Upgrade Time - Advice Wanted

Mister E

Mister E

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
2,661
Hello [H] members. It's time to upgrade my aging PC and I would appreciate your opinions and input on a new build.

Current Rig - Q6600 @ 3.2, ASUS P5K Deluxe Wi-Fi, Crucial 6GB PC6400 (2x2GB, 2x1GB), EVGA GTX 670 FTW, Thermaltake 750W PS (info updated in post below), Acer 24" 1920x1200 monitor, Intel X25-M 80GB SSD (OS), WD Raptor 150GB (most games), WD 80GB 7200 rpm (storage), and an Antec 902 case.

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

Gaming and web.

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

$500 or so.

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

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho US

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.

Need new CPU with good cooler, MB, and memory.

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

All other hardware works fine for my needs including the gtx 670. That gpu handles all games just fine for my needs at this point in time

6) Will you be overclocking?

Yes.

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

1920x1200. 24 inch Acer B243W.

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

January 2014.

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.

Crossfire/SLI support would be nice but not required. Wi-Fi also a plus. Good overclocker/good gaming board. No raid necessary.

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

Yes. Windows 7 64 bit.

Things I've looked at so far. i7 and i5 cpus. Couple coolers that I'm not sure about being able to fit my case. A few asus and asrock mb's. So far piecing together a good solution had been hit and miss.

Thanks to all in advance who take the time to help me out with suggestions. ;)
 
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Try this out; http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2rOBv

I have the i5 and will absolutely recommend this to anyone.
The Nocturna is a great cooler. However, a bit pricey and the Hyper 212 (evo or +) for around 30 bucks is great with not much of a noteable difference between the nocturna and the 212.
Mobo has SLI support and is great for OC
Mushkin RAM is fantastic, always quality. Of course you could go for G.Skills or Crucial, I wouldn't recommend anything other than those 3 honestly.

As for an AMD build (using 212 evo)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zm0S

Both are very similar in performance. i5 is slightly better than the 8350.
Mobos are pretty much the same SLI support, both great at OC
 
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Awesome and thanks sp0x. I'll check it out in detail when I get home.
 
So to echo the same question many seem to have, is there any reason for me to get an i7 over the i5 just for gaming? Also how about RAM? Is there any reason to go faster than ddr3-1600? All I will end up doing with this PC is gaming, watching TV and movies, and web surfing.

I will also need a recommendation for a Wi-Fi card if the motherboard does not have it integrated. I use a D-Link DIR-655 wireless router and it works fantastic.

How big of an improvement do you guys feel this will be over my old q6600 set-up? Am I going to unleash the gtx670 from a strangle hold? I'm really hoping to improve the minimum fps in all games.
 
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Mister E said:
So to echo the same question many seem to have, is there any reason for me to get an i7 over the i5 just for gaming?
Click to expand...
If you have a lot of extra cash, already have Windows 8, and plan on playing a lot of BF4, then yes a Core i7 is worthwhile. Otherwise, for the vast majority of games out there, you'll be fine with the Core i5.
Mister E said:
Also how about RAM? Is there any reason to go faster than ddr3-1600? All I will end up doing with this PC is gaming, watching TV and movies, and web surfing.
Click to expand...
No reason at all.

Mister E said:
How big of an improvement do you guys feel this will be over my old q6600 set-up? Am I going to unleash the gtx670 from a strangle hold? I'm really hoping to improve the minimum fps in all games.
Click to expand...
Yes it'll be a massive improvement in performance over your current Q6600 setup. Yes it will no longer limit your GTX 670. At that point, the main limitation to your gaming performance will be your wireless connection. Well at least for multiplayer games anyway.

Mister E said:
Here is what I've come up with so far without further input from the questions posted above. What do you guys think?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sbfP
Click to expand...
I'd go with this cheaper yet still equal if not better quality motherboard instead:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RIFKTY/?tag=extension-kb-20

THat HSF isn't that good for the money. Go with this HSF instead:
$29 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF

That RAM is way too overpriced for what it is. This RAM has a better bang for the buck value:
$70 - Crucial Ballistix BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

As for the wireless NIC, I'd go wit this Asus wireless NIC since it'll get better wireless reception due to the larger antennas:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320074
 
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Thank you for your solid advice Dangman and others. I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out.

Happy New Year to you all. :)
 
Ok so here are the final selections. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2sfkD

I went with a motherboard that has Wi-Fi included which eliminates the need for the wireless NIC and I prefer this feature with my current board. Changed up the heatsink to what Dangman recommended. I'm gonna stick with the Ripjaw ram. Ten more bucks for the two low cas sticks seems worth it to me and installing the memory in pairs gives better performance from what I've read. And last the i5-3570k and some thermal paste to round it off. I'm going to get Amazon Prime (just for the free 30 days) to get two day shipping for free so that helps.

If anyone else has any input there's a few weeks before I round up the cash to do this so please feel free to comment.

Thanks again everyone. Happy New Year.
 
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Bit the bullet and ordered the items. Went with Superbizz and Newegg for the purchases totaling $487 with a $30 mail in rebate offer on the asus board. Total after rebate will be around $460. Not bad for such a good upgrade.

One last thanks to the people who offered their help with this upgrade build. I'll post back when everything arrives and is installed and working. :)
 
Got the replacement board today. Everything is up and running. Downloading, reinstalling and updating will take the evening. Tomorrow after work will be fun. :)
 
Well, everything is freaking awesome. Chip o/c'ed to 4.5ghz (1.25v) so freaking ez. Temps barely hit 67°C in the most extreme burn in tests. Gonna try and go higher after it breaks in for a while.

All minimum fps numbers in games like Crysis 3 have risen substantially. Old q6600 rig would see lows of 20-25fps in demanding areas, running maximum detail (all very high/ultra settings) and TXAA medium. Now its 40-45fps in those same areas, same max settings. Average fps numbers are even better.

I'm working on learning where my max overclock will be for the gtx670 now. That will gain even more performance. :) I also have a WTB thread for another gtx670 card to go SLI. Can't wait. :D

So many thank yous to Dangman and sp0x for the help a few weeks back. The money I spent was well worth it thanks to your input. You rock. :cool:

Picst of the rig.

IMG_0750_zpsd5c01538.jpg


IMG_0752_zps7d9193e2.jpg
 
Is that heatsink's fan pushing air or pulling air through the heatsink?
 
It's pulling and exhausting out the top. The case side fan and the height of the CM heatsink don't play nice. :) I'll be grabbing a thin (thinnest possible) 120mm fan to mount on the case door and then the blue LED fan will go onto the CM heatsink to complete a push/pull for maximum cooling of the 24/7 overclock.
 
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