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PC Upgrade

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2012 in Ten Forward
Hi peeps. I could use some help in upgrading my pc. First off what's the best cpu to use with regards to cores??? I really can't decide between a dual or quad setup. I have an Nvidia Nforce 620i SLI motherboard so it's either an Intel core 2 duo or quad but it will run the Extreme cpu's too. I usually buy AMD but the motherboard found it's way into my posession after parting with a substantial amount of cash. lol
http://www.nvidia.com/page/nforce_600i_tech_specs.html

Next up is the graphics card. Now i prefer Nvidia cards but there's a few other's i've looked at. Atm i'm using an ATI radeon HD4650 which is a pretty good card for the games i play but not quite upto the newer games.
Since my motherboard has multiple PCI-e slots i can easily add a second card at a later date if needed. Just 2 things it must have. First is an HDMI slot and second it must cope with HD resolution gaming.

I know there's some tech heads out there. I appreciate all the help i can get finding the right parts at reasonable prices. There's so much out there right now i really can't decide. The case is the only thing i knew i wanted which is an NZXT Lexa s with red lighting.

Thanks
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Isn't that motherboard ~5 years old? :(
    I really don't think you should put any money into it at this point. Intel made a substantial tech leap in meantime and they use new sockets now. You might be able to reuse the case, but otherwise I think you're gonna need a fresh start.

    I'd recommend a book, Building the Perfect PC by the Thompson. It's full of good advice and will prevent you from accidentally putting a bottleneck in your system, or worse, buying something that doesn't fit.

    If you don't want to think about it that much, then here's a good starting point to choose some nice up-to-date components for not too much $:
    Tom's Hardware System Builder -- Gaming PC
    I wouldn't recommend deviating from that build though unless you read the book first.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    LOL I can try and help here.

    I find that computer parts and what not all depends on what people want to spend. I have helped out alot of customers in the past who wanted the "cheap but good" and it was really hard to meet that requirement. But now adays its easier to do.

    If you want to do a total upgrade, and want to keep it easy on the wallet, then I would recommend AMD. I am currently spec'ing out an upgrade for myself, and from what I've heard from friends, the AMD processors are the best bang for the buck right now. I'm not sure where you reside, but in Canada, you can get a HexCore for approx $150. I'm still a fan of the Intel processors, but as I get older, I find my wallet doesnt hold as much money as it used to when i didnt have rent, car payments, and the biggest money drain...a girlfriend lol..

    In terms of motherboards and if you go with AMD, if you still want to stick with Nvidia graphics card, I would suggest you stear clear of Mobo's that have on-board video. If I can recall, all AMD mobo's with on-board graphics use a ATI on-board chipset. When combined with an Nvidia graphics card, it can cause more problems then you like. They can be ironed out, but I personally like to avoid them at all cost haha.

    Memory wise, once you pic the mobo that you want, i would strongly suggest checking out the manufactures site to see what ram they have tested and certified with that model. With alot of the mainstream boards (Asus, Gigabit ect..) i find that OCZ, Corsair, Kingston are sure bets. I personally run Corsair XMS.

    Lastly, I would make sure, if you don't already, have a decent wattage Power Supply. I usually recommend at least 600Watts. This is my personal preference in instances of future upgrades, such as second video card, more hard drives blah blah blah


    Oh and if you want to get real fancy, might I suggest a Solid State Drive. All I have to say is F-ing amazing. Load times are crazy and just seem to make everything so....flawless... lol

    Hope this info helps
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Thx for the replies guys.

    Yes it's an older model motherboard but this one has never been used. It'll still keep up with the newer boards. I've seen these overclocked silly amounts so even if it is the older model it's still as good or in some cases better than what's available now.

    I already have a Corsair 750w psu, a friend recommended it.

    I was looking at memory earlier and the guy says the Corsair memory is one of the best. I'd be looking at about 4gb for my price range.

    What i need to know is, is it worth spending the extra cash and going for a quad core processor or shall i stick to a dual core??? From what i've been told the more cores you have the smaller they get. The setup i have now is a single core 4ghz, my old pc had a dual core but it was only 3ghz so i'm guessing a quad will be smaller still.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    you want quad. i5 or better with a better mobo.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Trash the old system and get a i5 or i7 mini tower for less than 500 bucks. Get a good graphics card in the bundle, done deal.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    ashman7286 wrote: »
    Thx for the replies guys.

    Yes it's an older model motherboard but this one has never been used. It'll still keep up with the newer boards. I've seen these overclocked silly amounts so even if it is the older model it's still as good or in some cases better than what's available now.

    I already have a Corsair 750w psu, a friend recommended it.

    I was looking at memory earlier and the guy says the Corsair memory is one of the best. I'd be looking at about 4gb for my price range.

    What i need to know is, is it worth spending the extra cash and going for a quad core processor or shall i stick to a dual core??? From what i've been told the more cores you have the smaller they get. The setup i have now is a single core 4ghz, my old pc had a dual core but it was only 3ghz so i'm guessing a quad will be smaller still.

    Umm, better than a z68? No. No its not. Hell, my build is 2 years old and its ok but not kicking A's and taking names. And I'm running a i5 650(dual core 4 threads) oc'ed to 4.00ghz 8 gigs of corsair memory DDR3 1600 on a P55-ud4p gigabyte board, and a pair of hd 5770 crossfired. All powered by a cooler master silent pro 850w. You may want to rethink that again.

    You can get the same 8 gigs i have for less than $50 here...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145324

    for this game you don't need a quad. a dual works fine. but a good dual or a sub par quad would be the best bet. for my processor and graphics cards I have the highest 3d mark 11 score. But my cpu is a bottleneck and my cards are on the tail end of useful (highest game settings) it can play with everything on but I want better fps.

    My memory, psu and graphics cards will carry over into my next build until I buy a better graphics card. I'm waiting for Ivy bridge.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Oh, I should also mention it's a good idea to use a power transformer that has about twice the capacity that you actually use. The reason is that those things are tweaked to deliver maximum efficiency at 50%.

    So, if you sit down and figure that your computer would max out at 250W, then a 500W transformer should be all you need. If you go overboard and get a 1000W transformer, then your'll end up drawing 300W to power it instead of 250W just from the inefficiency of it.

    <--- hippie
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Im running an 650i w/ a dual core wolfdale @ 3.16 w/ a 285 gtx. feels slow man.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Sticking with that board if you ever tried to put two video cards in you're gonna need a pair of nvideas to get the most out of it. I built a new one last summer to bet better performance here. Spent 400 just on the core components and transferred some others from the old build. Frame rates dip to 45fps and average between 55-60.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Doubt anyone here would recommend this, as they wouldn't be considered "Serious Gaming Hardware" but the performance and power consumption are incredibly impressive.

    AMD A8-3870K [3.0GHz Quad Core 4MB L2 Cache]
    Gigabyte A55M-DS2 [FM1 DDR3 HDMI/DisplayPort/DVI Spec 3.0]
    Kingston's KHX1866C11S3P1K2/4G [4GB CL11 (Programmable) 1.9GHz DDR3]

    That would be a good base specification, that can be obtained for < £180 ($250)
    It also supports Dual-GPU, which I would personally pair it with either a HD 6570 or HD 7670 as they will clock-sync better with the on-die 6570 producing approx. 80% performance gain; basically for less than quarter of the cost you'd get the performance of a top-end dual-gpu card.

    Probably also good to keep in mind that the AMD HD 6570 is powerful enough to run STO in DirectX 11 (beta) 1080p full graphics (4xMultisample Edge-AA, 16xAF) at a stable 60fps.

    If running on a Windows 7 or 8 platform, then would also recommend a small SSD (8-16GB) that is setup as a ReadyBoost device instead of an individual HDD. Although you won't see quite the same initial performance you would from using as a primary HDD, you will be GREATLY extending the lifespan of the device which many SSDs under heavy usage have a habit of burning themselves out or becoming highly corrupted when ECC fails.

    While I won't deny the performance of the Intel i3/5/7 with Floating Point Mathematics makes them incredibly impressive choices for business applications, when it comes to gaming their performance has a great deal to be desired. I would say the same about the NVIDIA GeForce hardware as well, tends to perform better in synthetic tests over real-world application... particularly often must be optimised to achieve stable results, where-as AMD hardware might not achieve quite the same framerates the hardware bottlenecks less often producing very stable and fluid framerates that imo is better for gameplay.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I'm shocked and appalled that no one has posted the falcon guide yet.

    Everything that you need for building a computer is in it.

    http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af150/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    asteconn wrote:
    I'm shocked and appalled that no one has posted the falcon guide yet.

    Everything that you need for building a computer is in it.

    http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af150/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png

    ... An interesting guide, but I'm troubled that it's signed off looking like the signature of a 12 year old. :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    It doesn't even list my processor on that list.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    Appreciate all the input guys. It has made me think. I'm going to have a look at the i5 processor and obviously another board. If i decide to go for the AMD equivalent of the i5 what would that be???
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    ashman7286 wrote: »
    Appreciate all the input guys. It has made me think. I'm going to have a look at the i5 processor and obviously another board. If i decide to go for the AMD equivalent of the i5 what would that be???

    Again, tom's hardware is a great site to answer questions like this. They have charts that compare performance of different processors. They also compare things like power consumption if you look around.

    Getting low power consumption isn't just for sissy environmental-friendly guys like myself, it's also good because less power consumed = less heat produced = less noise from the cooling fans = happy times.

    To answer your question, it looks like AMD doesn't have an equivalent of an i5 (although those charts are a year old now, they need to make some new ones soon). AMD tends to focus on budget chips. If you're looking at upper-end AMD, you'd end up saving money getting a lower-end Intel instead.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2012
    I've gone for an AMD Phenom II Black Edition quad core. It was in a bundle with 4GB Corsair memory and a 1Gb Palit GTS250 graphics card. All for £115 including delivery (ebay). I'm not complaining at that price and it'll do for what i need it for. I'll stick the 680i board on ebay and see what i get for it.

    I also ordered some red led case fans, a better cpu cooler, a red cold cathode kit, red TRIBBLE kit and a cable tidy kit.

    I'll get some pics up once it's all running.

    Appreciate all the help guys, top bunch of people:)
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