First build - upgrading from rubbish PC...

[junaid96]

This is my first thread, so cut me some slack please

I am planning to build my own PC in about July/August time, and I have a couple of questions.

I currently have a Core 2 Duo @ 2.53 GHz, 3Gb DDR2 RAM, and *cough* no GPU *cough*.

For my CPU, I have chosen the new i7-2600k (I want K because I am planning to OC), which will cost me about £250.

What I was wondering was, should I opt for the i7-2500K, saving £100 to spend on something else? If so, what sort of % performance hit will I take, and what should I spend that saved £100 on?

I normally use my PC for:

Multi-tasking: Spotify, Explorer, Office 2010, a light CAD program, at least 5 tabs open in a browser, WLM, and a custom GUI.
Gaming: Combat Arms EU (although looking to play stuff a bit more graphically intensive like Crysis 2, Battlefield 3 etc.)

Also I am going to choose the HD 6950 2GB (about £150), which I will unlock to 6970. Later on (at least a year afterwards), I may run in CF with another 6950 if they go down in price. Is this a good GPU choice? What sort of FPS will I get on 1080p crysis on max settings, and is there a better GPU than the one I am going for? ( for roughly the same price)

Sorry if my post seems a little noobish - I'm very new to forums

 

[vibhas]

This is my first thread, so cut me some slack please

I am planning to build my own PC in about July/August time, and I have a couple of questions.

I currently have a Core 2 Duo @ 2.53 GHz, 3Gb DDR2 RAM, and *cough* no GPU *cough*.

For my CPU, I have chosen the new i7-2600k (I want K because I am planning to OC), which will cost me about £250.

What I was wondering was, should I opt for the i7-2500K, saving £100 to spend on something else? If so, what sort of % performance hit will I take, and what should I spend that saved £100 on?

I normally use my PC for:

Multi-tasking: Spotify, Explorer, Office 2010, a light CAD program, at least 5 tabs open in a browser, WLM, and a custom GUI.
Gaming: Combat Arms EU (although looking to play stuff a bit more graphically intensive like Crysis 2, Battlefield 3 etc.)

Also I am going to choose the HD 6950 2GB (about £150), which I will unlock to 6970. Later on (at least a year afterwards), I may run in CF with another 6950 if they go down in price. Is this a good GPU choice? What sort of FPS will I get on 1080p crysis on max settings, and is there a better GPU than the one I am going for? ( for roughly the same price)

Sorry if my post seems a little noobish - I'm very new to forums

The performance hit you will take from downgrading to the 2500k from the 2600k is 1-2% max in terms of fps. At max. That money is better spent on GPU/SSD/cooling/RAM etc.

Its not an 'i7 2500k' btw, its an i5 2500k and i7 2600k. But the difference in performance is minimal.
Get some 1600MHZ ram if you want to overclock, as it will allow a better overclock.

The i7 2600k wins everything bar 2 benches here, but where it wins (and loses) its by very little, so not worth your 100 pounds.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=288

You can use the 'bench' to compare graphics and SSD's and other things. It will show some real benchmarks made by the anandtech site which like tomshardware, is very reliable.

The 6950 unlocked to 6970 is a good idea, but also consider a GTX 570 too.

 

[pacioli]

The i7 2600k with hyperthreading turned on will give you a slight benefit in productivity software. For gaming you won't take a performance hit with the 2500k. Actually with hyperthreading on your gaming may be slightly worse with the 2600K. Both CPUs OC to the same frequencies. Put the money you save on the 2500K into the GPU, Memory, or SSD. By July/August AMD may have a surprise out with the 'Bulldozer' CPUs. It might be very good... or not. We'll have to see.

The GPU picture for July/August is prety unpredictable. There is about a one year cycle on GPUs and things may have changed by then. The Radeon 6950/6970 are great cards also check out the nvidia GTX 560/570 for similiar performance. You are going to want a quality PSU over 600 watts with this rig (Corsair, XFX, Seasonic, Corsair, Antec, Thermaltake, Corsair).<--- yeah I like Corsair

 

[junaid96]

@pacioli

Thanks for your reply - the GTX 570 is a bit out of my price range, so I won't be going for that. As for the 560(Ti?), that seems about on par with the 6950, although if I unlock the 6950 into a 6970, won't the performance be far better than the 560 then?

I like Corsair too

 

[junaid96]

@vibhas

Thanks for that link - I think I may go for the i5 after all (typo with the i7-2500k thing)

What I would like to know, however, is how upgradeable will the p67 chipset be? I've heard great rumours about Ivy Bridge, and I would like to know if I will be able to buy an Ivy CPU and put it on my existing mobo.

Junaid96