Hello Bit-tech, A few years ago I worked out my current PC build with help from you fine upstanding folks. It has served me well but I feel that now perhaps it is time for an upgrade. My system is: Q6600 running at stock 2.4GHz on an MSI P6N Diamond 4GB Geil PC6400 RAM BFG GTX260 Graphics card (got it as an RMA replacement when my 8800GTX broke) 1TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint Main drive with a 500GB Seagate as extra storage Running Windows 7 64bit All on a Corsair HX620W supply in an Antec P180 case I am thinking about upgrading the graphics card to something more up to date; possibly the MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II/OC mentioned in the review that got posted today. I am also thinking about getting a second monitor so I can have stuff open at the side while gaming. For this I'm looking at 24", but haven't really convinced myself whether I want to splash out on an IPS monitor or just get something standard (my current is a 22" Samsung Syncmaster 226BW). My overall budget is going to be about £400 I expect (assuming I don't go for an IPS monitor) but I do wonder if maybe other parts of my system are a bit underpowered for the sort of stuff I am wanting to do (plan to play BF3 and Skyrim). I think I should be ok for power supply even with the 560GTX being a bit hungrier. Summary: Any recommendations for new graphics card and monitor together around £400. Should I be upgrading other parts of the system as well right now or will they be ok till next year (trying to space out spending a bit). Thanks
Gtx 570 for the gpu and an ips monitor. EDIT: the lg monitor looks good and as for a good 570, MSI twin frozr cards are pretty good if there is or of those, other than that look at reviews. As for any other upgrades, your psu is good enough, although it may be worth upgrading to ivy bridge/bulldozer at some point.
don't know if you can do it in budget, but the lg ips they just reviewed and a gtx 570 would be sweet...there is a smaller 21.5 inch version of that ips screen on newegg for a little less but lacks adjustment features that the 23 inch version has...
Yeah that monitor could be good actually; any particular recommendations on the gtx 570 front? Also any thoughts on my other questions?
well, i love my frozr III, so that would be my recommendation, but i'm sure there are other competent versions. ur psu is plenty, so no worries there. im sure if you upgrade to a sb system you could get another 15-30 fps over the q6600, but not sure it would be necessary...maybe splash for a good cooler and put the q6600 to around 3.25 - 3.5 and you should be good to go. i would think even a stock q6600 with a gtx 570 will give you more than adequate fps...if not, look for a q9650 for sale on ebay or something. if it's cheap enough, grab it...but i really cant imagine that will be necessary...if i remember correctly you will see about a 15-25% performance gain from q6600 to q9650
You haven't overclocked a Q6600 LG IPS is a good budget option. Personally I think 570's are overpriced in comparison too the 560ti and 6950 for the small performance gain and considering you'll be looking at a new CPU within the next year? (bulldozer/sandybridge-e) you'll need to start saving for that?
im curious how much is a gtx 570 vs a 2 gb 6950? because if it's too much, say more than 5-10%, then a 6950 would be the better bang for buck. the only reason i think the 560 ti is not a good fit is i don't think it will handle bf3 with everything set to max or even close on 1080...at least, i think i read that somewhere... edit: just had a quick glance at ebay and the q9650 is still going for $225...not worth it...
Ok, sorry for not replying last night; I found out my payrise today and have been repaid £360 council tax my flatmate had not been sending to my account so I can stretch a little past £400 quite happily (still not too far). I am looking at this monitor now (been reading monitor threads and it looks like a good budget option; although the U2411 is really tempting me) I think I will also grab a better cooler for my processor and do a slight overclock (I hear to 3GHz is pretty easy) - will need to look out some guides for that. For GPU I think i'd like to stay with Nvidia so it's really either the 560Ti or the 570 (I notice the 570 isn't available to the end of the month but I can wait if needs be). Would there be any GPUs recommended other than these and will the performance of the 570 be very noticeable to justify an ~£70 price difference?
Pay £10 more for a Gelid Tranquillo The 6950 and 6970 are both very good cards too. Look at benchmarks and decide for yourself which offers the best value for money.
This Cooler? I'll check benchmarks as well of course, was just looking for a selection of opinions from people who have used the equipment.
yeah, the tranquillo is a beefier cooler, and the q6600 puts out some heat. 3 ghz will be easy, but so will 3.25... the dell is a good unit too...
Ok had a look at benchmarks and I think I'm going to go for a 560. I've seen information about a newer model from MSI called MSI GTX 560 Ti Hawk Twin Frozr III but haven't been able to find it anywhere apart from amazon where it is a bit more expensive; has anyone heard of this model?
just slightly more overclocked with the slightly beefier cooler over the twin frozr II. i can't imagine it will run bf3 at max playable...but we could be wrong...
It came out really well in the Tom's hardware mid range gpu test, way better than the older model. Back to looking at the 570 I guess.
I only paid a 20% price premium over a comparable 560 ti for my 570 twin frozr III, so look for a deal, then it's definitely worth it.
Yeah might just grab monitor for now and rest later; if GTX260 can't handle displaying desktop/chat on one screen with game on the other i'll just box the old monitor till I get new graphics. Thanks for help anyway.
Been reading that Nvidia cards apparently run at full power when you have two monitors at different resolutions which increases noise, has anyone experienced how bad that actually is and do the ATI cards exhibit a similar problem? This card looks pretty good.
havent heard that, but havent really researched it either. that is an excellent card, if it's 20% or more cheaper than the gtx 570 i think that would be the way to go.
I got mine from Scan.co.uk. However I ordered a 560 Ti Twin Frozr II, so I wasn't expecting it and am as a result very happy
