PC Upgrade, any recommendations?

[seVer]

The 2500k is not a lot slower than the 2600k for over a grand less. if you are tight on budget don't bother with the 2600k.

The major difference between the two is threading, the 2500k is 4 core 4 thread whereas the 2600k is 4 core 8 threads, so basically if you are looking at a gaming rig, the 2600k would be a waste, you should only look at the 2600k if you frequently use heavily threaded apps.

[frank007]

The major difference between the two is threading, the 2500k is 4 core 4 thread whereas the 2600k is 4 core 8 threads, so basically if you are looking at a gaming rig, the 2600k would be a waste, you should only look at the 2600k if you frequently use heavily threaded apps.

I still like my 2600k. Works for me!

[to0kenZA]

Mr Six, my good man, I would really consider the 580 if I were you. It might have less RAM, but that doesn't matter. It's a 384bit card and dude, I have to tell you, after having it for a week, I cannot say anything but AMAZING. Best investment I've ever made.

Another brilliant thing about it is that it's got a physics processor built into it (like all Nvidia cards) which takes the load off your CPU. I never thought it would make that much of a diff, but it does. And the thing runs cool and quite like you won't believe. Really dude, think about this one.

[frank007]

Mr Six, my good man, I would really consider the 580 if I were you. It might have less RAM, but that doesn't matter. It's a 384bit card and dude, I have to tell you, after having it for a week, I cannot say anything but AMAZING. Best investment I've ever made.

Another brilliant thing about it is that it's got a physics processor built into it (like all Nvidia cards) which takes the load off your CPU. I never thought it would make that much of a diff, but it does. And the thing runs cool and quite like you won't believe. Really dude, think about this one.

I totally agree with you. I love my GTX580. I will never go back to AMD/ATI. They are good cards but never as good as the Nvidia cards. Nvidia FTW!!!

[Cobalt]

I totally agree with you. I love my GTX580. I will never go back to AMD/ATI. They are good cards but never as good as the Nvidia cards. Nvidia FTW!!!

LOL, you need to change your signature specs! You're still showing that "dismal" 460 OC. I'm still rocking a ATI 4850 I bought 2 and a bit years ago and it's still playing everything quite nice...

However, from the reviews I've read, ATI and NVIDIA are much of a muchness at the moment in terms of price/power. But you'll definitely not go wrong with a 580! And don't let massive chunks of RAM fool you. It's very much a compensation mechanism. Rather get the higher bit card!

[frank007]

LOL, you need to change your signature specs! You're still showing that "dismal" 460 OC. I'm still rocking a ATI 4850 I bought 2 and a bit years ago and it's still playing everything quite nice...

However, from the reviews I've read, ATI and NVIDIA are much of a muchness at the moment in terms of price/power. But you'll definitely not go wrong with a 580! And don't let massive chunks of RAM fool you. It's very much a compensation mechanism. Rather get the higher bit card!

lol. Read what it says next to the "dismal 460 OC". It says physx (as in dedicated Physx), and above that it says "Graphics: GTX580 DirectCU2". haha. That is okay though.

[to0kenZA]

lol. Read what it says next to the "dismal 460 OC". It says physx (as in dedicated Physx), and above that it says "Graphics: GTX580 DirectCU2". haha. That is okay though.

I have exactly the same GPU as you dude How awesome is this card?!

[frank007]

I have exactly the same GPU as you dude How awesome is this card?!

that is awesome. Just gonna suck a bit when we wanna SLI with the space issues. LOL.

[XeroS1x]

Thanks guys for the input. I am going to be sticking with the i7 as I do sometimes use heavy resource applications and might increasingly do so in the near future.

@Tooken - Damn, I guess you are right when it comes to the bit thing. Both the GTX570 and GTX580 have higher bit rates compared to AMD. The thing is that the GTX580 is a bit out of my price range. Do you have any idea on the performance of the GTX570? I am assuming that it must be similar to the GTX580?

Also, has that Huntkey X7 PSU exploded yet? Had any issues with it so far?

@Cobalt - Good point, I can see how easily people could fall into that trap. The 2GB of memory is rather enticing. But not all that useful if it bottlenecks at 256bits I guess.

[frank007]

Thanks guys for the input. I am going to be sticking with the i7 as I do sometimes use heavy resource applications and might increasingly do so in the near future.

@Tooken - Damn, I guess you are right when it comes to the bit thing. Both the GTX570 and GTX580 have higher bit rates compared to AMD. The thing is that the GTX580 is a bit out of my price range. Do you have any idea on the performance of the GTX570? I am assuming that it must be similar to the GTX580?

Also, has that Huntkey X7 PSU exploded yet? Had any issues with it so far?

@Cobalt - Good point, I can see how easily people could fall into that trap. The 2GB of memory is rather enticing. But not all that useful if it bottlenecks at 256bits I guess.

Well there is a bit of a difference in performance about 5 or 10 frames depending on the game but whats nice about the GTX570 compared to the GTX560 is that you can SLI more than 2 of the GTX570's, so when it is time to upgrade the price of the GTX570 will be down and you can almost double the performance with another GTX570. That is what i am going to do as soon as the prices of the GTX580's come down.