2010 Upgrade.

[termite]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
All of the above with an enphisis on gaming.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
About $1000 give. Yes.
3) Where do you live?
Midwest
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
CPU, RAM, MOBO, probably case (and I am leaning towards a Corsair 800d, and yes I know the cost)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
PSU (Silverstone ST85F-P)
6) Will you be overclocking?
Sometimes, when the mood strikes, but my goal is silent performance.
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22" Samsung (1850X1050). Can't remember the model number.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next month, maybe.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I prefer a full featured Mobo.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
Yes multiple copies of Win7 Ultimate.

I'm looking to upgrade to upgrade my system. As it stands, I can probably stick with the processor, but realistically would prefer to upgrade to a 1156 maybe 1366 system.

Current system:

C2Q Q9550
ASUS P5E- Deluxe (My Achilles heal)
8Gb of Corsair Dominator 8500C5 DDR2
Silverstone ST85F-P PSU
EVGA GTX260-216 SC.
CPU and GPU are watercooled with a custom setup, Swiftech apogee and MCW60 blocks. I use 2 GT Stealths in a series with 2 ea. Panaflow "Medium" speed fans running at 8v (resisted). Pushing it all is a DDC (18w) pump with a Petra Tech top.

It is not a bad system and at my resolution I can play all of the games I own at High settings 4AA, 16AF and maintain 40+ FPS.

However it is time to upgrade. I plan on keeping the video card, PSU, etc and want to replace the CPU, Mobo and Ram. I plan on waiting to see what nVidia has in store with the 400 series.

So far I am looking at the following

EVGA P55 FTW SLI
Core i7-860
2X Corsair XMS3 4Gb.

and the Corsair 800D Due to my P180 being pretty long in the tooth these days.

Currently I am looking at about a grand with the case, I am not including any watercooling parts that will need upgraded/added to complete the build, 775 to 1156 adapter, new tubing, etc, or mod parts needed to make the 800d what I want it to be.

Any ideas/suggested changes?

 

[gwarren007]

Seriosly, I would ride it out. Intel is moving to a newer chipset in late 2011, and then will change sockets once again. You are 1.5 years from then. I would consider the case and a ssd for now, and prepare for the next incarnation.

 

[Dangman]

Due to that emphasis on gaming, I concur with gwarren007: Don't bother with an upgrade. The case or a SSD at most but not a new CPU + mobo + RAM unless you absolutely need extra performance for hardcore photoshop and video editing.

 

[termite]

That is about what I was figuring given some more research. I'll see if maybe I can track down a better motherboard.

 

[tiraides]

Find a used one here at the forums. You'll probably get a better deal that way.

 

[termite]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, figured it would be better then starting a new one.

So with my budget ($7-800) I have a few setups built.

For the 1156 Builds they are pretty much the same other then the mother boards (Evga P55 FTW, Gigabyte P55A-UD7 or a ASUS P7P55D-E Prem) and the cost hovers around $706 (with the EVGA setup costing much less at $644).


Those setups do not include a new video card, so I would be stuck with the GTX 260|216 for the interem.

Now I have taken the comments in this thread thread and elsewhere and also built a new system based on...

Q9550 (which I already have)
Gigabyte EP45T-USB3P
4Gb Corsair Dominator ddr3 1600
XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) (Which was in stock this morning but now sold out, crazy)
For $696

I may also hold out to see what Fermi does, I could care less about brand loyalty or fanboism from either side really, I just want a faster card.


Thoughts?

 

[Dangman]

Gigabyte EP45T-USB3P
4Gb Corsair Dominator ddr3 1600

Ok, WTF? Why are you switching mobo and RAM? There's ZERO performance increase from doing so. In addition, Dominator RAM is NEVER worth the extra costs, especially for someone with a limited budget of $1000. You would not notice an iota of difference between that Dominator RAM and this G.Skill set:
$105 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM

 

[Shadowssong]

So you are switching from a Q9550/P5E/8GB DDR2 to a Q9550/EP45/4GB DDR3.... like Danny said, wtf?

Save your money and upgrade your whole system...