Upgrade time, what to get

[Barry]

Current hardware in system specs, only really looking to replace the core hardware (motherboard/cpu/ram/gpu)

Something that will last for a few years, mainly used for gaming max budget is £600

Thanks in advanced.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Intel Sandy Bridge is coming out in January. However,both Intel Ivy Bridge and AMD Bulldozer are coming out second half of next year. I would probably do a full upgrade when these are released.

BTW,is your current motherboard the following model:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=2893#ov

If so I would upgrade the processor to a Q8300:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/158333

The Q8300 will have the same single threaded performance as the E5200 but the two extra cores will help in a few games. You could also try overclocking the processor to around 3GHZ as this would mean your RAM will be still at 800MHZ.

How old is your PSU BTW?? Some Hiper PSUs had problems.

I would look at getting an HD6950 2GB:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/250399

However,if you do mind lower tessellation performance the HD5870 1GB can be had for around £190 and has similar performance in current games to an HD6950 2GB. OTH,the HD6950 2GB will probably do better in newer games. Both graphics cards need a pair of PCI-E power connectors.

[jim]

It's not one of the lethal Type-R PSUs, don't know about the reliability of the Type Ms.

[Barry]

Same motherboard yes but I'll be giving my old hardware to the wifes sister so a part upgrades not really a option, PSU wise I've had it a good 3 years min now and it's never caused any problems for me

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would wait until January then when Intel Sandy Bridge is released.

[Barry]

Anything worth buying now like ram?

[Pob255]

Not sure if the new sandy bridge will be dual channel or triple channel

for dual channel the new corsair vengeance ram is very nice http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-c...-9-24-xmp-150v

personally I would probably look at graphics card now, while there's xmas bargains about.

[badass]

Not sure if the new sandy bridge will be dual channel or triple channel

The early ones will be dual channel. The later enthusiast ones will be quad channel. Despite likely performance increases, quad channel will most likely be massive overkill for a desktop CPU, just like triple channel is on the 1366 Core i7 CPU's

[Barry]

Time to revisit this thread!

So far Ive got a new PSU (Antec 650W TruePower) and I have 3x 2 GB Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 RAM so I'm in need of CPU, motherboard, HS and GPU FOR 500/550 max but the wife would love it if I spent less!

[Predator]

Intel or AMD?

As you have 3x2GB maybe look for something that incorportaes tripple channel ram? Which I think only Intel has, although, don't quote me on this...

Sandy bridge set up with a i5 2500k and a motherboard and ram is about £355. Look here under CPU + Memory + Motherboard bundles. http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

Maybe if you ring scan they might be able to come up with a deal minus the RAM? Or you could send your RAM back?

That leaves £145 of your lower limit for a GPU and HS? What is HS? Sorry..

Anyway, GPU You can get a ATI 6850 for around £150 which then leaves £45 of your upper limit to cover whatever the HS is...plus any money you get from selling/taking back/removing from offer - the ram.
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-a...i-i-dvi-d-hdmi

I am guessing HS is something to do with a hard drive as that is what you are missing...so a spinpoint F3 1TB @ £40..
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ss1tb...-89-ms-ncq-oem

Which will take you to a grand total of:
£545 (I think lol)

Postage is free

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Are you overclocking the CPU??

[Barry]

HS = CPU heat sink Predator

Not bothered about if its AMD or Intel - best setup for the money tbh, The RAM came as a pack of 3 but I'm not bothered abut having 4 or 6 (current system has 4 and is plenty) and I don't need a harddrive.

Overclocking wise, it's something I've never done in the past but may be interested if the gains are worth it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Unless you pay extra for a K series CPUs overclocking has been removed or is very limited for the new Intel CPUs. Also,Intel has also made sure that if you want to overclock you will have to pay even more for a motherboard.

[Barry]

So far (without GPU which is most important to me)

Intel CPU Core i5 2500 Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor

Gigabyte GA-H67M-D2 Intel H67 Express Socket 1155 Motherboard

Akasa AK-CC017 CPU Cooler

Total £269.78

I've decided that there is little point in getting the 2500k and P67 since I've never overclocked and not much chance of me starting now, the question is would the performance difference be that much between that and my current setup?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

So far (without GPU which is most important to me)

Intel CPU Core i5 2500 Sandy Bridge Quad Core Processor

Gigabyte GA-H67M-D2 Intel H67 Express Socket 1155 Motherboard

Akasa AK-CC017 CPU Cooler

Total £269.78

I've decided that there is little point in getting the 2500k and P67 since I've never overclocked and not much chance of me starting now

The Intel stock cooler should do the job TBH.

Instead of the Core i5 2500 I would get the Core i5 2400 and save around £16.

I would also get one of the following motherboards too as they have 4 RAM slots and USB3.0 too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...-6gb-s-atx-vga

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-...s-on-board-vga

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/msi-h...sata-raid-matx

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

For the GPU I would get one of the following graphics cards for between £225 to £250:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-x...vi-hdmi-2x-mdp

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1536m...res-2xdvi-hdmi

Many of the HD6950 2GB cards can be flashed to an HD6970 2GB. The HD6900 series also have a dual BIOS too.

The GTX480 is quite fast but has high power consumption at load though.

OTH,it maybe worth waiting until the GTX560 is released to see if prices are affected.