• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Upgrading advice. (mostly new hardware)

P

promisebreaker

n00b
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Messages
12
Hello, Im looking to upgrade my q6600, in turn I need to upgrade my mother board, so here I am looking for advice.
Im looking to upgrade my video/ motherboard/ processor/ memory my budget is around 600-700$, thanks in advanced for any advise given. Incase anyone needs to know i have a 650w power supply.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? I will be gaming a lot, (wow Minecraft starcraft 2 War game exc)
2) What's your budget? 600-700 before shipping (Newegg)
3) Which country do you live in? Tempe arizona Us
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?Video card, (evga fan if possible) Processor (i5 or i7) Memory (I've heard tripple channel memory is awesome) Mother board
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? hard drive older 250gb 7200 i believe (cant look it up online) SILVERSTONE ZEUS ST65ZF 650W ATX 12V 2.0 & EPS 12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
6) Will you be overclocking? No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? 1680 x1050 (can change have a 22'' widescreen monitor)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? 2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? I dont have any desire to run raid or SLI/crossfire,My harddrive is sata 3.0 but ive heard its backwards compatable so that shouldnt matter id like 6.0 for future hard drive.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? xp 32 bit, planning on getting win 7 64 bit in the future,
 
Last edited:
The only way to get triple channel is with the now obsolete X58 motherboard, which isn't really a good idea (and not really needed anyway). Can you answer the sticky questions, so we can get a better feel for what you are looking for?
 
I updated my post, sorry about that. Also a friend who keeps up with this stuff advised me tripple channel memory was the way to go, was looking at memory this is a bad idea please, let me know =D
 
Well you can get and use that kit just fine, but it won't run in triple channel unless you go back and get an old motherboard like mine. Everything post 1366 is dual channel except the new 2011 mobos which are quad channel (unless I'm wrong, in which case feel free to correct me someone).

And yes, you shouldn't have any trouble running your hard drive on a new sata 3 chipset.
 
Ok, Ill believe you 2, any advise on dual channel memory/mother board? memory has always been kinda weak point for me.
 
Last edited:
promisebreaker said:
I updated my post, sorry about that. Also a friend who keeps up with this stuff advised me tripple channel memory was the way to go, was looking at memory this is a bad idea please, let me know =D
Click to expand...

You shouldn't use that memory if you plan on going Sandy Bridge. 1.6V RAM could damage the CPU.

With that being said here is a build for you.

$209.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$137.99 - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68
$39.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$229.99 - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB

Total: $617.96 shipped

Use promo code: $15 off with promo code EMCNHHB25, ends 3/5 on the CPU

That CPU is a "K" version, which means it's easily overclockable. I know you mentioned you don't intend on overclocking but with that promo code, it's the same price as the i5 2500.

RAM doesn't matter much with the Sandy Bridge processors. Therefore, going with the cheapest DDR3 1333 kit @ 1.5V or less and you'll be fine. Just make sure it's from a reputable manufacturer and if preferred with a heatsink/heatspreader. Also note that until you get a 64bit operating system, you'll only be able to use about 4GB of the RAM.

Video card is usually not really recommended due to the price, but since EVGA only deals with Nvidia cards and that's what you wanted I went with this card. You could also go with the 448 Core version for ~$290 which is a MUCH better card, but at your resolution I don't think it will matter much.

I do recommend getting a new PSU since that PSU is a little dated. It's not a bad PSU, got descent reviews so it can put out it's advertised power it's just not very efficient. Not a big deal. However if you can extend your budget a tad, I'd recommend going with thisPSU.
$76.50 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2

Use promo code: 15% off w/ promo code EMCNGNJ22, ends 3/7 on the PSU
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Skillz said:
You shouldn't use that memory if you plan on going Sandy Bridge. 1.6V RAM could damage the CPU.

With that being said here is a build for you.

$209.99 - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
$137.99 - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68
$39.99 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$229.99 - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB

Total: $617.96 shipped

Use promo code: $15 off with promo code EMCNHHB25, ends 3/5 on the CPU

That CPU is a "K" version, which means it's easily overclockable. I know you mentioned you don't intend on overclocking but with that promo code, it's the same price as the i5 2500.

RAM doesn't matter much with the Sandy Bridge processors. Therefore, going with the cheapest DDR3 1333 kit @ 1.5V or less and you'll be fine. Just make sure it's from a reputable manufacturer and if preferred with a heatsink/heatspreader. Also note that until you get a 64bit operating system, you'll only be able to use about 4GB of the RAM.

Video card is usually not really recommended due to the price, but since EVGA only deals with Nvidia cards and that's what you wanted I went with this card. You could also go with the 448 Core version for ~$290 which is a MUCH better card, but at your resolution I don't think it will matter much.

I do recommend getting a new PSU since that PSU is a little dated. It's not a bad PSU, got descent reviews so it can put out it's advertised power it's just not very efficient. Not a big deal. However if you can extend your budget a tad, I'd recommend going with thisPSU.
$76.50 - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2

Use promo code: 15% off w/ promo code EMCNGNJ22, ends 3/7 on the PSU
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply, that video card and processor where the 2 i was looking at. You did mention a little distaste with the video card, I only ever used Evga cards, If that restriction is lifted what card would you pick?
 
Everything skillz said is correct, and I agree with everything he picked out, especially the PSU.

Definitely don't want anything over 1.5v on the memory. I personally prefer 1600 ddr3, just because it's usually the same price, but it's no big difference
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top