Its time for an upgrade.. recommendations please

[Lambourne]

Hi guys I have decided to upgrade my PC in Jan 2013 so im looking into what spec to get, recommendations would be good as I am little out of touch with current good stuff. My CPU will be an i7 and i would like to keep to Nvidia for my GPU although im not sure which one, advice on motherboards etc would be a great help!

Cheers,
Shaun

[pershainovitsh]

I don't know much about computers, but it'd be helpful to know your budget.

[Lambourne]

about £1500

[wobblyone]

£1500

Just get the best Mobo and GPU money can buy Lambourne ;D

GTX680

[madviper101]

Lambourne,

Buy a copy of custom PC, really helped me when I was building my rig. Each month they rate parts for budget/mid/performance and extreme machines. You will get a kick ass system with that budget. Am sure Spartan can give you some good advice (when he says AMD he means intel though )

[wobblyone]

Like Viper says Lamboune, get a few mags and Google 'best motherboards' etc.

I would go for the 680. I think the 690 is OTT and is massive

I like the Asus motherboards (as I have one myself) Good quality.

Are you going for a new case too? I've recently got a Corsair 600T and it is lovely ;D Great build quality and loads of room. My CPU is running 20c cooler now!!
www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/graphite-series-pc-case.html

I will post some pictures.

[Lambourne]

cheers guys i will gets some mags, and yes wobbly the case will be new!

[Lambourne]

ok guys hows this, has anyone used this type of motherboard it a good online reviews but I would like advice from someone with experience! I know you guys said just stick to the GTX 680, but after reading some reviews , plus i want it to last as long as possible before next upgrade I chose the 690

- Case: BitFenix Colossus blue LED big tower windowed case
- Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 600W PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K 3.50GHz @ over clocked to 4.50GHz Ivybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77X-UP4 TH Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Alpenfohn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler
- RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
- Graphics Card: Asus GeForce GTX 690 4096mb GDDR5
- Sound: Asus Xonar DG 5.1 Sound Card
- Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Reader / DVD±RW Drive - OEM

[Lambourne]

also what version of windows 7 do you guys recommend

[mcguirk2]

Looks good Lambourne. The only thing I might suggest would be a bigger PSU, Maybe 750W? And have you looked at some of the new closed liquid CPU coolers? They've really come down in price recently.

[pershainovitsh]

Nov 23, 2012 2:03:08 GMT 1 Lambourne said:

- Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 600W PSU

- RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

- Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Reader / DVD±RW Drive - OEM

As McGuirk said, it might be better to buy a bigger power supply unit, so you'll surely have enough power and won't have a need to upgrade it any time soon. I have 800W on my computer. Overkill, just like the 16GB of RAM I have (the same specs as yours, mine is G.Skill Ripjaws). But the point is that you won't have to upgrade it in the next few years, and you could save money by doing so.

I don't really know about the Blu-Ray reader. Unless yuor PC is connected to a big screen TV, I don't see the point. I couldn't even think of watching movies from my computer screen, sitting on a squeaky office chair. PC games don't use Blu-Ray, at least yet, so it's not a mandatory upgrade either. If you've got a TV somewhere else, you could buy a Blu-ray player for your living room, or wherever that TV might be located. You could also buy a PS3, which works as a fine blu-ray player, gaining you access to some PS3-only games and the ability to play with other people who have the console. With the next console generation right around the corner, (though it seems that they will be less powerful than my current setup) PS3's should be affordable. An ordinary DVD drive for the PC is about 90% cheaper than a Blu-ray drive, so consider carefully do you really need it.

As for operating systems, I've got a Windows 7 Professional.
Here's some comparison from Microsoft's web site: windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare
I don't know if there is a significant advantage over Windows 7 Home Premium to a home user. Anyway, good thing you aren't even considering Windows 8. It has been slated everywhere and seems to be an OS for phones and tablets rather than for desktops.
www.useit.com/alertbox/windows-8.html

[wobblyone]

Yep, 600W with that 690 . I think the 690 is a SLI settup ie. two cards bundled together as one. Go for at least 750/800W

www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_690_review.html
This review recommends at LEAST 750W

Also Lambourne, you have not mentioned a SSD. If you are spending this much you have to have a SSD to install Windows on but keep the 1TB alongside.

Not heard of the cooler, is it liquid? Liquid will give you much more room in the case.
Talking of room, check where your MB sockets are. The 690 may well cover the PCIe socket for the sound card. (it may cover ALL available sockets)

[madviper101]

Lamborne,

Agree with the others you need more juice these days. You want to see your lights dim as you power up. ;D

I'm a fan of watercooling. I installed a corsair H80 in my rig well over a year ago now.
www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-014-CS
There maybe something better on the market now but I would recommend corsair watercoolers as they are easy to install and come fully sealed. I only wish I could water cool my GPU too.

Having said that looks like you are going to have a beast of a machine

[Lambourne]

ok cheers guys, so i got from your feedback.. MORE JUICE!!! (power) and sorry i forgot to say yes it will be liquid cooled, also i was going to get a 250 SSD wobbly ( once again my bad for forgetting to metion it!)!

[Lambourne]

What OS would you guys say is the best?