Looking for some feedback on a massive upgrade to a gaming system

Shadist

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Jun 10, 2011
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Ok, for starters I am not a really "ultra new game" gamer. Or at least I am not at this point due to my PC. . . I am "rocking" a single core AMD processor, 2GB ram, AGP video card.

Ok ok I need the upgrade I know.

The thing is the computer has done well by me playing what I want to play and doing what I want to do for about 5 years now. It's a dino, but a good one (housetrained and everything)


However my motherboard's hard drive controller is starting to go so, having saved up, I am going to do a little upgrading. (I have upgraded the PSU in the last two years as a result of the old one's death).


So, with the above in mind here's what I am thinking. . .

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-3 weeks depending on cost

Budget Range: $800 – $1000 or so

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Internet surfing, home office use

Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, PSU (coolmax CUG-700B), speakers, monitor, case, secondary hard drive (WD green 2TB sata 3/gbs),

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg

Country of Origin: USA

Parts Preferences: Other than Western Digital for the HD I’m open to most anything

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Yes

Monitor Resolution:1920x1200

Additional Comments: Here’s what I am thinking at this point parts wise. . .


• Mobo - ASUS P8P67 EVO
• CPU - Intel Core i7-2600K or 1090T
• CPU Cooler – Stock, or something else – Suggestions?
• Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
• OS Drive (primary) – Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB (I have had good luck with WD and been pleased with their customer support in the past)
• PSU - Existing 700w power supply (Coolermax CUG-700B)
• Video - MSI R6870 Hawk Radeon HD 6870

Of note, I will be picking up a second Radeon HD 6870 in a month or so after purchase.



I would thank you for any/all advice or opinions you have on the above.


Finally I am trying to figure if it’s better to go with the P8P67 Evo or Deluxe. . . Other than the breakout box in the Deluxe I don’t see a world of difference vs the price difference.



 
As your gaming not working I'd say drop the chip to a 2500k, your overclocking anyway so that 100MHz isnt worth the extra money,
and no games are using six cores atm, quad is plenty for now
on the subject of clocking, how far are you intending to push things?
a conservative boost should be fine on standard Hs, anything more and your looking at hyper212, noctua dh12/14 or TT's silver arrow territory, then theres water..... :p
Ram, drop it to 4Gb if only gaming and put the money you've saved from that and the chip into a higher series card imo,otherwise nice looking build man,
Moto
 

Shadist

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Thank you for the reply, I'm pretty sure I will go with the i5 the more I think about it.


Any suggestion as for the higher series card? (6950 2 gig perhaps?)
 

arc00ta

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I would also suggest using the 2500k in lieu of the 2600k, it will save you $100 and you won't notice the difference if you're primarily gaming. They are basically the same besides the minor clock speed and the 2600k has hyperthreading enabled, both are true quad core.

A solid aftermarket cooler will help a lot, I run my i5 2500k stable 24/7 at 4.5ghz with a zalman CNPS10X with dual fans, it rarely hits 45*C unless I'm benchmarking it. Also, I broke all the tabs off of the stock i5 cooler as they absolutely refused to seat properly, so be careful of that.

The rest of the build looks solid, what OS do you plan on running?
 

Shadist

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Windows 7 pro 64
 

arc00ta

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It seems like you're pretty well covered then. I would take a look at your power supply and its connectors, as well as the rated voltages and amperage for the GPU connectors and make sure its ready for crossfire/SLI.
 

Shadist

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The power supply is good for the nonce. However when I get my second video card I will also be upgrading the PSU at the time due to the additional power needs.
 

jerreddredd

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i7 2600k is the best choice between the two of them, but you could save $100 and go with a i5 2500K instead. the difference between the two chips is Hyperthreading. not a lot of games even utilize it.
Tom's Best Gaming CPU's for May.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu,2951.html

The ASUS EVO MB was review well by Tom's:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-p67-extreme6-asus-p8p67-deluxe-msi-p67a-gd80,2924-17.html

I would go with the Asus P8P67 Deluxe instead or consider the Z68 chipset MBs (not any faster just the newest tech out), also there are less expensive non SLi/CF MB's out if you really don't need SLi/CF.

Love your choice in HDD's the WD1002FAEX 1TB drive rocks! but on your budget you should be able to manage a 120GB SSD, something to think about especially if you go with a i5 2500K. you already have a secondary drive for big stuff.

your current PSU won't do SLI , with big GPU's (you answered yes to SLi above) but should hold a good GPU. SLI/CF is not all its cracked up to be, especially in 1920x1080 res. Now for surround/wide screen gaming, yes big difference.

for a GPU I would go for a Radeon HD 6950 (2GB preferably) is just a better all around card and has a chance to be unlocked to a 6970. though I not a ATI fan, its a good card. I would tend toward a GTX 560 Ti in this price range becuase nVidia just has better driver support, no reason, just biased this way :)
Tom's on GPU's for May
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card-game-performance-radeon-hd-6670,2935-4.html

Ram wise I like the RipJaw X's over the standard Ripjaws, the heatsinks are just more attractive. I would also go with PC 1600 instead of 1333. also 4 GB is enough for Gaming, but if you have the $, more is always good.
Tom's on Ram upgrades:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ram-memory-upgrade,2778.html
PC 1600 ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314