New Mobo/CPU/RAM Upgrade Time!

ray_gillespie

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Hi guys,

I must apologise to you and to computers in general. I have been neglecting my PC gaming recently in favour of my PS3, but alas it's that time again when my console is being left way behind PC gaming and so it's time to get back to PC gaming. I also picked up a copy of the Witcher 2 in the Steam sale, and it runs very poorly on my old Intel Core 2 Duo.


So, I have decided to upgrade my PC's mobo/CPU/RAM. I have done some research on my old friend Tom's Hardware, and the Intel Core i5 2500K processor seems to be the best value gaming processor at the moment. I've therefore come up with the following on eBuyer:


Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 Socket 1155 8 Channel HD Audio ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
Corsair 8GB (2X4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz Red Vengeance Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V


That lot comes to about £350. What do you guys reckon? Are there any alternatives I should consider?


I've currently got a 850W modular PSU (it's a decent make, can't remember off-hand) and a GeForce 9800GTX GPU - those should be ok with this shouldn't they?


Thanks for any advice guys.
 
That sounds pretty good. I was just looking at building a 24 gig set up with a six-core processor lol.
 
That sounds pretty good. I was just looking at building a 24 gig set up with a six-core processor lol.

Cheers Johnny. Six-core processor would be pretty sweet. I've always aimed for the price/performance sweetspot but one day I'd love to build an absolute MOFO of a computer :)
 
I want to build something that I wouldn't have to update for a couple of years. The thing that is holding me back from puling the trigger is that I know intel is coming out with an 8 core soon.
 
Ignore this if I got it wrong, but it sounds like you plan to keep the 9800GTX? The 9800GTX is probably your systems bottle neck for gaming, not the Core Duo.

On the HW you selected, it's what I would update to if my system wasn't running BF3 ok as is. (AMD 64 X2, 4 GB RAM,cheap MB, 8800GT,

On video the sweet spot for price performance looks like either the GTX560 @ ~$179 or the GTX560 TI @ ~$229. The ASUS boards seem to have the best cooling (quiet) compared to the other brands. Can't decide if the cost premium is worth the performance premium.

What's turning me off is the total bill of about $500. Just doesn't seem worth it for gaming anymore. Sigh, I'm getting old.
 
Ignore this if I got it wrong, but it sounds like you plan to keep the 9800GTX? The 9800GTX is probably your systems bottle neck for gaming, not the Core Duo.

On the HW you selected, it's what I would update to if my system wasn't running BF3 ok as is. (AMD 64 X2, 4 GB RAM,cheap MB, 8800GT,

On video the sweet spot for price performance looks like either the GTX560 @ ~$179 or the GTX560 TI @ ~$229. The ASUS boards seem to have the best cooling (quiet) compared to the other brands. Can't decide if the cost premium is worth the performance premium.

What's turning me off is the total bill of about $500. Just doesn't seem worth it for gaming anymore. Sigh, I'm getting old.

Cheers for the info Lee. Turns out you're right, the GPU is a big bottleneck so I'm going to upgrade that too. I just don't know which to get, the GTX 560 or the GTX 560 Ti - I just can't decide!

On ebuyer, the 560 is about £140 and the 560 Ti is £170. Is it worth the extra £30?
 
I went for the Ti in the end - I got the Asus one but from Amazon, for £167. Seems like a pretty good deal. I can't wait to try this bad boy out when it arrives! I might finally get to play Witcher 2 :)
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
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Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
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