Page 1 of 1

Upgrade options

Posted: 12 Jun 2012, 17:21
by minvertedm
I am looking for advice for buying components.

I will have between R3000 and R4000 to spend on a CPU/mobo/RAM upgrade, since my old Athlon64 died unexpectedly recently and I haven't had the chance to save much. I would like to aim in the area of an i5 2500K or similar, but cost comes first. I already have a GT220 1GB GDDR2 and a decent C-Media sound card from a couple of years ago. So I'd at least need 1 x PCI 1.0 (unless I don't need to keep the sound card) and 1 x PCI-E 2.0.

To give an idea of my usage: I am a low-level gamer (that is, moderate to good games, but mostly old ones, and 40fps is more than satisfactory for the best of times); I run SolidWorks 2011 and Labview 2011 for coursework; I dabble in video editting and in stereoscopic, multilayer, large-scale digital painting; and I compose music (so I need a decent midi capability on built-in sound if I end up having to drop my C-Media card).

Incidentally, I'll probably need a PSU, too, since my old system didn't need as much power as I expect this kit will.

I have seen a deal at:
http://www.computersonly.co.za/upgrade_ ... ryid=40336
that seems very suitable (the Phoenix Upgrade kit Q031896 (R3000 + postage)), but I don't know how good the motherboard and RAM are in that package, so if anyone knows anything about that, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks in advance.

minvertedm

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 12 Jun 2012, 17:39
by Monty
Hi minvertedm and welcome to the forum!
Pop in to the new members introduction thread and tell us a bit about yourself.


From what I understand: most of the new motherboards have fairly good onboard audio - unless your sound card was a high end model when you bought it, it might be outclassed by the current onboard audio solutions.

I am, however, a little behind on the tech news, so someone will be along shortly to help you with your hardware choices :)

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 12 Jun 2012, 18:31
by StarBound
I won't lie, the H61 board is a piece of ****.

What does that upgrade include? Ram + board + cpu leaving you to use your own case, psu ect?

I assume your more into video editing and such else you might want to go with the i3 option and get a 550ti or radeon 7770 with it. i5 however is a marvelous piece of chip.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 08:54
by KALSTER
Without checking pricing, on a tight budget you can try for the bottom i5, at least 4GB RAM, and with that GPU, maybe a 400W+ PSU and your onboard sound should be fairly good, but your sound card will fit in any mobo really. As for the motherboard, on a tight budget you can really get almost anything your CPU will fit into. There isn't much performance gap between bottom mobos and the expensive ones. You'll lose on some features though, but you should get the basics. I'll have a closer look a bit later on.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 11:07
by THE_STIG
I have come up with this assuming that you are keeping you hard drives/optical drives, case, gfx and peripherals:

CPU: Intel Core i5-2320
Mobo:MSI Z77A-G43
Ram:Kingston Hyper-X Blu, 2x 2Gb kit
PSU:Thermaltake LitePower, 600w,

All of which comes to R3879. You can look around and maybe go for a cheaper H67 or B75 motherboard or a cheaper i3 but for under 4k the above parts are pretty decent and should last you a long time.....although I would recommend a new GPU something like a GTX 550 or an AMD HD 7770 :wink:

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 11:52
by StarBound
Rebeltech charges about R350 to ship to CT though.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 11:55
by THE_STIG
StarBound wrote:Rebeltech charges about R350 to ship to CT though.
I looked at what landmark had but they seemed expensive. That was just a general guide he can probably find those components for a similar price somewhere in CT.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 17:32
by StarBound
Maybe but I'd say your system suggestion is the better one. Its a Z77 board, still an i5, 4gb ram that is wanted and a PSU that will handle even a midrange to high gfx card. The board layout is tons better than the crappy H61 ...H61... *shudders* piece of ****!

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 13 Jun 2012, 17:35
by THE_STIG
:lol: yes H61 is rubbish. And what is with the intel boards, they are not cheap but they are extremely sparse on extra features and the layout looks prettty bad too.

If the OP is still around. What case do you have and what sort of storage are you using?

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 14 Jun 2012, 13:27
by minvertedm
Thanks, all, for the advice. ComputersOnly only put up what motherboard was in that package after I emailed them at the same time I posted here. I share everyone's opinion, here, about the H61. I'll try avoid that.

In reply to THE_STIG, I don't know exactly what case I have, as it came in a starter package some years back. Safe-to-say it's a low-end midi-tower. Storage-wise, I've got a basic 500GB HDD and I'll hold onto another old 80GB for posterity. Without checking the BIOS quickly, I can't tell you exactly what drives they are. Whatever the case, I'm not going to be maxing out the bandwidth on the SATA ports, so I can't see these affecting my mobo choice much, if at all.

Thanks for the shopping list, too.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 14 Jun 2012, 13:31
by minvertedm
The i5-2320 at Rebel Tech is sold out, but I'll keep it in mind if I find it elsewhere.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 14 Jun 2012, 13:33
by THE_STIG
As long as all the dives are SATA you will be fine, many boards now don't have IDE . With the case, as long as there is enough room for everything then it should be ok.....also a decent amount of airflow will be needed

A pic of the case will help :wink:
minvertedm wrote:The i5-2320 at Rebel Tech is sold out, but I'll keep it in mind if I find it elsewhere.
You don't have to get from them, just try find something similar at wherever is best for you :wink:

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 14 Jun 2012, 14:53
by StarBound
TakeAlot (www.takealot.com) is a cape town online retailers. You could check from them.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 16 Jun 2012, 11:25
by minvertedm
Thanks, StarBound. TakeAlot's got free shipping on expensive stuff, which helps, even though I could probably go collect personally.

Done

Posted: 26 Jul 2012, 13:51
by minvertedm
Hi All.

I've bought all the parts and the machine's running relatively smoothly. I thought I should let you know what I settled on. In the end, a friend gave me cost price on selected items, so most of my choices fitted into what he had to offer:

Intel i5 2500K,
ASUS P8B75-V,
Corsair XMS3 2x2GB DDR3 RAM kit,
Thermaltake Litepower 450W PSU.

I also got an extra fan, just to be safe.

Now I've been selling off my old serviceable stuff to save up for a new, relatively quiet GPU, too.

Thanks for all your advice.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 26 Jul 2012, 14:20
by KALSTER
Cool. Glad you came right. ;)

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 26 Jul 2012, 14:20
by KALSTER
Cool. Glad you came right. ;)

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 26 Jul 2012, 15:27
by StarBound
I've never heard of the B75 chipset before.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 26 Jul 2012, 17:19
by Stuart
You have my condolences on your choice of PSU.

Re: Upgrade options

Posted: 27 Jul 2012, 12:11
by minvertedm
@ Stuart: Yeah, I heard, after placing the order, that I could have chosen better, but what's done is done, so I'll live with it for a while at least.