Edijs is getting a new PC and needs opinions

edijs

edijs

Programmer
Hi!

At last I am seriously considering of basically buying a new PC. Not entirely, though as I am on a budget here.

First off, I have been kinda out of the loop (hardware-wise that is) since I got my last upgrade - the 2GB RAM.

Anyway, so my current machine can be viewed via My Computer, but I'll give it to you in a nutshell:
CPU: Intel 3.06GHz w/ HT (just for clarification - ONE physical core, TWO digital ones if HT is turned on)
Mobo: ASUS P5VDC-MX
RAM: 2GB (2x1GB) DDRII Kingston @ 533MHz
Video: XFX GeForce 7600GS 256MB OCed

Others: generic PSU - 300W, 200GB SATA2 HDD, Pioneer multidrive, mac keyboard, generic mouse, samsung 19" LCD, floppy drive; CASE: 2x case fans + tube for direct outside air suck-in for the CPU.

What I am looking for here is to replace the *core* components of my system and the new stuff would be:

CPU: Intel i5 750 (2.66 ghz)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (not sure wether UD3 or UD4 or UD5 to take)
RAM: 4GB of some DDR-3 1066 mhz RAM (prob 2x2GB as the mobo uses DUAL CHANNELING)
Video: (this is a revolution for me -> from nVidia to ATI) ATI Radeon HD4890 1GB GDDR5

I think that ?why the hell? do I upgrate is quite obvious - all of the tech is outdated (although performance is ok - COD:MW2 works like a charm on medicore settings and all fancy super stuff disabled) and FUTURE-UNPROOF - the new motherboard would give me some futureproofing with USB 3.0 and SATA3 and Crossfire and PCIE16x as such, plus other stuff.... (but if you think otherwise, then just comment - I might change my mind and go for a Mac Mini after all :D or stick with what I've got for now)

The things I need your, dear co-HWFers, hihgly valued opinions on are:

1. Is this all compatible in the sense of bottlenecking?
2. What kind of PSU do I need? I have no friggin' idea about this.
3. Is my current Case OK?
4. I heard that the GF GTX275 is a bit better than the HD4890, but the GTX uses less memory and only DDR3 (aint that the same as GDDR3?)
5. My LCD has a std blue connector, not the fancy DVI-I, I assume that the video card will supply a interfacing device?
X. ...will add something more later, probably

Edit:
the HD4890 is my choice because it is a bit stronger than the HD4870 and is OCable quite a bit as I hear. I like to have that option, even if I don't use it in the first year of deployment...

Edit II:
My first thoughts on a PSU would be a Corsair 400W 12CM ATX12V2.2 80+, but I am not sure whether this is enough...

Edit III:
Changing video card to a HD5770 - a bit less power, more feats.

Edit IV:
My current PSU is some generic came-with-the-case kind of PSU and supplies 300W, having 16 or something amps on the 12V rail. Current system is handled quite well, actually; forgetting the 400W PSU. That won't do it. Will need a 650W 80+ for a stable system and possible latter upgrades
 
Hi you chose a mid range Intel system personally I would scrap the core i5 it's not going anywhere not future proof. You want to invest in a core i7 socket 1366 with a good EVGA or Gigabyte motherboard with around 12 phase powers (count the ferrite core chokes), lower rds-on mosfet voltage regulators also a mosfet heatsink. Around 2nd gen SLI/Crossfire so atleast 2x Pci-express x16 2.0 busses (4GB/s). 2oz copper in the pcb is also handy for better bus signal quality as well as heat distribution across the board, it also acts like a ferrite core choke with better power efficency. Dual bios is also a good thing to have. The reason I recommened core i7 is not because it's the best desktop setup on the market but it's also future proof as the core i9 (6 cores) will be coming out in 2010 same socket 1366, so you can always upgrade to a core i9 without buying a new motherboard, the most it will require is a different bios revision because they will be 32nm ready not 45nm, which is easy these days can do it from within windows by running an executable.
You can also overclock your system bus to 6.4G/T's so around 4800mhz = 40.4GB/S
which pretty much hammers the old socket 775's with a maximum system bus of 1600mhz =12.8GB/s.

Anyway here's a spec I've made up check it out let me know what you think.

motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
CPU: core i7 920
ram: Tripple channel kit of Gskill ram 6GB (1600mhz no point going above that because the maximum your system bus can handle is 4800mhz) (1600x3 = 4800mhz)
graphics card: ati radeon 5850 or 5870 direct x 11.
psu: Corsair, Enermax, OCZ 800w incase you want to upgrade to another gpu in the future.

Looking at around £850
 
hey, wow, thanks for that.

Anyway, futureproof in the sense of futureproofish at all (unlike my AGP super-system :D ). Of course, the expensive the better and much more futureproof. I like the idea of having DX 11. But as mentioned, I'm on a budget here which means less than half of what you propose and that's one hell of a "deadline"-type of budget. Not more. I could save up and all, but you know, I don't ask for 120 fps. 60 is fine :D

PCs are a funny thing - there is always newer technology just around the corner, but chasing that is just insanity - after the i9, we'll be having probably something better and so on and so on.

But big thanks for your input! I appreciate it!
 
I am changing the video card to a HD5770. It is slower than the HD4890, but will compensate for that by the additional new feats it provides. :D
 
Status report :D

I bought the following parts already (others will come after the 3rd of JAN):

Video: XFX Radeon HD5770 (it is between 4870 and 4890 and has more features)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (as planned)
 
Ending this thread here. Got the hardware and put it together. The specs are in My Coputer and here's a breakdown:

CPU - Intel Core i5 @ 2.67GHz
MB - ga-p55a-ud3
RAM - Crucial 2x2GB 1333MHz
PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W
VGA - XFX Radeon HD5770

put Win7x64 RTM as the OS

From the looks of it, everything is working fine.

The CPU temps are a bit high (I don't actually know, but it seems so) - around 30 - 40 c idle.


Differences from the old system:

I ran a free gpu benchmark - called FurMark (@ 1280 x 1024 on my humble LCD);

Previous result was: 12fps (gpu OCed) and ~350 pts
New result is: 112fps (stock) and ~4500 pts

how's that for a difference? hell...
 
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