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Help with my upgrade plan

I

iTravis

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 21, 2010
Messages
485
I'm in the process of upgrading my rig (see sig) and I really need suggestions with my upgrade route.
I already got the i5-2500K and the Asus P8P67 mobo so I just need to get the memory and a SSD to complete the setup.
Regarding the memory, I've read a lot but still don't know what kind of memory should I get for my Sandy Bridge build. I wanna get 8GB and I don't know if 1600Mhz with CAS 9 memory should be enough for me or should I go higher with lower timing? My goal is to OC the CPU to about 4.5Ghz and run it 24/7.
My original plan was to use most of my old parts but since I also wanna upgrade my 24" to a 30" for dual 30", I'm sure a single GTX 480 won't cut it for me when I game so I'm thinking of upgrading my PSU as well. Is the AX850 sufficient enough for GTX 480 SLI? I'm not gonna OC the GPU, just CPU only and I think it's better to get another GTX 480 for cheap rather than getting 2xGTX 580, which is out of my budget for now.
And any other suggestions whether I should get a new case?
Thanks in advance guys :D
 
I recommend this RAM:
$77 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM at all for Sandy Bridge CPUs. In fact, due to the way those CPUs are setup, you don't need to OC or have high speed RAM in order to get good performance. As such, you wouldn't notice any difference between DDR3 2200 and DDR3 1333 RAM at all. Or the difference between CAS 7 and CAS 9 RAM. So you can cheap out on the RAM and still get the same performance.

SSD wise, I'd hold off until Crucial releases their C400 SSDs or when Intel releases their G3 SSDs. But if you really want a SSD ASAP, I recommend the Crucial C300 SSDs.

The AX850 will be enough for GTX 480 SLI.
 
Danny Bui said:
I recommend this RAM:
$77 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM

You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM at all for Sandy Bridge CPUs. In fact, due to the way those CPUs are setup, you don't need to OC or have high speed RAM in order to get good performance. As such, you wouldn't notice any difference between DDR3 2200 and DDR3 1333 RAM at all. Or the difference between CAS 7 and CAS 9 RAM. So you can cheap out on the RAM and still get the same performance.

SSD wise, I'd hold off until Crucial releases their C400 SSDs or when Intel releases their G3 SSDs. But if you really want a SSD ASAP, I recommend the Crucial C300 SSDs.

The AX850 will be enough for GTX 480 SLI.
Click to expand...

Thank you Danny, do you have any recommendations for a case that is worth to upgrade from my CM 690 II Advanced? I prefer mid tower case btw.
 
iTravis said:
Thank you Danny, do you have any recommendations for a case that is worth to upgrade from my CM 690 II Advanced? I prefer mid tower case btw.
Click to expand...
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
 
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Danny Bui said:
You don't need DDR3 1600 RAM at all for Sandy Bridge CPUs. In fact, due to the way those CPUs are setup, you don't need to OC or have high speed RAM in order to get good performance. As such, you wouldn't notice any difference between DDR3 2200 and DDR3 1333 RAM at all. Or the difference between CAS 7 and CAS 9 RAM. So you can cheap out on the RAM and still get the same performance.

SSD wise, I'd hold off until Crucial releases their C400 SSDs or when Intel releases their G3 SSDs. But if you really want a SSD ASAP, I recommend the Crucial C300 SSDs.
Click to expand...

Danny - can you explain or provide a link that tells why the 1600 ram isnt necessary. i thought SB was designed for it. Are the 1333 ripjaws you have previously recommended the same as what you recommended in this thread except for the heatsink? The 1333 ripjaws are down to $85 shipped at the egg.

Also - is there a general time frame on the new ssd releases?

Thanks for your advise and knowledge
 
hldr said:
Danny - can you explain or provide a link that tells why the 1600 ram isnt necessary. i thought SB was designed for it. Are the 1333 ripjaws you have previously recommended the same as what you recommended in this thread except for the heatsink? The 1333 ripjaws are down to $85 shipped at the egg.
Click to expand...

It has something to do with the ratio between the CPU's BCLK and the memory clock. You see, the Sandy Bridge CPUs do not work well at all with the BCLK set more than about 3.0 MHz away from its stock 100MHz. And setting the memory clock to a higher setting would only push the divider ratio further out of spec. And the further out of spec the memory divder/multiplier ratio is, the less stable that system becomes.
 
hldr said:
Danny - can you explain or provide a link that tells why the 1600 ram isnt necessary. i thought SB was designed for it.
Click to expand...
E4g1e provided one of the main reasons why DDR3 1600 RAM isn't needed. Another reason is that DDR3 1600 RAM doesn't provide that much of a real world performance increase in games to justify the additional costs. At most, it only provides an extra 1FPS to 2FPS under the most ideal conditions over DDR3 1333 RAM.
hldr said:
Are the 1333 ripjaws you have previously recommended the same as what you recommended in this thread except for the heatsink?
Click to expand...
Pretty much.
hldr said:
Also - is there a general time frame on the new ssd releases?
Click to expand...

About a month to two months from now at a minimum.
 
Danny Bui said:
E4g1e provided one of the main reasons why DDR3 1600 RAM isn't needed. Another reason is that DDR3 1600 RAM doesn't provide that much of a real world performance increase in games to justify the additional costs. At most, it only provides an extra 1FPS to 2FPS under the most ideal conditions over DDR3 1333 RAM.
Click to expand...

In addition, the current LGA 1155 CPUs officially support only up to DDR3-1333 RAM to begin with. The first Intel i-series platform to officially support DDR3-1600 RAM will be the LGA 2011 CPUs due in Q3 2011. Unfortunately, the least expensive CPU in this series will be priced at $400 to $500 at launch.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yeah not a good set for the money. That discount better be 40% or more. Otherwise, not worth the money at all. Especially for the three reasons that E4g1e and I both stated as to why DDR3 1600 RAM isn't worth the money.
Click to expand...

Yeh I hope I can get at least 30-35% of that, anyway is there a better set for around the same price or I don't mind paying a bit more since as I said I could get a discount?
 
iTravis said:
Yeh I hope I can get at least 30-35% of that, anyway is there a better set for around the same price or I don't mind paying a bit more since as I said I could get a discount?
Click to expand...

You'd still be paying a bit too much, IMHO, for that set of RAM: Even with a 35% discount, you'd still be paying more than $100 shipped for that RAM -- in fact, the total comes out to $100.48 with the 35% discount ($97.49 plus $2.99 shipping). Shipping charges cannot be discounted at all. And there is an excellent chance that your discount on this particular item is little to none - closer to 5% to 10%. At the worst-case 5% discount, the total for that RAM would end up being $145.48 shipped.
 
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E4g1e said:
You'd still be paying a bit too much, IMHO, for that set of RAM: Even with a 35% discount, you'd still be paying more than $100 shipped for that RAM -- in fact, the total comes out to $100.48 with the 35% discount ($97.49 plus $2.99 shipping). Shipping charges cannot be discounted at all.
Click to expand...

A friend of mine somehow gets discount on newegg so I'm just gonna let him order then meet up and pick up from there, no tax and shipping. :D Also that's why I'm considering other options, as long as it's a great set I don't think I'm gonna break my bank to purchase. You have any recommendations?
 
iTravis said:
A friend of mine somehow gets discount on newegg so I'm just gonna let him order then meet up and pick up from there, no tax and shipping. :D Also that's why I'm considering other options, as long as it's a great set I don't think I'm gonna break my bank to purchase. You have any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Assuming that you get the discount:
$110 - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9S-8GBRL 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 RAM
 
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