Upgrade Advice Needed

[nibbler]

I currently have the following and want to look at upgrading /replacing it

AMD Phenom 9650 2.3GHz
4GB DDR2 667
Gigabyte Motherboard (can't remember which one as I'm not on that machine at present)
Gainward GTX260 896MB Golden Sample
400GB and 1TB Hard Drives
DVD rewriter
850 Watt Tsunami PSU
Antech NSK4000 II Case modified to allow the graphics card to fit.
2* 23" HD monitors
Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit

The machine has served me well for the last year or so but now I'm finding the 4GB ram limit on the motherboard rather annoying also the graphics card is very noisy to say the least and it can be heard downstairs through a closed door.

I use the PC mainly for playing World of Warcraft as well as photo editing and would like another quad core pc which has USB 3 and the capacity for 16GB RAM. The graphics need to be the same sort of spec as the GTX 260 or better but it does need to be a lot quieter.

I am unsure whether to stay with AMD or switch to Intel for the processor as I have always used AMD in the past. Same for the graphics I have always used Nvidia but is it worth me switching to ATI now. I have a max budget of £700 but if I can bring it in under that would be great.

Any advice would be great.

[Pendragonuk]

If you want to stick with AMD then these will do most of what you need...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/motherboardbundles/mbb-81208g.html £324.98

Talk to Novatech about swapping out the RAM for something like this:http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/f3-12800cl9d-8gbxl.html £42.98 (not sure if they will discount the cost of the excising RAM in the bundle)


This for ATI: http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/atiradeongraphicscards/atihd6800series/gv-r685oc-1gd.html £132.98
Or this if you want Nvidia: http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560tifermiseries/n560gtx-tf2.html £176.99

Working on the assumption that your hard drives, DVD and Case are good I can tell that the PSU will be a keeper.

That's you just about done for around £500-545 With the change you could look at swapping the 400GB HD for an SSD???

Given your thinking of £700~ish a whole PC might be a good idea that way your old one can be used as a media server or some other project...

http://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/irushpro.html?th=g

The Intel 2500K overclocks like a charm, 4.6GHz is very doable.

[Musthaveittoday]

Ignore the bundle and diy

2660

I have the MSi 560Ti myself and it's a good card, if not and you want to reduce cost go for the other one Pen has listed for you.

Other stuff like opticals,HDD,Case,PSU is that a Thermaltake one? will be re-useable as Pen already said.

If you want cheaper still swap the 2500k i5 for a 2400 i5 and save £31 off what I posted.


Here's the lot you need

2662


Here's a chopped down variation to reduce costs

2663


If you want usb3 to the case ports as well as the i/o shield pick this board http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/ga-z68xp-ud3.html


Second thoughts, scrap that Antec case and get this (http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/ga-z68xp-ud3.html)http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/z9plus.html


Have you thought of cleaning your 260GTX or even replacing the fan to keep costs down, it could just be a load of dust or a bearing failing, as a fan is about £5 it's a lot better than £176 isn't it, iirc the 260 was a good performer card.