Nearing completion, Needs a once over.

[thunterman]

Ok. Been going for almost a year. This is the PC so far.

Case : Fractal Design Arc Midi
PSU : Corsair TX650 v2 *
MoBo : Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 (rev 1.0) **
CPU : i5 2500K ***
GPU : Sapphire 6850 ****
SSD : Crucial M4 128GB
HDD : WD Caviar Green 1TB (Storage Drive)
RAM : RipjawsX 1600Mhz (2x the linked item, so 4x4GB sticks.

* - Didn't bother with the modular version as recommended by someone, as its only partially modular (only the 2 8pin GPU power connectors are modular) Seemed a rip off for the extra £40 - and i was also thinking of Crossfire at the time, making the the modular part useless anyway. And wires aren't a problem in the case anyway, it has alot of clearance behind the MoBo tray and I'm routing cables with the unused watercooling holes too.

** - This was a temporary placeolder if you like, When money permits this will be replaced with the Sabertooth Z77

*** - The CPU is also a place holder, and after the mobo is replaced, shall be replaced with the i7-3770K To utilise the PCIe 3.0 capability of the mobo.

**** - Yet again, a place holder :P This will at some point (maybe before the mobo / cpu) be replaced with a Radeon 7950 If at the time my financial position allows, I may up it to a 7970.

Any criticisms and advice is welcomed! And before anyone says anything about the "wasted money" with all my "placeholder" pc parts, they will not be wasted. All replaced parts will be recycled into the empty case I have in my loft and sold as a budget PC on Ebay or something

One more thing, The benchmarks I have seen comparing PCIe 2.0 and 3.0 suggest the 7950 actually runs better on 2.0? are these benchmarks wrong? If this is the case then I think I may just stick to good old Sandy bridge.

[Faithh]

Why would you upgrade to a sabertooth z77 and even to an i7 3770K?

For 1080p gaming you don't need pci express 3.0. If the 7950 would run better on 2.0 is just max 1-2fps which is just meant to be ignored.

If you use resolutions like 5760x1080 it's worth it the pci express 3.0

Instead of spending it for a new motherboard & cpu rather go for a new graphics card.

Never ever spend money on a new mobo & cpu if they don't bottleneck any graphics card in the market.

[Dizey]

Case : Fractal Design Arc Midi

PSU : Corsair TX650 v2 * - If you want a full modular unit with similar price to the TX650m, have a look at the new Seasonic M12II 650.

MoBo : Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 (rev 1.0) ** - Spend a little more and get a Z77 board. Something like an ASROCK Z77 Pro3/Pro4. Go with the Z77-D3H/DS3H if you want gigabyte. I highly doubt that you'll want, or see the need to upgrade to a Sabertooth board once your have your system up and running. There won't be much gain in terms of performance to justify the expenditure.

CPU : i5 2500K *** - Go 3570k.
GPU : Sapphire 6850 **** - Look at the HD 7850. From your link, your going to be paying as much, if not more, for a lesser card.
SSD : Crucial M4 128GB
HDD : WD Caviar Green 1TB (Storage Drive) - Not sure why you want a green drive
RAM : RipjawsX 1600Mhz (2x the linked item, so 4x4GB sticks.

[Danno]

Upgrading from a 2500k to even a 3570k isn't very smart, based on money/performance. If you're dying for an upgrade, get the 7970 if you "need" more performance in games and wait until Haswell at least for the CPU. As Faithh said, PCI-E 3.0 doesn't even show its potential until you have 3-4 cards, which you'd need really high resolutions to even take advantage of that many cards.

[Dizey]

Oh, I must be confused. I was under the impression that he was building this system, not already in possession of it.

[thunterman]

yes the first part is what it is, the second is what im planning on it becoming :P

I had my heart set on the MoBo upgrade though, the current one is a pretty cheap run of the mill one I thought. But hey, what do I know that's why I asked before lol If you think its not too bad then I will keep it untill later on when there's a leap in technology. I do need the GPU upgrade though, I play BF3 and I wish to experience Ultra
my 6850 is OC'd a fair bit, and is running BF3 at mostly high settings with pretty stable FPS.

And Dizey, the Green because its only a storage drive, Photos, doc's e.t.c all games are on an SSD. When ive used my remaining 20GB on it, I shall invest in a second for further games.

Sorry for the late reply though, ive been a busy bee the past few days

[Deleted]

Well, if you want i geuss you can get a mobo upgrade. But dont get the i7 or i5 IB. As others have said, PCIe 3.0 is not needed atm unless you are using more than 2 cards.
GPUs dont even use the full bandwith from 2.0 (dual gpu cards such as the 690/7990 might tho)

So with the money saved on the CPU, get a 7970 GHz

[vesseblah]

Really would not bother with mobo or cpu upgrades unless you really really need the 10-20% extra speed for scientific calculation.

PCIe3.0 is completely irrelevant at the moment, not even GTX690 is even close to capping PCIe2.0 yet. Will take year or two before any graphics card will be limited by your motherboard, and even then you'll be looking at dual GPU cards in $1k price bracket.


Graphics card is clearly your weakest link, and only piece you should upgrade. With the money saved from not buying cpu+motherboard you can easily go for the Radeon 7970.

[thunterman]

Ok thanks guys thats what i shall do. 7970 it is, was looking at the sapphire Vapor-X, is that anygood? is it overhyped? is Asus' DirectCU better? (I've heard directCU is very very good)

[08nolanni]

Ok thanks guys thats what i shall do. 7970 it is, was looking at the sapphire Vapor-X, is that anygood? is it overhyped? is Asus' DirectCU better? (I've heard directCU is very very good)

I'm currently looking into http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2T2GD5/

However it's very expensive in Australia ($609) D: Apparently Direct CU is one of if not the best cooling / performance around.

Anyone know if the difference between http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2O2GD5/ and http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2T2GD5/ Is worth $50-60 increase in price ?

[jmacphee9]

I'm currently looking into http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2T2GD5/

However it's very expensive in Australia ($609) D: Apparently Direct CU is one of if not the best cooling / performance around.

Anyone know if the difference between http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2O2GD5/ and http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/N...TX680DC2T2GD5/ Is worth $50-60 increase in price ?

the second one is overclocked, so no it isnt worth it at all. you can download msi afterburner and do the same exact OC for free.

upgrading your mobo will provide very little performance boost, it may have more features you can take advantage of but if you dont already know what those features are theres a good chance you wont be using them anyways. the processor upgrade will be barely anything at all in gaming, especially if overclocked. clock for clock they will be very close in games.

[thunterman]

My current MoBo seems to have alot of features, bluetooth power saving options to use on my phone, USB power while the PCs off, Virtu is preinstalled and alot more... has alot of features I just assumed it would be rubbish because of the price.

I've not actually seen any reviews for the DirectCU 2 model though, only the original DirectCU card. assuming the second version is better of course, but would like to see proof before I spend my money on it. I have worry's about it though, one thing I've heard frequently is that the coolers on the card are alot bigger and heavier than all other cards, and unless supported somehow by your HDD cage, they are susceptible to bending. Which is why I'm so tempted to go with the Vapor-X version of Sapphires card.

Just found a review, the DirectCU is the one with bending problems, that was what they sorted in the DirectCU2 model, its stronger and better supported. The numbers they speak don't seem to be Hyperbole either, It genuinely seems the coolest 7970 out there. Ive made up my mind, I'm buying this card.