Upgrading advice

[nFeF]

Budget: I'd like to keep it under $850 but will go to $1000 if the performance jump is worth it.

Use: Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Battlefield 3, anything that comes out in the next 3 years or so that I don't even know abut yet.

Resolution: 1680x1050 for now, 1920x1080 at some point in the near future.

I'm in US and I plan on ordering in the next week or two.

What i'm keeping:

- Optical drive
- Monitor (22" Acer)
- Case if possible (Antec 300)
- Sound Card (Xonar DX)
- PSU (Corsair 750TX)
- Peripherals/OS, mouse, kb, Win7 etc.

What i'm replacing:

- Phenom II X3 710
- G.Skill 8GB DDR2 1066
- Seagate 250GB
- Asus M3A78-EM
- Sapphire 4870 1GB
- Will need a cooler as well to OC i5.

I have no brand loyalty, except that there is no way in hell i'm going to buy an AMD chip this time around. SSD isn't really priority.. i'd rather put the $130~ into a better video card if I have the chance.

I'd like to keep my case but i'm not sure how big vid cards are nowadays and if i'll have any issues fitting everything in without it being cramped. If you personally think i'd be better off getting a bigger/newer case, feel free to recommend one.

TYIA!

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

i5 2500k or i5 3570k
Biostar TZ77XE4 or TZ77XE3 board
Corsair Vengeance 1.5v pc-1600
(dont have an SSD drive so I cant recommend any)
Sapphire HD7950

 

[nFeF]

Forgot to mention I will need a cooler (and one that will fit in my case if I keep it) as I plan to OC the i5.

edited OP.

 

[Upgrade_Itch]

If the Antec 300 has 159 mm (or about 6.2 inches) clearance between the motherboard and the left side panel you can fit a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ Evo. Its a good HSF for about $35, I use it myself.

 

[Pinecone-sw]

I have an Antec 300 and just put in Corsair H80 water cooler. LOVE IT.

 

[thelastjuju]

You realize all you need is a new video card, and a mild overclock on the processor, and you will run every single one of these games you plan on playing, right?

Add an entry level SSD drive too, do a fresh install, and it will feel like you got a whole new PC.. nothing even remotely limiting for games with any of your other parts..

Unless you plan on moving the old rig to another room or to serve as an HTPC, this is far from a worthwhile upgrade, unless you are really just hell bent on blowing some cash on something.

 

[nFeF]

My Phenom and an OCed i5 aren't even in the same zip code let alone ballpark, so i'm not sure how you say that? I can't even run 1 year old games at high settings (not ultra.. high) how is a new video card and a mild overclock on what was never a great processor to begin with going to let me play new games in 2 years at high settings? Hell how would it even let me run BF3 on high?

A few examples, I had to run SC2 at low-medium settings or it would bog down hard in multi-player games. I had to run Rift at medium settings just to play normally solo and small groups, i'd hate to see how it performed in raids.

I saw 5-15 fps regularly in WoW raids with med-high settings and shadows/AA/AF off.

edit: A more recent example, I actually quit playing SWtoR because performance in battlegrounds was damn near unplayable, even at the lowest settings.. which made the game look like it was made in 2002. <15 fps was constant.

 

[thelastjuju]

Actually your processor and the i5 have the same statistic where it counts most for modern games: 6MB L3 Cache.. I don't know where you got the idea that the processor was never good to begin with.. it just has a similar problem with the q6600, lower clock speed.. most people overclock these chips to go from games barely playable to completely playable.

But the reason you can't run those games maxed out is probably way more because of the video card, not the processor.. games are more GPU dependent than they are CPU dependent.. and the rare CPU intensive games (GTA4 for example) are hungry for the type of cache that your processor already has.

We aren't going to see any radical changes to game requirements until the next generation of consoles rolls out, 2-3 years or whenever.. then and only then will we know what we will need from that point on, but its impossible to try and futureproof for that at this point in time.

 

[nFeF]

I never said it wasn't good.. I said it wasn't great.

Maybe if I had a 720 BE it'd be a diff story, but then if I had picked one of those I would have OCed it a long time ago and might not even be here. Also, all those games I listed above are notably more heavy on the CPU than GPU. Especially SC2.

Regardless, i'm moving on from the Phenom.

 

[thelastjuju]

Well, you asked for advice.. not for people to confirm what you already wanted to do.. I insist that there is nothing wrong with this rig, and its still very capable if you overclocked it .. a $0 overclock and new video card will be a far better bang for your buck than upgrading this entire rig, is all.

You can even unlock the 4th core on that chip and get a decent little fps boost.

The OP has made it clear he intends to upgrade and would like advice on what parts to get. If you wish to help him with this, great. However if you don't, then you're not being particularly helpful since he has already declined your suggestion to not upgrade

-Thanks
ViRGE

 

[nFeF]

Current 'thinking of' build

- i5 2500k $219.99
- Asus 7850 $254.99
- Biostar TZ77XE3 $119.99
- Samsung Spinpoint 500GB $79.99
- G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB 1600 $46.99
- CM 212 EVO $34.99

Total: $756

Option to throw in a SSD and be right around budget, or drop the 7850 for a 7950? After doing some research I really dislike the GPU market atm while waiting on the new cards from NV.. $400 for a 7950 feels like I should just go all the way and get a GTX 680, if i'm spending $400 I might as well spend $500 right? Idk.

 

[mfenn]

Current 'thinking of' build

- i5 2500k $219.99
- Asus 7850 $254.99
- Biostar TZ77XE3 $119.99
- Samsung Spinpoint 500GB $79.99
- G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB 1600 $46.99
- CM 212 EVO $34.99

Total: $756

Option to throw in a SSD and be right around budget, or drop the 7850 for a 7950? After doing some research I really dislike the GPU market atm while waiting on the new cards from NV.. $400 for a 7950 feels like I should just go all the way and get a GTX 680, if i'm spending $400 I might as well spend $500 right? Idk.

That looks good to me. I have a few comments though:
- I would probably save $4 on some RAM with the same specs as the G.Skill.
- I'm not sure which ASUS 7850 you're referring to, but make sure that you get a dual-fan card for noise considerations.
- A single-platter 1TB HDD is only $20 more in case you would like more storage space.
- I highly recommend getting an SSD like this M4 128GB since you're into MMOs. It greatly reduces zoning/loading times not to mention the usual general usage improvements.

 

[nFeF]

I actually dropped the HD in favor of the Crucial M4 you linked. Going to just keep using my current HD until prices drop a bit. With OS + some games running off the SDD i'll have plenty of room for awhile.

Also the 7850 I ordered is this one, it was $249, not sure why that price still says $260 when they have them available for cheaper. Was kind of sad I couldn't find an EVGA but Asus has never let me down either, and it is a dual-fan model which is why I chose it.

 

[lehtv]

Was kind of sad I couldn't find an EVGA

That's because EVGA doesn't make AMD cards

 

[nFeF]

Really? I didn't even know that.. I just know i've had EVGA cards before, but then i've never really had any loyalty to either ATI or NV, i've always just gone with what was the best buy at the time. :\

Has it always been that way or was that one of the side-effects of ATI -> AMD?

 

[lehtv]

Don't worry the Asus model is excellent. I'd say Asus and Sapphire have the best 7850 coolers - Asus because of the multitude of heatpipes, Sapphire because it's compact (Asus extends beyond the PCB) and thus the air flows more directly to the card

Has it always been that way or was that one of the side-effects of ATI -> AMD?

I think EVGA has always been NVIDIA only.

 

[N4n45h1]

Since you're getting a Z77 motherboard you could consider the i5-3570k as well. I've seen someone post an ad for Microcenter that said they would sell it for around $180?

Although there have been some concerns about heat with the IB processors when overclocked...

Edit:
Microcenter Ad
So if you're near one, you could take advantage of the $50 MB bundle as well

 

[nFeF]

Unfortunately there isn't a MC anywhere close to me, it's something I checked beforehand. :\

 

[nFeF]

Well build is finished, and I am not for a second regretting the choice of going with a SSD.. I counted 6 seconds from BIOS flash screen to Windows login screen.. absurd.

A couple things though.. the ram I got is timed as 9/9/9/24/2N, BIOS auto-detected as 11/11/11/28/1T. I changed the timings but the only options I have for CR in bios are 1T/2T.. no 2N, does this make a difference? It's running right now at 9/9/9/24/1T but I haven't done any OCing or stresses or even any gaming yet.

Also.. apparently mobo manufacturers just don't care that some people still use sound cards? Cause once again I had to place the GPU somewhere I didn't want to because the PCI-E x1 slots are both smushed in between x16 slots.

Is this going to be an issue with the PSU blowing up towards the GPU and vice versa? Pics:

http://i.imgur.com/biegXh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/F16U6h.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RKLjyh.jpg

The only other option was move the vid card up a slot.. but then the sound card is directly beneath it completely blocking a fan on the gpu.. like so close to it you wouldn't be able to even fit a pinky finger between them.

1 fan front of case pulling air with no obstructions behind it, 1 in side panel pushing air over gpu, 1 top fan pulling air out, 1 back fan pulling air out. Hyper 212 is facing the top fan pulling air over the heatsink towards the top fan.

CPU is idling 28-31 and GPU idling 26-30 at stock.. which I will be changing soon.

 

[Deaner3D]

pcpartpicker.com
go to town. You have some options with that very reasonable budget.
I would say a Core i5 2500k, HD6950(unlocked used one?), Z68 mobo, small SSD, 1TB HDD, 8GB ram, etc are all reasonable.

 

[mfenn]

Well build is finished, and I am not for a second regretting the choice of going with a SSD.. I counted 6 seconds from BIOS flash screen to Windows login screen.. absurd.

A couple things though.. the ram I got is timed as 9/9/9/24/2N, BIOS auto-detected as 11/11/11/28/1T. I changed the timings but the only options I have for CR in bios are 1T/2T.. no 2N, does this make a difference? It's running right now at 9/9/9/24/1T but I haven't done any OCing or stresses or even any gaming yet.

Also.. apparently mobo manufacturers just don't care that some people still use sound cards? Cause once again I had to place the GPU somewhere I didn't want to because the PCI-E x1 slots are both smushed in between x16 slots.

Is this going to be an issue with the PSU blowing up towards the GPU and vice versa? Pics:

http://i.imgur.com/biegXh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/F16U6h.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RKLjyh.jpg

The only other option was move the vid card up a slot.. but then the sound card is directly beneath it completely blocking a fan on the gpu.. like so close to it you wouldn't be able to even fit a pinky finger between them.

1 fan front of case pulling air with no obstructions behind it, 1 in side panel pushing air over gpu, 1 top fan pulling air out, 1 back fan pulling air out. Hyper 212 is facing the top fan pulling air over the heatsink towards the top fan.

CPU is idling 28-31 and GPU idling 26-30 at stock.. which I will be changing soon.

Glad you like it! Two points though:
- You can put a PCIe card into any slot of equal or greater length. Put the GPU in the top PCIe x16 slot and the sound card into the slot where the GPU currently sits or the bottom slot.
- The GPU and PSU both suck air from inside the case and blow it out, so there is no issue with them blowing hot air on each other. (OK, so the GPU exhausts some hot air inside the case, but it's not that much.)

 

[nFeF]

Haha, now I feel quite dumb.. I didn't know you could do that.

Any insight on the memory timings?

 

[mfenn]

Haha, now I feel quite dumb.. I didn't know you could do that.

Any insight on the memory timings?

N and T both refer to the command rate of the memory, so they can be used interchangeably.