Good morning, I'm looking at doing some upgrades to my system - thinking about doing it in stages and would like some advise on component choices. I'm thinking about Case, power supply, mobo, and memory here - I'll bring over everything else for now and upgrade those parts later. Currently I've got: Intel Xeon X5680 @ 3.3GHz 12.0g DDR3 (triple channel) Asus P6T SE Case/power supply 5+ yrs old - make and model not important now -- prefer Anitec for case and Coolermaster/Zaltec for power, but no brand loyalty I currently have an nVidia GTX 670 2g, DVD-R, and a good USB headset for sound - I'll upgrade those later on I primarily game (MMOs, RPGs, some shooters but not a lot) and media watch both streaming and local video files. Don't do a lot of editing (not enough to warrant a high end workstation setup). Was curious if there is anything really of note coming down in the next few weeks/months that would drastically change what I could reasonably get. Budget is approx $1,000 for this part - can go a little higher, but not too much. Thanks for the advice.... T
in regards to cpu and motherboard, i would bide your time a little, unless current machine has deaded on you. with kaby lake and zen due soon, zen may well be a good choice, and if it comes close enough to kaby lake, intel may lower prices. or zen maybe good enough and cheaper than kaby lake. whichever, i would hang on. but remember, kaby lake and zen may not run w7 or 8/8.1 if you are using them, no one knows yet.
Make sure you get a good power supply. If you're going for a high performance Graphics card(s), then get a 750 - 1000 watt supply. Overrating the power supply will give you -lots- of room to expand. The average MoBo takes about 300-400 watts. Oh, and go for an SSD if you can. You will gain performance, as well as cut down on power consumption. A good case / 1000W power supply should cost you about $300. Get a 512 GB SSD and you should notice a -marked- improvement in system performance. BTW: Which OS are you planning on running?
samsung m2-pcie 860 series ssd's are coming, insanely fast, and with price tags to match. you could offset their cost if zen is good and there is an amd/intel price war.
i would avoid Corsair stuff(except their cases). my usual online store usually has tons of corsair refurb power supplies. corsair forums are rammed full of unhappy users and their customer service is crap(1st hand knowledge). antec and seasonic power supplies came out best for failure rates(i know seasonic make some of antecs supplies).
Thanks for the replies... I currently have an Samsung 850 EVO - 500g SSD so I'm good there. My power supply is in the 650 range, I think -- need to de-dust case soon and I'll verify. Currently running W10 and it runs smooth. T
ssd is good to go so thats £ saved. id check the power supply voltages when you are gaming, make sure they are within specification. if they are, then using it for new builld should be ok. can someone here recommend a program for that. de dusting the power supply would help too. id go for a new supply myself. case depends on your cooling needs etc. seeing as you run w10, the whole kaby lake/zen issue of them running w7 is void, so id wait till zen comes out. zen will come with the wraith cooler, a decent cooler in the uk is 30gbp, it may be capable enough. wait.
I recently upgraded (spent a lil over $1k due to graphics card) and kept my case, Noctua NHD-14, psu, hdds, ssd, etc. I couldn't play the new Doom so I started shopping for parts. Then my GTX 580 suddenly died so I started ordering parts. I got: Intel i7-6700K (for future overclocking and base freq. of 4.0GHz, you probably don't care about the K version) ASUS Z170-A (Only good board I could find with a single PCI slot for my sound card - HT Omega Claro Halo XT) Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8GB DDR4-3000 (in white because it matches the board and was on sale) ASUS 1070 Strix OC (which was expensive, >$450, but very nice) After all this, I've spent just over $1000. I'm planning on getting a Corsair Obsidian 750D this month. I like the features of the 650D, but I can't find it anywhere for less than the 750D. Not sure which PSU I'm going to get to go with it yet (Seasonic or Corsair maybe), but I do have to get one as my current one is CPX form factor.
when it comes to prices dropping, next year which is just around the corner u will find a better deal for $1000 budget....for sure in the SSD department and Intel u will see prices drop...i say wait a bit if u can.
according to wccftech, zen is launching in january with boards availible in december. boxed retail bristol ridge apu's sometime november/december.
Way too early for considering anything with a ZEN processor. I'll wait for the reviews after they come out, about 6 months
if we have bristol ridge nov/december, we should know if there will be w7 8/8.1 support too. that will be a big factor for me.