Upgrade for 30K · DIGIT-ARC

I have a Pentium D 930 processor,Asus P5KPL-AM/PS mobo,ati radeon hd 5450 gpu,a 2 gig ddr 2 ram,a unbranded 450w power supply,a 17 crt monitor :sad:

.I want to upgrade processor,ram,mobo,gpu,power supply for around 30K.I will upgrade my monitor to benq g2220hd after 4-5 months :smile:

.I want a upgrade so that i can play latest games like(crysis 2,metro 2033,cod etc) at high settings at 1920*1080 resolution

1. What is the purpose of the computer? (Note: If you are planning to say multimedia, you will have to be more specific as all types of systems are capable of doing that)
A:Hardcore Gaming(playing cod,crysis2,gtaIVat high settings)

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
A:Yes

3. What is your MAX budget?
A:30k

4. Planning to overclock?
A:No

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A:win 7

6. How much hard drive space is needed?
A:Already have a 500gig drive,dont need another

7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want? If you already want have one and want to use it, mention its resolution and size.
A:will upgrade to benq g2220hd in 4-5 months

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
A: 7

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A:Will do it myself

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A: In about 10-15 days

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A:Yes

12. Are there going to be any components that you don't want to include in this new rig? If yes, do mention.
A: Do not want to include monitor,keboard,mouse,ups,cabinet,speakers

13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A: Panchkula,can buy from chandigarh

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary
A:

P

I am also buying this, so you can also. The configuration is given below:

Processor : Intel Core i5 2500K (if you want to overclock) or else Intel Core i5 2500/2400*
Motherboard : Intel Original DH67VR
RAM : 2 * 4 GB DDR3 @ 1333 Mhz from ZION/KINGSTON
HDD : 1 TB Seagate
GPU : Sapphire Ati Radeon HD 6770 / Sapphire Vapor-X HD 6770
PSU : FSP Saga II 500W / Corsair GS 600W / Corsair VX 550W / Corsair VX 450W

*Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30 Ghz and Intel Core i5 2400 @ 3.10 Ghz have only a difference of 200 Mhz in clock frequency, and a price difference of about 700 - 900 bucks. So go for the one you want.

^^^I already have a 500gig hard disk,so do not include a hardisk.Plz mention the price.I am looking forward to purchase 6850

Here is my suggestion:-

Core i5 2500 @ 10.2K
Intel DH67VR-B3 @ 4.8K
Corsair 1 X 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 2K
Corsair GS600 80+ PSU @ 4K
GIGABYTE GM-M6800 Noble Black 5+1 Buttons @ 0.7K
Sapphire HD 6870 1 GB @ 11.3K

Total is 32.3K. You can reduce the price by 1K by going for Core i5 2400 @ 9.2K

Just buying a Sandybridge K series processor will not let you overclock unless you have paired it with a Z68/P67 motherboard.

Cilus said:
Here is my suggestion:-

Core i5 2500 @ 10.2K
Intel DH67VR-B3 @ 4.8K
Corsair 1 X 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 2K
Corsair GS600 80+ PSU @ 4K
GIGABYTE GM-M6800 Noble Black 5+1 Buttons @ 0.7K
Sapphire HD 6870 1 GB @ 11.3K

Total is 32.3K. You can reduce the price by 1K by going for Core i5 2400 @ 9.2K

Just buying a Sandybridge K series processor will not let you overclock unless you have paired it with a Z68/P67 motherboard.

Do not need a mouse,already have one.Don't u think a 1600mhz ram will be better.Will an athlon II X4 with a better gpu will give much better performance in gaming

T

Karan93 said:
Do not need a mouse,already have one.Don't u think a 1600mhz ram will be better.

H67 board support 1333MHz so no.

Karan93 said:
Will an athlon II X4 with a better gpu will give much better performance in gaming

In gamin even Phenom II x6 can't compete with i5-2400

paul.soumyabrata said:
I am also buying this, so you can also. The configuration is given below:

Processor : Intel Core i5 2500K (if you want to overclock) or else Intel Core i5 2500/2400*
Motherboard : Intel Original DH67VR
RAM : 2 * 4 GB DDR3 @ 1333 Mhz from ZION/KINGSTON
HDD : 1 TB Seagate
GPU : Sapphire Ati Radeon HD 6770 / Sapphire Vapor-X HD 6770
PSU : FSP Saga II 500W / Corsair GS 600W / Corsair VX 550W / Corsair VX 450W

*Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30 Ghz and Intel Core i5 2400 @ 3.10 Ghz have only a difference of 200 Mhz in clock frequency, and a price difference of about 700 - 900 bucks. So go for the one you want.

H67 boards can't OC[except turbo]. To OC you need P67 or Z68 mobos.

But shayem, do u think that a Phenom II 965 + HD 6950 MSI Twin Frozer III combo will perform better than a i5 2400 + HD6870 combination in gaming? As OP clearly mentioned that his main purpose is gaming, can we suggest him that combination?
I think Phenom II 965 + HD 6950 Twin Frozer III will perform better as this version of HD 6950 is very much powerful, can deliver performance close to a HD 6970 and can be unlocked to a HD 6970.

Phenom II 965 + HD 6950 MSI Twin Frozer III combo will perform better than a i5 2400 + HD6870 combination in gaming?

Except Starcraft II, yes the HD6950 will do far better. At 1920x1080 and maxxed out settings, it's the HD6950 which will sail through.

if his sole purpose is gaming, then I'll suggest him to go for Phenom II x4 965 + HD 6950 as stated by cilus because the gfx card is far better than 6850/6870

consider X gfx card paired along with :
1-->965BE
2-->i5 2400

The performance would be same (almost)

The main decider is the gfx card

T

Cilus said:
But shayem, do u think that a Phenom II 965 + HD 6950 MSI Twin Frozer III combo will perform better than a i5 2400 + HD6870 combination in gaming? As OP clearly mentioned that his main purpose is gaming, can we suggest him that combination?
I think Phenom II 965 + HD 6950 Twin Frozer III will perform better as this version of HD 6950 is very much powerful, can deliver performance close to a HD 6970 and can be unlocked to a HD 6970.

Can't say for sure, but i5+6870 will perform better IMO. Cause 6870 has marginal low performance than 6950 2GB according to AnandTech. But 2400 is lot more better than PII965.

but lets say OP can unlock his 6950 2gb to 6970
now compare 6870 with 6970

T

Then I think GPU will bottleneck :Fingerx:

shayem said:
Then I think GPU will bottleneck

bottleneck with 965!!!
impossible
and dont forrget its BE....unlocked multipliers are there if we want to juice it out more
so no worries of that sort here

shayem said:
Then I think GPU will bottleneck

nope, won't. if you're gaming at 1920x1080, except 2-3 exceptions like starcraft II, the GPU will be churning out frame rates more than our eyes can percieve. and the HD6950 will, I repeat, will perform better than the HD6870.

Plus, HD6950's DX11 performance9future proof) is DOUBLE of HD6870.

T

Piyush said:
bottleneck with 965!!!
impossible
and dont forrget its BE....unlocked multipliers are there if we want to juice it out more
so no worries of that sort here

Don't have much experience with Phenom II so can't argue :smile:

comp@ddict said:
nope, won't. if you're gaming at 1920x1080, except 2-3 exceptions like starcraft II, the GPU will be churning out frame rates more than our eyes can percieve. and the HD6950 will, I repeat, will perform better than the HD6870.

Plus, HD6950's DX11 performance9future proof) is DOUBLE of HD6870.

Here we are talking about 2 combination. Not only 6950 & 6870. And i know very well that 1st one performs better.

Then I think we need to revise the configuration. And Shayem, there is no chance of bottleneck here. For couple of days. I have used my Phenom II 955 oced @ 3.5 GHz with the HD 6870 Crossfire and there was no such bottleneck.

And other thing is I was referring to the Twin Frozer III edition of HD 6950 2 GB, not any 6950, which is clocked very higher and can touch the performance of GTX 570 or HD 6970 even in locked condition.

So here is the suggestion:-

Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz @ 6.4K
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H @ 4K
Corsair 1 X 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 @ 2K
Corsair GS600 80+ PSU @ 4K
MSI HD 6950 2 GB Twin Frozer III @ 16K

Total 32.2K. The ram can run at 1600 MHz speed without any issue (I've done it with my old Transcend ram) by just increasing the RAm multiplier to 4X.

^^^anyone having phenom II X4???
I think i5 with hd 6850 would be better,there will be a difference of 5-10 fps between 6850 and 6950

Also core i5 rig will be future proof as i can upgrade to a much better graphics card after 2-3 years

Will i be abe to play games like crysis2,metro2033,cod black ops with max setting at 1920*1080 with i5 and hd6850??.

5-10 FPS? r u kidding? HD 6850 is just bare minimum to play games in Full HD resolution whereas HD 6950 is the value king on that region. The FPS difference will be more than 15 FPS in all the time and more than 20 FPS in Anno 1408, 21 FPS in Crysis warhead.

Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz @ 6.4K

Buddy, save the money, grab the X4 955 B.E. for 5.5k

You can overclock it to 3.6GHz w.o changing VCore just increase multi if you want.

Will i be abe to play games like crysis2,metro2033,cod black ops with max setting at 1920*1080 with i5 and hd6850??.

With HD6850? NO

With HD6950? YES

(COD will work on HD5770 also)

Cilus said:
5-10 FPS? r u kidding? HD 6850 is just bare minimum to play games in Full HD resolution whereas HD 6950 is the value king on that region. The FPS difference will be more than 15 FPS in all the time and more than 20 FPS in Anno 1408, 21 FPS in Crysis warhead.

If its that much of difference,i will opt for 6950.Which 6950 do u think can be unlocked to 6970(MSI,Sapphire,Powercolor,XFX or any other).

What will be difference between a core i5 and a phenom x4 while gaming??
If there is very much difference between them,i will increase my budget

T

If you can increase budget, get i5-2500 with eye closed. i5+6950 will be a killer combo.

Mainly stock 6950 cores can be unlocked without any issue. But msi TF III can be unlocked too according to some review. Here is one. you can find more here. But even without unlocking TF III can give you 6970 like performance. SO get it.

What will be difference between a core i5 and a phenom x4 while gaming??

With a HD6950? Except select games such as Starcraft II, if you play at 1920x1080 at full hd, both CPUs will give you the requisite 60fps in a game(or both wont if it's a gpu bottleneck)

So, if you wish, you can spend 6-7k extra and grab the SB combo, but strictly from gaming perspective keeping your gpu in mind, you should be fine buddy.

I did the same thing, get the cheapest quad and the then powerful HD5850.

Now if a game gives me below 50fps, it's because of a gpu bottleneck, and If I get above 60fps, who cares if it's 60 or 80 with another CPU? I've alredy hit the smoothest gameplay requirement!

Although, in a few games, INTEL cpu's give higher "lowest" frame rate, but nothing earth shattering.

Karan93 said:
If its that much of difference,i will opt for 6950.Which 6950 do u think can be unlocked to 6970(MSI,Sapphire,Powercolor,XFX or any other).

What will be difference between a core i5 and a phenom x4 while gaming??
If there is very much difference between them,i will increase my budget

comp@ddict has answered your 2nd query. For 1st query, yes MSI Twin Frozer III version of HD6950 can be unlocked to HD6970.

^^^I want the performance difference between the following rig(for gaming) :- 1. Core i5 2500 with hd 6850 2. Phenom II X4 965 with hd 6950 .I know that i5 is a much better cpu than the phenom,but i am concerned about gaming and i have very tight budget.Anyone having a phenom x4 plz suggest

Phenom II X955 + HD 6950 >> Core i5 2400 + HD 6850 in gaming.....clear and simple

Cilus said:
Phenom II X955 + HD 6950 >> Core i5 2400 + HD 6850 in gaming.....clear and simple

Ok will go for the phenom II +HD6950.Is there any performance difference between HD6950 1GB and 2GB versions at 1920*1080 res.As far as i know there is no difference between them.I can get a 6950 1gb at around 13.5k.

If you try hard in the local market, you can get the 2 GB Sapphire HD 6950 within 15K. Although there is no such performance difference between the 1 GB and the 2 GB models in current games, but the extra 1 GB frame buffer might be handy in future when more shader heavy games will be released. It will also help in highest anti-aliasing values. The other benefit is most of the stock HD 6950 2 GB versions can be unlocked to a HD 6970 by a simple BIOS tweak.

I can get 1GB version for 13.5k.It would be a better option as if i buy a 2gb version and unlock it,i would not get fps because processor(phenom II X4) will bottleneck

No man,for handling a high end GPU, you don't need a very high end processor. Even a highly clocked Athlon II X4 like Athlon II 640 @ 3.1 GHz can handle GTX 570 or HD 6970 without issues. In fact Tomshardware actually had done a extensive review Gamers: Do You Need More Than An Athlon II X3 on it. The conclusion was if multi-gpu setup is there, AThlon II X3 440 is good enough. This review was performed in 2010 and obviously the condition has been improved a lot as games are becoming more multi core optimized. So along with a Phenom II X4 955, there is virtually no chance of bottleneck in 1080P resolution. Also 955 is a Black Edition processor and 3.4/3.5 GHz can be reached very easily with the stock cooler. I used to run mine @ 3.6 GHz sometimes.
So just grab the Phenom II 955 + HD 6950 2 GB combo without thinking much.

If a high end procy is not required for a high end gpu then why people reccomend a i5 with 6870 gpu.In the pc purchase guide thread i5 procy is there with 6870 gpu for 50k and even for 60k.Phenom II X4 is paired with gtx460 (which has less performance than hd6950)