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PC Hardware Refresh - Opinions

F

fatmcgav

n00b
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
28
HI there,

I'm looking at refreshing my core PC hardware, a) because there's an intermittent hardware fault which causes it to lock up and b) Because it's my birthday next week...

Currently i'm running:
  • Antec P180 - Reuse
  • Core2Duo E4300
  • Larger cooler - Cant remember exact details though...
  • EVGA 680i SLI MB
  • nVidia 8800GT 512Mb - Reuse
  • 4Gb RAM - 4 x 1Gb
  • 150Gb SATA Raptor 15k (OS) - Possibly reuse as scratch
  • 1Tb Samsung F3 (Data) - Reuse
  • Creative X-Fi Gamer - Reuse

OS is going to be Windows 7 Enterprise 64Bit. General usage is Surfing, Gaming (COD4, BFBC2, TF2), Photo Editing, Torrents...

I'm looking at replacing the MB, Processor, RAM and i'm toying with buying an SSD.
Budget is around the £500 mark, so the current set-up i've got in mind is:
  • Core i5 750
  • Gigabyte GA-P55-UD2
  • OCZ Gold Low Voltage PC3-12800C8 4Gb (2 x2Gb)
  • OCZ Vertex Limited Edition 50Gb 2.5" SATA-II

That comes to just over £500... The one thing i need to check is if I can get an adapter kit for my heatsink, otherwise i'll have to add that on aswell...

So, what do people think? Anything you'd change?

Cheers
Gavin
 
Don't see a problem with what you have selected. I think you'd see a bigger boost of performance in games from a gpu upgrade though. At least a 5770 or 260 though. CPU update wouldn't hurt but gaming is 80% graphics. I guess you didn't mention your intention with the upgrade, though since you have an 8800 I figured you game.
 
Agreed though it puts you over budget not upgrading your gpu and upgrading most of your core parts is sub optimal. Especially since the 8800GT is at the end of its usefulness for the games you mentioned on a 28" monitor which Im sure is 1920x1200
 
I'd suggest some 1.5v DDR3. I doubt that OCZ kit is 1.5v, since the supposed "low voltage" DDR3-1600 sticks I've seen were all 1.65v. JEDEC spec is 1.5, and intel spec'd max is 1.65v, and any higher will damage CPU. OCZ sticks are known to like more voltage, so while they may work fine, there is absolutely no headroom to work with there. Basically, 1.5v sticks will give you better compatibility. G.Skill, Mushkin, and GeiL have good 1.5v DDR3-1600 kits.

The Vertex LE is quite pricey. I'd suggest waiting for either the Agility2 or the Vertex2, as they both use the Sandforce 1200 SE controllers. If you can't wait, then go for an Intel X25-M 80GB instead, or two 40GB X25-V's.
 
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