Upgrading my computer

[tanoman]

I definitely won't be doing it right away, but I want to look into it. I'm willing to spend $400-500 at minimum I suppose for a decent one, at most around $1000.

 

I looked at this case and also this one. Then this is the graphics card, the motherboard, the sound card, and then the RAM. This is the core I looked at, the media reader, and then the DVD/CD-ROM drive.

 

I have no clue if they'd even all work together, but those are the things I looked at because I thought I'd need them (if I build a new computer).

 

Ok, the Haf 922 is a good case for you, the other one is just too high end. Now if you are going with Intel then you have to buy a motherboard that is compatible with it (look for Intel chipsets, that one is for AMD-am3+). The rest is Ok.

God, I wish I were from the US, things are so much cheaper. For what you just posted, it would cost me about 2500 3000 uSs here in Argentina...

 

Oh, and I would get a better GPU, say an Nvidia GTX 670-680 or AMD 7970. I prefer Nvidia always, but the 6950 is gettin old..

Edited July 26, 2012 by tanoman

[Deleted1848331User]

Ok, what about this motherboard and either this GPU, this GPU, or this GPU?

 

EDIT: Since I'm assuming I'll need a power supply (just a guess though :P), which of these would be good?

 

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Edited July 26, 2012 by Guest

[tanoman]

Ok, what about this motherboard and either this GPU, this GPU, or this GPU?

 

EDIT: Since I'm assuming I'll need a power supply (just a guess though :P), which of these would be good?

 

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

 

The mobo is Ok, and any of the 670 will do, they are pretty much the same. You don't need 1000w power if you are runnin just one GPU, with 650 or 700w you are fine, I hear Coolermaster is great, but I've never tried it. I personally use a sentey of 750w.

[hoofhearted4]

all those PSUs are junk. get the TX650W its probably one of the best 650Ws on the market for its price, or you can get its better completely modular Gold Brother the AX650W

[Erik005]

The biostar motherboard you picked out also won't work with the core i7 you want. You need a socket 2011 motherboard for the i7-3820

 

These gpu's are a bit better than the reference models.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121638

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125423

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162109

Edited July 26, 2012 by Erik005

[Deleted1848331User]

What do I look for to see if it's a socket 2011 one?

[FMod]

It will say so. Also, X79 chipset.

 

But there's very little reason to go for i7-3820 today. i5-3570 is faster for games (slightly), cheaper, and the motherboard is much cheaper. And with 8GB RAM sticks available, o/c'ing to DDR3-2133, there's pretty much no fathomable reason to have 4-channel memory on a desktop, it just won't do anything.

 

Half a year ago I'd take 3820, but it was only so-ever-slightly better than 2600K. And now lots of RAM slots aren't needed anymore, Ivy Bridge is so-ever-slightly better, and gets fully working and official PCI-E 3.0 support.

 

 

For GPU, Asus GTX670 is a good option. But for just a bit more you can get 7970: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121560

7970 has more VRAM and better theoretical capabilities, making it more future-proof. It's overall slightly faster than a 670 (1% at high res, 6% at very high). The downside is somewhat higher power draw.

 

You may want to check performance for exact games that you are interested in to make the choice. Driver-wise, historically NV performed better, but for this generation AMD drivers did OK, while latest Geforce drivers are outright trouble (two threads on this forum already just about them). Might get fixed, might not.

[Deleted1848331User]

Mostly shooters like Battlefield 3 on Ultra, but also Skyrim and such. And then preferably not having to upgrade for a few years :P

 

So with the 3570, what motherboard should I get? I looked at this one, this one, and this one. And also this one because it looks cool :D

[FMod]

It seems by the choices like money isn't an issue, so this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131837

or this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643

 

And either this card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121560 - or a 680

Note that 680 tends to perform a bit better overall, but 7970 tends to do better in worst-case scenarios, like very high resolution, modded games, unusually demanding games like Metro. And it's worst-case scenarios that force upgrades on you. I'm also worried about driver problems with NV, one bad version (301.42) was OK, but 304.79 still giving problems is not.

You'll need to overclock the 7970 to get full performance, but it overclocks easily, particularly Asus ones (they have a pre-overclocked one, but not on Newegg; doesn't matter anyway).

 

For a case, if you like large ones, I suggest:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129179&Tpk=Antec%20P280

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352017

Or if you don't care about noise much, this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815011

 

Antec P280 or Xigmatek Elysium will allow you to reasonably install a second 7970 in the future, should the need arise.

If you take one of these, get this motherboard to go with it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130643

Not another one, it has to be this one. The reason is that MSI GD65 has a PCI-E 3.0 slot at the bottom, allowing you to mount a video card there that will take these cases' extra slots, leaving breathing room for both.

 

You'll need this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015&Tpk=corsair%20ax850

Or, if you want to splash a bit more, this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151105

I recommend the latter (Seasonic Platinum), although I know people will disagree with me. But for my money, it would be that on - I think getting the best PSU money can buy over just a very good one is worth an extra $40.

On the other hand, there's no difference unless you get a second video card. But if you do, you'll wish you had that one, for extra power headroom and better handling of a heated case.

 

Ordinarily I'd advise against planning for SLI and CF configurations, but if there's a time to do it, it's this year. They just moved to a new tech node (28nm), DX12 is not coming anytime soon, so there won't be any considerably better single-GPU cards out anytime soon.

 

But it only matters if you have a serious display to go with it. 21" doesn't need two cards, ever. On the other hand, for a 27" high-res or a good 1080p TV, you can put power to use (while it's moderate resolution, TV's larger pixels make AA a necessity and low framerates are much more visible on a large screen). Between a better display and two GPU, a better display wins any time of the day.

[Deleted1848331User]

Well, this is what I have in my cart at the moment. I will be playing on a 21" monitor most likely, since that's what I have now.

 

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121560

DVD/CD Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031

Sound card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118031

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

Media reader: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

i5 core: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

Some random fan I thought I might need: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099