Upgrades - Advice?

[Impulse]

First of all, sorry if this is the wrong forum for this thread. I'm new here & this seemed like the most appropriate place for this. PM me if you move it please so I can keep track of it.

So I've been looking at upgrading my CPU & mobo for a while now - my specs are to the left & as you can see my CPU & mobo (mostly) bottleneck everything else. I have a fair amount of money clearing on friday (not all to spend on a PC though!) so my budget isn't very strict and it can go over by say £50-£100.

These are the bits I'm looking to get to upgrade my PC:


Budget is £320ish without PSU, £400ish with PSU. Can anyone find better parts or better prices? I'm looking at Scan & Ebuyer right now for all my parts.

The ONLY limitation is that the motherboard MUST be MATX to fit in my case (NZXT Vulcan) and the H60 is the only closed loop solution I could find to fit my case that I can buy in the UK. Crossfire support would be nice if I decide to get another 6970 further down the line but isn't an absolute must. I put a 750w PSU on there to future proof in case I get another 6970 but I won't get another PSU just yet if my board doesn't support 2 GPUs.

I'd rather spend £150 and get a top of the range motherboard than buy a new case for £100 and buy a cheapo motherboard to get the features I want before anyone says get an ATX case and an ATX board...

Any help is appreciated, thanks!

[c12038]

Yeah i get your meaning here http://www.tested.com/tech/pcs/260-n...-radeon-5970s/

Whats your preference regarding CPU and make (Quad or six core) Intel or AMD

also how much Ram is needed and speed type ?????

I have an idea what sorta M/B you need just need to verifiy the above

Regards

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would get a better PSU if you intend to run Crossfire:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...uiet-fan-atx-v

Supposedly,the motherboard supports PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X Crossfire,but I am not sure how good it is for overclocking though.

[Impulse]

Yeah i get your meaning here

Whats your preference regarding CPU and make (Quad or six core) Intel or AMD

also how much Ram is needed and speed type ?????

I have an idea what sorta M/B you need just need to verifiy the above

Regards

Thanks for the reply! I've always gone for AMD in the past purely due to price difference, but they've always lagged behind friends' builds with Intel CPUs. Now I can afford to spend the money to go Intel I thought I'd give it a shot. My main purpose for this machine is heavy gaming use with minor bits of video editing here and there.

I do graphic design for a living and my current spec can handle what I need it to, so 8GB RAM should be fine, although getting the Z77 board I posted in my OP would mean I have the option of getting another 8GB in future.

Speed-wise I do intend on getting faster RAM further down the line but my 8GB of 1333mhz XMS3 has served me just fine so far.

I would get a better PSU if you intend to run Crossfire:

Supposedly,the motherboard supports PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X Crossfire,but I am not sure how good it is for overclocking though.

I was looking at that particular PSU earlier, it looks great & isn't a cheapo make so I'll definitely consider it; although I've always gone Corsair when it comes to PSU - they're simply the best and most reliable in my experience. I don't intend on getting another 6970 just yet but will definitely get a new PSU if I decide I need one - the main reason for this upgrade is that my FPS is much lower than I expected in some games even after getting a better GPU, so by removing the bottleneck hopefully I'll get at least 60fps, and if not another 6970 and PSU is in order

As for Xfire in 8X/8X I know the bandwidth will be half of a full PCIE 2.0 slot but will it affect my performance by a small or large amount? There's no point getting another card if the board is just going to bottleneck it, I'll just get a GTX680 or HD7970 in that case or wait for this year's GPUs to be released.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I was looking at that particular PSU earlier, it looks great & isn't a cheapo make so I'll definitely consider it; although I've always gone Corsair when it comes to PSU - they're simply the best and most reliable in my experience. I don't intend on getting another 6970 just yet but will definitely get a new PSU if I decide I need one - the main reason for this upgrade is that my FPS is much lower than I expected in some games even after getting a better GPU, so by removing the bottleneck hopefully I'll get at least 60fps, and if not another 6970 and PSU is in order

As for Xfire in 8X/8X I know the bandwidth will be half of a full PCIE 2.0 slot but will it affect my performance by a small or large amount? There's no point getting another card if the board is just going to bottleneck it, I'll just get a GTX680 or HD7970 in that case or wait for this year's GPUs to be released.

You need to be more concerned with the OEM though and platform used.

Corsair has used their good name from their older PSU ranges,to basically cost cut with their newer PSUs,often using very cheap capacitors and sleeve bearing fans in their lower end PSUs. Their VS range and CX range are average in construction.

Don't buy into the halo marketing.

Moreover,the XFX is a Seasonic PSU and uses decent components. Also,AFAIK PSU RMA is in the UK too and not in Holland.

[Wh@l3fish]

Hi,

Just an observation rather than advice... Are you planning on overclocking your cpu, if you are ignore the next bit...

Otherwise do you need the K version of that chip or will the normal version suffice. If you're not overclocking, could you get away with using a lower profile air cooler? The money saved could go towards a better quality psu like CAT says, or even that second graphics card...

[Impulse]

You need to be more concerned with the OEM though and platform used.

Corsair has used their good name from their older PSU ranges,to basically cost cut with their newer PSUs,often using very cheap capacitors and sleeve bearing fans in their lower end PSUs. Their VS range and CX range are average in construction.

Don't buy into the halo marketing.

Moreover,the XFX is a Seasonic PSU and uses decent components. Also,AFAIK PSU RMA is in the UK too and not in Holland.

I'm not buying into the halo marketing, it's from experience that they've earned my trust over other OEMs. I had a friend 6 months ago with an OCZ PSU (just 2 months old) and he pushed his rig harder through overclocking to squeeze faster render times out of it and the whole thing went bang. He only needed 550w and his PSU was 750w. I'm using a CX430 and have been for over 2 years with a build that *should* need 550w minimum with no problems even with overclocks.

I usually RMA to ebuyer directly if there's a problem, so no issues there - plus I'm hoping it won't die

Just an observation rather than advice... Are you planning on overclocking your cpu, if you are ignore the next bit...

Thanks for the input Yep, I'm looking to overclock it later in life or when I need a video rendering that little bit faster or if games ever catch up and need a boost, hence the H60 for a quiet but cool CPU cooler

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I'm not buying into the halo marketing, it's from experience that they've earned my trust over other OEMs. I had a friend 6 months ago with an OCZ PSU (just 2 months old) and he pushed his rig harder through overclocking to squeeze faster render times out of it and the whole thing went bang. He only needed 550w and his PSU was 750w. I'm using a CX430 and have been for over 2 years with a build that *should* need 550w minimum with no problems even with overclocks.

They are not an OEM! They don't make PSUs. Other companies make the PSUs for them using standard platforms which customers like Corsair can dictate modifications to.

I have an HX520W which I bought in 2007 which still works fine,but I don't believe in being "fan" of any PSU brand,and base it the facts of the platform used,the OEM used and the internal pictures of the design to judge the capacitors used.

Companies tend to change platforms and Corsair is no different. Not all these changes benefit the consumer.

Maybe you want to trust Jun Fu brand capacitors and the like. That is what Corsair has been sneaking into its new lower end PSUs. The older first generation CX series,ie,the CX400W was a Seasonic design with very good internal parts. The thing is though many other PSUs used a similar Seasonic design,and they all tended to be quite decent.

It cost so much to make,they decided to ditch it and go with the second generation CX PSUs,ie,the CX 430W. The XFX PRO 450W is essentially a more modern derivative of the same platform used in the CX400W.

The CX430W V1 which "replaced" the CX400W was less efficient,had less amps on the 12V line(even though it was rated higher),used sleeve bearing fans and downgraded the capacitor quality significantly. A year later it was ditched for the V2 which improved efficiency,but had all the other attributes being no difference. Recently,the V3 came out which finally managed to make the "430W" PSU more powerful than the 400W one,as it managed a massive 2A increase on the 12V line finally. I thought they had improved the capacitors,but it seems that now Caxphon and Jun Fu have entered the fray. For a PSU which is around £35 that is not really great brands you want to see. The new VS series is slightly cheaper and internally looks a clone of similar Chieftec PSUs(same OEM model),which uses Fuhjyyu capacitors. Jun Fu and Fuhjyyu are the kind of capacitors you find in those £10 exploding specials. If they are not cooled adequately they don't last very long. Even the Caxphon and Samxon capacitors they use are not ideal and is OK for a PSU under £25 IMHO as long as they are not pushed. The Samxon GF series had issues.

The problem is that I have certainly heard more people having issues with the newer CX series, than older Corsair PSUs and that is on a few forums,especially with the higher wattage versions. This is because the platform which is used is more suited for lower wattages.

Look at this review of the CX600W V2:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cas...n_5.html#sect0

Summary

The Corsair CMPSU-600CX V2 is not very efficient, not very quiet and not very cheap. Its full duplicate (in electrical parameters) from CWT is about 20% cheaper (the CWT version has a simpler exterior design but its 140mm fan promises better acoustic parameters). There are many other worthy competitors in the same price category.

So,Corsair had to make a third revision just to improve efficiency and even then it is basically a budget design. Since,September 2010,there have been THREE revisions of the CX series.

If you are spending £70 to £80,there are far better PSUs out there,with better construction too.

The following PSUs are meant to be decent:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...uiet-fan-atx-v

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...et-fan-atx-psu

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...re-eps-12v-qui

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...2v-atx-v23-psu

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-...uiet-fan-atx-v

Even among Corsair PSUs,the TX650M is better than a CX750M.

[Impulse]

They are not an OEM! They don't make PSUs. Other companies make the PSUs for them using standard platforms which customers like Corsair can dictate modifications to.

I have an HX520W which I bought in 2007 which still works fine,but I don't believe in being "fan" of any PSU brand,and base it the facts of the platform used,the OEM used and the internal pictures of the design to judge the capacitors used.

Companies tend to change platforms and Corsair is no different. Not all these changes benefit the consumer.

Thank you for the informative post! I wasn't going in blindly buying for the name alone, I was going to stick with Corsair because from past experience their PSUs have handled more than the power they should and lasted a long time (my CX430 has lasted me 2 years when everyone I've spoken to said I needed 500w+ minimum) and friends with other PSUs (from brands that were supposed to be reputable) have blown and needed replacing. I bought mine late 2010 / early 2011.

I ended up just buying the H60, motherboard & i5 3570K for now and will possibly get a better PSU next payday. Would you say I strictly NEED a higher watt PSU or would I be ok with my current one until I get another 6970 (6990 maybe? Or Nvidia 7xx / ATI 8xxx series, will see when the time comes) further down the line?

Specs when my new parts arrive will be:

• Intel Core i5 3570k
• Corsair H60
• 8GB (2x 4GB) Corsair XMS3 RAM
• Gigabyte Radeon HD6970 OC
• MSI Z77MA-G45 Z77 motherboard
• 2x OCZ Solid 3 120GB SSD, 500GB MDT, 1TB WD Green
• 430W Corsair CX430 PSU

[Bonebreaker777]

Choose a different MB. On a foreign site they tested the Z77MA-G45 and was behaving very strangely.

Foreign test of 4 mATX Z77 boards

EDIT : I recently purchased a AsRock Z77 board, acceptable price and from Novatech (free postage plus cashback).

ASRock Z77 Pro4-M