Help needed updating 2008 build!!

[manosteel00]

Hello,

I'm looking to refresh what I have and was hoping some of you could help out.

First off, I'm considering scrapping this for an iMac. I love my PC and love gaming, but I really only play COD and WOW which are available on mac's or I can just use Windows on the machine. Totally bad idea or no?

I want to purchase the 27" Apple Cinema Screen and use it for my computer (good call?). I'm looking to update the processor (unless I should wait until Sandybridge is out?), graphics, motherboard, and memory.

Any help would be well appreciated!

Here is the build I have right now:


GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor BX80562Q6600
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
ZALMAN VF1000 2 Ball VGA Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
HIS H487F512P Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007671%2050001157%20600095610&IsNodeId=1&name=LGA%201155 <---The Sandy Bridge is out.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833.html <---- Intel Sandy Bridge review/benchmarks

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i5-2600k-i5-2500k-and-core-i3-2100-tested <--- Another great review on this cpu

 

[alexinnes]

Hello,

I'm looking to refresh what I have and was hoping some of you could help out.

First off, I'm considering scrapping this for an iMac. I love my PC and love gaming, but I really only play COD and WOW which are available on mac's or I can just use Windows on the machine. Totally bad idea or no?

I want to purchase the 27" Apple Cinema Screen and use it for my computer (good call?). I'm looking to update the processor (unless I should wait until Sandybridge is out?), graphics, motherboard, and memory.

Any help would be well appreciated!

Here is the build I have right now:


GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 LGA 775 Intel X48 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor BX80562Q6600
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
ZALMAN VF1000 2 Ball VGA Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
HIS H487F512P Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
NZXT TEMPEST Crafted Series CS-NT-TEM-B Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...

In my opinion, i would stick with windows. This is only because you get more for you money with non-mac products. This is just my opinion thought, i would love a apple macbook for web browsing and things like that. But because i don't have one i hate them
It's all about preference i would say.

The sandybridge processor look very nice and Why_Me linked the ones i would have linked also.

 

[Zenthar]

Your current build is not half-bad, any specific reason you want/need to upgrade?

My suggestion would be to get an SSD for your OS (could be reused in next build too), OC your CPU if not already done. If you add a 2nd screen or get a better resolution one, you could also add a 2nd 4870.

Given you already have a quad core CPU, simple OC would give you a free "upgrade" that could last you long enough to wait for Ivy Bridge (22nm Sandy Bridge, probably the successor to the LGA1366 CPUs).

 

[geofelt]

Why do you think you want to change?

Is there something that is not working well for you?

The apple 27" display looks like a fine one, but it is only 2560 x 1440, and the price is about $1000.
I think that is a decent idea if the price does not bother you.

I think I would go instead for a dell or HP 30" display at 2560 x 1600 for about the same price instead.

Realize that you may have to upgrade your graphics card do drive the added pixels to the same performance level as you have now.

If you upgrade the processsor, by all means go with sandy bridge; nothing else comes close. You will need a P67 motherboard also.

For a simple refresh, get a SSD; it will make everything feel snappier.
Gen3 SSD's are due out soon, offering a bit better performance, and lower cost per gb.

If you have not yet done so, get windows-7; it is much better.

 

[manosteel00]

Your current build is not half-bad, any specific reason you want/need to upgrade?

My suggestion would be to get an SSD for your OS (could be reused in next build too), OC your CPU if not already done. If you add a 2nd screen or get a better resolution one, you could also add a 2nd 4870.

Given you already have a quad core CPU, simple OC would give you a free "upgrade" that could last you long enough to wait for Ivy Bridge (22nm Sandy Bridge, probably the successor to the LGA1366 CPUs).

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Perhaps I'll wait a while. I'm really pumped about the SB but at the same time, I experience no problems with my current build.

I think I'll wait to see how much I enjoy my new Macbook and see if I want to go with an iMac about a year from now. However, I'd like to get an AMAZING monitor and want the hardware to support it. So, perhaps I can yank out my old 4870, put a new 6950 in and add an SSD. I also want to boost things up to 8GB of RAM.

This should put me in a good spot I hope!

Here's what I'm looking at doing:

SAPPHIRE 100312SR Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Some monitor, most likely 1900x1080 in 27" or 24".

How's that sound?

 

[manosteel00]

Hoping to buy this today! Only thing that worries me is that my 750w power supply won't be enough for the GPU. I'm also going to toss in another 4GB of RAM.

 

[geofelt]

Hoping to buy this today! Only thing that worries me is that my 750w power supply won't be enough for the GPU. I'm also going to toss in another 4GB of RAM.

750w is fine. A 6850 needs 500w with two pci-e 6 pin connectors:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6950/Pages/amd-radeon-hd-6950-overview.aspx#3

 

[Zenthar]

Hoping to buy this today! Only thing that worries me is that my 750w power supply won't be enough for the GPU. I'm also going to toss in another 4GB of RAM.

I'm pretty sure that PSU can even support two 6850 is XFire so don't worry

 

[manosteel00]

What would be the best GPU option in my situation?

Should I go with a 6850 from ATI or one of the new nVidea cards like a GTX580?

 

[Zenthar]

For up to 1920x1200 a single HD6950 would be enough, as games require more power in a few years, you can add a 2nd one since the rig supports XFire.

As for an NVidia solution, you could either check on the GTX 460 or the GTX 570, but I'm not sure there is any benefit to do so except perhaps the addition of PhysX.