Upgrade kit

[mnewsham]

 

[Davidh373]

Ahahaha

 

[Nebor]

This. :thumbsup:

OP, here's what you should buy:
i5 2500K + Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3 $335
Mushkin DDR3 1333 4GB $38
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB $100 AR
Total: $473

Over $100 cheaper, and with a more appropriate motherboard.

I did some more reading in this forum overnight, and I'm ready to go with this combo. I did read about people getting 16gb of memory since it only costs $200, and Windows 7 Superfetch makes everything load instantly. Is that worthwhile? Or will I be fine with 4gb? Or should I get 8gb? The computer is only used for web browsing & PC games.

 

[mnewsham]

Get 8gb for now.

 

[Nebor]

I went to order this afternoon and all the combos and processors are gone. I tried to do it on Amazon but the same stuff is coming up to $600.

 

[Nebor]

I ended up ordering from Fry's. I got:
2500k i5 $219.99
MSI P67A-C45 $139.99
8gb Corsair 1333mhz $129.99 (I've only ever used corsair)

And then from Newegg:
the OCZ Vertex 2 60gb. $114.99

So all together $622.24. I still feel like this isn't as good a deal as the i7 bundle I originally linked to (which isn't available anymore.) But I guess I am getting 4gb more (name brand) memory. I also got 2 day shipping for a couple bucks on all of it, so it'll be here Wednesday.

 

[Nebor]

No sooner did I talk to one of my friends about my order then he told me that his i5 gets maxed out by something called Final Fantasy XIV. So I called Fry's and changed to an i7 2600k. I won't miss the $100.

 

[Davidh373]

No sooner did I talk to one of my friends about my order then he told me that his i5 gets maxed out by something called Final Fantasy XIV. So I called Fry's and changed to an i7 2600k. I won't miss the $100.

oh geez... no it doesn't... The i7 is useless and your friend is probably using the i5 dual core (i5 650) from the old generation. You should have asked us...

 

[Davidh373]

Cancel the i7 if you can, you will never see the value in that $100...

 

[Nebor]

There's $100 of value to me in the extra 2 'i's. It's what I wanted from the outset, I just needed a (made up) reason to get it.

I assume the boxed cooler that comes with these things is adequate? My e4400 came without a heatsink, so it has some ridiculously huge arctic freezer thing on it.

 

[Davidh373]

I assume the boxed cooler that comes with these things is adequate? My e4400 came without a heatsink, so it has some ridiculously huge arctic freezer thing on it.

It will be fine (although it will be much smaller than the "arctic freezer thing"). As long as you aren't planing to overclock much, the stock cooler is speced to handle the heat from the processor just fine .

 

[mfenn]

The last time I went in the bios, to defragment my ram, my computer got all messed up.

No sooner did I talk to one of my friends about my order then he told me that his i5 gets maxed out by something called Final Fantasy XIV. So I called Fry's and changed to an i7 2600k. I won't miss the $100.

Now I'm not sure if this whole thread was serious or not. :\

Anyway, OP if you want to spend $100 more on the build, the i5 2500 -> i7 2600 is the absolute worst place to spend it. You would be better off doubling your SSD capacity.

 

[Davidh373]

Now I'm not sure if this whole thread was serious or not.

Yeah, that was rather disappointing...

Anyway, OP if you want to spend $100 more on the build, the i5 2500 -> i7 2600 is the absolute worst place to spend it. You would be better off doubling your SSD capacity.

Truth spoken. $100 would be much better spent on the GPU also...

 

[Nebor]

Serious thread was serious. I ordered an i7 2600k, MSI P67A-C45, CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 (Corsair 8gb 1333mhz) and the OCZ drive suggested above. I also picked up an Antec Nine Hundred Two case from Best Buy on sale for $60.

That OCZ SSD was a flat out terrible recommendation (as discovered here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140453 )

And the memory I picked out, as it turns out, needs more than 1.5v to run @ 1333mhz, which apparently Sandy Britches motherboards don't like. So I just bought some of their Avenger (EDIT: I guess I meant to say Vengeance, not Avenger. oops) series ram guaranteed to perform @ 1.5v. That should be here next week sometime (I'll put the old RAM on FS\FT for cheap if anyone wants it.)

Also my old DVD drive and CD-RW still used a PATA interface, so I ordered a new blu-ray burner thing. That should be here today.

Overall though it's a nice upgrade. The Antec case had lots of stuff on the box about cable management, and since I've never dealt with any of that before, I was a little skeptical, but it turned out great. There's tons of extra space at the bottom of the case to cram all the cables into (I'll post a picture when I get home.)

It really plays borderlands well, even with the memory @ 1066mhz. And seeing 8 little boxes for my processor in task manager was worth the extra $100.

 

[Davidh373]

And the memory I picked out, as it turns out, needs more than 1.5v to run @ 1333mhz, which apparently Sandy Britches motherboards don't like. So I just bought some of their Avenger (EDIT: I guess I meant to say Vengeance, not Avenger. oops) series ram guaranteed to perform @ 1.5v. That should be here next week sometime (I'll put the old RAM on FS\FT for cheap if anyone wants it.)

You really don't like referring to us before you make expensive decisions that do nothing for you huh?

memory @ 1066mhz

Why is 1600MHz ram at 1066MHz? There is no reason for this...

That OCZ SSD was a flat out terrible recommendation (as discovered here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140453 )

So... what? You got a bad drive? Send it back. Everyone loves the Vertex 2s/ Agility 2s. Just because you got one bad product from a company doesn't mean you get to boycott them. Just tell them you need another drive because this one isn't near advertised speeds. First, I think you should try Aligning and updating the firmware before you go blaming the company for false advertisement though...

The guys on the general hardware forum that told me to get this drive can eat a bag of dicks.

Thanks, I'm officially done dealing with your crap now. You're on your own, and getting reported...

 

[mnewsham]

Serious thread was serious. I ordered an i7 2600k, MSI P67A-C45, CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 (Corsair 8gb 1333mhz) and the OCZ drive suggested above. I also picked up an Antec Nine Hundred Two case from Best Buy on sale for $60.

That OCZ SSD was a flat out terrible recommendation (as discovered here: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140453 )

And the memory I picked out, as it turns out, needs more than 1.5v to run @ 1333mhz, which apparently Sandy Britches motherboards don't like. So I just bought some of their Avenger (EDIT: I guess I meant to say Vengeance, not Avenger. oops) series ram guaranteed to perform @ 1.5v. That should be here next week sometime (I'll put the old RAM on FS\FT for cheap if anyone wants it.)

Also my old DVD drive and CD-RW still used a PATA interface, so I ordered a new blu-ray burner thing. That should be here today.

Overall though it's a nice upgrade. The Antec case had lots of stuff on the box about cable management, and since I've never dealt with any of that before, I was a little skeptical, but it turned out great. There's tons of extra space at the bottom of the case to cram all the cables into (I'll post a picture when I get home.)

It really plays borderlands well, even with the memory @ 1066mhz. And seeing 8 little boxes for my processor in task manager was worth the extra $100.

I wouldn't call the Vertex2 a flat out bad recommendation as you said you are getting worse performance then is usual with that drive, the average users performance is not yours, your performance was atypical making it a great recommendation but you probably got a bad one. I would talk to tech help and RMA if needed.

 

[Nebor]

OCZ is locking all the threads where people are complaining about the new 25nm nand drives. They come with the newest firmware, and everyone who's gotten them can't get write speeds beyond 37 MB\s. And if you file a complaint about the speed, they tell you that speeds are not guaranteed and that the 25nm drives are slower but that's all that's available.

The original ram I bought is running at 1066mhz because it's rated to run at 1.65v, but Sandy Britches doesn't like ram using more than 1.5v.

 

[mnewsham]

so set it to 1.5v and crank it up as far as it will go at 1.5V 1066mhz is not the highest it can go, you should be able to hit 1600 or close to it.

 

[Nebor]

so set it to 1.5v and crank it up as far as it will go at 1.5V 1066mhz is not the highest it can go, you should be able to hit 1600 or close to it.

Nope, it can't even do 1333mhz @ 9-9-9-24 with 1.5v. I've tried, it crashes. Also if I enable the XMP profile, it crashes.

 

[Davidh373]

Lesson learned, you ask people that know what they are talking about BEFORE you make impulse buys. You can try to blame us for your bad hardware config all you want, but the fact is, half the system is shit we didn't advise you to buy.

The original ram I bought is running at 1066mhz because it's rated to run at 1.65v, but Sandy Britches doesn't like ram using more than 1.5v.

Prolly the best plan you've had all thread...

You're doing something wrong. Definitely doing something wrong... but something about that comment saying we can "eat a bag of dicks" is discouraging me from doing your research for you... if only there was something.. I dunno... like, an apology... or something...

Looks like you're doing quite the job of misunderstanding people on the OCZ thread too, as well as completely insulting support staff for trying to do their jobs, but I could really care less about your problems at this point. They are, after all, YOUR PROBLEMS.

 

[mnewsham]

Lesson learned, you ask people that know what they are talking about BEFORE you make impulse buys. You can try to blame us for your bad hardware config all you want, but the fact is, half the system is shit we didn't advise you to buy.



Prolly the best plan you've had all thread...

You're doing something wrong. Definitely doing something wrong... but something about that comment saying we can "eat a bag of dicks" is discouraging me from doing your research for you... if only there was something.. I dunno... like, an apology... or something...

Looks like you're doing quite the job of misunderstanding people on the OCZ thread too, as well as completely insulting support staff for trying to do their jobs, but I could really care less about your problems at this point. They are, after all, YOUR PROBLEMS.

:thumbsup:

 

[Nebor]

Lesson learned, you ask people that know what they are talking about BEFORE you make impulse buys. You can try to blame us for your bad hardware config all you want, but the fact is, half the system is shit we didn't advise you to buy.



Prolly the best plan you've had all thread...

You're doing something wrong. Definitely doing something wrong... but something about that comment saying we can "eat a bag of dicks" is discouraging me from doing your research for you... if only there was something.. I dunno... like, an apology... or something...

Looks like you're doing quite the job of misunderstanding people on the OCZ thread too, as well as completely insulting support staff for trying to do their jobs, but I could really care less about your problems at this point. They are, after all, YOUR PROBLEMS.

It's cool, I'll just keep ordering stuff until it works. I appreciate your contributions to this thread so far. :thumbsup:

 

[mnewsham]

It's cool, I'll just keep ordering stuff until it works. I appreciate your contributions to this thread so far. :thumbsup:

If you are willing to spend all that money and not care that much then i will give you a $10 for the old RAM

 

[Nebor]

So we went from estimates of $473 on the first page to:

MSI P67A-C45 139.99
DDR3 8GB 1333MHz CORSAIR 129.99
Intel Core i7 319.99
OCZ Vertex 2 64gb 114.99
Antec Nine Hundred Two 60.00
DDR 8GB Corsair Vengeance 104.99
_______________________________________
Total 869.95

That's an 84% increase! Frankly, I blame everyone here that isn't me.

 

[mnewsham]

So we went from estimates of $473 on the first page to:

MSI P67A-C45 139.99
DDR3 8GB 1333MHz CORSAIR 129.99
Intel Core i7 319.99
OCZ Vertex 2 64gb 114.99
Antec Nine Hundred Two 60.00
DDR 8GB Corsair Vengeance 104.99
_______________________________________
Total 869.95

That's an 84% increase! Frankly, I blame everyone here that isn't me.

I voted for $40 RAM and a $240 CPU. Making the total cost 594.96 only $120 more then the original and it could have been less with the i5-2300 without an SSD and without a new case.