£500 Upgrade Buget ($800)

[puglet]

I'm going to University in 2 months so I'm going to get some upgrades. I know a fair amount about hardware and I'm quite a technical person but I've been out of the hardware loop for a couple of years and everything changes so fast I thought it best to ask some advice!

My computer is used for pretty much the most demanding applications it could be used for; Gaming, 3D CAD (modeling, animation, rendering), Photoshop (design for print, photo editing) etc. I also run a dual screen setup of 2x21.5" monitors running at a total resolution of 3840x1080.

I'm currently running a system that's about 3-4 years old:
E6600 Dual Core Processor
8800GTS 320mb Graphics
4gb Crucial Balistix Tracer 800mhz
Asus P5B Motherboard

I'm looking to upgrade the graphics card primarily and the ATI Radeon HD 5830 has caught my eye. My primary concerns are that my motherboard wont support the card or that the performance of the card will be bottle-necked by other outdated hardware (ie, CPU). I found this card for £170.36 which seems very reasonable since looking a benchmarks it pulls respectable 60-70fps in current high end titles.

Breakdown:
- Is ther HD 5830 a good card or is there something that will show better results for not a great deal more?
- Will the HD 5830 work with my current hardware/will it be bottle-necked?

There's cash remaining so I'm thinking CPU + Motherboard will be the next best upgrade.

I'm looking at the Intel Core i5 670 3.46GHz which I found at £170. Along with the Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) motherboard. Will my old 800mhz DDR2 RAM be ok with this motherboard?

Here's the links to the hardware:
Motherboard: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-389-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1693
CPU: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-316-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1672
GPU: http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-227-SP

Thanks in advance!

 

[Silvune]

The 5830 is not really a good choice IMO, as for a similar price you can get a GTX 460 which uses less power than it and outperforms it in framerates and tessellation.

Yes a new graphics card will work in your old motherboard, but it will run at the speed of the PCI-E slot on your motherboard, which probably means that you will be paying for performance you can't necessarily utilize.
Another consideration is your PSU. Which one do you have now? Do you want to replace it?

Most (the vast majority of) new motherboards will need DDR3 RAM, so no your old DDR2 won't be alright.

The i5-670 is a dual core, and this is increasingly the age of quad cores, especially for 3D CAD and even gaming. The i5-750/760 is slightly cheaper and the better option IMO.

 

[puglet]

Thanks for the advice. It's pretty much turned into a whole new build then!

Here's what I've got lined up so far:

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 - £175.99
Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz (Lynnfield) (Socket LGA1156) - £149.99
Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 - £112.99
Corsair Dominator 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 12800C8 (1600Mhz) Dual-Channel - £93.99
Coolermaster Storm Scout Gaming Case - Black - £63.99
Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply - £59.98

Total: £559.09 ($888.11)

I didn't know about the GTX 460 so I'm glad you pointed that out. I am a bit of an Nvidia fan boy and when I saw an EVGA one it was settled . Also didn't know about the quad/dual differences in the i5 series, I just presumed they were all Quad. My current PSU is 700w but unbranded and I don't really trust it so might as well get something I trust to run this new hardware. The case is just for kicks.

Advice on RAM would be much appreciated.

 

[Silvune]

Looks pretty good. Personally I would get this: G.Skill RipJaw 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C7 1600MHz F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM £96 As the latency is a bit lower, altho not a big deal.

Can't really argue with that PSU at that price.

 

[puglet]

Thanks, I actually quoted the wrong total price wrong in my second post. It actually comes to £656 ($1040).

Might need to make a few cuts but I think I can afford that.

Thanks again for your help!