Want a new build but...

[harvey1]

just wondering whether i should just upgrade my current pc or go build a completely new one.
current:
955 @ 3.5
6gb of ram
2 x 512mb 4870
1tb hard drive

have been looking at an i5 system to upgrade, but just not entirely sure on what to do

 

[aznshinobi]

Please fill this out.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261222-31-build-advice
Tell us your budget for upgrade and what's your usage of this rig.
If anything you should be looking at a GPU upgrade, the 4870's are hot and power suckers. The 955 is still quite capable, the 4870 is pretty weak compared to newer GPUs.

 

[harvey1]

Approximate Purchase Date: before september

Budget Range: £800 $1300

System Usage from Most to Least Important: uni work, gaming, movies,

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers


Country of Origin: UK

Parts Preferences: not bothered

Overclocking: maybe

SLI or Crossfire: maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: would like it to be pretty future proof

 

[harvey1]

corasir 650w psu
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 955 Black Edition "125W Edition" 3.20GHz (Socket AM3)
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo AMD 785G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Tri-Channel
2 x 4870's 512mb

 

[aznshinobi]

Quick question, what's uni-work.
Does it require a lot of CPU power or more on the memory side?

 

[harvey1]

like office work really, wont be nothing demanding, word processing and the likes

 

[aznshinobi]

So I recommend this.
2X Asus ATI Radeon HD 6850 DirectCU - £255.92 inc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/ATI/ATI+6800+Series+/Asus+ATI+Radeon+HD+6850+DirectCU+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+with+FREE+Shogun+2+Game+?productId=42291
It would give you a sizeable increase and you don't have to change your PSU.

Change your motherboard to this. It allows for 8x/8x Crossfire plus you'd have future proofing and the ability to upgrade to BD when it's released.
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 £89.93 inc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/AMD+AM3%2B+%28900+Chipset%29/Gigabyte+990XA-UD3+AMD+990X+%28Socket+AM3%2B%29+DDR3+PCI-Express+ATX+Motherboard+?productId=44726

Then get this ram
8GB Corsair Vengeance Blue LP DDR3 1600 £47.70 inc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR3/Dual+Channel+1600MHz/8GB+Corsair+Vengeance+Blue+LP+%282x4GB%29+DDR3+PC3-12800C9+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+-+CML8GX3M2A1600C9B+?productId=45510

Total: £393.55

 

[aznshinobi]

You're looking at this kind of performance increase with that GPU upgrade.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/174?vs=183
Now that's pretty solid, but also you're getting lower TDP and less heat.

 

[harvey1]

thanks for the replies

so would two 6850s be better than one gtx 570 or 6950 2gb?

sorry for all the questions

 

[aznshinobi]

Haha P07H34D, thanks!

Uhh 2x6850>570
The 6850x2 is more like a 580.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/302?vs=305

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Cases/MIDI+Tower/Coolermaster+HAF+912+Plus+Midi+Chassis+?productId=42044 £61.12 inc. VAT
Coolermaster HAF 912 Plus Midi Chassis

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplies/700-950W/750W+XFX+Core+Edition+80PLUS+Bronze+Power+Supply+?productId=45334 £71.44 inc. VAT
750W XFX Core Edition 80PLUS Bronze Power Supply

http://www.ebuyer.com/268480-asus-p8z68-v-socket-1155-8-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-p8z68-v £132.84 inc. vat
Asus P8Z68-V Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/processors/intelcorei3,i5andi71155socket/intel/bx80623i52500k.html £159.98 inc vat
2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 2500K 3.30GHz Socket LGA1155 - Retail

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/cooling/cpucoolers/coolermaster/rr-b10-212p-gp.html £22.00 inc vat
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler

http://www.ebuyer.com/264750-g-skill-8gb-2x4gb-ddr3-1600mhz-ripjawsx-memory-kit-cl9-9-9-9-24-1-5v-f3-12800cl9d-8gbxl £40.98 inc. vat
G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/harddrives-internal/sata500gbto1tb/samsung/hd103sj.html £40.98 inc vat
Samsung Spin Point F3 SATAII 1TB 32MB Cache Hard Drive <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM

http://www.ebuyer.com/176026-liteon-ihas124-19-24x-dvd-rw-dl-ram-sata-optical-drive-oem-ihas124-19 £13.98 inc. vat
LiteOn iHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW DL & RAM SATA Optical Drive - OEM Black with Nero Essentials

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/NVIDIA/NVIDIA+GTX+560+Series/EVGA+GeForce+GTX+560Ti+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+%5B01G-P3-1560-KR%5D+?productId=45564 £170.34 inc. VAT
EVGA GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [01G-P3-1560-KR]

Total: £713.66 inc. vat

http://www.ebuyer.com/259863-microsoft-windows-7-home-premium-w-sp1-licence-and-media-1-gfc-02050 £72.00 inc. vat
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium w/SP1 - Licence and media - 1 PC - OEM - DVD - 64-bit - English

 

[aznshinobi]

^ OP can just upgrade for less though.