Upgrading Core Components

[NickP]

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming, and Video Editing.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I would like to spend no more than $500 CAD.

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

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, etc, etc, you get the picture.
I would prefer to stick with Intel and Nvidia unless there is a strong reason not to.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
I already have two monitors (DVI), two hard drives (both SATA), two DVD burners (SATA), a keyboard and mouse (USB) which I will be using.

I also have an Ultra Aluminus case which I could keep using assuming it will fit the new parts (video card may be a concern).

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
I plan on spending some time overclocking the processor and RAM.

8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Within the next couple of months, if there are viable alternatives.



I currently run two 8800 GTs in SLI, a Q6700 running at 3.3GHz, and 4GB of OCZ Platinum XTC DDR2 (PC 6400) RAM (@4-4-3-15).

I have a Corsair HX620 620W PSU.

Are there any alternatives for my budget that would offer significantly increased performance over my current setup?

Thanks!

[martin_metal_88]

try to look at a I5 750 ( or the xeon one ) a little 1156 board + good ddr3 4GB kit. Will be around 500 and give you better performance on CPU keep your video card.

[NickP]

I also just wanted to mention I only have a Corsair HX620 620W PSU. Is that enough power to support an i5 with DDR3 RAM?

[MarkOne]

Some member start to talk about the xeon , but does it come with the turbo ?

Originally Posted by martin_metal_88

try to look at a I5 750 ( or the xeon one ) a little 1156 board + good ddr3 4GB kit. Will be around 500 and give you better performance on CPU keep your video card.

[Raserei408]

Originally Posted by NickP

I also just wanted to mention I only have a Corsair HX620 620W PSU. Is that enough power to support an i5 with DDR3 RAM?

A 650 is plenty to power an i5. From what I've seen it takes less power than a C2Q.

[geokilla]

Originally Posted by NickP

I also just wanted to mention I only have a Corsair HX620 620W PSU. Is that enough power to support an i5 with DDR3 RAM?

That's more than enough.

You state that you have two monitors, what's the resolution on them? I'd keep your Q6700 and not upgrade to a Core i5. If you upgrade the CPU, you'll have to spend money to get DDR3 RAM, a new CPU, and a new motherboard. That's like $400 right there. To get the most out of your LGA775 setup, get a better GPU. Consider the GTX260 Core 216 or GTX275. By one used here if you don't mind it being used. However, that's only if you want to stick with NVIDIA and CUDA. If you don't mind going to ATI, which is dominating the GPU market right now, consider getting the ATI 5850.

What hard drive do you currently have? Some would recommend SSD, but I myself don't like SSDs.

[Arinoth]

Personally i would do the core upgrade first since you have an SLI set up going right now. I would recommend going with the Core i5,
Motherboard if you want to continue to use SLI or SLI cards in the future: NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte P55M-UD4 mATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E 1PCI-E4 1PCI GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard - GA-P55M-UD4 In Canada.
Processor i5 750: Buy the Intel Core i5 750 Processor at TigerDirect.ca
RAM, 4 gigs of DDR3 1600MHz rated ram: Newegg.ca - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Desktop Memory

Total: 458$ I know its a little bit over budget but you'd be future proofing your base and could upgrade your graphics cards later or stick with them in SLI right now. Your choice really but this is the route i'd go.

[martin_metal_88]

Originally Posted by Arinoth

Personally i would do the core upgrade first since you have an SLI set up going right now. I would recommend going with the Core i5,
Motherboard if you want to continue to use SLI or SLI cards in the future: NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte P55M-UD4 mATX LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E 1PCI-E4 1PCI GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard - GA-P55M-UD4 In Canada.
Processor i5 750: Buy the Intel Core i5 750 Processor at TigerDirect.ca
RAM, 4 gigs of DDR3 1600MHz rated ram: Newegg.ca - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Desktop Memory

Total: 458$ I know its a little bit over budget but you'd be future proofing your base and could upgrade your graphics cards later or stick with them in SLI right now. Your choice really but this is the route i'd go.

That`s a great upgrade. You will notice more on a long time upgrade with that. If you change the CPU for a 775 in few years you will be screwed again. 8800GT in sli is also pretty powerfull for everything so.