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Upgrading my rig.

H

Harddriver

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
88
In light of Diablo 3 I've decided to upgrade some of the major components of my system, to include: GPU - CPU (with cooler) - Memory - Motherboard. I'm trying to do this at ~$600-$700.

Here are some of the components I've been looking at just very briefly:

GPU

CPU+Heatsink

Memory

Motherboard

My current rig is as follows:

Case ( Thermaltake Armor+ Gaming Case w/420W Power Supply Silver --- Aluminum case )
Power Supply ( 650 Watt -- Corsair CMPSU-650TX Power Supply SLI Ready )
Processor ( [=== Quad Core ===] Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (4x 2.4GHz/8MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )
Processor Cooling ( [New !!!] INTEL Certified Liquid CPU Cooling System kit )
Motherboard ( [SLI] Asus P5N-D Nvidia nForce 750i SLI Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394, Dual PCI-E MB EPU Technology )
Memory ( 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )
Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 1GB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
Video Card Brand ( === High Performance === eVGA Brand Video Card Powered by NVIDIA )
Hard Drive ( 320 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )
Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 64-Bit )
Click to expand...

I've also been toying around with the Diablo 3 Beta, and it seems to me that the game is more graphic intensive than anything, hence why I've opted to spend more on the GPU than everything else. However, for those curious, and perhaps this will help you get a better opinion of what I should be looking at, here's the recommended system requirements for Diablo 3 by Blizzard:

Windows® Vista/7 (latest service packs)
Intel® Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5600+ 2.8 GHz
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 260 or ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 or better
Click to expand...

Well, that seems to cover everything. If you have any questions for me, or require any additional information, please feel free to ask. Otherwise, thank you for your time and help!
 
Please answer the following questions:
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
6) Will you be overclocking?
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
 
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Click to expand...
I'm in the US, Maryland - Baltimore.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Click to expand...
No, I don't have any plans to overclock any PU.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Click to expand...
I have an Acer S231HL bid 23-Inch Widescreen monitor.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Click to expand...
I'm planning on buying no later than the beginning of May.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
Click to expand...
I really don't require anything out of the ordinary for my Motherboard. As long as it supports what I'm trying to run through it, I'll be fine.
 
Ditch that 570, go with the 560 Ti 448 core instead. It's ~97% of the performance at a good bit cheaper price.

$277.55 - EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW 1280MB

Ditch that ASRock motherboard, for it's of low quality and it only has a 1 - 2 year warranty compared to 3+ year warranties on similar priced, better quality motherboards with similar features.

$127.99 - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA

Total with changes: $522.95

Everything else looks fine. If you want to and/or plan to overclock the CPU any then I'd suggest upgrading to the 2500k, as it has an unlocked multiplier allowing 4.5Ghz+ clocks relatively easy.
 
Harddriver said:
I'm planning on buying no later than the beginning of May.
Click to expand...
Well Intel is releasing new CPUs and motherboards in late April/Early May. As such, if you can wait until then to buy parts, then do so. Also, bump up this thread at that time for an up-to-date build list.

However if you were/are buying this month, that setup you chose is fine except for one part: The motherboard for a few reasons:
1) Since you're not overclocking, no need for a Z68 mobo.
2) That mobo only has a 1-2 year warranty which is low since most decent mobos have three year warranties.
3) AsRock Z68 mobos have not faired well in proper testing:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/07/asrock_z68_pro3_lga_1155_motherboard_review/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/09/asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3_motherboard_review/

I'd recommend this mobo instead:
$100 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
 
Skillz said:
Ditch that 570, go with the 560 Ti 448 core instead. It's ~97% of the performance at a good bit cheaper price.

$277.55 - EVGA 012-P3-2066-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 448 Cores FTW 1280MB

Ditch that ASRock motherboard, for it's of low quality and it only has a 1 - 2 year warranty compared to 3+ year warranties on similar priced, better quality motherboards with similar features.

$127.99 - ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA

Total with changes: $522.95

Everything else looks fine. If you want to and/or plan to overclock the CPU any then I'd suggest upgrading to the 2500k, as it has an unlocked multiplier allowing 4.5Ghz+ clocks relatively easy.
Click to expand...

All of that sounds great. I was a bit hesitant about the ASRock MB, but since it got good rating on newegg, and fit the bill for my aspiring setup, it seemed right. Thanks for clearing things up!
 
Danny Bui said:
Well Intel is releasing new CPUs and motherboards in late April/Early May. As such, if you can wait until then to buy parts, then do so. Also, bump up this thread at that time for an up-to-date build list.

However if you were/are buying this month, that setup you chose is fine except for one part: The motherboard for a few reasons:
1) Since you're not overclocking, no need for a Z68 mobo.
2) That mobo only has a 1-2 year warranty which is low since most decent mobos have three year warranties.
3) AsRock Z68 mobos have not faired well in proper testing:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/12/07/asrock_z68_pro3_lga_1155_motherboard_review/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/11/09/asrock_z68_extreme4_gen3_motherboard_review/

I'd recommend this mobo instead:
$100 - Intel BOXDH67BLB3 Intel H67 mATX Motherboard
Click to expand...

I'll most certainly wait, I see no reason not to. Also, thanks for the mobo recommendation as well, though, which of the two recommended would be better for my purpose? Saving $30 surely couldn't hurt, but I'm also not opposed to spending more for additional quality.

Edit: Sorry I didn't see the sticky on this sub forum, I was a bit eager to post this thread. :D
 
Harddriver said:
I'll most certainly wait, I see no reason not to. Also, thanks for the mobo recommendation as well, though, which of the two recommended would be better for my purpose? Saving $30 surely couldn't hurt, but I'm also not opposed to spending more for additional quality.

Edit: Sorry I didn't see the sticky on this sub forum, I was a bit eager to post this thread. :D
Click to expand...

Either one will suit your needs. The more expensive board is an ATX board, thus it has more ports than the mATX board Danny Bui suggested. Danny's board is also an H67 chipset, but unless you know the difference between the Z68 and H67 chipsets, chances are it wont matter to you.
 
Skillz said:
Either one will suit your needs. The more expensive board is an ATX board, thus it has more ports than the mATX board Danny Bui suggested. Danny's board is also an H67 chipset, but unless you know the difference between the Z68 and H67 chipsets, chances are it wont matter to you.
Click to expand...
Okay, that sounds great. Also, I have another question that's been concerning me when all of my purchases are over: will a 650Watt Power Supply be enough for all this new hardware? Optimally I'd like to stick with my current power supply because from the looks of it I'd be spending an additional ~$100 to get something more than 650.
 
That Corsair 650TX is a solid PSU, depending on how old it is though I'd keep it. If it's really old (getting less than a year from it's warranty) then I'd replace it. PSUs should be good for ~5 years.
 
There's someone selling at gtx 570 superclocked in the forums, might wanna check that out. I think he's selling it for $240 shipped. With the money saved there you could get 16gb of RAM maybe.
 
DJ Big T said:
There's someone selling at gtx 570 superclocked in the forums, might wanna check that out. I think he's selling it for $240 shipped. With the money saved there you could get 16gb of RAM maybe.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll have to check that out.

Skillz said:
Yes it is, just not available yet.
Click to expand...
Is it still set to release late this month, or did it get pushed back?
 
They have been released to retailers already, they just aren't for sale yet I believe.
 
Figured I'd try and bump this again. I've noticed that they've started selling the IB on newegg, so would now be a good time to buy or waiting a little while longer? I'd very much like to get my rig before the end of next week, though.

Let me know.
 
The IB CPUs are on Newegg but some of them are a bit overpriced. If you can from Tigerdirect and if you can buy today, I recommend the following:
$200 - Intel Core i5 3570K CPU
$135 - MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$38 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$200 - Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card (Use promo code EMCYTZT1523 as shown in the link)
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
-----
Total: $603 shipped


If there's any part you should literally today, it's that video card at $200. It's an excellent deal for a solid GPU and should be more than enough for Diablo 3.
 
Danny Bui said:
The IB CPUs are on Newegg but some of them are a bit overpriced. If you can from Tigerdirect and if you can buy today, I recommend the following:
$200 - Intel Core i5 3570K CPU
$135 - MSI Z77A-G45 Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$38 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$200 - Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card (Use promo code EMCYTZT1523 as shown in the link)
$30 - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
-----
Total: $603 shipped


If there's any part you should literally today, it's that video card at $200. It's an excellent deal for a solid GPU and should be more than enough for Diablo 3.
Click to expand...
That all looks great, and yes, I'm willing to buy today; that's a great deal on the GPU.

However, if I'd be willing to spend a little more... what would be the best upgrade? I was thinking the RAM, but I'm not sure.
 
Harddriver said:
However, if I'd be willing to spend a little more... what would be the best upgrade? I was thinking the RAM, but I'm not sure.
Click to expand...

Another set of that RAM will be fine. Maybe a SSD to really speed up the system:
$125 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
 
Well my parts came, and although the setup had a few bumps... everything seems to be working as intended. Though I do have a problem where my External Hard Drive won't start up with my computer, which I find odd. But other than that, everything is good!

Thanks to everyone for their help!
 
Harddriver said:
Well my parts came, and although the setup had a few bumps... everything seems to be working as intended. Though I do have a problem where my External Hard Drive won't start up with my computer, which I find odd. But other than that, everything is good!

Thanks to everyone for their help!
Click to expand...
Regarding this issue, is there any place on here where I could troubleshoot this problem?
 
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