Page 1 of 1

New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 10:51 am
by NJP
Hi all, I'm starting to think about upgrading my old computer with mostly new parts. Only things I'll be keeping from my old build is the optical drive, old hard drives, case, PSU, and cooling stuff (case fans, CPU cooler, etc..). I've kind of started with the TR system guide Sweeter spot section and gone from there.

I'm planning on bundling my CPU and Motherboard at Microcenter.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/393422/P8Z77-V_LK_LGA_1155_Z77_ATX_Intel_Motherboard
&
http://www.microcenter.com/product/388577/Core_i5_3570K_34GHz_LGA_1155_Processor

Going with this for memory RAM.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/382101/Ballistix_Sport_8GB_DDR3-1600_(PC3-12800)_CL9_Dual_Channel_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_4GB_Memory_Modules)

A SSD drive.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/402607/840_Pro_Series_MZ-7PD128BW_128GB_SATA_60Gb-s__25_Internal_Solid_State_Drive_(SSD)

And then there is the graphics card. The TR system guide has this one in the one from newegg in the sweeterspot section and I'm wondering what the differences would be compared to the one from Microcenter? I tried finding this card at microcenter but I could only find one that had 256-bit memory, otherwise these two cards specs look the same to me unless I'm missing something?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127697

http://www.microcenter.com/product/403002/N660_TF_2GD5-OC_NVIDIA_GeForce_GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III_Overclocked_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card

So just looking for some feedback mainly on the two video cards, but also open to suggestions on the entire build. Let me now if I've over-looked anything or if any thing I've listed here will be incompatible. Thanks!

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:05 am
by southrncomfortjm
SSD is a great choice. There's a deal going on right now to get that the 840 Pro for $100. See http://www.dealzon.com/deals/cheap-samsung-ssd?ref=deal_newsletter#samsung-840-pro-series-ssd-128gb-mz-7pd128bw.

The Newegg card is the better card (660 Ti v. vanila 660). They both have the same 192-bit memory bandwith.

What resolution are you going to play at? What kinds of games do you play?

The 660 and 660 Ti are great cards, but more expensive than somewhat comparable Radeon cards like the 7850. The nice thing about the Radeon cards is that they come with 2 top-notch games (Bioshock Infinite and Crysis 3/Tomb Raider). This Asus 7850 or this Sapphire 7850 will probably give you everything, or almost everything, you want at a lower price with way better extras. The 7850 also overclocks very well, so you can boost its performance pretty easily with a few clicks. If you are going for 1080p or higher resolution on ultra or ultimate settings on the newest games, then the 7850 may not be for you, the 660 Ti would probably work better. If you don't mind turning some settings down, then the 7850 should work just fine.

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:24 am
by NJP
Thanks for the reply.

So AMD Radeon cards won't have any compatibility issues with an Intel board and CPU? I have never really been clear on that.

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 11:30 am
by DPete27
NJP wrote:
So AMD Radeon cards won't have any compatibility issues with an Intel board and CPU? I have never really been clear on that.

No problems. If you are interested in Bioshock Infinite or Tomb Raider (both look like great games) the 7850 would be a good buy if your monitor is 1920x1080. Make sure you get a 2GB card though.

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:17 pm
by southrncomfortjm
NJP wrote:
Thanks for the reply.

So AMD Radeon cards won't have any compatibility issues with an Intel board and CPU? I have never really been clear on that.


None. I have a 3570k and Radeon 7850 in my gaming rig and it all runs flawlessly.

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:08 pm
by Chrispy_
NJP wrote:

So AMD Radeon cards won't have any compatibility issues with an Intel board and CPU? I have never really been clear on that.


Probably got over 100 Xeon or i7 machines with AMD GPU's in them. They haven't exploded or killed anyone yet....

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 6:57 pm
by southrncomfortjm
Chrispy_ wrote:
NJP wrote:

So AMD Radeon cards won't have any compatibility issues with an Intel board and CPU? I have never really been clear on that.


Probably got over 100 Xeon or i7 machines with AMD GPU's in them. They haven't exploded or killed anyone yet....


*Yet*....

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 8:54 pm
by JustAnEngineer

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:35 am
by NJP
Thanks for all the feedback/suggestions. I ended up going with a 7850 from Microcenter for the video card plus the other parts I listed in my original post. Got the new parts in the case last night after work and everything is running great.

Re: New Computer/Upgrade

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:37 am
by DPete27
Did Microcenter give you the 2 free games? If not I'd order one on newegg and return your current one. You'll end up paying the same (or maybe even slightly less on newegg) while getting ~$120 worth of free games.