Yet Another Help Needed With Upgrade Thread

namelessguy

Hi all,

My main machine is coming up 3 1/2 years old and it's really noticeable when I've installed some recent games. Nothing too graphic intensive but I'm hoping to play STWOR and The Witcher 2 later this year so I think it's time to upgrade. This is the current system:

OS: Windows Vista
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 x2 6000+
RAM: 4GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 375MHZ
Motherboard: Microstar International MS7368
Graphics: ATI Radeon HD2600 Pro
Hard Drive: 500gb
Audio: Creative X-Fi Audio Processor

Can anyone make any recommendations? The plan is to reuse as much as possible ie RAM, audio and use the hard drive as an internal back up. I'm leaning towards AMD so I can go the crossfire route and keep the graphics card.

Monotype

So you want a new machine? Most AMD boards are new DDR3 so the ram won't be that useful. You might be able to get something from selling it.

What budget do you have in mind?

I would definitely recommend against cross-firing the 2600 as it is the weakest part of your system at this stage. If anything, it should be the one part that should have priority in replacement. If money was tight, maybe you could get a new card and the get a new system when AMD's new platform is out (supposedly soonish).

sink

If money is tight the only thing you can really upgrade is your graphics card. A new CPU will require a new motherboard which will require new RAM. What is your budget?

Serephucus

Before we can help you with anything: budget, budget, budget.

As others have said, if money is very tight, the one thing you should get rid of is that video card. It's by far the weakest part of your system.

namelessguy

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm trying to keep it under €1000 and this is what I came up with earlier:

CPU Cooler: Arctic Alpine 11 775/1156€ 5.76 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28344&agid=297
CPU: Intel Core i7-875K Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 € 304.58 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=35658&agid=1300
Graphics Card: Palit Geforce GTX 570, 1280MB, PCI-Express € 279.69 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43166&agid=707
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express € 298.14 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41641&agid=1165
HDD: SEAGATE Barracuda Green 2TB 5900.3 SATA 3 6Gb/s 64MB 8,9cm (3,5") € 71.43 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp?agid=686&search.sKey=&rp=5
Motherboard: Point of View H57-Ci3, mini-ITX, DDR3, Sockel 1156 € 118.87 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32686&agid=1402
Motherboard: ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi, MB, LGA1156, Ci3&Ci5&Ci7, mini-ITX, DDR3, PCIEX16, mini-PCIE, WiFi € 103.57 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32772&agid=1402
OS: Windows 7 € 84.33 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29181&agid=185
PSU: XFX PRO850W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply € 87.43 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42450&agid=1631
RAM: 8GB-Kit GEIL Value PC3-10660 DDR3-1333 CL9 € 142.00 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38482&agid=1192

Any ideas on where I could make savings?

Jonny7

namelessguy wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm trying to keep it under €1000 and this is what I came up with earlier:

CPU Cooler: Arctic Alpine 11 775/1156€ 5.76 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28344&agid=297
CPU: Intel Core i7-875K Box 8192Kb, LGA1156 € 304.58 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=35658&agid=1300
Graphics Card: Palit Geforce GTX 570, 1280MB, PCI-Express € 279.69 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43166&agid=707
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express € 298.14 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41641&agid=1165
HDD: SEAGATE Barracuda Green 2TB 5900.3 SATA 3 6Gb/s 64MB 8,9cm (3,5") € 71.43 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articlesearch.jsp?agid=686&search.sKey=&rp=5
Motherboard: Point of View H57-Ci3, mini-ITX, DDR3, Sockel 1156 € 118.87 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32686&agid=1402
Motherboard: ZOTAC H55-ITX WiFi, MB, LGA1156, Ci3&Ci5&Ci7, mini-ITX, DDR3, PCIEX16, mini-PCIE, WiFi € 103.57 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=32772&agid=1402
OS: Windows 7 € 84.33 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=29181&agid=185
PSU: XFX PRO850W Core Edition Full Wired Power Supply € 87.43 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42450&agid=1631
RAM: 8GB-Kit GEIL Value PC3-10660 DDR3-1333 CL9 € 142.00 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=38482&agid=1192

Any ideas on where I could make savings?

Quite a few incompatible bits and pieces in there

For 1000 euros you can build a great gaming machine

the chip I recommend is the i5 2500k - best value performance chip at the moment

graphics card - have a look at this chart to get a fair idea
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6950_1_GB/22.html

the 6950 and the nvidia 560 ti are around 200 euros at the mo

seyeM

A P67 / 2500k combination makes much more sense - better price, performance and upgradeability. The 1156 sockets are dead.

- Do you plan to reuse your DVD drive and case?
- What resolution do you game at?
- Do you plan to add another graphics card in the future? -i.e. get one GTX 570 now and add another for SLI later?
- 8Gb Ram is considered overkill for games at the mo, you could get 4 gigs for €30-€40

Monotype

There's a mini-itx 1155 H67 board here.
http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=41293

As recommended above, the 2500K is a great CPU but really needs a P67 board to get the most out of it, so you'd be looking at mATX or ATX boards.

namelessguy

seyeM wrote: »

A P67 / 2500k combination makes much more sense - better price, performance and upgradeability. The 1156 sockets are dead.

- Do you plan to reuse your DVD drive and case?
- What resolution do you game at?
- Do you plan to add another graphics card in the future? -i.e. get one GTX 570 now and add another for SLI later?
- 8Gb Ram is considered overkill for games at the mo, you could get 4 gigs for €30-€40

-Yes
-Usually the highest I can set it without the game becoming sluggish
-I've no plans to

Ok:

Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-H67MA-UD2H-B3, Intel H67, mATX

CPU
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155

Graphics Card
HIS HD 6950 Fan GDDR5 1024MB Native HDMI 2xDVI 2xMiniDP
or
ASUS EAH6950/2DI2S/2GD5, AMD Radeon HD 6950, 2GB, PCI- Express

RAM
4GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3-1333 CL9

namelessguy

Ok, having finally got the money together to get this, and having looked at other threads I've settled on this build. Would someone mind taking a look over it to see if everythign looks ok, or if there's anywhere I can save some money?

Graphics Card: XFX RADEON HD 6950 800M 1GB DDR5 DUAL MINIDP HDMI DUAL DVI €210.11
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155 €183.70
HD 1: OCZ SSD Vertex 2 120GB 8,9cm (3,5") €141.74
OS: Windows 7 €85.84
Motherboard: ASUS P8H67-V Rev 3.0, Sockel 1155, ATX, DDR3 €85.67
HD2: Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2TB, SATA 6Gb/s €67.19
Bluray: Samsung SH-B123L Retail €57.63
PSU: Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W €52.04
Case: Super-Flower SF465T1-BK, ATX, ohne Netzteil €49.92
Sound Card: Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio (bulk) - 30SB079200000 €33.98
RAM: 8GB-Kit G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9 €33.65

Also, would I need a fan? Any help is appreciated.

Monotype

Don't get the Vertex 2. It's obsolete and OCZ's drives aren't great.
Crucial M4 would be my pick.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46110

Hitachi wouldn't really be my pick of HDD, especially since it's out of stock.
1.5TB F3
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46238
or a 2TB Green (a little bit slower than the F3)
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46255

As was recommended before, a P67 or Z68 board will be better. The Z68 is only €4 dearer here for a few extra features but the P67 is there if you want to save the money.
http://www2.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46922
If you need more PCI-E slots, you can get a higher end board.

Do you need a sound card? Sound onboard is good enough for most tasks nowadays unless you're a specialist or fussy.

Edit: That 1.5TB is a green drive too. 1TB F3 is faster.
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152