upgrading my system just looking for some guidlines

[pollock56th]

hi gents,

 

tax refund is allowing me to update my system the only thing I am keeping is my PSU and case oh and DVD drive.

 

I currently run at medium resolutions with fr never getting to 30fps steady. My current rig:

 

E8400 at 3.0ghz 4 gigs of DDR 3 ram, ATI Radeon hd5850 running eyefinity at 1024 x 3840.

windows 7 pro 64 bit.

 

I am trying to stay under 1000 bucks for my upgrade but want to be able to increase my eyecandy and Fps oh and also in near future add external mfd via USB LCD or adding a 4th monitor.

 

I stay out of the hardware loop now and pay someone to build my gaming rig, but by doing this I have no guidelines for hardware.

 

I just need the basic specs not brands please my only criteria is Intel and not AMD.

 

so if someone could suggest CPU mother board chipset, ram amount and clockspeed and video card type and memory size.

[Pilotasso]

MOBO: Choose an Z68 Motherboard, there is a wide range of prices here. Choose the one that gives you enough USB ports, max mem, overclockability and so on. You dont need even a 200$ unit for all this.

 

CPU: Choose I52500K (or 2550K they are almost identical)

 

GFX: NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti

 

RAM: Wide range of choices and prices for 8MB kits of Dual DDR3. Usualy low latency doubles the price of otherwise really cheap memory.

 

Cooler: corsair H60, cheap, efficient and small. Also very little hot air from the CPu will stay inside the case, unlike Aircooled systems.

 

highly recommended: an SSD sized at 120GB, I recommend either the Samsung 830 or the Patriot perfomance pro. Crucial m4 as the cheaper alternative.

 

What PSU you have? unless its a branded one like Corsairs series I advise the purchase of a new unit in the 600W range for these components.

 

Did not make the math but this should be well under 1000 bucks, you might even have room for improvments like the graphics card.

[Rhinox]

...GFX: NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti...

He says he is running 3x LCD, so he will need one more GFX, or Soft/Hard TH2G (or AMD/ATI-gfx)...

[Pilotasso]

Agh missed that. Then a 3GB ATI 7970 is then.

[pollock56th]

think its a corsair 700 watt. What about a 6870 card wanted a 6970 but they are discontinued.

[Rhinox]

think its a corsair 700 watt. What about a 6870 card wanted a 6970 but they are discontinued.

I have seen a few 6970's on eBay. Or you can get 6950 hoping you unlock it to 6970. I have done this and succeeded 3 times out of 3 attempts but I have heard with last series this does not work.

 

BTW, there is about 15% performance difference in 6950 vs 6970, and that is about the same value as 6870 vs 6970...

[pollock56th]

update to the upgrade

 

Here is where I am at CPU 2500k, Ram at 16gig, video card 2gb 6870. I told my builder that I need a minimum of 10 usb ports on the motherboard that should get me in decent fps with the ability to go to a fourth monitor in future. The only thing I have to buy outright is the video card

so any suggestions?

[pollock56th]

Here is where I am at CPU 2500k, Ram at 16gig, video card 2gb 6870. I told my builder that I need a minimum of 10 usb ports on the motherboard that should get me in decent fps with the ability to go to a fourth monitor in future. The only thing I have to buy outright is the video card

so any suggestions?

 

I decided to go with a Diamond HD 6950 2gb I will post the teaming specs when I meet with my builder.

[KaspeR32]

March 19th the 7850 3gb for ~$250. If you already pulled the trigger forget that though.