Upgrading PC - Need help (I live in the UK)

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Zombiedude101

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Hey folks, Zombie here. So over the Christmas period I've gained a considerable amount of money from relatives (I've around £435 spending money) and I figured I'd use it to improve my PC. I'll post my current specs here:

i3 550 3.2 Ghz
GTX 560 Non-Ti 1GB GDDR5
8GB DDR3 RAM (Either 4x2 or 2x4)
320GB HDD
750W PSU (Don't know the specifics, but so far it's served me well this past year)
And the motherboard and case for an eMachines ET1862 prebuilt PC (http://www.amazon.co.uk/eMachines-ET1862-Desktop-Windows-Premium/dp/B003P2V9CS)

Since in it's present state my PC is essentially a prebuilt machine with new hardware transplanted into it about a year ago, I figured that the CPU, Mobo and Case needed replacing since the first is beginning to slow me down (Performance in games like Far Cry 3, Metro 2033, Sleeping Dogs and the Witcher 2 can sometimes be sluggish, particularly for the first which has forced me to turn down the settings to medium-low), the Motherboard is p much dated as hell and isn't really ideal for any newer hardware and the case is downright cramped.

So far I've thought about ordering these two off Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007KZQE7Q/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradis-21 and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Gener...gy/dp/B007RUZKK6/ref=pd_bxgy_computers_text_y then having a relative of mine fit them into a new case which I haven't decided upon yet, but I'm still unsure about that. Quick question whilst I'm at it, do all PSU's universally fit with any case or does it vary case-by-case if you'll excuse my pun.

I'd also contemplated just selling my PC altogether for about £400-450 and getting this since I've heard good things about it: http://www.wired2fire.co.uk/build.php?systype=11&fsb=61 (And setting it as an i5-3570k instead of the 2500k)

I'd appreciate any help here, so uh, what do you think?
 
of course
money_burning.jpg



Also forgot to note that assuming I don't sell the PC, how long would you reccomend I'd wait before upgrading my GPU?
 
get a 3570k and a 2gb graphics card (HD7870 or GTX670 if you want to spend a little more)
 
Xari said:
get a 3570k and a 2gb graphics card (HD7870 or GTX670 if you want to spend a little more)
dude no he obviously wants a prebuilt so suggest one of those for him!!!!
 
Xari said:
get a 2gb graphics card (HD7870 or GTX670 if you want to spend a little more)

Doubt I could afford either if I'm getting the case, mobo and CPU.
 
Buy a full tower, upgrade your HD. Wait until Haswell comes out before upgrading mobo and CPU.
 
From what I understand the Haswell tech won't be released till come June, and it's still going to cost a shit-ton of money to buy. So far it seems I'd be fine with an i5 3570k for a while.
 
If you're getting the AsRock Pro 3, don't get the i5 3570k, get the non-k version, since that mobo isn't that great for overclocking, and that's the only advantage that the k version will give you.
I'm honestly against overclocking, never saw a point to it, already overclocked my CPU once to I think 4,4GHz, I'm currently at 3.4 and can go to 3.8 with TurboBoost, all with the 3570 non K, and I have seen no difference whatsoever.
If you can afford alot of trial and error overclocking, and even breaking some of your parts then by all means, but if you're not planning to buy another CPU/Mobo in the next 2 years, don't, since overclocking considerably diminishes the lifespan of both.
 
By the way, I was gonna buy exactly the cpu/mobo combo you were, but, mobo wasn't available here so I bought the MSI Z77A G45 and I was advised to get the i5 3570, after trying the 95 3570k overclocked at a friends house who has the same GPU as me, and as I said, no difference at all.
 
Yeah, but there's only really about a £1 difference between the 3570 and the 3570k so I may as well just get the latter and give myself the benefit of the doubt. Oh, and I've added up how much my three main choices (http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-Z77-...1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356789847&sr=8-1-fkmr0 and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Gener...gy/dp/B007RUZKK6/ref=pd_bxgy_computers_text_y and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-Z9-Plus-Midi-Tower/dp/B004FPQL0E/ref=pd_sim_computers_11) would cost me, including the two year warranty for the motherboard and the estimated delivery. Altogether, about £312 give or take. Then I've got just over £110 to spend on a cooler. Reccomendations?
 
For a cooler get the Cooler Master 212 EVO.
It's the most recommended cooler.
If the difference between the k and non k is that small get the K, but I still advise not to overclock with that mobo. You'll get frequent bluescreens and if you tweak the voltage you'll end up screwing the mobo.
 
TheDistortionGamer said:
For a cooler get the Cooler Master 212 EVO.
It's the most recommended cooler.
If the difference between the k and non k is that small get the K, but I still advise not to overclock with that mobo. You'll get frequent bluescreens and if you tweak the voltage you'll end up screwing the mobo.

I have that cooler, and I have an issue with the fan not spinning up fast enough on boot. Otherwise keeps me fairly cool. It catches up in a minute, just set your BIOS to ignore it. I don't overclock either, if that matters...

Also, Hard drive. This one is 36 euros per TB, where as yours is sixty. Do de math.
 
Ordered parts, should be here by Monday the week after this one.
 
Damn, I usually like to get in on these threads, looks like I'm a little late, but i'm gonna drop some comments anyway.

TheDistortionGamer said:
If you're getting the AsRock Pro 3, don't get the i5 3570k, get the non-k version, since that mobo isn't that great for overclocking, and that's the only advantage that the k version will give you.
I'm honestly against overclocking, never saw a point to it, already overclocked my CPU once to I think 4,4GHz, I'm currently at 3.4 and can go to 3.8 with TurboBoost, all with the 3570 non K, and I have seen no difference whatsoever.
If you can afford alot of trial and error overclocking, and even breaking some of your parts then by all means, but if you're not planning to buy another CPU/Mobo in the next 2 years, don't, since overclocking considerably diminishes the lifespan of both.

ASRock is a shady brand some times, and I'm board with you there, but that doesn't mean he can't still get a decent overclock out of his CPU. I've seen 3.8 to 4.6ghz overclocks with the i7 series on that very mobo hold stable. Also discrediting overclocking because you don't see the difference is a bit silly. A small overclock of a quad core CPU isn't going to be seen in gaming at all, the CPU plays into performance much less in that market. Dive into something like music production loading up a hefty number of patches, and you'll start to notice that speed boost a lot more. It all depends on purposing. Just the same, making claims like "If you don't mind breaking some of your parts" is also a great exaggeration. As long as you know what you're doing, you really aren't risking your parts with overclocking until you start pushing the voltage.

Zombiedude101 said:
Also giving the idea of getting a new HDD serious consideration. This looks decent: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Dig...11?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1357048490&sr=1-11

Green drives... shudder. If you value hard drive speed, avoid them. then can be delayed in getting going at times, and make you feel bottle necked.
 
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