PC Upgrade #1 [$700-$800]

petersmileyface

petersmileyface

Geek Trainee
I will be getting an upgrade at the end of this year. I have got the parts picked out, I just need some your opinion and recommendations.

Just to give you an idea, here are some things I use my PC for:
Coding
Gaming - Minecraft, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, GTA IV, Space Marines
Screen recording
Converting videos
Downloading
Video streaming

Current parts:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Mobo: Abit KN8 SLI
RAM: 2GB (DDR)
HDD: 500GB
GFX Card: ATI Raedon HD 4870
Case: ?
PSU: ?
Optical Disk Drive: Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-111D ATA Device

Upgrade:
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3PB3
RAM: G.Skill RipjawX 8GB
GFX: eVGA GTX 560
PSU: Corsair TX650 v 2.92

I've used Excel to calculate the total prices and I got the total of $697.98.

1. What do you guys think on the parts I've chosen? Do you have any recommendations?
2. What brand do you prefer for the above parts?
3. I plan to overclock my i5, should I stick with the stock CPU cooler or buy a different one?
 
looks good, i would recomend a aftermarket cpu cooler if you plan on more than a minor OC. I've always had good experiences with the coolermaster hyper 212
 
What do you mean by aftermarket and how much would a "minor" overclock be?
I plan to overclock from 3.3GHz to 3.7GHz. Is there any point overclocking to, say, 3.6GHz?
 
aftermarket = 3rd party, e.g. anything that's not stock; look at this random 3rd party cooler. It will be twice as good as the stock (my i5-750 w/ stock went at 41C when idle, but w/ a cheap (~34$) CPU cooler it now hovers around 25C when idle and I have quite a crammed case with minimum airflow ).

but overall it looks very decent. I would change the nvidia to a ati equivalent or higher like the 6950 2gb and unlock it to be 6970 though. Terribly huge bang for the buck.

Also, I'm a little concerned for the PSU. It doesn't look like a 80+ rated one and you should go higher so that later you can slip in another video card or a different, but faster one.
 
Thank you edijs for the great suggestions. I just have a few questions to ask you if you don't mind?
Just curious, why do you say I should change from nVidia to ATI?
I posted this on another forum and one guy told me I should go with the 650W if I wasn't going to add another/replace my GFX card and the 750W if I was. So what should I get?
 
* ATI has by far the best price/performance ratio.
* As for the PSU - exactly what the other guy said: if you don't plan on upgrading, then stick with the 650W, but a stronger one would be much more beneficial as changing the gfx card is the most usual upgrade to make (I had a hd5770 which required like a 500W PSU, but I bought a 700W 80+ rated PSU and when I changed to a HD6950, there were no problems regarding power)
 
petersmileyface said:
What do you mean by aftermarket and how much would a "minor" overclock be?
I plan to overclock from 3.3GHz to 3.7GHz. Is there any point overclocking to, say, 3.6GHz?
Click to expand...
aftermarket is anything that is not stock OEM. and what i concider to be a minor overclock on that cpu is anything less than 4 ghz.
 
edijs said:
Also, I'm a little concerned for the PSU. It doesn't look like a 80+ rated one and you should go higher so that later you can slip in another video card or a different, but faster one.
Click to expand...

All Corsair PSU's are 80+ certified, infact the majority of them are 80+ gold.
 
edijs said:
* ATI has by far the best price/performance ratio.
* As for the PSU - exactly what the other guy said: if you don't plan on upgrading, then stick with the 650W, but a stronger one would be much more beneficial as changing the gfx card is the most usual upgrade to make (I had a hd5770 which required like a 500W PSU, but I bought a 700W 80+ rated PSU and when I changed to a HD6950, there were no problems regarding power)
Click to expand...

I'll be sticking with the 650W.
 
M_Kincy said:
aftermarket is anything that is not stock OEM. and what i concider to be a minor overclock on that cpu is anything less than 4 ghz.
Click to expand...
Oh okay that's good then, I don't have to spend anymore money since I'm in the $800 range and planning to get an additional internal HDD as well.
 
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