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[knitoe]

just quoting myself again, another issue I have is that the options I have for booting are only windows boot manager.

Go into disk management and format the SSD.

 

[Hazaro]

Don't know if this is the best place to ask this, but I'm having a little but of trouble.

So i got everything plugged in, and I turn it on, the fans spin up, LED's on the motherboard light up, and the sik drive work, but by monitor doesn't seem to detect my computer. I have tried HDMI, VGA, and DMI give me a no signal detected on my monitor, and I'm not sure what to do.

Ideas ?

reseat memory
unplug replug all cables
reseat gpu

Is there a simple way to find out what model of mobo a PC is using (maybe the CPU gives a hint?)? Trying to figure out what to upgrade on my brother's PC. Here are his specs:

CPU Type 2x Intel Pentium III Xeon, 2666 MHz
Video Adapter GeForce 9800 GT x 2 SLI
RAM 4GB, pretty sure it's DDR2

He is only playing SWTOR. He wants an SSD for the long load times, any upgrade advice is appreciated.

CPU-Z or Speccy.

So I bought this board, an Asus Gene-Z mATX to go with my fancy new 2500k.

I also picked up this RAM(in blue instead of black to go with the board, d'oh).

Will it be okay clearance wise? I'm worried about when I put a better cooler for the CPU the extra height of the ram will cause issues... Is the Corsair stuff good? Should I move to lower profile stuff?

Also, is liquid cooling worth it? This guys is on sale and I was wondering if it's worth getting or just sticking with a traditional cooler. Might be better when I get a smaller case?

At that price I'd be tempted to pick one up if you can.
Clearance on RAM is only for CPU heatsink stuff. Even then you can adjust the fan up tmk. Way more difficult on those tall vengeance sinks though.

 

[ag-my001]

The combination of Christmas cash and seeing my work-horse 8800GT listed as a minimum requirement has led me to want a new GPU. Will the introduction of the new 7000 series bring down the prices on 6970/6950s while I wait for HDD prices to return to somewhat normal?

Also, I'd like to use a 16' HDMI cable to make this into an HTPC for a 52" plasma in the next room over. Does anyone have any wireless gamepads/remotes they'd like to recommend for this purpose?

 

[Hazaro]

The combination of Christmas cash and seeing my work-horse 8800GT listed as a minimum requirement has led me to want a new GPU. Will the introduction of the new 7000 series bring down the prices on 6970/6950s while I wait for HDD prices to return to somewhat normal?

Also, I'd like to use a 16' HDMI cable to make this into an HTPC for a 52" plasma in the next room over. Does anyone have any wireless gamepads/remotes they'd like to recommend for this purpose?

Unlikely for the GPUs. The first release should be only the higher end cards, then the 78xx series as replacements for 6950/6970. Any price drop would be offset by the performance gain. Probably.

 

[yellow submarine]

I'm looking for any prebuilt recipes for a micro atx or mini itx system using the i7 2600k sandy bridge I have. It would serve mostly as a media center. I am looking for reliability and quality first, so price is flexible.

The shuttle bare bone system on Newegg is in my sights, but maybe PC gaf has a better idea. I would prefer to get stuff from frys or newegg since I can just go pick them up tomorrow instead of waiting a few days. Any recommendations?

 

[yellow submarine]

The combination of Christmas cash and seeing my work-horse 8800GT listed as a minimum requirement has led me to want a new GPU. Will the introduction of the new 7000 series bring down the prices on 6970/6950s while I wait for HDD prices to return to somewhat normal?

Also, I'd like to use a 16' HDMI cable to make this into an HTPC for a 52" plasma in the next room over. Does anyone have any wireless gamepads/remotes they'd like to recommend for this purpose?

All the wireless keyboards I've tried have eaten input because I live in an apartment building with 50000 wireless networks, so keep that in mind. The best I tried while returning them was the MSFT super thin wireless keyboard. Eventually, I went with a wired solution that I stow to the side of the sofa when not in use. Also, a 360 controller works flawlessly once you've launched the game with the keyboard or mouse.

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

I built my pc in feb 2010, 1090t, 5770, 4gb. Thinking about a gpu upgrade. I game at 1680x1050. Would like to switch over to nvidia for physx, better dryers day driver support. Would I be wasting money on a 560ti? Maybe wait for a new revision?

 

[Hazaro]

I'm looking for any prebuilt recipes for a micro atx or mini itx system using the i7 2600k sandy bridge I have. It would serve mostly as a media center. I am looking for reliability and quality first, so price is flexible.

The shuttle bare bone system on Newegg is in my sights, but maybe PC gaf has a better idea. I would prefer to get stuff from frys or newegg since I can just go pick them up tomorrow instead of waiting a few days. Any recommendations?

Gene-Z mATX board. Dunno what case/setup/use you are planning.

I built my pc in feb 2010, 1090t, 5770, 4gb. Thinking about a gpu upgrade. I game at 1680x1050. Would like to switch over to nvidia for physx, better dryers day driver support. Would I be wasting money on a 560ti? Maybe wait for a new revision?

Good upgrade.

 

[Nekrono]

Hey guys, I bought and installed a CM Hyper 212 Plus 3 days ago and my temps where fine, I went from ~75c prime run (stock intel cooler) to ~54c.

Now, I have an ASUS P8P67 board and my fan profile is set to standard, I wanted to see how the cooler performed at max speed so I disabled CPU Q-FAN Control, now having the cooler running at 100% speed I did a quick 10 min prime95 run and the average temperature was 52c, that's only 2c below my previous test with the default settings which utilized the fan at about 60%.

I'm assuming there has to be something "wrong" somewhere as I can't believe that there's just a mere 2c difference between the ~1200RPM(60%) and 2000RPM(100%) with this cooler. I also have a push pull config and the 2nd fan is spinning at around 850RPM.

I applied the thermal paste like this:

Any ideas? or maybe better settings/config?

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Hey guys, I bought and installed a CM Hyper 212 Plus 3 days ago and my temps where fine, I went from ~75c prime run (stock intel cooler) to ~54c.

Now, I have an ASUS P8P67 board and my fan profile is set to standard, I wanted to see how the cooler performed at max speed so I disabled CPU Q-FAN Control, now having the cooler running at 100% speed I did a quick 10 min prime95 run and the average temperature was 52c, that's only 2c below my previous test with the default settings which utilized the fan at about 60%.

I'm assuming there has to be something "wrong" somewhere as I can't believe that there's a mere 2c difference between the ~1200RPM and 2000RPM with this cooler, btw I also have a push pull config and the 2nd fan is spinning at around 850RPM.

I applied the thermal paste like this:

Any ideas? or maybe better settings/config?

On the stock Hyper 212+ fan, going from 60% to 100% won't make a huge difference. That's why I only let mine run up to 60% at anything below 75c. Mine never goes above 60c so it's no big deal. Your temps are fine, just keep it @ 60%.

 

[Nekrono]

On the stock Hyper 212+ fan, going from 60% to 100% won't make a huge difference. That's why I only let mine run up to 60% at anything below 75c. Mine never goes above 60c so it's no big deal. Your temps are fine, just keep it @ 60%.

I see, I guess I'll either leave it on "Standard" or set it to "Manual" and so it performs a bit better.

Also I forgot to mention that I have a 2500k @stock.

 

[yellow submarine]

Gene-Z mATX board. Dunno what case/setup/use you are planning.

Good upgrade.

Coop, thanks for the reco on the mobo.

Ideally the case I want to use would be non descript. Don't want ambulance lights next to the tv. Haven't decided on one yet, so suggestions would be good. Currently the shuttle has this rectangular receiver like design I'm warming to.

 

[Hazaro]

Hey guys, I bought and installed a CM Hyper 212 Plus 3 days ago and my temps where fine, I went from ~75c prime run (stock intel cooler) to ~54c.

Now, I have an ASUS P8P67 board and my fan profile is set to standard, I wanted to see how the cooler performed at max speed so I disabled CPU Q-FAN Control, now having the cooler running at 100% speed I did a quick 10 min prime95 run and the average temperature was 52c, that's only 2c below my previous test with the default settings which utilized the fan at about 60%.

I'm assuming there has to be something "wrong" somewhere as I can't believe that there's just a mere 2c difference between the ~1200RPM(60%) and 2000RPM(100%) with this cooler. I also have a push pull config and the 2nd fan is spinning at around 850RPM.

I applied the thermal paste like this:

Any ideas? or maybe better settings/config?

SB runs cool. 60% speed is not that far off from 100% (for CFM) and the fins on the 212 aren't super dense so it is not a big impact.

 

[littleworm]

reseat memory
unplug replug all cables
reseat gpu

Tried all of that and I'm still not having any luck.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

I see, I guess I'll either leave it on "Standard" or set it to "Manual" and so it performs a bit better.

Also I forgot to mention that I have a 2500k @stock.

Overclock that puppy to 4 Ghz at least. Just set multiplier to 40 or 42 (I recommend 42.) Then set the fan to 50% so that it doesn't get too loud.

 

[jcutner]

Decided to get a new mobo + cpu to resolve the issues I was having.
Went with the 2500K and the AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Seems to be working alright, might be having HDD issues though as it took 5 attempts of installing Windows before I could actually get in...

Is it safe to OC the 2500k on the stock HSF, or should I really be investing in a proper 3rd party HSF? Also, I hope there is a guide to the UEFI to OC, then again I haven't played around with it too much!

 

[Hazaro]

Tried all of that and I'm still not having any luck.

Are you positive your monitor is detecting sources?

Try power cycling it a few times. Turn off PSU. Hold power button for 30s. Replug.
Try this 3 times.

Remove HDD and DVD and excess cards / USB devices. Try 1 stick of RAM.

If your remove memory and try to boot does it beep at you? (If mobo has audio?)

Last option: Assemble it outside the case, again bare minimum.

Decided to get a new mobo + cpu to resolve the issues I was having.
Went with the 2500K and the AsRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Seems to be working alright, might be having HDD issues though as it took 5 attempts of installing Windows before I could actually get in...

Is it safe to OC the 2500k on the stock HSF, or should I really be investing in a proper 3rd party HSF? Also, I hope there is a guide to the UEFI to OC, then again I haven't played around with it too much!

The SB CPUs don't add much wattage when OC'd. If you stay about 1.25V you can probably get 4Ghz out of it, most likely a touch higher.
Guide in OP.

 

[Naka]

Got my first mechanical keyboard for Christmas, a SteelSeries G6V2. So far I really like the way the keys feel and the feedback from pressing them. My only minor complaints so far are the spacebar being a tad high and the \| key being between Shift and /? but these are things I can get used to. Overall it's seriously amazing to type on!

 

[theRizzle]

I am planning on building my little brother a rig for next summer. Now, since we are not going to build it until next year, I am not really in any hurry to buy parts.

However, since I am planning to try and keep it as cheap as possible, I was thinking about getting a Phenom II X4 965 or something around there. By most accounts, the new AMD stuff is not as good as these Phenom II's, so should I buy that now? I am worried they wont be around anymore in 6 months and I'll have to settle for what seems to be an inferior product in Bulldozer.

 

[Hazaro]

I am planning on building my little brother a rig for next summer. Now, since we are not going to build it until next year, I am not really in any hurry to buy parts.

However, since I am planning to try and keep it as cheap as possible, I was thinking about getting a Phenom II X4 965 or something around there. By most accounts, the new AMD stuff is not as good as these Phenom II's, so should I buy that now? I am worried they wont be around anymore in 6 months and I'll have to settle for what seems to be an inferior product in Bulldozer.

New AMD / nVidia $100-$130 part on 28nm by summer. Intel better for most applications.

Maybe a new Ivy Bridge or AMD CPU by Summer.

Only should buy RAM, PSU, Case, Heatsink now if it is on sale. Leave mobo, cpu, gpu open.

 

[SUPARSTARX]

I want to upgrade my CPU but so far the buldozer performance has not really been that great to look at. The motherboard would have to go as well.

Currently using:
Phenom II 965 BE no OC
MSI 870-G45 AM3 AMD 770 (bottle necking my SSD, maybe CPU and video card too)
16gb G.Skill Ripjaw 1333mhz DDR3 memory
EVGA Nvidia GTX 570 Superclocked
Corsair Force 3 SSD
Corsair G700 PSU


I should probably wait a few short months to see what pushes out on the market by Spring.

 

[Hazaro]

Just clock your Phenom II higher. It does 60+FPS in most titles and shouldn't be limited you that much unless they are RTS titles or recently released AAA graphic games.
330MBs R/W isn't that great a bottleneck either since the benefits are all in the access times.

 

[SUPARSTARX]

Just clock your Phenom II higher. It does 60+FPS in most titles and shouldn't be limited you that much unless they are RTS titles or recently released AAA graphic games.
330MBs R/W isn't that great a bottleneck either.

I don't have a clue on how to overclock. Shoot me some easy to follow tuts for my CPU

 

[Hazaro]

Any Phenom II 955/965 guide should do. There's probably one for your motherboard if you google for it.

Same voltage / stability testing pretty much. I want to say something like 1.40V and 3.8Ghz off the top of my head. They don't clock great since they already come with a high clock.

 

[littleworm]

Are you positive your monitor is detecting sources?

Try power cycling it a few times. Turn off PSU. Hold power button for 30s. Replug.
Try this 3 times.

Remove HDD and DVD and excess cards / USB devices. Try 1 stick of RAM.

If your remove memory and try to boot does it beep at you? (If mobo has audio?)

Last option: Assemble it outside the case, again bare minimum.

Ill try all these in the morning and see if it works, my guess is that i messed up in the wires somewhere along the line.

 

[mkenyon]

Any Phenom II 955/965 guide should do. There's probably one for your motherboard if you google for it.

Same voltage / stability testing pretty much. I want to say something like 1.40V and 3.8Ghz off the top of my head. They don't clock great since they already come with a high clock.

There are links to overclocking guides for all relatively current sockets in the Race Your PC thread.

 

[Hazaro]

There are links to overclocking guides for all relatively current sockets in the Race Your PC thread.

Great, I added guide info to the OP.

Once I get some spare time I'll add indents / bullet points too where I think I can work them in.

 

[theRizzle]

New AMD / nVidia $100-$130 part on 28nm by summer. Intel better for most applications.

Maybe a new Ivy Bridge or AMD CPU by Summer.

Only should buy RAM, PSU, Case, Heatsink now if it is on sale. Leave mobo, cpu, gpu open.

I know Intel is better, but I can't get any Intel quad core chip for $129.99 CDN. I am trying to keep costs relatively down since it is for my younger brother. and I still have to have enough money to build myself something too, haha.

It just seems like the FX-4100 is so much worse than the Phenom II at the same price. I don't really have much confidence that whatever they put out next is going to be any better.

 

[Hazaro]

I know Intel is better, but I can't get any Intel quad core chip for $129.99 CDN. I am trying to keep costs relatively down since it is for my younger brother. and I still have to have enough money to build myself something too, haha.

It just seems like the FX-4100 is so much worse than the Phenom II at the same price. I don't really have much confidence that whatever they put out next is going to be any better.

Just presenting some of what I go by here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=289
Definitely not the end all, but why I recommend the 2100 over the previous x4 635 / 955. Also the upgradability to an Ivy Bridge Quad helps. The Intel + HT is just that much faster clock for clock. That's why it is general usage suggested. Hard to beat an OC'd x4 at the price range though if you are using those cores.
I had the AMD chips in that build until AMD put BD on a new socket. Plus BD hasn't delivered so far.

 

[Lucius86]

Thinking of going larger with my monitor, but I don't know whether to jump from 22" to 24", or to 27" (and if 27", is the pixel density too crap for 1080P resolution?).

Anyone have opinions on their recent monitor purchases they would not mind sharing?

Really hate to be that guy who quotes himself - but anyone?

I want to go to 27", but it needs to be justified.

 

[Hazaro]

Really hate to be that guy who quotes himself - but anyone?

I want to go to 27", but it needs to be justified.

Not too many monitor gurus in the thread. I just go by Newegg/Amazon reviews and pricing, then find indepth reviews of the models I'm looking at buying. Generally works pretty well.
Make sure you check review dates to see if it is the latest model (Usually on the model it will display some kind of year indication as well)

I know Exodus uses a 32" HDTV as a monitor so I guess it is all preference to you. When I was getting a second monitor I just stuck a tape measure on my desk at an angle and decided a 23/24" was good for me.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Really hate to be that guy who quotes himself - but anyone?

I want to go to 27", but it needs to be justified.

I use a 42" LG gaming HDTV @ 1080p for my monitor and even 3 feet away it looks fucking great, pixel density be damned. I used to have a 28" Hanns-G 1080p monitor and that looked fantastic as well.

 

[Juice]

I ordered my parts from newegg on 12/24 with rush processing and they still haven't shipped, at this rate I'll be lucky to get them a full calendar week later on 12/31. :-(

Can anyone at GAF help me by quoting this and feeling sorry for me? Sigh.

All these Steam deals are making the wait harder and trying my patience.

 

[RS4-]

Really hate to be that guy who quotes himself - but anyone?

I want to go to 27", but it needs to be justified.

Really boils down to how much you want to spend lol.

 

[Lucius86]

Really boils down to how much you want to spend lol.

I'm willing to pay more IF the price is justified - i.e. do I spend £250 for a 1080p cheap 27", or go £350 for a 1440P cheap IPS panel, or if it is more prudent to just stick to 24" and get a nice monitor at that level.

Hence why I want opinions on how a 27" 1080P monitor looks

 

[Sarcasm]

I ordered my parts from newegg on 12/24 with rush processing and they still haven't shipped, at this rate I'll be lucky to get them a full calendar week later on 12/31. :-(

Can anyone at GAF help me by quoting this and feeling sorry for me? Sigh.

All these Steam deals are making the wait harder and trying my patience.

Just buy now, play than.

Hell most of us buy and hope to play haha!

I'm willing to pay more IF the price is justified - i.e. do I spend £250 for a 1080p cheap 27", or go £350 for a 1440P cheap IPS panel, or if it is more prudent to just stick to 24" and get a nice monitor at that level.

Hence why I want opinions on how a 27" 1080P monitor looks

Should look fine. Though me personally would want a higher resolution. I have a 24" 1920x1200 (16:10 aspect) and love it to death. I don't know what aspect ration 1440 is though.

But 1080 on a 27 should look fine...since it looks fine on some people who use 32"+ for same purpose.

 

[Isaccard]

Okay. This is my first step into build a PC, parts, etc. Did some looking around and lots of reading and here's what I've come up with for a first time build.

Spoiler

If you can't be kind, please be vague idontknowanythingaboutPCs ):

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Processor - Quad Core (Is a cooler recommended for this?)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive: (Reusing a couple of old Western Digitals 160 GB)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 550 Ti SuperClocked Video Card - 1GB
Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT

Good?

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

I have a slight problem with my 5770. Just recently it started getting these brief hangs, like the game and sound keep going but the video freezes for maybe a second then just continues on normally. I have a feeling its a driver issue. I've upgraded a few times just running the new installers from AMD/ATI. My own fault for not using driversweeper. Anything else I should do besides wipe the drivers in sweeper and reinstall?

 

[knitoe]

Okay. This is my first step into build a PC, parts, etc. Did some looking around and lots of reading and here's what I've come up with for a first time build.

Spoiler

If you can't be kind, please be vague idontknowanythingaboutPCs ):

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500 Processor - Quad Core (Is a cooler recommended for this?)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive: (Reusing a couple of old Western Digitals 160 GB)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 550 Ti SuperClocked Video Card - 1GB
Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT

Good?

Get the 2500K. If you don't, soon, you will be sorry once you realize you how easily it can overclock to 4.4-4.5GHz. Which is a huge difference for such a small price difference.

Get a 5600 Ti instead. Much better performance in gaming.

 

[Isaccard]

These were chosen within a 700~ dollar budget.

Spoiler

I have no idea what over clocking is.

 

[Sarcasm]

These were chosen within a 700~ dollar budget.

Spoiler

I have no idea what over clocking is.

OC is basically taking the i5 2500 K increasing some voltage bumping it up from 3.4 ghz to 4.0~4.6 ghz (can get to 5 GHZ).

And trust me..add more to the budget if you need.

i5 2500 K
560 ti (new one)

 

[knitoe]

These were chosen within a 700~ dollar budget.

Spoiler

I have no idea what over clocking is.

Sometimes, it's better to push the budget further or wait until you have enough. It's worth it in this case. If you want to have all the bell and whistle in games, you want at least the better video card.

Overclocking is taking something at stock and pushing it beyond that. For example, a 2500K(unlock) runs at 3.3GHz, but they can easily do 4.4-4.5GHz.

 

[Animal]

So I have a DDR3 machine with 3x2GB sticks of OCZ overclocked to 1600MHz @ 8-8-8-24 timings.

I am only using up 3 of my available 6 ram slots on my motherboard.

Can I buy a set of 3x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24 and throw it in and run it at same timings and clock speed?

I'm basically worried that since my new set doesn't have the same size sticks as my first set that I will lose the DDR3 multiplier.

Thanks

 

[knitoe]

So I have a DDR3 machine with 3x2GB sticks of OCZ overclocked to 1600MHz @ 8-8-8-24 timings.

I am only using up 3 of my available 6 ram slots on my motherboard.

Can I buy a set of 3x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz @ 9-9-9-24 and throw it in and run it at same timings and clock speed?

I'm basically worried that since my new set doesn't have the same size sticks as my first set that I will lose the DDR3 multiplier.

Thanks

Same speed, but timing needs to be change to reflect the slower new ram otherwise the computer won't boot up. You really won't notice much of difference other than a tiny amount in benchmarks.

 

[Animal]

Same speed, but timing needs to be change to reflect the slower new ram otherwise the computer won't boot up. You really won't notice much of difference other than a tiny amount in benchmarks.

Thanks for replying knitoe. Appreciated.

The new RAM is sold as 9-9-9-24 but I have come to expect all high performance RAM to run as low as 8ms timings if the clock isn't too high.

That was the case with my OCZ gold sticks. I found a sweet spot with 8-8-8-24 timings at around ~1470Mhz.

Is it wrong of me to expect the Corsair Vengeance sticks to do the same? My original sticks are OCZ Gold sticks.

 

[Isaccard]

Alright, I think I can stretch it a bit but here's what It's looking like with the suggested minor revisions.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor - Quad Core (Is a cooler recommended for this?)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive: (Reusing a couple of old Western Digitals 160 GB)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked Video Card - 1GB
Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT

Bringing me up to about 800~ not too bad?

 

[knitoe]

Alright, I think I can stretch it a bit but here's what It's looking like with the suggested minor revisions.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor - Quad Core (Is a cooler recommended for this?)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive: (Reusing a couple of old Western Digitals 160 GB)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked Video Card - 1GB
Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT

Bringing me up to about 800~ not too bad?

Yes. You will be way more happy in gaming.

Thanks for replying knitoe. Appreciated.

The new RAM is sold as 9-9-9-24 but I have come to expect all high performance RAM to run as low as 8ms timings if the clock isn't too high.

That was the case with my OCZ gold sticks. I found a sweet spot with 8-8-8-24 timings at around ~1470Mhz.

Is it wrong of me to expect the Corsair Vengeance sticks to do the same? My original sticks are OCZ Gold sticks.

Depends if the manufacturer bins them or not. It's more easy with CPU since only they only come from Intel / AMD, and with many users, you can get an idea of how much overclocking can be done. With ram, you have many vendors.

You could try. If you get errors or computer doesn't boot up, then you know. Even such a tiny speed difference, I wouldn't even bother.

 

[Animal]

Yes. You will be way more happy in gaming.



Depends if the manufacturer bins them or not. It's more easy with CPU since only they only come from Intel / AMD, and with many users, you can get an idea of how much overclocking can be done. With ram, you have many vendors.

You could try. If you get errors or computer doesn't boot up, then you know. Even such a tiny speed difference, I wouldn't even bother.

I guess its going to be a bit of a gamble no matter what. Thanks again knitoe!

 

[Lucius86]

Cheers for everyone's input - I have decided to wait on my monitor purchase and carry on with my 22" for now - nothing is grabbing me atm.

 

[Horsemama1956]

Alright, I think I can stretch it a bit but here's what It's looking like with the suggested minor revisions.

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor - Quad Core (Is a cooler recommended for this?)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 Intel Z68 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Hard Drive: (Reusing a couple of old Western Digitals 160 GB)
Video Card: GeForce GTX 560 Ti SuperClocked Video Card - 1GB
Case: Cooler Master RC-430-KWN1 Elite 430 Mid Tower ATX Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 500-Watt Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHAS124-04 Internal DVD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT

Bringing me up to about 800~ not too bad?

When would you be upgrading the GPU again? If it's not going to be for awhile, I would go for an i3 and pump more into the GPU, possibly building it all but the GPU and waiting on the 78xx, or possibly a 7950 with the money saved in February and buying the i5 2500k now(if you are going to have more money in the next few months that is).

If the budget is pretty set in stone the 2500k is a little more then you need for that class of GPU. You could also try a Phenom II 960T, which can hit 4Ghz+ easily and possibly unlock to an X6 for $130, though it would be a little slower in games like Starcraft 2.

2500k is a phenomenal processor but not at all necessary unless you are running high end GPU setups. Your GPU won't hit the frames an overclocked 2500k could potentially produce.