New to Anandtech, upgrade suggestions

[AntLyoN2053]

Hello all,

I have not done a build in over 5 years (pretty sure pc hardware has changed a bit since) and was looking for some help. I have a budget of $1500 and need some input on cpu, mobo, ram, ssd.

Any help you guys can give me will be much welcomed and appreciated. Thank you.


-Jorgie

 

[stahlhart]

Welcome to the forums -- here is a guide for asking your question:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

 

[AntLyoN2053]

Welcome to the forums -- here is a guide for asking your question:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=80121

Thank you. Feel like a dumb dumb for not going in to more detail. Here it is:


1. This PC will be used primarily for gaming (Battlefield, MW3, etc.) and Photoshop.

2. I would like to stay around $1500

3. I am located in San Diego, California and will most likely be ordering from either/both Amazon/Newegg

4. I am leaning towards Intel (i7). Do not have brand preferences. Always have smooth builds with Corsair and Asus but I am not married to those brands.

5. Parts that I will be using from my current pc are: Silverstone TJ09 case, Silverstone 700w power supply, LG Bluray Multi Disk, Radeon HD 6850, Seagate 2T drive for backup.

6. So far these are the parts I am leaning towards: Intel i7-3930k, MSI X79A-GD65, Corsair vengeance 16GB 1600MHz, OCZ Vertex 3 240GB. Suggestions from what I have read in other post/sites.

7. No overclock , all stock

8. Gaming 1920x1200@60 on a Dell Ultrasharp 24"

9. I am taking some time off from work the first week of February, hope to have all the parts at that point.

10. Please critique away...Always welcome constructive criticism


-Jorgie

 

[fastamdman]

Yup fill out that stuff and we can help you out. Off the top of my head, depending on what you need I suggest the following

2500k or 2600k cpu
Asus z68 pro mobo
8gb ddr3 2133mhz 2x4gb ram
crucial m4 ssd, either 64gb or 128gb or larger depending on your cash flow.


Edit: If you aren't overclocking disregard what I said and I won't help you.

 

[mfenn]

OP, the parts you've picked out are a big waste of money given your usage. You don't need to spend anything like $1500 to begin with, and a large chunk of that should go towards a new GPU.

Something like this:
i5 2400 $190
Intel H67 mobo $100
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $36 - double this if you really want to, but I doubt you need it unless you regularly worth with multi-GB PSDs
6970 $330 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $200 - SSD tech is moving too fast to invest in a 256GB drive IMHO
Total: $876 AR

 

[lehtv]

The X79 platform is a huge waste of money for gaming/photoshop. I agree with the above, you should not spend your whole $1500 budget. Save the rest on upgrading stuff later, in 1-2 years, if that is needed.

 

[fastamdman]

Whatever you do, don't waste your money on the 3930k, or on mfenn's post.

An overclocked 2500k or 2600k is the best price to performance you can get currently. 2500k for gaming, 2600k if you can use the HT.

 

[lehtv]

Let me pull a "fastamdman" on you:

7. No overclock , all stock

 

[fastamdman]

Even non overclocked it's still the better option. I don't understand why some people are against overclocking, I am going to have to change this.

 

[mfenn]

An overclocked 2500k or 2600k is the best price to performance you can get currently. 2500k for gaming, 2600k if you can use the HT.

Seriously, at least read the OP before posting. The OP is doing gaming and Photoshop, he won't greatly benefit from HT.

 

[lehtv]

Even non overclocked it's still the better option. I don't understand why some people are against overclocking, I am going to have to change this.

i5-2400 is better performance for the money than i5-2500K at stock speeds, and it pulls ahead even more if you factor in the lower cost of a H61/H67 motherboard compared to P67/Z68.

edit:
i5-2500K $220 - 3.3GHz - 3.7Ghz max turbo
i5-2400 $190 - 3.1GHz - 3.4Ghz max turbo

2500K is 15% more price for 6-9% more performance.

 

[mfenn]

Even non overclocked it's still the better option.

How about provide some reasoning for this statement? Otherwise people are going to ignore you. It is most definitely not a better option to pay $30 more for the extra 300Mhz that the i5 2500K gets you.

 

[fastamdman]

The 2500k was on discount for 200, 20 dollars off, so I was thinking 10 dollars more for 6-9% was worth it.

 

[lehtv]

OP, the parts you've picked out are a big waste of money given your usage. You don't need to spend anything like $1500 to begin with, and a large chunk of that should go towards a new GPU.

Something like this:
i5 2400 $190
Intel H67 mobo $100
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $36 - double this if you really want to, but I doubt you need it unless you regularly worth with multi-GB PSDs
6970 $330 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $200 - SSD tech is moving too fast to invest in a 256GB drive IMHO
Total: $876 AR

Just to add to that:

Intel H67 microATX $90 shipped. Exact same specs apart from two PCI slots less.

 

[biostud]

Why don't you want to overclock? Overclocking is not like it was 5 years ago. You can easily hit 4+ Ghz without even stressing the system, and it's very easy to do.

Since AMD is releasing their 7950/7970 the 9th of January, they might be worth waiting for.

 

[lehtv]

Since AMD is releasing their 7950/7970 the 9th of January, they might be worth waiting for.

7970 is released on the 9th, while 7950 is delayed to february http://socialbarrel.com/amd-delays-release-date-of-hd-7950-graphics-card/29740/

 

[stahlhart]

Why don't you want to overclock? Overclocking is not like it was 5 years ago. You can easily hit 4+ Ghz without even stressing the system, and it's very easy to do.

+1. Not to mention the 2500K probably having much better trade/resale value at upgrade time. OP stated gaming as a primary use for the system, and it's currently the gold standard for that purpose.

 

[lockheed2266]

Even non overclocked it's still the better option. I don't understand why some people are against overclocking, I am going to have to change this.

Some people don't want to fiddle around with a computer when they come home from work, especially when they work on computers all day, they just want it to turn on every time, and not have any problems.

I agree with lehtv, it's not really worth it to pay the extra cash for the 2500, unless there is a sale, or you can pick one up from Microcenter. It's money better spent on a video card in the future when the 6850 isn't enough anymore.

 

[ElFenix]

Why don't you want to overclock? Overclocking is not like it was 5 years ago. You can easily hit 4+ Ghz without even stressing the system, and it's very easy to do.

Since AMD is releasing their 7950/7970 the 9th of January, they might be worth waiting for.

i'm not overclocked and i like fiddling with computers



undervolted

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Not to mention the 2500K probably having much better trade/resale value at upgrade time.

This

 

[Remobz]

Why don't you want to overclock? Overclocking is not like it was 5 years ago. You can easily hit 4+ Ghz without even stressing the system, and it's very easy to do.

Since AMD is releasing their 7950/7970 the 9th of January, they might be worth waiting for.

Good point.

 

[AntLyoN2053]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Figured since I don't upgrade that often to go big. Seems like the general consensus is that all those parts are way too much for my needs. Appreciate all the help and will be keeping an eye on other threads before finally pulling the trigger on some parts.

Thanks all.


-Jorgie