Upgrade time!

BasilBasil NubcaekEngland Icrontian
in Hardware
So my paycheck comes in on Thursday and I need to get my ageing PC up to speed.

Currently I've got:
AMD Athlon II x3
Some old Asus board
4GB DDR2
Palit HD4870
Corsair 550W
NZXT Beta

Basically nothing but the drives (128GB Cruical SSD, 1TB Samsung F3) can/will be reused and I plan to buy parts as and when I see a good deal. No real budget, I'm just buying whatever I think is the best value for decent gaming PC.

So, first up, is this worth a punt or are XFX best avoided?

Comments

  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html rates the 7870 LE in the third tier (of 10ish) and is a pretty good card. I liked XFX's double-lifetime warranties (meaning you could re-sell it to someone else who would also get a lifetime warranty) and the single time I had to use it, was quick to turn around.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    Tushon said:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html rates the 7870 LE in the third tier (of 10ish) and is a pretty good card. I liked XFX's double-lifetime warranties (meaning you could re-sell it to someone else who would also get a lifetime warranty) and the single time I had to use it, was quick to turn around.

    no more double lifetime warranty on XFX cards. That card only has a 2yr warranty, as well.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    shwaip said:

    Tushon said:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html rates the 7870 LE in the third tier (of 10ish) and is a pretty good card. I liked XFX's double-lifetime warranties (meaning you could re-sell it to someone else who would also get a lifetime warranty) and the single time I had to use it, was quick to turn around.

    no more double lifetime warranty on XFX cards. That card only has a 2yr warranty, as well.
    Yeah, I knew it had changed a while back, but didn't look on that one cause i was on mobile. The card should be solid.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    Not sure if hardware prices vary wildly where you are, but you might want to link to common etailers you use to help us get bang for your buck, you weird european, you.
  • BasilBasil Nubcaek England Icrontian
    NiGHTS said:

    Not sure if hardware prices vary wildly where you are, but you might want to link to common etailers you use to help us get bang for your buck, you weird european, you.

    pcpartpicker.com works in the UK too so that's prolly the simplest way for you to get an idea of our socialist, tax inclusive, prices.

  • BasilBasil Nubcaek England Icrontian
    Thanks guys, will prolly pull the plug on the 7870 tomorrow then and start looking for a PSU.

    Thinking 650-800W ish from a reputable brand, sound about right?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    Corsair is reasonable for PSU again, 800W-ish for upgradeability.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    The only time you'll need more than 650-ish is for dual graphics cards or powering watercooling solultions alongside your existing CPU/GPU/else. I've been extremely satisfied with Corsair, Seasonic and Silverstone and typically gone for 80+ silver or better.
  • BasilBasil Nubcaek England Icrontian
    Grabbed the 7870 above and a cheap Lite On bluray drive.

    Going to pickup two 4GB DIMMs of Crucial RAM and a Corsair 300R unless anyone has better suggestions.

    Currently looking at either a FX6300 or the slightly faster/hotter FX6350 CPU, any thoughts from IC?
    Any suggestions for a motherboard?
  • BasilBasil Nubcaek England Icrontian
    So yeah, update, bought stuff:

    Motherboard - Gigabyte Z87-D3HP
    CPU - i5 4430
    HSF - Hyper 212 Evo
    RAM - 2x4GB Crucial Ballistix
    GPU - XFX HD7850 LE/Tahiti
    PSU - Be Quiet! Pure Power L8 530W
    ODD - Lite-On BR/DVD/CD reader
    Case - Corsair 300R

    Reusing a 128GB Crucial M4 and 1TB Samsung F3, prolly getting a 2TB Seagate Barracuda in the next week though.

    Any thoughts?
    PirateNinja
  • midgamidga "There's so much hot dog in Rome" ~digi (> ^.(> O_o)> Icrontian
    needs more cowbell.
  • TushonTushon I'm scared, Coach Alexandria, VA Icrontian
    Never heard of that PSU company, but seems fine otherwise :)
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    PSU is on the lukewarm side of positive when it comes to reviews. I'd rather see this build go with a more reputable Corsair unit, but generally good parts all around.

    Keep in mind that if you want a Tahiti LE product, it needs to be 7870 or "7870 XT" branding.
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