Upgrading to Intel from AMD sugestions?

GP40X

GP40X

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Messages
176
I posted this in the general Forum but figured I would get a better response here. I am getting back into gaming and it is time to upgrade my `puter. About all I have played for the last few years is Fallout New Vegas, Civ 5, and a little Half Life single player so my current system has been adequate but once I pick up BF4 I think it will be a little long in the tooth. I am looking to upgrade at least the motherboard and CPU and go to an Intel Processor this time around as I feel that Intel will have a better upgrade path for the mid to high end since AMD has walked away from the high end processor race. I believe most of my system is still viable and can be reused. Here are the Specs:

AMD Phenom II X4 965 under a Cooler Master V8 cooler, MSI 790FX-GD70, Asus HD 6870, 2x 4096kb Corsair Dominator PC3-12600 (1600 mHz) memory, 2 WD 6400AAKS hard drives, 1 Hitachi HDT721010SLA360 1TB hard drive, Corsair HX1000W PSU, Intel EXPI9300PT N.I.C., Creative X-Fi Titanium sound card , HP dvd1720 optical drive, CoolerMaster CM 690 II Case, Vista 64, Samsung 22” 1920 x 1080 monitor.

I have been out of the game so long, not sure if I should go socket 1155 (a little less expensive) or 1150 (maybe a longer upgrade path?). So here are the questions answered for the upgrade.

1)What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?

Mainly playing new games (BF4, etc), some light personal photoshop work (for small vinyl prints for CustomWorks Outlaw sprint car Wing & body wraps using .pdf Templates), web, mail, word processing, etc.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

Around $400 to $500 max + tax (local) or shipping (web). Less if I can get away with it for now. Looking for best bang for the buck upgrades to the above listed system.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Fort Worth, TX

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Not sure since this is an upgrade, I figure at least a main board & processor, as well as maybe a video card (the newest part of my rig is the 6870 direct CU card which is almost 3 years old). The only stipulation I have is I want to move to an Intel processor. Hoping I can maybe wait for a few more months on the GPU upgrade if possible but if the 6870 won’t handle BF 4 or the new games coming out then I need a new GPU. Maybe a new cooler since I plan on overclocking eventually

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I plan on reusing everything I can other than the motherboard and processor. The CM 690 Case has a lot of life left and I think the Corsair HX1000W should still be up to the task. The memory is DDR3 1600 and I would like to reuse it for the time being if possible. The 2 WD 6400AAKS hard drives will be set up in RAID 0 with this upgrade. The 1 TB Hitachi is set up as my Data Drive and will be reused. I do plan on eventually going to a SSD RAID setup but that will be down the road. Since I am not thrilled with the Realtek sound integrations on most mother boards, I plan on using the X-Fi Titanium sound card again. Same with the NIC, depends on the CPU usage of the onboard NIC, I may reuse my Intel hardware NIC.

6) Will you be overclocking?

Yes

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

Samsung 22” 1920 x 1080 monitor suits my current needs.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

In the next month or 2

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Definitely want RAID, 6GB SATA for future HD upgrades

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

I currently have the upgrade version of Vista 64 but plan on getting an OEM copy if 8.1 Propro so I can downgrade to 7 pro if I don’t like WIN8. The $139.00 will need to be included in the above listed budget.
 
You can get Win 8 for less than $90 all over now and if you really don't like it, use Classic Shell with Win 8, don't downgrade to 7, Win 8 is a much better OS.

There is very little difference between Ivy Bridge and Haswell. The biggest being Ivy's have more room to overclock, (but not much). I would look for an i-5, due to your budget constraints. You can pick up an i-5 for $170 or less depending on which model. If you decide to overclock, make sure you get a "k".

As far as a motherboard, look for either a Z77 (ivy bridge) or Z87 (haswell) chipset. The lower end Z77-87 chipset boards will run you between $99-125 usually. Brand really doesn't make much difference, I would stay away from Asus though. Asrock, Gigabyte and MSI are all good solutions.

Your ram is reusable and fine, so is the case/monitor/HD's/PS..ect..

I would get an SSD now instead of later. People really have no idea how much faster a system with an SSD with the OS on it is, (if your currently running mechanical HD's). You can get a 120gb Samsung for $120 or less now and a 240gb is just a bit more.

Your video card will work fine for now but you'll want to upgrade that ASAP. A 6870 card will be choking in BF4, even when you turn your settings way down you'll probably be happy to see 50-60fps @1080p.

i-5/Z77-87 motherboard/SSD/OS will put you right around $500. You can't get a video card that will be an upgrade with the rest listed for less than $500. If your really dead set on saving money, don't be afraid to wait for sales on shit and buy a little at a time.
 
I suggest you make the drive to the Dallas Micro Center.

You can get a i5 4670K + Asrock Z87 Extreme 4 for about 315 + tax. If you like Asus get the Z87-A instead and it's about $320 + tax.
I just noticed both of those boards are out of stock, but there are other decent boards, or they might get shipments of new boards soon.

They also have Win 8.1 system builder for $99.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...English_DVD_-_System_Builder_Operating_System

It seems like this part will squeak in under your budget.

Here is the hard part of my suggestion. Use on board video at first to get by.
Now sell your old cpu, motherboard, and video card. Use that to get the best gpu you can. Since everyone and their brother is buying AMD gpus for litecoin/altcoin mining right now it's probably best to aim for Nvidia.
This plan of using onboard video for a short time may be painful but should only be two weeks or so at most.

http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx
 
An alternate lower budget suggestion is an i5-4570 and a cheap board. IMHO I think that can come out ahead for people who don't want/need to overclock.

I5-4570 (SKU: 583187): $159.99
H87M-Pro4 (SKU: 622225) : $84.99
Win 8 pro OPEN BOX (SKU: 042937): $103.96
Geforce GTX 650 Ti (SKU: 045047): $139.99 (with $30 MIR)

Cart total: $488.93 + Tax $40.34 = $529.27

That motherboard is matx but has 2 pci-e x16 slots (one pci-e 3.0) and intel nic onboard and 6 sata6 iirc.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Will be going with a i5-4670 & an ASUS Z87-A mother board bundle as soon as Micro Center gets them back in stock (unless I can get Tiger Direct or Fry's to price match it).
 
I'd almost be inclinded to say get a cheaper Pentium or i3 with a Z77/Z87 motherboard for now in order to maximize your GPU purchase, then upgrade to an i5K or i7K later on.

G3320
$70
--well above the minimum sys req for BF4

ECS/L337 Z87H3-A3X
$105
---review here

Gigabyte 770 2GB
$330

TOTAL: $505

...just another option for you. *shrug*

Is your current 8GB of Dominator memory 1.5V or less?
 
GP40X said:
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Will be going with a i5-4670 & an ASUS Z87-A mother board bundle as soon as Micro Center gets them back in stock (unless I can get Tiger Direct or Fry's to price match it).
Click to expand...

Get the K (unlocked) version of whatever CPU you get. A slight price increase for the K variant is going to be a lot better in the long run than the locked version of the CPU.
 
cyclone3d said:
Get the K (unlocked) version of whatever CPU you get. A slight price increase for the K variant is going to be a lot better in the long run than the locked version of the CPU.
Click to expand...

Whoops, typo. I meant I plan on getting the i5-4670K/ASUS Z87-A bundle from Micro Center.
 
DejaWiz said:
I'd almost be inclinded to say get a cheaper Pentium or i3 with a Z77/Z87 motherboard for now in order to maximize your GPU purchase, then upgrade to an i5K or i7K later on.

G3320
$70
--well above the minimum sys req for BF4

ECS/L337 Z87H3-A3X
$105
---review here

Gigabyte 770 2GB
$330

TOTAL: $505

...just another option for you. *shrug*

Is your current 8GB of Dominator memory 1.5V or less?
Click to expand...

The Pentium or i3 would be less powerful than Phenom II 965 Black Edition I have overclocked to 4Ghz.

I stay away from ECS boards boards as I have had issues with them in the past.

I also prefer AMD cards.

I pulled the side cover and found I don't have Corsair memory installed. I have a Patriot PSD38G1600KH 8 gig (2x4096) memory kit installed. It is 1.5 memory so I can use it on the new board.

My system is well above the BF4 minimum spec too but I am looking to move from AMD to Intel for a processor and upgrade from Vista to either 7 Professional or 8.1 (haven't decided on the OS yet). A friend has several unused Windows 7 pro OEM licenses and will sell me one for $25.00 when I upgrade my system.
 
Fair enough. Like I stated, it was just a suggestion for an alternative avenue for ya in order to maximize your GPU upgrade. :)

And I would disagree about a current gen Pentium or i3 being less powerful than your oc'd Phen-II. Maybe lateral at worst. Same Haswell cores used in the i5 and i7.
 
I suggest you duel boot and use Linux as your main os and only use craptastic windows 8 for when you want to play a d3d dx game. As far cpu get a new model i7 core naturally.
 
yelsewshane said:
I suggest you duel boot and use Linux as your main os and only use craptastic windows 8 for when you want to play a d3d dx game. As far cpu get a new model i7 core naturally.
Click to expand...

So you want Linux to fight Windows?
 
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