PC Upgrade Assistance (UK) - Page 2

Vancha · 2012-07-03, 10:23 AM

The "a little more for a little more" link is the Nvidia equivalent, though if you're okay with regular-noise coolers this'll be even better for you.

http://www.dabs.com/products/best-va...l?q=570&src=16

Again, which be quiet! PSU are you using? You're seriously pushing the 550w limit with a 570 and 965. If it's one of the lower-end ones it might be risky. You certainly won't have the headroom for an overclock.

Goku · 2012-07-03, 10:46 AM

I would take the 7850 over the 570 personally. More VRAM in case games in the next few years start going over 1.25 GB, lower power usage, and performance is on average the same or better. You can overclock these well over 1GHz leaving the 570 in the dust.

Vancha · 2012-07-03, 11:01 AM

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...D_7870/26.html

570 has a performance edge on the 7850 at stock, but yeah you could OC the 7850 with the additional PSU headroom. You do lose PhysX though, plus PS2 will probably be slightly NVidia-biased.

Goku · 2012-07-03, 11:13 AM

Well needless to say Nvidia needs to stop dragging their ass and get out a new $200-$300 price point GPU. Taking way too long IMO.

Vancha · 2012-07-03, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Goku

Well needless to say Nvidia needs to stop dragging their ass and get out a new $200-$300 price point GPU. Taking way too long IMO.

No kidding. AMD needs to catch up big-time.

Kipper · 2012-08-20, 05:37 AM

Bringing this thread back to life as things have changed a bit - the 660Ti is out for a start, and I think I might be able to stretch my budget out - perhaps to 400.

I'm still probably looking at retaining the motherboard and the drives, and I may do the RAM a little bit later.

I'm thinking:
* AMD Phenom processor that was mentioned
* 660 Ti (which version/manufacturer?)
* Beefier PSU than 500w (recommendations?)

I'd have to possibly add in a new case too; the one I have doesn't really have any side fans or anything so it might be unwise to run it - and if I was changing that, it would make sense to look at something that had larger/lower RPM fans to reduce noise a bit? Aesthetics not really a concern - best price, sufficient cooling and low background noise are my interests.

(Also, on a separate note - for the other [server] PC - recommendations on a budget case that might quieten it down a bit? - not included in the 400 budget)

Vancha · 2012-08-20, 09:13 AM

The 660ti is actually way less power-hungry than the 570. Your be quiet! PSU should be more than enough for that.

Personally, I'll always recommend ASUS for the 670/660 ti, because their cooler is ridiculously quiet compared to others. You can get one for £262 at Novatech (reliable), or £252 at Ginger6 (seemingly reliable?).

That said, if you don't care about noise/overclocking, you could get a reference model around £240ish. This one (£242 with delivery), for example, which might come with Borderlands 2, or this one, which definitely does.

Kipper · 2012-08-20, 06:50 PM

cool thanks for that. Do you think I'd need to re-case it or would it run cool enough to cope?

The current case has a single rear fan (aside from the PSU and CPU fan) thats pretty small, but it's always done the job so far. At the moment it the side is off the thing though ;-)

Vancha · 2012-08-20, 07:05 PM

Oh sorry I forgot about that.

- What size is the fan in the back (80/92/120mm)?
- How much ventilation is in the front of the case?
- Does the PSU pull air from inside or outside the case?
- What CPU cooler are you using (if you don't know, does it blow air onto the CPU, or toward the back of the case)?

Kipper · 2012-08-26, 08:11 AM

It's an 80mm fan. I'm assuming that the bigger the fan = the slower the RPM for the same airflow = the quieter it runs, which is probably why my PC's are noisy b*****ds.

There's no ventilation at the front, only at the rear next to the expansion slots. There are some side vents but they are pretty puny looking.

The PSU appears to be taking air from inside, it sits at the top, the intake fan is on the bottom of the unit inside the case. Unless its the other way around but that wouldn't make sense would it?

Not sure on CPU cooler - looks like a standard heatsink and fan that (I believe) pulls heat away from the CPU and into the case, where I assume it will be extracted by the case fan (there's no plastic funnels or anything to direct the air anywhere).

Goku · 2012-08-26, 03:34 PM

Maybe time for a new case. All those components you are putting are going to dump a lot more heat in. 1 rear 80MM case fan in this day in age is just a bad idea.

Vancha · 2012-08-26, 04:00 PM

I'd suggest getting a new case, then. Nothing too fancy, mind.

Your motherboard's mATX, so you could go as low as a Fractal Design Core 1000, if you want to spend as little as possible (it should certainly be "good enough").

If you're willing to go up to around £50, then there's the Core 3000 (I like Fractal) and the Antec One (not the "one hundred"). There's also the Zalman Z9 and the Sharkoon T9, both of which should be at least adequate. The best prices in all cases are Amazon's.

Kipper · 2012-08-26, 08:24 PM

Without spending too much (I don't care for aesthetics - I look at the screen!) - so I think up to £50 is probably reasonable, looking for myself I was kind of expecting to have to go to around £90, so your recommendations are pleasing

Assuming all those you listed are going to be fine for the primary purpose of not overheating, which is likely to run the quietest? I might as well take that opportunity, all other things being equal.

Vancha · 2012-08-26, 08:52 PM

I'd guess the Core 3000 and Antec One. The Core 3000, Z9 and T9 all have 3 fans each, but the Fractal should be the highest quality (and thus have the best airflow/noise ratio). The Antec One only has two fans, but I'm not sure what their quality's like.

Alternatively, you could look into buying a cheaper case (like the Core 1000) and buying some quiet fans separately.

Kipper · 2012-08-27, 05:53 AM

I googled them all and they look pretty similar - it looked to me like the fractal one would be of more use over a longer time since it had a loads of fan slots and a filter, so I'll probably go with that.

I'll let you know when its all built, thanks for all the help