Upgrade time, well almost...

[RiddickJhb]

G'day everyone. I'm interested in upgrading to a better gaming pc. My current rig is ok but I feel if I get some new hardware I might enjoy the current and future games more. Im retaining my Radeon because it's less than a year old. This is what i've been looking at attaining thus far.

1. Asus P6X58D-E USB3.0 SATA 6GB/s Motherboard
Intel Core i7 950 CPU
G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Gaming Memory
= approx. R6700

2. GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5 760 BX80605I5760 2.8GHz Processor
G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
= approx. R5500

I also read up on the Msi P55A Fuzion board Pc Format rated in December's magazine. It looks killer and they also rated it very highly. The ASUS P7P55DEPRO Intel P55, LGA1156, USB 3.0 & SATA 6
board also seems good so i dont mind mixing and matching. And on a related note I've always been a fan of Ocz memory and would like to throw it in my mix aswell by swapping it with the G.Skill ones.

My questions and concerns are as follows:
* Do i need a new Psu to run all the new hardware? I currently have a Coolermaster 650w and it seems to be running fine.
* I have no idea what chips sets are best with the boards! P55 or X58 ?? WTH? Please advise me on that.
* Dual channel or tri channel memory? I know tri channel only works with the lga 1336 and i7 but what is best on a mid range budget?
* Bottom line is i want a significant improvement to what i have but i don't want to break the bank in the process. Im budgeting around R7000/8000 but if i can come away with less but just as awesome i'll take it. Im not interested in going high end but rather higher mid range if that makes sense.

Thank you in advance for the assistance.

[JollyJamma]

Hi There
Please read the forums rules and introduce yourself to the forms in the appropriate threads.

Firstly the X58 chipsets are getting replaced next year so I wouldn't upgrade now. Youll be pissed when the new CPUs and motherboards come out.
2ndly the i5-760 is more CPU than most need and it'll drop the price of the setup by a bit so get that.
3rdly there is no point in getting a P55 mobo over the X58 as there is little price difference but a basic X58 still rocks.

Your power supply should be fine so long as you don't want to run the Nvidia 285 or the ATi 4870X2 or any big card in SLi.

[StarBound]

Both are solid looking system upgrades. You wont be disappointed going either way. The only choice you have to make is do you want to pay R6700 or R5500. I would say go x58 for the tripple channel but you might not see a framerate increase over the p55 system but you will have bandwidth to spare.

[-Prometheus-]

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[StarBound]

Tripple channel opens and resolves bandwidth issues. As far as I know SLI/xfire gets the full 16x lanes on a tripple channel board with no reduction when using usb3 or sata6 while a p55 board will downscale your 16 lanes to 8 when using usb3 and sata6.

[-Prometheus-]

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[JollyJamma]

In short get the best mobo you can. It'll pay off in the long run.

[RiddickJhb]

Wow, thanx for your input guys. It's much appreciated.

Im planning on upgrading within the next 3/4 weeks or so. Would the new hardware you speak of JollyJamma be on he shelves by then or somewhere in q1 or 2?

Or what I have also been itching to do is get a new setup and throw in a second 5850 in xfire. Then i'll upgrade to a 750 psu.

What are your ideas on this thought?

[StarBound]

WoW and Starcraft 2 works better on single cards. Going SLI/xfire only slows it down. Some other games might be increased speed.

[RiddickJhb]

I see.

What setup would you recommend? I want to gather as much info as i can before commiting into a decision.

[StarBound]

I have a P55 board with usb3 and sata6. Not planning on going crossfire again. The P55 will work fine, the X58 will work better, the difference wont be noticed in games. If your willing to part with the extra money then go for the X58 setup. No need to replace your card. It's still swinging good.

[RiddickJhb]

Agreed, my Radeon is still kicking nicely. I did some reading up on the Asus P6X58D-E and the G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 and most (if not all) sites gave it decent reviews. Im really inclinded to go with the promotion i saw on Evetech's site.

Would you mind having a look at the offer and see if i'll have layout issues with the board?
http://www.evetech.co.za/PC-Hardware/in ... m-147.aspx

[-Prometheus-]

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[Slimshaedy]

I would go with p55 mobo with the i5 760 and 4 gb ddr3 1600 ram. It makes a gd gaming setup. You're 5850 is excellent don't replace that! Your psu is 100%.
But now if you're looking for more bandwidth,then the i7 with hyperthreading will work with tri channel x58 mobo. But then you're gonna pay big bucks!!
I'm upgrading to i5 next month and I want a strictly gaming pc and the i5 suits my needs, an i7 might get u slightly more fps but for a lot of money!

[Supalama]

If you really want to upgrade to the i7 with tri channel setup, you can pick it up for a bit cheaper at Rebel Tech. I'm not too sure what the policy in the forum is about assisting with cheaper prices, but I help where I can. The exact same components Asus board, i7 950, only diff is memory, you can use the Corsair TR3X6G1600C8, XMS 3 memory, the timing is slightly slower, but better trusted brand for R6445.05. Just though I might help a bit. I agree with Slimshaedy though, all you need is i5 setup. It will be a lot cheaper. If you want to go xfire, I recommend you sell the 5850 and get 2 x 6870's the 6800 series is a lot more efficient. i5 655, GIGABYTE P55A-UD3R, Corsair CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 Dominator 8Gb this will be about a grand cheaper and will give brilliant performance.

[StarBound]

You stay away from the i5 6xx series. They are duel core with onchip graphics.

I still sit with a dedicated sound card that needs a pci-e x1 slot. I would rather sacrifice a pci slot than pci-e.

[Supalama]

The i5 6xx series is duel core, but in its defense, it a powerfull duel core. But yeah, true you might want to go 4 core up now. I just recently bought the i3 550 and its kicking tail and taking names.

[-Prometheus-]

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[RiddickJhb]

Ok party people. I've narrowed my choices down to 2 setups ( i hope! ). They are as follows, please give me your impression:

* Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz Quad Core Processor
Asus P6X58D-E USB3.0 SATA 6GB/s X58 Motherboard
G.SKILL PI Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600
* Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz Quad Core Processor
GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R Socket LGA1366 6xDDR3-2000+
Corsair Dominator 6Gb(3x2Gb) DDR3-1600

Thanking you in advance

[Slimshaedy]

Everyone will have their own preferences. I'd say i7 950 with asus mobo and dominator ram. I know that's not one of your choices haha but I'd go with your asus mobo setup

[-Prometheus-]

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[RiddickJhb]

I saw that the Gigabyte was R500 cheaper than the Asus. So im usually of the nature that more expensive = better but i know with pc equipment thats not always the case. Personally all my boards up to this point has been Asus so i'm iinclined to go the same route. Prometheus, I'm somewhat technically challenged, so dual bios sounds like some type of std one could have gotten from a cheap nite out! I tallied the totals of both setups and they differ by about R500 which isnt such a big deal.

My tentativeness is that i don't want to splurge out all this cash and buy expensive yet crappy equipment. Doesnt always help asking sales people because they'll say and sell you anything.

[GDI_Lord]

Dual BIOS is kinda like a backup for your BIOS, so if the BIOS gets mashed because of a virus or boggled because of overclocking/underclocking/your five year old child learning about computers (*innocent whistling while thinking back to my childhood*) your can "restore" your BIOS back from the other one.

[RiddickJhb]

Ahh. Well i don't have to worry about that yet.

How does the 2 setups look to you?

[StarBound]

You cant go wrong with one or the other. You have the money so go for the i7 one.