Upgrade my pc...or not

[g0vnar]

Hi guys, didnt know where to put this thread(new@site)so i put it here. I m having dilemma about my pc, should i upgrade it or not so i decide to ask you, probably more informed in this kind of stuff. So my components are next:
mb--------------------------Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3(4 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
cpu-------------------------QuadCore Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2400 MHz (9 x 267)
gpu------------------------Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 512
rams----------------------4gb ddr2
power--------------------Blue Storm II 500W

I have somewhere around 500-700 euros to spend on it so what should i change with what. I m using pc for gaming mostly and listening music, watching movies and surfing in general.

 

[socialfox]

I would say with 500-700 euros you should start a new build, most of those parts would be unusable with the LGA 1155 platform (if wanting a new build). You could re-use the power supply since it does seem to be a good one.

Anyways just a recommendation but try buying a 3570k if you want a pretty good build. By re-using the power supply and the case you can save quite a bit of money making this new build possible. Anyways what resolution do you game at?

 

[g0vnar]

Resolution is 1680x1050

 

[socialfox]

Well for now I would say the 3570k and the HD 7850/70 would do more than fine for you. I myself own the HD 7770 and at 1600x900 I max out all the games I play, I recommend a HD 7850/70 to help you play future titles better and that I have not played every single game with the HD 7770.

Got a website or something for me to look for the parts that you can order off of?

 

[g0vnar]

I m from croatia so i will buy it in local shop bcause it ends up very expensive with shiping but thx anyways. So ok, i have cpu(3570k) and gpu (7850) i need some cheap and solid rams and decent motherboard, something like best buy.

 

[g0vnar]

This is probably noobish quastion but is there only one version of 7850 cause i saw them with 1gb and 2gb whats that about.

 

[socialfox]

Honestly in my opinion the 1gb is fine your resolution BUT if the 2gb is the same price as the 1gb HD 7850 then get the 2gb edition. I believe the more vram the better it is for higher resolutions such as 1920x1080 with anti-aliasing set to max. Either way who knows if you switch to that resolution? If the 2gb is around the price of the 7850 it would not really hurt to grab it. The 2gb may help with future tittles to a certain extent.

 

[g0vnar]

And last thing is the brand of graphic card, last time i picked this sapphire and that was a big mistake always some problems with it, so i want to know which one is reliable. About motherboard i found this one: ASRock Z77 Extreme4. What do you think about this mb.

 

[socialfox]

Great choice in motherboard, can support overclocking and should be able to support the Ivy Bridge w/o any bios updates. Anyways as for the sapphire video card what went wrong? Sapphire is a pretty good brand...for video cards I often blame the video drivers. Such can be the new drivers released after the HD 7770 was released, there was so many problems with it but they were all fixed later with updated drivers. Anyways for my video cards I stick to Asus, XFX, or HIS. Though the only brand I stay away from is powercolour.

 

[andrewcarr]

If you're getting that CPU try to pick up a CPU cooler since you can overclock it. A cooler master hyper 212 evo or original would be fine. As for the video cards I will buy most of them here's my list: HIS, ASUS, XFX, Gigabyte, MSI and Sapphire. Honestly I'd get the sapphire over most of the other with the exception of MSI since it is know for its overclocking ability.

 

[sam_p_lay]

I also steer clear of Powercolor... be aware VTX3D are the same guys (Tul Corporation). I've had even worse experiences with Sapphire cards though - I just had a 5970 die within 4 months of warranty expiry. I had another die within 6 months of warranty expiry and my first Sapphire Radeon (a 9700) died on the same month the warranty expired! You could set your watch by these things dying.

For processor, consider the i5 3450 if you're not into overclocking. If you are, then the 3570K recommended is your best bet. I'd second what's said about the 2GB model for future-proofing, unless you're planning on upgrading again soon. GTX660 is another excellent card choice - should keep you gaming at high settings at your res for a good while, and they're all 2GB as standard. Unless it's a lot more expensive than the 7850 in Croatia then it's well worth picking up.

EDIT: After the most recent Sapphire death, I did some research into warranty terms from different manufacturers. They vary by country so my findings may not apply to you, but I'd strongly recommend you do the same for Croatia. Contact companies that don't post the info on their sites. Where I am, EVGA, Gigabyte and PNY offer three year warranties (from date of manufacture in GB's case) with EVGA extending that to five or ten years if you register your details within 30 days. Everybody else was offering one and two years for most (if not all) of their cards.

 

[g0vnar]

Well i have dilemma about this 2 cards (gtx 660 and 7850) which one do you recommend. Difference in price between this two is 50euros.

 

[sam_p_lay]

That's a bit more price difference than there is here! Are you comparing the 2GB models? If so, €50 is a bit steep. For comparison, the 7850 is comparable to a GTX480/570 while GTX660 is comparable to a GTX580, if that's any help

 

[g0vnar]

Ye i think i understand, there is small step between 7850 and gtx660 in performances but little bigger in financial way, but what about this one Sapp.HD 7870 2GB GHz OC edition?

 

[sam_p_lay]

Again, it's a Sapphire so will probably self-destruct soon after its warranty expires I'm sure plenty of them live beyond their warranty, but all three that I've owned by Sapphire were dead pretty soon after it expired. 7870 is much the same - a bit more cost for a bit more speed. You're presumably looking at a higher price then than the GTX660?

 

[g0vnar]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/370823-15-6950-7850#t2791394

 

[socialfox]

@ g0vnar what other brands do you have in your area? There should be a variety of video card brands rather than sapphire alone, I myself have not owned a sapphire card before but I guess their newer cards have been lacking in quality lately?

 

[g0vnar]

Guided by that i decided to consider that graphic card

 

[g0vnar]

so the brands for 7870 are: Asus,Gigabyte,Sapphire,XFX Core,VTX3D ,XFX and the difference in price is small.

 

[Scott_D_Bowen]

Hold out until the Radeon 8800's are available in your area.
This will cause massive price drops on what you seek.

- SDB

 

[socialfox]

If you are going for a video card now then go with Asus, I have had a good time with them and have never RMA'd any of their products, as a matter of fact I am using an Asus HD 7770 and Asus M5A78L-M LX Plus right now :lol:

Scott also raises a good point too, if you want to save money towards the HD series wait for the new sea island GPUs.

 

[g0vnar]

hm, i never loved playing that never ending waiting game, point here is this wait will never end as there will always be something better coming out in the future. I think i ll go with: i5 3570K 3.4GHz
ASRock Z77 EXTREME4
Asus HD7870-DC2-2GD5
Corsair DDR3 16GB/1600 (4*4GB)

All that will cost me 700euros

 

[sam_p_lay]

+1 to socialfox about Asus - though warranties aren't the best, they're generally excellent for reliability. That link you posted re memory bus width and bandwidth deserves a huge +1 too - it's an argument frequently used for taking a 7800 series card over a GTX660 or GTX660 Ti but it's a myth. I posted about there here so I won't copy/paste:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/377454-15-7870#t2841595

 

[g0vnar]

So...is my configuration ok?Does this motherboard works well with other parts? I know i m pain in the ass but when i m building pc which isnt that often i want to every part gives its max...and thanks guys you were big help.

 

[sam_p_lay]

Don't worry about that As you say, you're spending a load of money, and if people didn't want to help then they wouldn't be here!

Your setup looks good to me, though I'd personally go with 2*4GB and see how I go with that before adding more.

Also nobody has mentioned storage... you're planning on reusing an old hard disk? I'd recommend an SSD if you want every part to be good, either a Vertex 4 or Samsung 830. 120GB should be ample for Windows, a bit of software and a few games. Then use a hard disk for your music, films etc.