Building a PC

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SkyTime

Grandmaster Knight
Aight, I'm getting some money sometime next week, approximately 1100e and I plan on selling my old PC for anything between 500 and 1000e, which will make my budget something close to 2000e for a new computer. I built my current one a couple of years back and since I don't have anything to save my salary for (truly, been thinking about it lol) so I just thought I'd build a new PC that would last me longer.

My current specs are:
Intel i5 2500k 3.3GHz
Asus P8P67 Deluxe mobo
ATI Radeon HD 6950 Direct Cu II vga
Two 1TB hard disks, dunno what they are but they're ****
8GB of DDR3 1666MHz which are currently downclocked to 1300MHz due to processor limitations, though I changed some other crap from BIOS to compensate
some CFT 750 14 CF psu

Basically a new computer I'd build for gaming, I don't think I'll ever plan to overclock either. Never had watercooling on any of my computers so that I'll try to avoid, not too fond of breaking it all once I get my **** up and running. I prefer Intel processors over AMD and Nvidia cards over ATI but these don't really matter, as long as it'll work.

I'll eventually end up looking for parts my self too once I sell my current PC but I'd like to hear some suggestions. What are the advantages of a dual CPU mobo? I'd also like to know whether there are some hard disks that are simply better than the others in some ways? I've always just bought the first thing I find cheap.
I will also get a new case, that doesn't really matter, it just needs to be spacey and airy.

Guess that's everything, there's a few places here in Finland where I can get most of the parts from but they'll be a bit expensive, shouldn't be too big of a problem ordering from Europe either, as long as it can be trusted.

Thanks.
 
Nothing you can build today will be worth replacing your current system. The 2500k is effectively the same as the next two iterations, 3570k and 4570k, your graphics card can run everything without issues, and you have high speed RAM.

The only real improvement you should consider is getting a Solid State Drive to install your operating system on. It's considerably faster than a mechanical drive, although smaller capacity and more expensive.
 
Not sure why you would want to get rid of an 2500k since nothing you upgrade to will be worth the price really.

SkyTime said:
What are the advantages of a dual CPU mobo? I'd also like to know whether there are some hard disks that are simply better than the others in some ways? I've always just bought the first thing I find cheap.
I will also get a new case, that doesn't really matter, it just needs to be spacey and airy.

Dual cpu mobos are used in servers to provide more reliability, they are used in desktop systems by rich assholes.

Only difference in buying a newer hard drive would be they are sata 3 instead of sata 2 (which are probably what your current ones are).

I would sell basically everything but your cpu and then buy a new mobo,ram,gpu etc.
 
Hnngh.

I gave this a months thought and you made me rethink in what, 15 minutes. I'll have to get back to this, though if you can suggest some hardware changes that could also be appreciated.

Splintert said:
The 2500k is effectively the same as the next two iterations, 3570k and 4570k

So what are the differences between these new i5's then?
 
Slightly faster base clocks, worse overclocks (mostly due to a lot of them performing hotter).

Basically, they aren't much of an upgrade going from a 2500k, you would be better off just overclocking your current cpu and getting an aftermarket cpu cooler to help with that.
 
Now that you mentioned cooling, it's something I'd truly need to improve on. I'll try to inspect some more tomorrow. Thanks for the quick answers.


E: If I were to buy a new i5, what would be the best one? I found a bunch of them from Jimm's, price isn't a problem since most of them are anything between 180e  and 240e, which is exactly what my current i5 was two years ago. There's some 4760 3.4GHz's and then my olde 2500k 3.3GHz and I'm not making any sense from this mess of different numbers.
 
If you really want to upgrade, a new graphics card might improve performance/eye candy. Nvidia just came out with the 700 series, you could look into that.
 
Kay, time to dig this **** up again.

I'm about to receive the required funds and I'm looking at about 1600 euros. I have an SSD, 240gb one coming so that's not needed.
Basically I could use a good set up at around that price, if not to copy then at least as preference.
 
I would wait. there isn't much new out there now.

But here's what I'd build if I didn't have a desktop:

$240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899
$200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131979
$170
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233540
$1000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130899
$160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
$160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703039
~$2100, which is probably somewhere around 1600 moneys

Oh, and one of these
$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181030
They're a pain in the **** to install, though. If you're not overclocking, just get a fan. (Do CPUs come with a stock fan again?)
 
Thanks. I definitely planned on clocking my stuff and building my PC around that.

I don't really know anything about clocking so I guess I'll have to google that. What things do I really need to consider on my PC parts when I plan to clock?
Do I really need to touch anything else but my CPU speeds?
 
i5 2500k is a high-end cpu and I don't think it's worth upgrading it for at least another 3 years.

Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz : 6,374 passmark score

If you still want a newer CPU, I would suggest an 2011 socket CPU like Intel Core i7-3820 @ 3.60GHz with 9006 passmark score but there are other options out there today that are better. And an 2011 socket workstation mainboard like Gigabyte X79s up5. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4287

Also keep in mind that Ram clock speeds don't really matter that much at all (unless you are planning to do some extreme overclocking) because current consumer oriented cpu's and gpu's don't really need fast ram speeds. Even then there aren't enough consumer oriented technologies that require very fast memory access anyway. We do simple things like play games, make movies and music, render 3d, paint etc using our computers. Ram is usually almost always waiting for the CPU do finish tasks.

You need some proper storage devices. Have at least one fast SSD (256GB is good enough) and one fast HDD (like Western Digital Black Edition).

Your GPU is great. I think the only ATI cards that is better than a 6950 are 7950, 7970 and 7990.  You would get approximately 50 percent more performance out of a 7970 Ghz edition card. So the choice is up to you. If you are getting below 60fps (and you are using a monitor with 60hz refresh rate) from a game that you like to play at maximum details, you might want one of those cards.
 
Jock said:
You can run pretty much anything out there right now, why do you crave for a better one all the time?

I'm selling the PC, that's why I'm getting a new one. If you're not going to help me then please go ahead and do something else.

Regarding the SSD, there's a deal going on in Jimm's PC.

Kingston 240GB SSDNow V300, 2.5", SATA III  for 140e, I suppose it's good enough, that's already coming but I won't be selling it with my PC.
I'm also looking at the processors there right now, an i5 2500k 3.3GHz is 238e while the Haswell 4670k 3,4GHz is 233e, so the difference is pointless. I'll probably get the Haswell. Does anyone have any idea of the clocking capabilities of the said processor? The i7 equivalents are roughly 100e more so I won't be getting them unless I'm left with enough extra.
 
So, from all the generations you'd still pick 2500k, even though they're all pretty much the same price for me?

Also how major is this difference in the clocking capabilities? And how about the Intel Core i7-3820 @ 3.60GHz Ancalimon suggested? It's around 310 euros.
 
Theoretically, an i7 would have much better overclocking capabilities than your average i5.

If you wanted to get the most gaming performance, you'd disable hyperthreading (so each core only runs 1 thread) and push the clocks as high as possible. Whether it's worth the extra money depends on what you consider valuable: CPU performance or eating for a month.

The pricing itself is proof that the 2500k is still a valid option. Vendors haven't decreased the price because it still provides the best per-core performance for games (and excellent overclocking headroom) despite being outclassed twice by Intel's next processor series.

In reality, it won't matter which you pick as few current games are actually limited by CPU performance. Getting the 2500k with a better GPU will benefit frames more than an i7 with a lower GPU for current games. Notable exceptions include the Arma series, most MMOs, and some strategy games like Civilization or Total War.


And some speculation:

However, if you look into the future consoles: they have lots of AMD cores with low GHz per core. This hints that game developers will begin to utilize high core systems to get the most out of the lowest common denominator. Perhaps, future games will perform better on processors with many cores but lower GHz.
 
Thank you, that answer was quite what I was looking for.
I don't need to bother my self with petty things like eating though, still being young enough to live with your parents is an advantage.
I will definitely consider the i7 in that case, it suddenly seems to be much more feasible.

I have all the time until Christmas so I'll be peppering this thread with whatever comes to my mind.
 
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