Upgrade Time Again

F

Finneal

n00b
Joined
Nov 15, 2005
Messages
55
All,

You [H]ardOCP folks have always been so helpful when I do my upgrades and now it's that time again and I seek your advice.

I'm a big gamer and don't plan on changing. I'm a big RPG fan primarily (SWtOR, WoW, DA, Skyrim, etc.) but I play other things occasionally (Humble Bundle, Left for Dead 2, Street Fighter IV, Rogue =p)

I run with a dual 1920x1200 monitor setup and frequently will be playing games on one screen while watching a video on the other. Also, it is very common for me to have 1 or two games up at once, Excel, Thunderbird, and lotsa browser windows; multitasking baby!!

You can see what I'm running by checking out post I made two years ago when yall helped me out last time:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1482932

Of my current set-up I will be keeping the Lian Li Armorsuit case, the data drives (3TB total), the TRUE 120 HSF (if possible), and the Blu Ray drive.

Also, I went ahead and purchased a new PSU yesterday (didn't want to miss out on the deal):

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/68002/newegg-seasonic-x750-750w-80-plus-gold-modular-power-supply

So my upgrade will consist of a CPU (looking to stick with Intel), mobo, RAM, SSD (~250 GB, SATA III preferred), video card, adapter for the TRUE 120 HSF, and a SSD desktop adapter (if not included with SSD).

When I do my upgrades, I typically transfer my current guts to my wife's machine and will be doing the same this time, so I will need a stock HSF for my current CPU (i7 920) as well.

As for budget, I was hoping to play around in the 1500 dollar range. I probably won't do any overclocking, but I always find that having a system that it capable of overclocking generally equates to a higher reliability machine.

Thanks in advance for all your assistance. I've been a [H]ardOCP fan since I saw Kyle show off his Celeron 300A overclocks at the CPL in Dallas years ago and will continue to be a fan for years to come.

Finneal
 
Do you happen to live near a MicroCenter? :)

If so you can get:

i7 2600k $230
ASUS P8Z68-V GEN3 (or PRO version if you need the firewire and extra SATA III ports) $135 or $160
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1.5v Ram 8GB - $50/$25 AR
Crucial M4 of your desired size

Hardest choice is going to be on the graphics card. Right now new AMD cards are coming out, and in a couple months new Nvidia cards will too. So, you may be better off waiting, or picking up a card in the FS thread for a really good deal.
 
I'm actually in the DFW area and I believe there is a Microcenter in the Dallas area, so I could make a run over there. I don;t see that they have the I7-2600K for 230 thought. Is that B&M only?
 
Yeah, all the prices are B&M only. You also have to get a coupon off of facebook (it's a $50 off coupon) then you get $50 off CPU and Mobo bundle (no coupon needed).
 
You should be looking for something along the lines of:

Intel Core i5-2500K
Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3 (or a similar Z68 board)
Patriot Gamer 2 Series PGD38G1333ELK 2x4GB DDR3 1333 kit
Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 256GB SSD
Radeon HD 6950 2GB or GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores 1280MB
Any SSD bracket that's less than $15

HSF for your wife: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

If you're planning on buying from NewEgg, it's better to wait a week. We're nearing the end of the month and NewEgg will have different promo codes, combo deals, and other specials next week, in the beginning of February.

IIRC, Fry's and Micro Center both have physical stores in the DFW area. In your case, you may want to look at the sale ads for in-store specials. For Micro Center, however, the in-store price of the i7-2600K is currently $280. IMO, you don't need the i7-2600K for gaming; stick with the i5-2500K (which is currently $180 at MC).

Regarding the parts that I've chosen: The Z68 board is one of those "GEN3" boards that support PCI Express 3.0. However, you also need an Ivy Bridge processor, which is expected to arrive within a few months. (The PCI-E controller is now embedded within each Socket 1155 and Socket 2011 processor. However, the Sandy Bridge LGA1155 processors only have PCI-E 2.1 controllers.) The only PCI-E 3.0 video card available now is the recently-released Radeon HD 7970.

Speaking of which, either of those video cards would make a notable improvement over the HD 5850 you're currently using. As for SSDs, we recommend those two as the Intel 510 series comparatively overpriced and SandForce-based SATA 6Gb/s SSDs are having BSOD issues in Windows.

Regarding your TRUE CPU cooler, did it come with an LGA1156 mounting kit? If so, reuse that; Socket 1155 uses the same mounts as Socket 1156. If not, you may have to head to the Thermalright website and buy the mounting kit directly from them. As for your wife, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is one of the best CPU coolers available for any price. Unless she has a small mini-tower or desktop-style case, it should fit fine.
 
Ordered my SSD today. Crucial M4 256 GB !!!

Found a great deal on the [H]otdeals forum and didn't want to miss it. You can check it out here:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1666077

If you guys know of any other decent February deals out there that might fit my needs, please let me know.

And thanks to everyone that posted advice. I've been looking at all the suggestions very closely and reading bunches about them.
 
I looked up the information on my TRUE 120 and it came with a 775 and a AM2 kit. I had to purchase an LGA1366 kit for my current rig. I'm guessing I will need something like this for my new build:

http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright-1156-Bolt-Through-mounting-kit-Rev-B-pr-4615.html

Also, I've been reading on the forums that overclocking with the new intel 2500k & 2600k processors is super easy, so I'm looking for some advice on a motherboard & memory combination that would allow me to at least do some conservative overclocking (noob-friendly). My income tax has been filed so I should be ready to pull the trigger on my purchase in the next week or two.

One more thing, I'm looking for some input on this HDD deal going on at the egg at the moment. I was thinking of pulling the trigger on this as most of the bad reviews appear to be regarding the warranty change.

http://slickdeals.net/f/3897190-Western-Digital-Caviar-Green-3TB-IntelliPower-64MB-Cache-SATA-6-0Gb-s-HDD-Bare-Drive-169?
 
Finneal said:
I looked up the information on my TRUE 120 and it came with a 775 and a AM2 kit. I had to purchase an LGA1366 kit for my current rig. I'm guessing I will need something like this for my new build:

http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright-1156-Bolt-Through-mounting-kit-Rev-B-pr-4615.html
Click to expand...
Correct.

Finneal said:
Also, I've been reading on the forums that overclocking with the new intel 2500k & 2600k processors is super easy, so I'm looking for some advice on a motherboard & memory combination that would allow me to at least do some conservative overclocking (noob-friendly).
Click to expand...
Well Tiraides already listed a good mobo for you to get. In addition, if you buy that mobo at the same time as the 2500K from Microcenter, MC will knock off $50 off that cost of that mobo.
Finneal said:
One more thing, I'm looking for some input on this HDD deal going on at the egg at the moment. I was thinking of pulling the trigger on this as most of the bad reviews appear to be regarding the warranty change.

http://slickdeals.net/f/3897190-Western-Digital-Caviar-Green-3TB-IntelliPower-64MB-Cache-SATA-6-0Gb-s-HDD-Bare-Drive-169?
Click to expand...

Doesn't seem to be that good of a drive even if you factor out the warranty changes.
 
Just spotted a decent deal on the Egg for memory that looks similar to what you guys recommended.

Any thoughts on:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220609

I have a 10% off desktop memory coupon as well that was sent to me in the mail so I can get this for less than 60 bucks AR.

Like I said, I'm thinking of trying my hand at overclocking this time, so if this memory is no good for that please let me know.

Also, is 89.99 a decent price for Windows 7 Home Premium OEM? The Egg sent me a coupon for 10% off OEM windows and I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on that before it expires.

Thanks again!!
 
That's 1.65v ram, you need to get a 1.5v set. You should be able to find something in the range of $30 per 8GB set. For example: This set
 
As K1tty noted: That RAM is rated at 1.65V which means it has a higher chance of damaging your CPU. As such, go for RAM rated at 1.5V.

$90 for Windows 7 is an ok price.
 
OK, status report time.

I opted to pass the TRUE 120 over to my wife's machine. I purchased a new cooler for the new rig:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-100700529-True-Spirit-120/dp/B005MSOH7C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1328747166&sr=8-2

Also picked up some new thermal paste:

http://www.amazon.com/noctua-NT-H1-Noctua-Thermal-Paste/dp/B00117OV56/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1328747357&sr=1-2

The total cost of both of those items including shipping was 51.19.

As I mentioned before, I decided to pick up the Seasonic 750W PSU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=u0t0f0fp68002dd0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16817151087

The total cost on that item was 119.99.

For an SSD, I opted for the Crucial M4 256 GB:

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=CRCT256M4SSD2

Total cost for that item was 329.00.

As for memory, I went ahead with the recommendation above and picked up 16 GB worth of:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226095&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3891137&SID=rewrite

The total cost of the memory was 71.98.

I also had to pick up a new copy of Windows 7 for my wife's machine:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

Totals cost on that was 89.99

I'm on my way to Microcenter now to pick up the CPU and Mobo:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354587

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378096

Total cost on that purchase is 449.22.

This brings my total money spent so far to 1111.37.

So now the video card. My original budget was 1500 and I'm pretty damned close to that even with a 6XXX series video card purchase, but I'm thinking of splurging a bit and getting a 7950. That being said, is there a particular brand I should lean towards for this card? I notice Newegg has Sapphire, Powercolor, MSI, etc.

Any advice would be appreciated!!
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I generally don't recommend Sapphire or HIS unless you're under severe budget contstraints. Stick with Gigabyte, MSI, or XFX. As for what card, I'd stick with the HD 6950 or HD 6970 cards unless you really feel extremely spendy right now. In that case, go for the HD 7950. But the HD 6950 or HD 6970 cards should meet your need just fine:
$260 - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$330 - XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB PCI-E Video Card
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top