The best thing to do with £280?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Burrell, Mar 28, 2010.

  1. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    It's my birthday this week (Fri), and i am going to treat myself with an upgrade, excluding the GTX 260 i ordered, as stated in the other thread. I am looking at a case upgrade to a full tower, from a mid tower NZXT Gamma.

    Budget £280 ($340) , i currently have 3 options in mind

    1.) Cooler Master HAF 932, with a full WC setup, Incl Lights etc, Total £275

    2.) Corsair Obsidian 800D Total £210, (WC at a later date when money comes available)

    3.) Antec 1200 Fully WC, Incl Lights etc, Total £280

    Please rate my suggestion, AND/OR give me any other suggestions.

    1.) AND 3.) would mean that i could save up much quicker for a CPU/MB/RAM upgrade to the i7 in the future.

    Thankyou
     
  2. dlb

    dlb MajorGeek

    The Corsair Obsidian 800d is generally considered to be the finest case currently available, and the price certainly reflects that. However, personally, I'd go with a cheaper case (like the CoolerMaster CM 690-II Advanced), drop the watercooling gear, and grab a mobo/CPU combo with the saved money. The CM690-II case is less than half the cost of any of the cases you listed, and going with quality air-cooling will save some money also..... just my opinion ;)

    (I recently upgraded my case to a NZXT Beta EVO and I couldn't be happier! After promo code discounts, mail-in rebates, and free shipping, the case cost me only $30US!! It has mounts for at least six 120mm fans, and some of those mounts will take 140mm fans - and that's why I got it, was for the cooling; no other case with the features of the NZXT Beta EVO was even close to the price I paid; IMO, it is the BEST value in cases right now)
     
  3. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Yeah I wouldn't bother with the water cooling gear either,the best bang for buck would be to upgrade your mobo and get

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Inte...Hz-4MB-Cache-73W-Integrated-GPU-733MHz-Retail

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Asus-P7P55D-Intel-P55-Motherboard-LGA1156

    http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/4GB-...6-(1333)-Non-ECC-Unbuffered-CAS-9-9-9-24-150V

    When you have more money throw an I7 in there,that mobo is just an example you can mix and match as you like,I think spending money on cases is a waste of money,you can have as much cooling as you want you just have to get your hands a little dirty and cut holes and install fans,my case has 5 120mm fans and it only cost me £40.

    EDIT or obviously find a bargain like DLB said.
     
  4. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    I currently have a NZXT Gamma, which also has 6 120mm fans, it's just too small.



    Would a Dual core (i3 with HT) be an upgrade from Quad Core Athlon?

    I was looking at the cases because i would really like to have a go at making my pc look good for a change and fancy the challenge of making a WC setup, but i understand your thoughts on the CPU/MB upgrade, but i dont really have enough cash do upgrade them properly, just to the i3.

    Also, another option i've thought of is getting a GTX 285, to upgrade from my 9600 GSO?

    Thankyou for the suggestions guys, keep 'em comin!
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2010
  5. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Depends which quad core you have and what you do with it,post your cpu model and what games you like to play, give a few examples.
     
  6. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    AMD Athlon Quad 620 OC to 3.6Ghz.

    Cod MW2 and Battlefield bad company 2
     
  7. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Well its something like 6-10 FPS extra depending on the game when comparing both chips at stock this is quite a big improvement from the CPU alone as an I7 will only give you 15 FPS more than what you have now,I'm sure once you overclock the I3 that gap will increase.

    When Christmas comes trade in your I3 or ebay it and get an I7 if you wish.

    I'm just making suggestions,giving you options:):p

    http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/GTA-IV-1.0.3,1402.html

    http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/Far-Cry-2-1.0.1,1401.html

    And if you compare them in work related tasks such as here compressing a 4096kb dictionary file yours takes 424 seconds 356 seconds,the I3 takes 356 seconds and just as a comparison the I7 takes 241 seconds.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-desktop-cpu-charts-update-1/WinZIP-12-8252,1400.html

    So your looking 28 second improvement over your 620 which will be very noticeable when working.

    Mull it over:)
     
  8. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    Thanks alot!

    There's some really good info there!

    And if i didn't have the cash for an i7 at Xmas, i could get the i5 instead?

    hmmm, interesting, Would the MB that you suggested or others in it's price range be suitible to OC the i3 to around 3.6-8Ghz with WC?

    I just phoned up a friend who was selling a Cooler Master Cosmos "S", it is still up for sale, he only wants £80 for it, so i think that the i3, with the cosmos is the best option, what about you?
     
  9. augiedoggie

    augiedoggie The Canadian Loon - LocoAugie (R.I.P. 2012)

    Something else to check is how long are your current PSU cables, where is the PSU mounted in the new case. Like my Corsair TX750, the cables are a tad, 2" , too long for current the mid-tower Corsair case but should be good in a full tower. Oh and the prices on some full towers are mad I say, just mad!
     
  10. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3724&p=5

    I'm not in loop with regard to good Intel socket 1156 overclocking motherboards,my advise would be to do what I do start researching them for the best one,hunt down reviews from trusted sources on google there are plenty to choose from,I usually spent a couple of weeks or a month researching what I want,it might seem like over kill but I always get what I want and never get ripped off.

    If you haven't got a good power supply I'd put it towards that rather than get a fancy case but its up to you.
     
  11. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    Thankyou, yes i am doing my own research too but just want someone elses opinion before i spend my cash on something that a few weeks later i think "damn i wish i had got ---- insted", know what i mean?

    I got a Corsair TX650 that serves me well, i don't think i will need to upgrade that for what i am looking at.


    AUGGIE
    Oh i know!

    Most of them are over £150 ($180)!!! :eek
     
  12. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    Just to let you, i got the i3, 540, this MB, and this RAM.

    I also got the Cosmos very cheaply from my friend!

    Ended up costing up more than i had planned, they should arrive on my B'day on Friday, so i'm looking forward to some OC'ing!! LOL
     
  13. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Awsome man :):) can't wait to see the results of your overclocking adventure,anandtech got one to 4GHZ with the stock cooler so god knows what this thing will do with some cooling.

    WOW Someone actually listened to my advice and bought something :eek are there any pigs flying? :-D

    P.S I appreciate all the thanks buttons you clicked Burrell it took quite a bit of time finding links for you:-D
     
  14. Burrell

    Burrell MajorGeek

    Cheers man!

    I can't wait! i will defo post up the OC results, and in the next 6 months, i plan on getting a 120.3 rad in the Cosmos, which should allow for some real good OC'ing!

    I was just about to "thank" you! Was a bit reluctant when i saw you were catching me up though! LOL
     

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