Upgrading my PC

[apower101]

Hello,
I built my PC 5 or so years ago with the following specifications:
Intel core 2 quad q6600 2.4 ghz
ATI Firepro v3750
4 gb 800 mhz ram (kingston)
Gigabyte UP45-UD3L Motherboard
Arctic cooling

I have overclocked my parts and from experience there is a lot of bother and relatively little gain. I plan on upgrading 1 or 2 parts of my PC so that it can handle Battlefield 3 on ultra (40+ fps) or skyrim (similar), and possibly crysis 2/3 on medium. If this is possible could you please recommend which parts to upgrade. My budget is 2000-4000 SEK or 200-400 pounds. I would prefer an nvidia card if that is what needs upgrading or an intel cpu, as my experience with ATI has been unpleasant (driver issues, overclocking issues., etc.).

 

[doucejos]

How about you just build a whole new pc because the one you got isn't really upgradable so how about this:
OS: Windows 7 Professional
Case: This is your personal preference
Motherboard: Gigabyte 970A-D3
Processor: AMD Phenom ii x4 955 3.2ghz Black Edition
Ram: Patriot Viper 8 DDR3 1600mhz
Power Supply Seasonic 500w 80+ Certified
Video Card: Powercolor Radeon 7850
HardDrive: Seagate Barracuda
Optical Drive: any 24x burner should do
Total: 652$ My total budget was 650$

 

[AMD Radeon]

Gigabyte GTX 670 windforce is absolute choice

you cant upgrade you intel cpu, it is a dead end. going to QXseries will gain nothing
you might want to save money later for future intel i5 build

but you can purchase GPU right now

 

[apower101]

How about you just build a whole new pc because the one you got isn't really upgradable so how about this:
OS: Windows 7 Professional
Case: This is your personal preference
Motherboard: Gigabyte 970A-D3
Processor: AMD Phenom ii x4 955 3.2ghz Black Edition
Ram: Patriot Viper 8 DDR3 1600mhz
Power Supply Seasonic 500w 80+ Certified
Video Card: Powercolor Radeon 7850
HardDrive: Seagate Barracuda
Optical Drive: any 24x burner should do
Total: 652$ My total budget was 650$

I already have a 500gb samsung hdd with windows 7, a good case, and a disc drive. I would prefer an intel build, but if the AMD are better value for money than I could get that. If I would upgrade my entire system my budget would be around 700 pounds, but I would prefer not to do that. I would prefer to upgrade my GPU for now to handle these games and save money for a later build.

 

[apower101]

Gigabyte GTX 670 windforce is absolute choice

you cant upgrade you intel cpu, it is a dead end. going to QXseries will gain nothing
you might want to save money later for future intel i5 build

but you can purchase GPU right now

Thanks. Is there a massive performance difference between the 660, 660 ti, 670, and 680? Also, just out of curiosity how good an AMD card would I have to get to handle these games on ultra with reasonable fps and how much woudl that cost?

 

[doucejos]

I already have a 500gb samsung hdd with windows 7, a good case, and a disc drive. I would prefer an intel build, but if the AMD are better value for money than I could get that. If I would upgrade my entire system my budget would be around 700 pounds, but I would prefer not to do that. I would prefer to upgrade my GPU for now to handle these games and save money for a later build.

If you get to good of a gpu and not a good enough cpu it will bottleneck on everything, Its stressing the cpu to do what it cant so by upgrading your system now it will be better for the time to come... I can get you a intel version of this build if you want?

 

[apower101]

If you get to good of a gpu and not a good enough cpu it will bottleneck on everything, Its stressing the cpu to do what it cant so by upgrading your system now it will be better for the time to come... I can get you a intel version of this build if you want?

An Intel/Nvidia build would be nice. I really would prefer not to get an entire new pc until Haswell, when I can use the new gpu. This upgrade would serve as more of a transition build.

 

[AMD Radeon]

An Intel/Nvidia build would be nice. I really would prefer not to get an entire new pc until Haswell, when I can use the new gpu. This upgrade would serve as more of a transition build.

this one is exactly my though
wait for haswell

660 and 660 ti is limited by 192 bit bus. you may not be happy if you want to SLI them
670 best spot is gigabyte 670 windforce 4GB version, bestfor SLI in the next 2 years
and 680 overpriced, a little gain from 670 because of their similarity

 

[Newf]

Thanks. Is there a massive performance difference between the 660, 660 ti, 670, and 680? Also, just out of curiosity how good an AMD card would I have to get to handle these games on ultra with reasonable fps and how much woudl that cost?

Rather than listing a card, how about an article that defines the best value card for each increment of money you have?

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html
This is the December article. The last page is a hierarchy chart comparing GPUs.

You have not mentioned the brand and model of power supply in your system.
It's impossible to guess whether yours will be up to the task of feeding a new card.

Newf.

.

 

[doucejos]

Hello,
I built my PC 5 or so years ago with the following specifications:
Intel core 2 quad q6600 2.4 ghz
ATI Firepro v3750
4 gb 800 mhz ram (kingston)
Gigabyte UP45-UD3L Motherboard
Arctic cooling

I have overclocked my parts and from experience there is a lot of bother and relatively little gain. I plan on upgrading 1 or 2 parts of my PC so that it can handle Battlefield 3 on ultra (40+ fps) or skyrim (similar), and possibly crysis 2/3 on medium. If this is possible could you please recommend which parts to upgrade. My budget is 2000-4000 SEK or 200-400 pounds. I would prefer an nvidia card if that is what needs upgrading or an intel cpu, as my experience with ATI has been unpleasant (driver issues, overclocking issues., etc.).

How about this is just a thought i like amd better though:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119233 $59.99 FREE SHIPPING
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371025 $89.99 FREE SHIPPING
Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph [...] otherboard $153.99
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 B3 LGA1155/ Intel P67 B3/ DDR3/ Quad SLI & Quad CrossFireX/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072 $224.99 FREE SHIPPING
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231427 $49.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph [...] Hard-Drive $59.99 Free Shipping
Samsung SpinPoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814125363 $239.99
GIGABYTE GV-N560OC-1GI GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204 $18.99
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116754 $99.99 FREE SHIPPING
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM

 

[Newf]

After doucejos's response, I feel compelled to add another comment.

AMD Radeon knows what he is talking about.

You do not need another system to do what you want.

Yes, a 670 level NVidia card will be kick ass.

Can you power that with the PSU you have?

Can you afford that?

Post the brand and model of your PSU.
Post the amount of money you have available to spend.

We will help you pick the right card.
Regulars and above here live on knowing the best deals for computer parts.
Just need to know what you really need and how much $$$ you are willing to spend.
The $$$ help us explain the difference between what you want and what you can get.
Often folks have enough money to get what they want with $$$ left over.

Help us help you.

Don't forget to look at the Hierarchy:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Newf.

.

 

[apower101]

After doucejos's response, I feel compelled to add another comment.

AMD Radeon knows what he is talking about.

You do not need another system to do what you want.

Yes, a 670 level NVidia card will be kick ass.

Can you power that with the PSU you have?

Can you afford that?

Post the brand and model of your PSU.
Post the amount of money you have available to spend.

We will help you pick the right card.
Regulars and above here live on knowing the best deals for computer parts.
Just need to know what you really need and how much $$$ you are willing to spend.
The $$$ help us explain the difference between what you want and what you can get.
Often folks have enough money to get what they want with $$$ left over.

Help us help you.

Don't forget to look at the Hierarchy:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Newf.

.

Hi, sorry for the late response.

I have approximately $300, or up to £250 to spend on a graphics card. My PSU is an Antec Truepower TP3 430, 430 Watt.

A graphics card that could handle BF3, on high, possibly ultra would be nice, if possible. ALso, it would be great to be able to move it into a new rig later.
Thanks

 

[Newf]

Hi, sorry for the late response.

I have approximately $300, or up to £250 to spend on a graphics card. My PSU is an Antec Truepower TP3 430, 430 Watt.

A graphics card that could handle BF3, on high, possibly ultra would be nice, if possible. ALso, it would be great to be able to move it into a new rig later.
Thanks

That old Antec is a good power supply. I believe is was actually made by Seasonic. I've been using one for years in an old build my wife currently uses. It may well have the power to run a 670 card, but you would be really pushing it hard. Also you will only have 1 6-pin PCI-E video card power connector and for the 670 you will need 2. Adapters are available to convert a pair of molex connectors into an additional 6-pin, but I think you should consider either:

A). Drop down to a GTX660 which you system will nicely power.

B). Go for the GTX670 but replace the Antec power supply with a larger unit. 650 to 750 watts would be ideal and keep in mind that good ones should not be cheap 49.95 specials unless there's a crazy good rebate program going on.
If you choose this route ask this forum for good choices currently available at a great price. I admit I have not researched the pricing market lately. Just as a point of reference, $50 was a good price for the Antec TP3 430 and that was 5 or 6 years ago.

Newf.

.