Upgrading Question

Kiith

So, i'd planned on building a new pc in advance of Battlefield 3 and Skyrim. I'd gotten the specs picked, but it was a bit over my current budget, and now i'm thinking i'll just go with an upgrade of my existing system instead. Have a case, monitor and hard drives etc...just need the barebones now.

ATI Radeon HD 6950 2gb - €190.75
Intel Core i5-2500K LGA1155 - €162.20
P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (1155) - €112.00
Corsair Enthusiast TX 750W PSU - €82.50
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 RAM - €63.00

I've tried to pick decent parts, even if they cost a little bit more, and the total comes to about €610 (bought in Jersey, VAT free)

The case i have at the moment is fairly old, but still suits me. It's the Thermaltake Tsunami (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133132) and i was just wondering if i'd have any issues with fitting everything into this, or if i should buy a new case as well (at which time, it's more new then upgraded).

Burgo

yeah looks good, I'd change the ram for this though;G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB

Everything bar the graphics card should fit in grand.

To see if the 6950 will fit your best bet is to get out the measuring tape and see, and check the measurements of the card you're looking at(a link for that would have been nice :pac:)

Tea_Bag

I believe you can be done for customs and import duty tax if you buy from Jersey. something about it being an island outside of the proper EU.

best to look it up before you get stung hard.

Kiith

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-273-SP&tool=3 - This is the card i was looking at. It's reduced this week on Overclockers.co.uk. I'll measure the case myself later, and see if it can fit it. Might go for a new case anyway, as i might eventually do a Crossfire setup. I'll change the RAM as well, thanks.

As for Jersey, my brother lives there, so i'll hopefully get him to bring it back with him when he's coming over. Think it'll avoid customs/tax that way.

Burgo

Kiith wrote: »

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-273-SP&tool=3 - This is the card i was looking at. It's reduced this week on Overclockers.co.uk. I'll measure the case myself later, and see if it can fit it. Might go for a new case anyway, as i might eventually do a Crossfire setup. I'll change the RAM as well, thanks.

As for Jersey, my brother lives there, so i'll hopefully get him to bring it back with him when he's coming over. Think it'll avoid customs/tax that way.

well this model is pretty similar and the dimensions are 10.24" x 4.33" x 1.38"

Kiith

Ok, so i never actually got around to getting this last time, but sick to death of playing Skyrim and The Old Republic on my crap pc, so taking the plunge and planning for a broke January. Below is the updated specs i was thinking of. Slightly less than last time, but more within my budget (and not ordering VAT free this time.

I've got a monitor, case, hd etc... so below are the only parts i really need.

Intel Core i5-2400, LGA1155 - €168.48
Sparkle PCI-E GTX560 1024MB - €156.72
Gigabyte GA-P67A-D3-B3, Intel P67, ATX - €82.61
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W - €69.93
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U - €39.67

Total - €517.14

Any thoughts?

FlyingIrishMan

Kiith wrote: »

Ok, so i never actually got around to getting this last time, but sick to death of playing Skyrim and The Old Republic on my crap pc, so taking the plunge and planning for a broke January. Below is the updated specs i was thinking of. Slightly less than last time, but more within my budget (and not ordering VAT free this time.

I've got a monitor, case, hd etc... so below are the only parts i really need.



Any thoughts?

You could probably change the 650W to a 550W save yourself a tenner, and then change the i5 2400 to a i5 2500k just in case you ever need more power in the future you can overclock.

Also perhaps this mobo? http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43133&agid=1601
I had that one you had until someone here recommended me this one, not much different but it has more USB slots and apparently is more reliable.

Fluffy88

The GTX 560 isn't a great card.
You might have been thinking of a GTX 560 ti which is comparable to the 6950 card you had listed before.

If you don't want to spend more than €150 on the GPU then a 6870 would be a better choice
http://www3.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46795&agid=1004
If you want to get the better GPU then the GTX 560 ti seems to be a little cheaper than the 6950 atm.
GTX 560 ti €194
6950 €210

Kiith

Ok, so with those changes in mind, i've got the below. Went with the ATI 6870, as i don't want to go much over budget. Just over €500 as it is.

Intel Core i5-2500, LGA1155 - €181.57
Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E - €144.51
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX - €83.63
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W - €55.55
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U - €35.41

Total - €500.67

Is that a decent PSU?

Tij da feen

Kiith wrote: »

Ok, so with those changes in mind, i've got the below. Went with the ATI 6870, as i don't want to go much over budget. Just over €500 as it is.


Is that a decent PSU?

Yes it is. The Superflower Amazon series are a very good line of PSU's.

Go for low profile ram because the heatspreaders can cause problems with CPU coolers.

Kiith

Ok, so i'm (finally) ordering this on friday, and i wanted to ask one last question. I've upped my budget a bit and added a new case and SSD. My old case is a bit battered, so i figured i'd start from scratch and go a totally new build.

Any thoughts on this?

Intel Core i5-2500, LGA1155 - €183.60
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX - €81.59
Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E - €147.59
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W - €53.65
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U - €42.99
OCZ Agility 3 60GB 6,4cm (2,5") SATA3 - €73.44
Fractal Design R3 Black Pearl - €84.35

Total - €667.23

ShadowHearth

Make sure it's 2500k m8

Serephucus

This is what he means.

Kiith

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Make sure it's 2500k m8

Can i just ask what the difference is? I'll add it as it's only €9 extra, but just so i know.

Also, main thing i was wondering is will the 550w psu be enough with the added SSD? I'll have a regular HD connected as well.

ShadowHearth

2500 is locked CPU.

2500k is unlock processor, which can be overclockers from 3.3ghz to 4.2 on stock cooler and 4.8ghz with better after market cooler.

Well worth it 9eu.

ShadowHearth

Just to add: we're there any gen 3 mobos in your price range? You could get it just in case, will be bullet prove. Sorry I can't check it properly I am on my phone.

Kiith

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Just to add: we're there any gen 3 mobos in your price range? You could get it just in case, will be bullet prove. Sorry I can't check it properly I am on my phone.

By gen 3, do you mean the Z68 motherboards? There's a ASRock Z68 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX for an extra €12. Is it worth it? Would a cheap Z68 be better then a reasonably priced P67?

ShadowHearth

I would go with z68 and it Ussually says its gen 3 m8. Main difference: pcie 3.0. Sorry I can't check it and point out which one m8.

Serephucus

The Gen3 Pro3 Z68 isn't in stock, but there's no mad-crazy differences. The only things you really get are Ivy support (which may or may not be a factor) and PCI-E 3.0, which is probably not going to matter at all.

Monotype

Wow! SSDs have taken a slump in price over the past week.
I think that the Crucial M4 is worth the money @ €87. It's a higher class drive than the agility 3.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=46113

ShadowHearth

Serephucus wrote: »

The Gen3 Pro3 Z68 isn't in stock, but there's no mad-crazy differences. The only things you really get are Ivy support (which may or may not be a factor) and PCI-E 3.0, which is probably not going to matter at all.

Surely you can put ivy bridge in to any 1155 socket? Or there is something we don't
know yet?

Mono, how much was it before? Maybe 120gb ones droped too? I would not mind a ssd for steam

Serephucus

I always thought one of the selling point of Gen3 stuff was that they came with out-of-the-box support for 22nm chips, but maybe that's just me.

Monotype

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Mono, how much was it before? Maybe 120gb ones droped too? I would not mind a ssd for steam

I think the M4 was €92/93 or so last week. Around a fiver drop.

Edit: Regarding Gen 3, I think it was originally for Ivy Bridge, but I think PCI-E 3 is the only big feature now as Intel said that most of the chipsets would support IB. Not all 1155s though, there's Q67 and some other ones but I haven't seen these for sale much.

Kiith

Thanks for the info folks. One last thing, can anyone recommend any other good cases, for a bit cheaper if possible? I'm pushing towards the €700 mark, which i definitely didn't want to get close to, and i figure maybe could save a bit on the case.

Was thinking something like this.
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=50887&agid=631

Also, do these come with fans, or do i need to get them separately?

Fluffy88

That looks like an alright case.
Personally I would go with the BitFenix Merc Beta as it seems to have better cable management stuff.

But if you prefer the one you posted BitFenix make good cases so there should be no issues with that one either.

Monotype

I think the outlaw has an upside-down motherboard mounting, which has it's advantages but it's a bit weird all the same. Anandtech did a review on it a couple of months ago - I think it was positive and I can dig it up if you want.

Kiith

Monotype wrote: »

I think the outlaw has an upside-down motherboard mounting, which has it's advantages but it's a bit weird all the same. Anandtech did a review on it a couple of months ago - I think it was positive and I can dig it up if you want.

Think i'll go with the outlaw, as it seems pretty good from the reviews i've read. I'm guessing i'll need to buy some fans as well? Any recommendations, or does it really matter what ones i get?

Also, assuming i do go with the below parts, is there anything else i need to get? (i.e fans, cooling paste etc?). I've a standard hard drive from the old pc, but that was all i was planning on keeping.

Intel Core i5-2500k, LGA1155 - €190.71
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX - €81.59
Sapphire HD6870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E - €147.59
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W - €53.65
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U - €42.99
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") - €87.14
BitFenix Outlaw Midi-Tower - €36.71

Total - €640.38

Kiith

Sorry to bump this, but just a quick question before i order this tomorrow. Do i need to get some fans for this, or will the ones with the case be enough? Or are there even any with the case?

Monotype

One fan with it.
http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/outlaw#specs

You should probably get a second fan for a bit more flow around the case - one for the front? Or more if you feel like it. Two should be enough though.

FlyingIrishMan

Kiith wrote: »

Sorry to bump this, but just a quick question before i order this tomorrow. Do i need to get some fans for this, or will the ones with the case be enough? Or are there even any with the case?

There was one in the Merc Beta version I bought.
I don't have any other fans other than the ones on the GPU and the Stock Cooler but I still rarely go over 40 (50 when playing games) on any component.

Kiith

Ok, i'll add a 120mm fan to be added to the front of the case. Also changed the card slightly, as the HIS series are pretty good from what i remember. Updated build below.

Intel Core i5-2500k, LGA1155 - €190.71
ASRock P67 Pro3 (B3), Sockel 1155, ATX - €81.59
HIS HD 6870 Fan GDDR5 1024MB HDMI/DP/2xDVI - €143.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 550W - €53.65
8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U - €42.99
Crucial M4 64GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5") - €87.14
BitFenix Outlaw Midi-Tower - €36.71
be quiet Silentwings USC Gehäuselüfter 120x120 - €12.31

Total - €644.55

Should do me nicely i think.

Kiith

Ok, so i ordered this today, and i'm just wondering about the Hardwareversand ordering process. I've to do a bank transfer of the correct amount, but as their english translation is bloody awful at times, i'm not sure of all the details.

There are two banks listed on the order form, Deutsche Postbank AG Dortmund and Sparkasse Soest. Does it matter which one i use? I'm assuming the "Intended Purpose" on the form is the reference number they'll use. Also, whats a Remittee account?

Fluffy88

From my understanding of the poorly translated text you can put the payment through to either bank account, just pick one.

The Remittee account is the Bank account number of their bank account, so that's the account where you money is going.

If you are doing the transfer in your local branch the teller should be able to help you fill out all the details if your not sure.

Kiith

So i ordered this last week, and i'm just wondering something about the delivery with HWVS. The parts are being sent out in 2 packages, and according to DHL.de, one of my packages is in Ireland while the other hasn't moved from the package center in Germany for 2 days. I can track one of them one the An Post site too, and it's in Louth. The other doesn't register.

Might this just be that the system didnt get updated right, or is it normal for one package to go before the other? I'm assuming they'll be delivered together?

It's still only a week since i ordered, so it's not taking ages or anything...just wondering.

jaykhunter

They might be a day apart; I'm sure it'll get there

Kiith

Ok, parts arrived today, and everything looks good. Won't have a chance to put them together till later though.

Quick question regarding the extra fan...where would be the best place to put it? I'd originally planned on putting it at the front, but i'm not sure how much airflow will get around considering the front of the case is pretty well covered. It fits perfectly, just not sure where would be best.

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/outlaw#gallery

Actually, looks like there is decent airflow at the front, with the mesh at the sides.

ShadowHearth

i would put it in the back as exhaust or on the side as intake to cool down gpu.

Kiith

ShadowHearth wrote: »

i would put it in the back as exhaust or on the side as intake to cool down gpu.

There's a 120mm fan on the back already, so its the additional one i bought. Will either do the side or the front i guess.

Lu Tze

Just out of interest - how long between the bank transfer payment and delivery?

Nibs05

Lu Tze wrote: »

Just out of interest - how long between the bank transfer payment and delivery?

My transfer was complete ( ordered on the 28th frb) on the 29th feb and haven't received the packages, generally reading posts on here it could up to 10 working days.

Kiith

Booting up the pc now, after having to go back into work to pickup a portable dvd drive. My old drive is an old drive, and only has IDE connections which aren't on the motherboard. Windows currently installing on my smaller hd (250gb), as i want to replace it with a SSD next month. Will keep the 500gb for my storage drive.

Just delighted that everything seems to be working so far, and hopefully it all goes well. Will leave it on overnight and download my Steam directory again :P

Lu Tze wrote: »

Just out of interest - how long between the bank transfer payment and delivery?

Bank transfer was done in branch on the 24th Feb, and it was delivered today. So 10 days in total, which is pretty damn good.

Kiith

Sorry to bump this folks, but i was just wondering something. Was thinking of getting a 2nd 6950 for my machine at some stage this year (probably not for a few months), to give the machine an extra kick on the likes of FarCry 3, but i've never had a dual card setup.

Would i be better off getting a 2nd 6950, or upgrading to a new card? And if i got a 2nd card, would i need to upgrade the PSU (550W)?

Serephucus

You would probably need another PSU for dual 6950, but it would be close. Guru3D reports 473W total power consumption, but that's with only the GPUs stressed, the CPU would easily add another 100W or so.

It's almost always better to get a new card, unless you can get a second 6950 cheap, but again, the PSU purchase would negate this.