Wanted - hardware for complete system upgrade

[Munty]

Howdy folks. After a lengthy absence and a total halt on almost all of my various projects I'm back for a pre-xmas thread to try and get hold of the components I'm going to need for a complete system upgrade!

First off there are a few things I already have which will stay so for compatability's sake I'll list them first.

Will be keeping;
Radeon HD 4870
standard CDD (is there any good reason to ever upgrade these?)

Will be wanting;
New mobo (want to mount 2 graphic cards in xfire)
CPU (thinking about one of the 2nd gen i5 processors but will be steered by cost and advice from you guys!)
6-8GB of DDR3 RAM
Possibly at some point another HD 4870 to run in xfire unless it's better to upgrade instead (eitehr way advice on that!)
New PSU, guessing 600W will probably be good enough for the system I end up with but advice on yield and manufacturers appreciated)

Can't think of anything else.

If anyone is selling anything that will fit this build I'd certainly consider it as it'll keep costs down. Otherwise any advice on what would suit me best and where I can get it from would be much appreciated. Remember I'm in the UK so I don't want to spend a fortune on shipping.

Currently my funding is around the zero mark but basically I want to get a ballpark figure NOW so I can get hold of the cash to upgrade all in a oner. I know trickle-upgrading often ends in tears as you never REALLY finish due to earlier purchases becoming obsolete later on in the build!

May well build a custom case once I have it all so you could even get a build-thread from it (though I should finish the laptop first I guess :s

Anyway thanks in advance for any adivce, it's all appreciated

[Fuganater]

Is there an i5 mobo that takes DDR2?

[Aldersan]

I don't know for sure, but i think the latest ddr2 board I saw was for a core2duo, idk if they make them for the i- cores since ddr3 has become so cheap

[Munty]

fair enough, guess I've been out of the right circles a while Consider updating my request to something that'll give me between 6-8GB of DDR3 with an i5 processor then. Of course given that price WILL be an issue, I may need to adjust some of these parameters later but that's why I'm asking here after all!

[Munty]

I seem to be turning up some pretty nice bundles on eBay today, some advice on these would be nice. Also some more questions!

Turns out I can get hold of a second 4870 pretty cheaply these days so running 2 in crossfire is certainly doable. What sort of performance would I see from 2 of these older cards compared to splashing out on a single newer one though? I'm pretty sure the former option will give me better performance for the money spent but will it cover new titles? It should do right? I'm not 100% on how crossfire utilises both cards so advice would be good. Also, the link itself, I assume it's flexible so it doesn't matter if the mobo has one or two spaces between the two PCI-E slots right?

On processors, I've found a few bundles with an i5 chip and 8GB of DDR3 memory for a little over £200 so I checked out the cost of i7 bundles too. Turned up some more results for an additional £100 which I could conceivably run to but is it worth it in the long run? Obviously these are 1st gen chips and there's already a 2nd out so how long will it be before these things are getting replaced in peoples gaming machines? And is the i7 £100 better than the i5? It's just for gaming but I do like everything maxed out.

Been looking at PSUs and have found some 600W corsair ones for around the £50-60 mark. Is that something worth pursuing or is there something better out there for equivalent money? Plus how much will I actually need if I'm running the most powerful option I'm considering. That'd be 2x4870's in crossfire, an i7 chip and 8GB of DDR3 ram. I want to have a surplus of power so if it's worth getting more than 600 please tell me now as I'm itching for an upgrade and the PSU will actually be the first thing I get!

Cheers again, T

[Fuganater]

I seem to be turning up some pretty nice bundles on eBay today, some advice on these would be nice. Also some more questions!

Turns out I can get hold of a second 4870 pretty cheaply these days so running 2 in crossfire is certainly doable. What sort of performance would I see from 2 of these older cards compared to splashing out on a single newer one though? I'm pretty sure the former option will give me better performance for the money spent but will it cover new titles? It should do right? I'm not 100% on how crossfire utilises both cards so advice would be good. Also, the link itself, I assume it's flexible so it doesn't matter if the mobo has one or two spaces between the two PCI-E slots right?

On processors, I've found a few bundles with an i5 chip and 8GB of DDR3 memory for a little over £200 so I checked out the cost of i7 bundles too. Turned up some more results for an additional £100 which I could conceivably run to but is it worth it in the long run? Obviously these are 1st gen chips and there's already a 2nd out so how long will it be before these things are getting replaced in peoples gaming machines? And is the i7 £100 better than the i5? It's just for gaming but I do like everything maxed out.

Been looking at PSUs and have found some 600W corsair ones for around the £50-60 mark. Is that something worth pursuing or is there something better out there for equivalent money? Plus how much will I actually need if I'm running the most powerful option I'm considering. That'd be 2x4870's in crossfire, an i7 chip and 8GB of DDR3 ram. I want to have a surplus of power so if it's worth getting more than 600 please tell me now as I'm itching for an upgrade and the PSU will actually be the first thing I get!

Cheers again, T

Just FYI, your GPU is going to bottlekneck your system.

What i5 system? What i7 system? People say the i5 2500k is enough because it overclocks so well but if you have the money get the i7 2600k. I don't reccomend getting any processer unless its the k version. With the boost and being able to OC you will have a sweet system. I run my 2600k at 4.4 or 4.6 every day. (WC system) But with a good air CPU cooler you can do that too.

If you get a newer GPU, which I think you should, You should get a 650w or 700w so you can Xfire later if you want to. My 750w 80+ Silver PSU is having problems now running my i7 OC'd, 2x GTX 560Ti's (sometimes OC'd) and the other normal devices. I'm uping to a 850 80+ Silver. Also get modular so you can manage the extra cables better. AKA not install them lol.

[Munty]

Thanks Fug, I'd been wondering about the GPU as it was top of the range when I got it but that was some time ago! What sort of recommendations would you make now? I don't really know how the GPU market looks at the moment but I'm guessing the big question is still Nvidia or Radeon so what's on top these days? Obviously replacing the graphics card will knock up my end price so it may be that I need to get that a little later but I can live with the 4870 for now I guess.

A quick question on OSs, what advice is there for someone who despises anything later than XP? I know it's starting to reach it's limitations for use now as there's no DX11 and some games aren't even compatible these days. I just HATE the interface on Vista and 7, plus I don't own copies... Seriously, XP allows me to do most things I like but my understanding of the newer systems is of a level that I struggle to change resolutions :s

As for a PSU, what's a good manufacturer to go for? I just checked up on 800W Corsair options which are creeping towards £90 and that's an awful lot for my pocket but I don't want to end up with something that'll compromise the rest of the system. Thoughts?

[Aldersan]

It sounds like most people's go-to GPU these days, at least for nvidia, its the 560Ti. Pretty solid card from what I've heard, and not the super high price tag of other high end cards.

Honestly, as far as OS's go, I'd say get a copy of 7 and get used to it. Besides the fact that there's no DX11, I believe Microsoft is going to stop supporting XP altogether in the near future (don't quote me, I think I read it somewhere a while ago) And while yes, the interfaces have changed significantly, a lot of things are still similar if not streamlined, and google magic can find anything you can't

PSU-wise, I've got an Corsair AX850 myself, and while a bit pricey, the fact that it's completely modular is extremely nice. No more messing with cables until you want to! I haven't had any problems with the PSU or Corsair, so it seems like a good brand. Another possibility would be Thermaltake.

[diluzio91]

DONT LISTEN TO THEM! lol... nvidia fanboys... stick with your ATI roots!! 6950 1gb is the darling card of the ati side, competes with the 560ti on price, and is a bit more powerful.

Also, i've got an i5 2500k that i would consider selling when you're ready to build. I'm an i7 man. (Stupid need to encode video, yeah, i actually do that. lol). So i could sell it to you at a decent price.

Depending how long it'll be i might be able to hook you up with a sweet cooler too. (prolimatech mega)...

As for OCZ power supplies, they are good quality and reliable. I might look for a bit higher wattage, but only if you're gonna oc and maybe get dual gfx cards. I'm running a tx 850 from corsair with my sig specs.

7 is the way to go, 8 is looking like a pile of slop.

Have you thought about an SSD? HUGE benefit to any system if you can sneak it in the budget.

At this point you COULD go with a gen 1 i series... but... its kind dated at this point, and with sandy bridge-e, pile driver, and ivy bridge looming over the corner within the next year its not really worth it imho.

[Munty]

Thanks for the feedback guys, now I'm more confused though

Doesn't seem to be a huge difference in price between the 560ti and the Radeon 6950, what are the performances like? It'll definitely be something I wait a while to buy as it's looking to set me back between £150-200 unless someone here knows of a better place to shop?!

Regarding the i core processors can someone please give me a quick lesson in what the friggin difference is as it's getting a bit much now!

I know there were the original i3, i5 and i7 chips and I have a basic understanding of what sandybridge and all that jazz means. As far as I can tell, the numbers changed between 1st and 2nd gen (in that the i7 2600 went to 2960 or something) but is there anything else I'm missing? what exactly does the k mean as it still seems to be 1st gen but is being flagged as a notable improvement over the ones without the suffix.

diluzio, is it only the CPU you're looking to sell as I'm obviously after a mobo as well and I've actually never fitted my own chip so that may be a bit of a scary virgin step for me! The 2500k is kind of what I was expecting to end up with when I started this thread though so I'm certainly interested. Please let me know if you have a price in mind and when you're thinking of parting with it. Feel free to post here or PM.

With the last 2 posts trying to sell me corsair 850's AND that being the first manufacturer I looked up independently as well... I reckon that'll probably be in my shopping basket relatively soon (may even be able to spring for one this week) Does anyone know of a good place to shop for it if this is what I go for? I haven't been able to find any options much under £100 yet so anything cheaper would be good. Remember I'm in uk, sorry I'm being lazy and not converting to dollars for you yanks but I'm sure you'll figure it out

I'm still feeling a little sick at the prospect of windows 7 but I guess I'll still have this computer running a pretty good XP setup so maybe I need to move with the times. Of course there are the financial implications of upgrading as I don't have a copy of 7 and I'm guessing it won't come cheap (no matter how crap I think it is!)

As a parting request, can I get some clarification on the pros and cons of SSDs? I've read into it before but it seemed a little ahead of it's time for me. Still quite expensive and I didn't really get what the advantages would be. Any help on that would be awesome.

And finally. How about motherboards? I've never hand-picked one before so I don't even know who makes them. What should I look out for and how do I make sure I get the right one for my machine?