Which upgrade to get

[zokudu]

I am looking to upgrade my computer. I have a little over $500 in my pc fund but cannot decide what to really upgrade.

Depending on Bulldozer I was looking at a CPU and Motherboard upgrade.

Either a 2600k and an Asrock Extreme3 Z68 motherboard and maybe an additional 4GB RAM for a total of 8GB.
Same with Bulldozer if it is a worthwhile purchase over the 2600k.

Or I could go SSD with a Crucial m4 Another 4GB RAM for a total of 8 and save the rest for a future purchase or maybe change my case, this 1200 is just too big for me. I was thinking Corsair 600T or 500R. I really like the white cases.

I don't want to upgrade the graphics card just yet with the AMD 7000 series coming "soon" and nVidia I assume will follow suit with new cards.

I have been told the SSD will be the most noticeable upgrade and the case would just be a personal aesthetic choice. CPU's seem like a great time to buy because when Bulldozer releases if its good you get in early and get the full life cycle or if I end up with the 2600k the new Gen3 Z68 boards will be able to drop in upgrade Ivy Bridge with a BIOS update if I understand correctly.

Which upgrade path would you choose? Is there another option I'm missing that might be worthwhile? My current specs are in my sig.

 

[mnewsham]

Okay, first what is it you plan on doing with this computer?

 

[zokudu]

Okay, first what is it you plan on doing with this computer?

Its basically a gaming pc. I don't do any professional pc work just surf the internet, type papers, and play games on it.

Actually let me fill out the list from the sticky fully:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

Its basically a gaming pc. I don't do any professional pc work just surf the internet, type papers, and play games on it.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

A little over $500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

The united states. Either through Amazon or Newegg.

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Really no prefrence. I would prefer to stick with AMD but at the end of the day if its not a worthwhile part the 2600k will work fine.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Depends which path I go for. PSU and Graphics card are staying for sure. I will probably be reusing 4GB of DDR3 I already have.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.

I have not seen any with a similar topic but I have not searched very hard either.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

Will probably stay stock but I want to get the k version incase I stick on it for a LONG time.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.

1920x1080 on my main screen 1600x900 on my second monitor.

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?

As soon as I can make a decision I will be ordering the parts.

 

[mnewsham]

Okay then F*#& the 2600k the i5-2500k is the same CPU without hyperthreading (which you dont need)

the rest seems fine, SSD, RAM, motherboard. All are fine, wait for BD if you want but im not expecting too much

 

[Ken g6]

Get a 2500k, which is just as fast as the 2600k for gaming, and the ASRock board. Now you evidently have $120 to work with. Either use it to get a 64GB M4 SSD for caching, or use it to get a CPU cooler and more RAM.

Edit: Or use it to buy a new Windows license if your current copy was linked to your motherboard.

 

[zokudu]

Get a 2500k, which is just as fast as the 2600k for gaming, and the ASRock board. Now you evidently have $120 to work with. Either use it to get a 64GB M4 SSD for caching, or use it to get a CPU cooler and more RAM.

Edit: Or use it to buy a new Windows license if your current copy was linked to your motherboard.

Couldn't I call Microsoft and get them to transfer the license? It was obtained legally and I have all the documentation about it. If I do get the 2500k I honestly would end up saving for the 128 SSD. I don't think I could survive with 64 GB.

 

[lehtv]

You could easily survive with 64GB. 128GB, in fact, gives very little extra for what it costs. The main thing is to have your OS, user settings, documents and main programs (not including games) on the SSD, and those will fit on a 64GB SSD without any problems at all. On a 128GB SSD you can fit 3-5 games in addition to that, but a couple of seconds better loading times in a handful of games is hardly worth $100, is it?

 

[zokudu]

You could easily survive with 64GB. 128GB, in fact, gives very little extra for what it costs. The main thing is to have your OS, user settings, documents and main programs (not including games) on the SSD, and those will fit on a 64GB SSD without any problems at all. On a 128GB SSD you can fit 3-5 games in addition to that, but a couple of seconds better loading times in a handful of games is hardly worth $100, is it?

Theres a way to put Steam on my SSD and my games on another HDD correct? That would leave Office, OS, Web Browser, and like Photoshop to fit on my SSD. That does sound doable now that I think about it. I do wish I could fit one or two games TBH but I guess I could live with it.

 

[mnewsham]

Theres a way to put Steam on my SSD and my games on another HDD correct? That would leave Office, OS, Web Browser, and like Photoshop to fit on my SSD. That does sound doable now that I think about it. I do wish I could fit one or two games TBH but I guess I could live with it.

NEVER have steam install to your SSD. bad idea.... :'(

 

[lehtv]

Theres a way to put Steam on my SSD and my games on another HDD correct?

I think games will automatically install wherever Steam is installed, not 100% sure. Either way it's not a big issue. If you have plenty of games on Steam, all of them wouldn't fit on the 128GB SSD anyway.

That would leave Office, OS, Web Browser, and like Photoshop to fit on my SSD.

On my 128GB SSD, I have the OS, a Users folder of 5GB, Program Files folder of 6GB (about 40 installed apps), and a games folder of 44GB. Without the games folder I'd be using only 42GB of space which would easily allow for many more apps to be installed if the SSD was 64GB.

 

[Ken g6]

Or just use the drive for caching. Then your most-used files should be on the SSD.

 

[zokudu]

NEVER have steam install to your SSD. bad idea.... :'(

Not even the main program? I thought you could do something with junctions in windows Vista and 7 to install the steam apps to a different HDD than the game files. Meh not that big of a deal though.

 

[lehtv]

^ Yeah you can indeed do that. It's pretty easy, just a few command prompt lines.

 

[zokudu]

So it seems the 2500k and new motherboard along with a 64 GB SSD are the way to go?

 

[lehtv]

If you think your current CPU isn't fast enough, then that's the way to go yes.

Personally if I had the 955 BE I would hold out until Ivy Bridge. You're looking at about 50% faster performance. 955BE is similar to i3-2100 in performance, and I wouldn't consider i3-2100 to i5-2500K a worthy upgrade on its own...

But if you want the SSD now, then you should also upgrade the motherboard to take advantage of Sata 6gb/s. So either wait until Ivy Bridge or upgrade CPU+mobo+SSD now. Neither is a bad choice, depends on how much you want the increased performance.

 

[zokudu]

If you think your current CPU isn't fast enough, then that's the way to go yes.

Personally if I had the 955 BE I would hold out until Ivy Bridge. You're looking at about 50% faster performance. 955BE is similar to i3-2100 in performance, and I wouldn't consider i3-2100 to i5-2500K a worthy upgrade on its own...

But if you want the SSD now, then you should also upgrade the motherboard to take advantage of Sata 6gb/s. So either wait until Ivy Bridge or upgrade CPU+mobo+SSD now. Neither is a bad choice, depends on how much you want the increased performance.

Well my thinking with the 2500k and that Asrock motherboard is that Gen3 Z68 motherboards will be a drop in upgrade for Ivy Bridge so upgrade now for Sata III, USB 3, PCI 3, and the improved performance of the 2500k and then drop in an Ivy Bridge CPU when those come out. I figure I can part out my 955 for a little bit back at this point. while if I wait for IB it will be worth nothing. (Not that its worth a ton now)

 

[lehtv]

Upgrading from 2500K to Ivy Bridge will not be worthwhile. It's just a die shrink, not a new architecture.

The practical implications are that 3D transistors can either consume 50 per cent less power for the same performance, or deliver 37 per cent more performance for the same power, or some balance of performance and power within those limits.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/10/10/all-about-ivy-bridge/1
Intel has stated that they aim Ivy Bridge to be about 20% faster than Sandy Bridge, which would imply that they will consume a bit less power while performing a bit better. It would also imply that 2500K is easy to overclock beyond stock Ivy Bridge speeds.

I figure I can part out my 955 for a little bit back at this point. while if I wait for IB it will be worth nothing. (Not that its worth a ton now)

Yeah I like that line of thinking. Fits in well with the fact that Ivy Bridge won't be that much faster than SB anyway.

 

[mfenn]

The 955BE is not a terrible gaming CPU, so your biggest upgrades would be a new GPU for gaming and an SSD and RAM for general use.