Upgrade Advice

[Dooms]

Edit: these plans have changed a bit and I've updated new upgrade ideas in post #13: http://forums.hexus.net/review-my-bu...ml#post2924901


Hey guys, been quite a while since I last posted but looking for a bit of advice on a upcoming upgrade.

Current system:
i5 760 @ stock
GA-P55-UD3
4GB Corsair 'Dominator' DDR3 1GB EVGA GTX 460 SC
Coolermaster Elite Power 500w PSU
Samsung F3 500gb

I'm after a 2 part upgrade leading to a whole new system... Was thinking of GFX, SSD, and replacing my Ram (currently got 1 dodgy stick) and maybe a better than stock CPU cooler to clock the i5 up a bit while I save for 2nd upgrade that would be case (FT03), mobo, psu & cpu.


Budget: £500 for first upgrade and prob another £500 down the line for the 2nd but I'm flexible overall.

I've been looking at either a 670 (not sure which) or a 7950 (HIS boost with the IceQ cooler) - I know there are plus and minus for both but I'm leaning towards the ATI due to cost and coming with both Crysis 3 and Bioshock which are 2 games I would buy.

SSD wise I have no idea what's what in the market these days. I would like a 256gb one at least for windows & steam collection

Ram... Best bang for buck at 2x4gb pieces

And then maybe a H60 for the CPU which would transfer over to a new chip inside the FT03 later on.

2nd upgrade wouldn't be till late May / early June so prob best checking then as things change

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Your CPU with an overclock would be fine for another year or two I would suspect.

I would also change out the PSU at the same time as the graphics card update too.

[Dooms]

Was thinking that regarding the psu, especially if I go the ATI route as I've read they are a bit more power hungry.

What would you recommend? 750w corsair?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The CM PSU you use is made by FSP and is more a lower end 450W model AFAIK.

This PSU would probably be fine:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...-quiet-fan-atx

Its made by Seasonic for XFX.

What is your PSU budget BTW??

I would probably not spend more than £250 on an HD7950 3GB, as you are hitting HD7970 3GB territory then at around £290 to £300.

[Dooms]

No real budget as such, just have to wait a couple more weeks for more pay

Cool cheers, think I'm set on the 7950, new psu (either the one you linked or a corsair modular) & some ram however I have no idea what SSD to go for? Best bang for buck 256gb one at the mo? I haven't been following the tech so no idea.

[Dooms]

Sigh change of plans. My 8 year old 24inch dell ultrasharp just died on me

[Bonebreaker777]

Ahh. RIP. Good luck with the new budget.

[Pob255]

Died how? Common death for lcd monitors (not led backlit) is the inverter going, normally it's possible to be able to just get a replacement power board for it. (the inverter is normally part of the main power board on monitors but it can be separate)
You'll need to open it up and look inside though, look for bulging caps and brown scorch marks on the pcb.

personally I'd start with ram + psu + ssd + repair the monitor
Some form of aftermarket cooler and overclock that cpu.
the gtx460 1gb is hardly top end these days but it's still a solid mid range card the 7950 should be around 35% faster, a good boost but getting working ram and an ssd will probably be more noticeable first.

[PowerPie5000]

Died how? Common death for lcd monitors (not led backlit) is the inverter going, normally it's possible to be able to just get a replacement power board for it. (the inverter is normally part of the main power board on monitors but it can be separate)
You'll need to open it up and look inside though, look for bulging caps and brown scorch marks on the pcb.

personally I'd start with ram + psu + ssd + repair the monitor
Some form of aftermarket cooler and overclock that cpu.
the gtx460 1gb is hardly top end these days but it's still a solid mid range card the 7950 should be around 35% faster, a good boost but getting working ram and an ssd will probably be more noticeable first.

I personally wouldn't bother repairing an 8 year old LCD monitor, but maybe that's just me. You could find a cheap 24" that would be better suited for gaming with faster pixel response times and lower input lag compared to an 8 year old LCD Monitor .

the gtx460 1gb is hardly top end these days but it's still a solid mid range card the 7950 should be around 35% faster, a good boost but getting working ram and an ssd will probably be more noticeable first.

The 7950 eats anything below a GTX 670 for breakfast (my 7950 is noticeably faster than my GTX 660 Ti) .

[PowerPie5000]

Double post

[Dooms]

I was thinking it was a blown cap as it sparked & banged when being turned on and I was planning to take a look at it to see if it would be an easy fix however I will prob replace it with a 27inch when I get the cash... Not because its 8 years old and can get better (still a IPS panel that was £700 back in the day and looked just as good as my mates newer panels) but because I want bigger

So... It looks like I will have to delay until May (treat as a birthday present to myself) but will get Monitor, SSD, GFX, Ram, PSU and cpu cooler in one whack and drool at the upgrade

Still not sure what SSD to look at but I suppose 5-6 weeks changes things.

[dacads]

Crucial M4 or Samsung 840 Pro would be both good shouts for the SSD

[Dooms]

Ok few weeks on and my budget has gone out of the window. Looks like I'll be going a different route and spending more out from the off set... probably at the end of June.

Keep my i5 760 & GA-P55-UD3 + Get that chip overclocked!

Also managed to get hold of a Cooler Master CM-690 II Advanced for free as well so will be moving into that case.

8GB (2x4GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black, PC3-14900 (1866), Non-ECC, CAS 9-10-9-27, XMP, 1.50V
Tempting to go for 16GB... just because

Dell Ultrasharp U2713HM 27-inch
My 24" UltraSharp lasted 8 years and I loved it... so upgrading to bigger!

Samsung 250GB 840 Series Basic SSD 7mm Ultraslim Solid State Drive
I don't really care about the reduced write speed, I'm only using it for gaming. Also tempted to pick up 2x of them for RAID 0... more for the extra space than the speed.

750W XFX XXX P1-750X-XXB9, Hybrid Modular, 85% Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.2, PSU
750W because I'm not sure what GFX card I'm going to go for, if I go ATI and want to go Xfire I know they use more juice than their nVidia counterparts

Sooo we come down to GFX cards. The 700 series being revealed in 4 hours but its already looking like the 780 is going to be £500+ and at that point I can pick up a 7950 3GB Boost card and pick up a 2nd card a month or so later to go Xfire and still save money?

I also need recommendation for cooling, both CPU cooler and case fans as the case is bare. Overclocking the i5 as much as possible (would be nice to hit the 4Ghz on air mark everyone was getting with the 750/760 ) but also would like to keep the noise to an acceptable level.

[Domestic_Ginger]

HUKD listed had the Xigmatek thors hammer lister for £16. Not the best cooler but I think good value. You need a fan for it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...d=482734791606

http://www.frostytech.com/articlevie...id=2415&page=5. Its run with a generic 1500rpm fan.

You could easily use a 500w or less. I'm not convinced by xfire tbh.

[Dooms]

500w for OC and maybe 2x 7950's? Seems a bit low for such power hungry cards?

[Willzzz]

Yes that is low, I'd suggest 750w.