expectations.

I see your friend has ordered a new GPU I was going to recommend an ATI 6870. My son recently got an MSI HD 6870 Hawk and he has been very impressed with it. Although it came already over clocked he has managed to push it even higher and the temps have stayed pretty good. He's running it on the AMD platform though and I don't know if that will make much difference.

[geekyadz]

Hi Absic.

Ah, thats kinda music to my ears, apart from the fact Im a bit of an AMD fanboy myself

That sounds like the one I was eyeing up for him; it wasnt too different from the HIS one. I was just waiting to see if anyone knew anything different; the other person doing the recommendation had proved my "feelings" correct so I told my mate, and it seems he is happy with that card too (I dont actually know, but for sure he has brought some kind of graphics card)

[Dark Mantis]

On the whole there isn't a great deal to choose between the different graphics cards in a particular price group. Personally I prefer the Radeons as I feel they give better value and are more stable at the moment but there is no great gulf between them and Nvidia. Mainly it just comes down to deciding on a budget and then see what is available in your preferential range for that price. It is only things like the aftersales service and backup that differs between the makes.

[teknology9]

Hi,

I have the Sapphire 6870 Vapor X which I think is very good and I could overclock it if I wanted to, looking forward to the 7000 series of cards though.


Teknology9

[Dark Mantis]

Me too teknology and they shouldn't be long now at all. Just hoping they have a better reception than BullDozer! If anything I always think of the graphics side as their strongpoint recently. 3D without glasses!!   17 eyefinity off one card!

[geekyadz]

3D without glasses? Whats next?

[Dark Mantis]

Thought control.....get rid of the keyboard and mouse!

[geekyadz]

Well, we have speech recognition

Anyway, my mate has now received the graphics card, and I would say that he is very happy with it:

i got it running on 1gig core clock and a 1.25 ghz memory clock and it is still asking for more

However, he is now concerned about the current PSU so can I have some advice as to what to look out for?

[Dark Mantis]

Do you mean he wants advice on which PSU to buy?

Never buy a cheap and nasty power supply they can go wrong and take out all you other expensive components at the same time. Not only that just because it is marked 600W often they are nowhere near that rating. Purchase a good make like Seasonic, CWT, Corsair, Thermaltake, Enermax, Gigabyte, Coolermaster, Antec, etc and try and get one with a single 12V rail if possible. I would advise you to get one of about 650W minimum depending on your hardware demands. Of course it all depends on your budget but it is also a good idea to go for a modular one and that way you don't have a lot of extra cabling to hide that you are not using anyway.

[teknology9]

Hi,

I agree with DM, it also depends on what your future requirements are likely to be. Here is a PSU calculator which may help you decide:


http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Teknology9

[geekyadz]

Ok.

Thanks for the advice so far, now to the nitty gritty

My mate wants a non-modular one (meh, I know) and has declared that he will have the above components I asked about in this thread. He is planning on using a DVD RW or two (probably SATA) and a SATA hard drive.

He also claims that the graphics card has a power connector that is "8 pins" (Im assuming thats 2x4 as I havent seen it, and getting a pic out of him is like getting blood from a stone at the moment). Im confused as I thought you only need that when youre using the card with Crossfire?

So, on those grounds, Im stuck with a choice of two that the moment:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/600w-psu-corsair-builder-series-cmpsu-600cxv2uk-80-eff-80-plus-eps-12v-quiet-fan-atx-v23 or http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-psu-ocz-technology-zs-series-zs650w-uk-86-eff-80-plus-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-135mm-quiet- though I think the OCZ will be the "one to get", as long as its a good brand. Ive seen them about but I dont actually know what they are like though.

Actually, my personal choice would be a modular. Would be any good? http://www.ebuyer.com/234912-thermaltake-675w-toughpower-xt-modular-psu-tpx-675m

[geekyadz]

Well, hes got his rig and seems happy enough with it. Thanks for the help guys