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Thread: Mates upgrade time

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    Mates upgrade time

    My mate wants to upgrade his PC. He has an old AMD system. Single core i think.

    Anyway. He loves to game and wants the best PC he can buy. Not 100% sure on budget but he has been on about the Intel i7 CPU and a good Graphics card that will play all games that are out at present. Plus 16gig of ram and he is looking at an M4 SSD for his OS (Win7 Ult)

    Can some kind person help spec it out? Dont worry about budget for now. Lets say the i7 with motherboard with Sata3 6g, 16gig ram. He has a good case and PSU already. Thanks

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    he wont need an i7 for a gaming rg , and i5 is fine , same with 16gig of ram - 8 gig is plenty tbh - and the savings will allow a better gfx card

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Whats the budget??

    Going OTT and then blowing the entire budget, and then expecting the rig to last for say 3 to 5 years without any upgrades is probably not a good idea for example.

    Start with some decent base components and upgrade when required.

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Budget is all over the place.

    He does like the i7 so a system around that would be great or would an i5 suffice? He doesn't overclock

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    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
      • Motherboard:
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      • RGB E-PEEN
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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    Budget is all over the place.

    He does like the i7 so a system around that would be great or would an i5 suffice? He doesn't overclock
    Get a Xeon E3 1230 V2 if your mate really is hankering for an 8 thread Intel CPU. It is basically a Core i7 without an IGP meaning no Quick Sync. OTH,it is only slightly more expensive than an IB Core i5 3570(not the K version) and around £55 cheaper than a Core i7 3770(not the K version).

    What resolution will he be running his games at??

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    He has a standard 19" TFT but is getting a 24" next month.

    Would an i5 be a better bet?

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    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
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      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • PSU:
      • OVERSIZED
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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    He has a standard 19" TFT but is getting a 24" next month.

    Would an i5 be a better bet?
    It would be cheaper.

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    and no different in most games

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Not looked at an i5 as he hasnt mentioned one. I have an i3 myself but i dont game anyway. He likes to have the best!! lol

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    Not looked at an i5 as he hasnt mentioned one. I have an i3 myself but i dont game anyway. He likes to have the best!! lol
    cant be that bothered if he is still on a single core AMD!

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    Its a long time since he upgraded last

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    • Biscuit's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450M Mortar
      • CPU:
      • AMD 2700X (Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3)
      • Memory:
      • 16GB Patriot Viper 2 @ 3466MHz
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD Black
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire R9 290X Vapor-X
      • PSU:
      • Seasonic Focus Gold 750W
      • Case:
      • Lian Li PC-V359
      • Operating System:
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    Quote Originally Posted by cam1986 View Post
    Its a long time since he upgraded last
    Clearly

    What he really should keep in mind is that moving from something like that to even a low end machine of today will be like night and day.

    If he's not overclocking then a high end expensive motherboard is wasted money.

    If he's not encoding video or doing some other complex multi thread program, an i7 and loads of RAM is wasted.
    Games like higher clock speeds, in the most part anything more than a quad core and 4GB is wasted. 8GB is worth going for purely for the price of it at the moment.

    If he has mega bucks to blow then whatever, just saying throwing more cash into the gpu, monitor, solid state drives and many other things would be better for his overall experience.

    Other than the case and PSU, Is he hoping to take any of his old hardware into the new build or is he starting from scratch?

    What are the case and PSU? If it's that old it might not be up to the same capability it was when it was bought.

    How important is silence?

    Can we have a rough estimate at how much he would spend, you can go from £600 all the way to the sky!

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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    He will spend what is need apparently. He does have a good PSU and Case. Everything is up in the air.

    Can you speck a good gaming rig with i5, 8gig ram and GPU and mobo?

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    • Biscuit's system
      • Motherboard:
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      • CPU:
      • AMD 2700X (Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3)
      • Memory:
      • 16GB Patriot Viper 2 @ 3466MHz
      • Storage:
      • 500GB WD Black
      • Graphics card(s):
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      • Operating System:
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    Re: Mates upgrade time

    I quickly threw this together:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/0f...3b9e4b65443a80

    I added an SSD into the mix because in all honesty, it will be the biggest factor in his general computing experience improving.

    If you shop around (or politely poke CAT-THE-FIFTH) it can probably be done cheaper, but this gives you a ballpark figure to work with.

    It really is important to find out what the actual power supply is, you dont want to spend ~£650 on a new PC only for the power supply to pop once its installed and take all the lovely new shiney parts out with it. Its an unlikely event but not worth the risk when a further £60 will give you piece of mind, a more stable and quieter system.

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    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Less E-PEEN
      • CPU:
      • Massive E-PEEN
      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVEN BIGGER E-PEEN
      • PSU:
      • OVERSIZED
      • Case:
      • UNDERSIZED
      • Operating System:
      • DOS 6.22
      • Monitor(s):
      • NOT USUALLY ON....WHEN I POST
      • Internet:
      • FUNCTIONAL

    Re: Mates upgrade time

    What parts does he have now??

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    • CAT-THE-FIFTH's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Less E-PEEN
      • CPU:
      • Massive E-PEEN
      • Memory:
      • RGB E-PEEN
      • Storage:
      • Not in any order
      • Graphics card(s):
      • EVEN BIGGER E-PEEN
      • PSU:
      • OVERSIZED
      • Case:
      • UNDERSIZED
      • Operating System:
      • DOS 6.22
      • Monitor(s):
      • NOT USUALLY ON....WHEN I POST
      • Internet:
      • FUNCTIONAL

    Re: Mates upgrade time

    I came up with the following build. It is not made for overclocking or multiple graphics cards.



    Due to the slightly higher L3 cache of the Xeon E3 CPUs,single thread performance should be around Core i5 3570. There is no IGP in the CPU though. However,the CPU can run 8 threads like a Core i7.

    An alternative to the HD7970 3GB is the GTX670 2GB. The HD7970 3GB comes bundled with three games too. You could use the onboard sound if required.

    If you shop around you might get the parts cheaper. I would also suggest looking at the following monitor:

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/23-de...-m2-4-port-usb

    You save a decent amount of money over the slightly larger U2412M.

    Edit!!

    The MSI HD7970 3GB is around the same speed as the HD7970 GHZ Edition as it is pre-overclocked.

    It seems that in the latest Hexus review,the HD7970 does much better with the latest drivers:

    http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphi...ic-6gb/?page=5
    Last edited by CAT-THE-FIFTH; 17-07-2012 at 10:57 AM.

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