Time to de-slow my computer! (upgrading CPU and probably everything)
schattenjaeger
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Currently rocking an Intel E6550 (core2duo) which I keep forgetting is old now (I keep forgetting time is passing as I get older), a GeForce 9800 GT, 4 gigs of DDR2 RAM, and a 450W power supply all crammed into an old Inspiron 530 Dell case (with 2 HDDs, too).
The goal is: I'd like to play The Witcher 2 on respectable settings, I practically have it in text-adventure mode and it is still choppy. My understanding is I should have a better chance if I upgrade my processor. I know the video card is getting old but I'll save that for a little later as it appears that upgrading my CPU causes a chain reaction that ends up changing everything else. Am I correct that I'll need to get a new mobo, which means probably new RAM (DDR3), a new power supply, and probably a new case? (case may not be necessary but I've wanted a new one forever)
With those assumptions in mind, I figured I'd get:
Intel i7 2600k http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
ASRock P67 mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
8 gigs of some dramatically named RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
this case, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&cm_sp=Cat_Computer_Cases-_-Spotlight-_-11-129-042
and an 800 W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139025
I don't have much experience doing this and I get overwhelmed by all the options. Will this all work? I'm mainly lost on the mobo and PSU (basically just picked them at random with the list sorted by best rating), and the RAM (I just made sure it was DDR3, and about 50 bucks, basically). I may save some money and do the i5 2600k processor instead, but other than that I feel squared away on the CPU. I don't have a strong opinion on the case; it seems like it should work. Am I making any glaring omissions? Am I about to overpay for something I don't need to? Am I about to buy something crappy? Should I get the quantum-shift flux RAM with new phase-space technology?
The goal is: I'd like to play The Witcher 2 on respectable settings, I practically have it in text-adventure mode and it is still choppy. My understanding is I should have a better chance if I upgrade my processor. I know the video card is getting old but I'll save that for a little later as it appears that upgrading my CPU causes a chain reaction that ends up changing everything else. Am I correct that I'll need to get a new mobo, which means probably new RAM (DDR3), a new power supply, and probably a new case? (case may not be necessary but I've wanted a new one forever)
With those assumptions in mind, I figured I'd get:
Intel i7 2600k http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
ASRock P67 mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
8 gigs of some dramatically named RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
this case, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&cm_sp=Cat_Computer_Cases-_-Spotlight-_-11-129-042
and an 800 W PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139025
I don't have much experience doing this and I get overwhelmed by all the options. Will this all work? I'm mainly lost on the mobo and PSU (basically just picked them at random with the list sorted by best rating), and the RAM (I just made sure it was DDR3, and about 50 bucks, basically). I may save some money and do the i5 2600k processor instead, but other than that I feel squared away on the CPU. I don't have a strong opinion on the case; it seems like it should work. Am I making any glaring omissions? Am I about to overpay for something I don't need to? Am I about to buy something crappy? Should I get the quantum-shift flux RAM with new phase-space technology?
schattenjaeger on
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Are you reusing your graphics card? Or are you getting a new one of those as well?
What is your price goal, add everything up about how much do you want this to cost?
Keeping the same graphics card for now. The thing about the combos is it looks like they tend to pair the cpu with one of the more expensive mobos. I'm not sure I understand the benefit of the higher-end mobos besides more slots for things, but it seems like the one I picked has plenty, even taking future stuff into consideration.
That stuff added up is about 700. I certainly don't want to spend more than that, and in a perfect world I'd rather have it down like 600 or less, which is why I'm considering the i5 CPU (which would knock a 100 off), and maybe a cheaper mobo and PSU (like I said, I don't know much about those). Probably could get a cheaper case too. I would just use my current one but it's really cramped in there as is, and I'm not sure it's particularly good when it comes to airflow and stuff.
edit/addition: How about AMD CPUs? They do seem to be cheaper in general. Is there a catch to that?
The more I look at it, the more it seems like the 100 bucks between the i5 2500k and i7 2600k isn't buying me a whole lot more...
800w is crazy overkill for that setup on the PSU front. 500 would be enough. Antec neo eco 520 is what is generally recommended in the PC build thread.
That case is old and doesn't have features of a bunch of more modern cases (cable management, PSU on bottom of the case)
Check out the PC building thread in Moes Tech Tavern for (shit tons) more info on building a PC.
The most important things are # of cores, clock speed of cores, cache size, and thread limit. If you are going with the intel line of chips make sure it is one that doesnt have a GPU built in, could save you some cash.
If you were to splurge for 2 things, it should be the mobo and the cpu. That is where I would put most of my money. THe other upgrades can all be added in piecemeal later on. For example you can cut down to 4 G of ram (2x2G) and go up to 8g later (buy another 2x2).
Couple things about motherboards, solid capacitor is worth it. Make sure it has all the slots you need, plan on getting a second graphics card in the future, make sure you got 2 pcie16 slots. Second thing you can look for is supported RAID, as connecting two equivilant non-ssd hard drives with RAID 0 can significantly reduce load times and load jitter in games. If you dont have the money to buy 2 seperate disks now, again its a possible future upgrade for a not insignificant increase in performance.
Based on that thread burtle suggested and other feedback, I think I'll go with the i5 2500k processor (obviously I was already on the fence), and I was able to find a pretty favorable looking mobo+CPU combo,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.736065
I'm thinking this for the case now, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf 912
Still fussing over the PSU...
If you have no plans on overclocking then the K models will be a waste really. Newegg sales the i7 2600 for $300 while Microcenter sales it for $250. The K model is $280 at Microcenter and $315 at Newegg. With sales tax added on you still save some money.
Although with a Z68 board you don't really have much of a choice when it comes to having another PCI-E slot.
I believe SLI is for multi-GPU stuff, right? No current plans too. I'm not 100% on what physX is but some day down the road I do intend to upgrade my video card too, so maybe?
The closest Microcenter is pretty far. I'll consider the drive, but for now I'm just using Newegg for looking at the stuff, though I will probably buy most of it from there.
Would 500W really be enough power? I checked the power supply calculator on the ASUS website and came up with like 600W, but I have no idea how accurate that is...
Assuming I don't need as much power as I think, would something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012 be good?
An i7 is overkill for gaming. An i5 or even an i3 will be more than enough.
PhysX isn't really a thing but for a few games, so it's not worth considering.
As for the PSU. Unless you have an idea of what card you are going to get down the road, more is better. Doubly so if you do plan on taking advantage of SLI or using your 9800GT as a physX card.
If SLI and physX isn't in the cards then you can always trim off $50 from your budget buy getting a less expensive motherboard, or add that money to something else.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Power+Supplies-_-Antec-_-17371031
You could get an i5 2500 non K, a decent z68 motherboard, and the antec NEO, for not much more than what you would spend on that i7+mobo combo. Like around $370 for the PSU, CPU, and MOBO. Add in $50 for your ram and $60 for a case, and it would be around $480. Not including shipping.
That's $230 less than what the stuff you linked in the OP cost, and you wouldn't really be worse off.
The difference in price is what the cost of a GTX 560ti is.
That's a complete system assuming you will be using your current HDD's.
Hah, well that's damned convenient! And the non-K'ness only comes up if I want to overclock? Though I've never really thought about OC'ing, maybe keeping the option open is worth the price...
So, that's why the K models are more expensive.
You really suggest spending $10 less to get a processor that isn't unlocked?
TEN DOLLARS?
That is..........interesting.
As for PSU:
I am running an i5-2500k with a 6870 on a 550W PSU. Antec builder series. This guy in fact.
You won't need 620 to run your suggested setup, but more power isn't a bad thing, and it'll probably make upgrading in the future easier.
Using the same reasoning burtletoy went with (10 bucks to have the OC'ing option in the future), I am now figuring the 2500k. Thanks for the help guys.
Yes, I am. $10 is still money someone wouldn't need to spend if they don't plan on getting the most out of their chips. It's why I asked if he had plans on overclocking.
Kinda like the suggestion you made in the build thread.
I would:
Drop the CPU down a bit. The performance increase from an i5 to an i7 isn't really worth the price in my opinion. The 2500ks are currently the best bang for your buck in my not so humble opinion.
Downgrade your PSU. Unless you plan on running 2 GPUs, which you said you aren't. you'll never need 800 watts, and if you are going 2 GPUs, I would get one of these : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=hx850
If you don't plan on multiple GPUs, you could also save a big by not bothering with an SLI/Crossfire motherboard. Honestly, if you don't plan on overclocking, pretty much any motherboard with decent reviews that has the right socket/ports/slots will do.
Take that money you saved and put it aside towards a new GPU.
I want to upgrade to a i5 2500k, which at a minimum means replacing my mobo and RAM. I'm on Vista64 now, so I'm also going to upgrade to 7 and get a small SSD to run the OS and Rift on. Hopefully the 9800 won't hold me back too much, but I know I'll end up replacing that down the road. At least my case, PSU, and optical drives can make it through another build.
I've been watching the sales and this one caught my eye: http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?nm_mc=EMC-SD102011&cm_mmc=EMC-SD102011-_-SD102111-_-item-_-combo
It's a Newegg deal from 1pm to 3pm PST today for an Asus P8P67 rev 3.0 and 8gb of DDR3 1600 for $165. I was really excited when I saw it on my phone, but now that I'm reading the reviews on the mobo I'm not so sure. There is a 3.1 version of the board that seems to be a lot better reviewed. Anyway, you might want to consider it.