Possible upgrade/fix question.

[Yeahrt]

I'll admit I've been out of the PC building game for 8-10 years. Buying a $3-400 Dell Outlet deal and slapping a video card in it when the same parts cost $1k from newegg has been a no brainer. However, I'm tired of the limitations it imposes.

Current PC:
E7400 Core2Duo
4 GB PC2-6400 DDR2
EVGA 9800GT @ 1920x1080 – not overclocked

Problem 1 - I am looking toward BF3 and SWTOR. In the beta even with graphics turned way down I am getting poor framerates. I don't mind turning down foilage/shadows/etc but want nice looking textures, draw distance, and framerate.

Problem 2 - My current video card has spdif in for my HDMI out, but my mobo doesn't have spdif out. So I have HDMI to my TV but have to run a separate cable for audio, and the kids have now broken the HDMI audio input jacks on my TV. I have to have a computer that will send HDMI with audio to the TV.


Template:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Games - Battlefield3, SWTOR, World of Tanks, Limited home theater. (MUST have HDMI out with audio)

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

$500-700

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

US

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Intel/nVidia Fanboy, but some flexibility on the video card if the deal warrants it.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Hard drives (500gb/2tb), Power Supply (powerPC 650w), Mouse/keyboard, DVD Drive, Monitor (Asus 23"). Windows 7 64-bit (I'm assuming I can transfer the license to a new PC?)

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

I haven't overclocked since the Celeron 300A and wasn't planning on it.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

1920x1080

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

Mid-Nov - Early December Will buy the case shortly, then will do video card / cpu, mobo, mem in 2 more purchases


Currently looking at:

Antec 300 $45
Sapphire 6870 $150 (nVidia fboy was looking at 560TIs but this seems to be a better buy, lower power consumption?)
Intel i5 2500k $205
Gigabyte z68 mobo $120
GSkill Ripjaw 16GB DDR3 1333 1.5v 9cas $100 (Wife loves to leave crap open that I can't close until I check with her. Hit 4gb way sooner than I thought, don't want to do the same with 8gb)


Will this handle BF3 decently and let me run HDMI with audio to my TV? I'm showing $620 in the cart after rebates. Did I miss anything? Should I do anything differently?

Thank you for looking.

 

[Ken g6]

Windows 7 64-bit (I'm assuming I can transfer the license to a new PC?)

If it's the Home Premium that came with your computer, I doubt it.

So, we need to save some money.

- Are you sure your current case won't work? There are Z68 uATX boards if that's what you need. Suppose you get this bundle. You can always wait to get another 8GB until you have the money.
- As for the processor, do you have a Micro Center nearby? Or you could try the whole order-from-NCIX-and-price-match-Micro-Center deal. If neither of those work, you could bundle the CPU with the other 8GB RAM, like this. If you have any interest at all in a really easy overclock, the 2500k is a good choice. If not, consider the 2400 if you need to save money.

I suggest you decide on/get the graphics card last, as nice, new 28nm cards are supposed to be out by early next year. With a z68 mobo, I believe that you can use the onboard HDMI out at the same time as a discrete graphics card. Although that 9800gt sure is old!

 

[mfenn]

The current build looks good to me except for the price of the RAM. With the $100 of RAM, it totals to $620, which would put you over your $700 max if you need to add Windows.

However, there are a few easy ways to cut some costs:
- RAM: DDR3 1333 8GB kit for $35 (buy it quick!)
- CPU: i5 2400 + GA-Z68M-D3 combo for $272 because there is no need for Z68 and a K processor if you're not going to OC

 

[Yeahrt]

Thanks for the input. I have vista licensed on my PC, then have a copy of Win7 Professional Upgrade. Hopefully I can find my Vista disk, install it, then do a format/clean install with my Win7 upgrade disk.

If not I'll have to buy a new copy.

If I go with 8gb ram now, and upgrade another 8gb later it needs to be perfectly matched right? specs/manufacturer/etc?

My current case has iffy airflow. I was looking to upgrade to a case I could keep across several builds and not overheat.

 

[Ken g6]

I have vista licensed on my PC, then have a copy of Win7 Professional Upgrade. Hopefully I can find my Vista disk, install it, then do a format/clean install with my Win7 upgrade disk.

Yeah, I think that should be transferable.

GA-Z68M-D3 combo doesn't have four RAM slots. Plus, the Z68s I pointed out (above and below) have a Virtu that might help with getting HDMI audio out. Especially if you don't upgrade the GPU right away.

If I go with 8gb ram now, and upgrade another 8gb later it needs to be perfectly matched right? specs/manufacturer/etc?

Probably on the specs. Not on the manufacturer.

My current case has iffy airflow. I was looking to upgrade to a case I could keep across several builds and not overheat.

That's a good point, and now you have the money to get that case plus a full-size ASRock board. Which does for sure do HDMI audio out.

 

[mfenn]

GA-Z68M-D3 combo doesn't have four RAM slots. Plus, the Z68s I pointed out (above and below) have a Virtu that might help with getting HDMI audio out. Especially if you don't upgrade the GPU right away.

All 6000 series Radeons have their own sound cards built in specifically for providing HDMI audio. They don't need any sort of passthrough from the mobo's onboard sound, so any benefit of Virtu would be marginal at best.