Putting together budget for upgrade.

I am trying to figure out a budget for a system upgrade. My plan as it sits is to reuse my current video card, ssd, DVD/RW, PSU, and sound card. So what do you think?

NEED
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 $200
CPU: i5-2500k $220
CPU Cooler: something not much taller than an Ultima-90 due to case constraints.
Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24 $70

ALREADY HAVE
Videocard: GTX460SE
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
SDD: Kingston 120GB
PSU: OCZ Fatality 550W
Case: coolermaster something or another...

Do you have a hard drive? Or are you going to live on 120gb of space. A cpu cooler could be a hyper 212+ But i'm not sure of the height in comparison to the ultima-90.

If you spend 20 bucks more, you can get amazing adata ram sticks.

+1 for the hyper 212

1) I do have a HDD

2)
I will have to measure my case when I get home, I think the 212 will be too big.
Ultima 90 = 139mm
Hyper 212 = 158mm

If the Hyper 212 doesn't fit I will have to get a new case or what about an H80? I do not mind spending a bit extra as long as I have it in the budget.

killerkid said:

If you spend 20 bucks more, you can get amazing adata ram sticks.

+1 for the hyper 212

Click to expand...

What exactly do you mean you can get Adama ram sticks for 20 bucks more?

Hyper 212 fits in all cases.

The ram I was talking about is this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211517

AMAZING ****

killerkid said:

Hyper 212 fits in all cases.

The ram I was talking about is this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211517

AMAZING ****

Click to expand...

9-11-9-27
^
Not that impressive.

You can get a 7-7-7-22 kit @ 1600 for less $ and match the perf.

BTW OP, your 460SE will be the system bottleneck and you'll want to upgrade at some point. The SE is an inferior performer to the vanilla card.

not bad. i had to buy a smaller cooler for a silverstone lc13 case and i ended up buying the Xigmatek Loki sd963

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233081

it's worked way better than i thought it would. it's quiet and my load temps went down a ton over the stock amd cooler i had. it's about 135mm

That's a nice looking cooler. I think it is important to point out that due to having 2MB less cache than the 2600K the 2500K does not get hot and ANY 120mm tower cooler will be fine. Loki, 212, 212 evo, etc etc etc.

Even 1/10th V over stock (1.35V) the thing only hits like 50 something on a properly fitted 212+ in a case with good airflow.

I did a build with this 'thing' http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185155&Tpk=scythe rasetsu which cools worse than a 212+
as far as I can tell (though I'm sure VRMs like it) and still had trouble hitting 60. Looks awesome though.

Theocnoob said:

BTW OP, your 460SE will be the system bottleneck and you'll want to upgrade at some point. The SE is an inferior performer to the vanilla card.

Click to expand...

I know my 8800GTS was not cutting it and at the time I really didn't have the extra $$$ to get anything better. Typically I upgrade my computers in two year cycles, year 1=MOBO/CPU/RAM and year 2=GPU/HDD(SSD)/Misc. I am toying with the idea of putting my upgrade off a couple months and add a better GPU.

jmh547 said:

I am toying with the idea of putting my upgrade off a couple months and add a better GPU.

Click to expand...

I think this is your best plan of action. You do not want a system bottleneck.

As for the cooler, try the Hyper212+. I'd hope it would fit, it's really not that big. The H80 would do the job well, too, and would fit in your case restraints most likely.

Ok so my wife says... "you have been working hard and we have the money so just buy it"...

The 2500k I am set on, it looks like it will run everything I want and more. For the ram I figure I will stay in the 1600-2000 ballpark but i am not overly concerned about this.

I did decide to upgrade the GPU, due to cost I am leaning towards a GTX570 (probably EVGA SC). My current case has served me well but the height constraint on the cpu heat sink has held me back on my past 2 builds so I think i will be getting a Antec Twelve Hundred.

Questions
1) Will myOCZ Fatality 550W PSU safely run a GTX570 SC and OC'd 2500k? EVGA recommeds a minimum of 550 watt PSU with 38amp on the 12v rail, is that 38amps on one of the rails or combined?
2) If the answer to question 1 is "Are you looking at making a paper weight?" then I was leaning towards an HX850, good choice?
3) I am not completely set on the mobo... should I be getting a P67 or Z68 (P8Z68-V Pro)?
4) From everything I read the 212+ is a good cooler for the money but would I be better off spending a couple extra $ on something like a Venomous?

The Build
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 $200 OR ASUS P8Z68-V Pro $195
CPU: i5-2500k $220
CPU Cooler: TR Venomous X RT $60 OR CM Hyper 212+ $26
Ram: G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 1600 8-8-8-24 $70
Videocard: EVGA GTX 570 $340
Case: Antec 1200 $160
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (already have)
SSD: Kingston 120GB (already have)
HDD: 320 GB Seagate (already have)
PSU: OCZ Fatality 550W (already have)

That's a GREAT price on the VenX. Mine is keeping my 920 nice and cool at 4.0GHz, and this thing is pumping out tons more heat then a SB CPU. That being said, I doubt you can OC much further, you might squeeze out another 100-200MHz with the VenX at most. I'd stick with the Hyper212+.

I'd get a 6950 over the 570, a bit less powerful, but a good bit cheaper and doesn't draw as much power. If you get a 6970, they scale better when you add multiple GPUs, but for single card it's pretty much tied with the 570. Dual 6970s ties/beats dual 580s though. All of those would probably be future upgrades along with a bigger PSU.

The 1200 is a great case, but a slightly dated design. I'd go with a HAF932 or a NZXT Phantom.

Sandy Bridge OCing is all multiplier based, you do NOT need an expensive motherboard. I'd go with an ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 ($130) or a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H ($160). If you want to spend a little more, get a ASUS P8Z68-V ($180).

This is what I would recommend -------------------------------------------
Case:
NZXT Phantom (Also in plain white or plain black) OR HAF 932
Video Card:
Reference Radeon HD 6970 OR MSI 6950 2GB Twin Frozr (Much less expensive, cooler, quieter, possible unlock, but a bit less powerful)
For sure:

Knufire said:

That's a GREAT price on the VenX. Mine is keeping my 920 nice and cool at 4.0GHz, and this thing is pumping out tons more heat then a SB CPU. That being said, I doubt you can OC much further, you might squeeze out another 100-200MHz with the VenX at most. I'd stick with the Hyper212+.

I'd get a 6950 over the 570, a bit less powerful, but a good bit cheaper and doesn't draw as much power. If you get a 6970, they scale better when you add multiple GPUs, but for single card it's pretty much tied with the 570. Dual 6970s ties/beats dual 580s though. All of those would probably be future upgrades along with a bigger PSU.

The 1200 is a great case, but a slightly dated design. I'd go with a HAF932 or a NZXT Phantom.

Sandy Bridge OCing is all multiplier based, you do NOT need an expensive motherboard. I'd go with an ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 ($130) or a Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H ($160). If you want to spend a little more, get a ASUS P8Z68-V ($180).

Click to expand...

That is exactly what I expected to hear about the heat sink. From what I read in comparisons the 212+ is within a couple degrees of the venomous.

I will have to do some reading about the video cards... I have been a fanboy Nvidia for awhile and really do not know much about the HD series.

I thing I really like about the 1200 is the "straight through" design for air flow. It seems alot of companies are putting the hard drive trays mounted 90 degrees for ease of assembly but it is my experience that this sacrifices cooling/air flow. I can run my E8400 @ 4+ Ghz w/ Ultima-90 in my AeroCool Masstige with an idle temp of ~34c and a max temp of ~60c case. I put the exact setup (same fans and settings) in my Storm scout and started hitting >75c.

I am looking at motherboards right now.

**edit**

Agree on motherboard I really don't see a reason I would need anything more... plus the Asrock just looks so cool.

Questions
1) Will myOCZ Fatality 550W PSU safely run a GTX570 SC and OC'd 2500k? EVGA recommeds a minimum of 550 watt PSU with 38amp on the 12v rail, is that 38amps on one of the rails or combined?
2) If the answer to question 1 is "Are you looking at making a paper weight?" then I was leaning towards an HX850, good choice?

The Build
Motherboard:Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 $125
CPU: i5-2500k $220
CPU Cooler: CM Hyper 212+ $26
Ram:G.SKILL Sniper $50
Videocard: EVGA GTX 570 $340
Case: Antec 1200 $160
Soundcard: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (already have)
SSD: Kingston 120GB (already have)
HDD: 320 GB Seagate (already have)
PSU: OCZ Fatality 550W (already have)