Was thinking of upgrading my computer...

[PP Mguire]

Overclocking the CPU is completely safe long as you read guides on how to do it and your cooling is sufficient. I know those chips like to do around 4ghz for a nice performance boost.

Depends on your budget.

1155. I would get a 3570k if you can afford it.

 

[BlackAzrael]

LGA1155? Why exactly? I mean, isn't the latest generation LGA2011?

And do you have any links for guides on how to do that the safe way?

Thank you

 

[PP Mguire]

1155 and 2011 are the current Intel sockets. The latest architecture release was on 1155 which was Ivy Bridge. Clock for clock it is better for gaming than SB-E which is on 2011. There is also no point in 6 cores for gaming. I might also mention that the platform is WAY cheaper too.

I don't know of any good guides personally for the q9550, but to reach 3.4ghz easily you would need an FSB of 400.
After some Google I did find this.
HOWTO: Overclock C2Q (Quads) and C2D (Duals) - A Guide v1.1 - Overclockers Forums

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[BlackAzrael]

Hmm i see...well i thought that in the logical way of things a higher number would mean better but i guess it's not the case here.

As a side note, i found what i think is a pretty good deal for an SSD. An OCZ 120gb Vertex 3 for 80$: Buy the OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 SATA III Solid State Drive at TigerDirect.ca

 

[Baez]

Like I said, NCIX is better in every aspect:

OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 6Gbps SandForce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD - OCZ Technology - VTX3-25SAT3-120G

Stop using tigerdirect.

 

[BlackAzrael]

Yeah it is less, the only thing is that it's with a mail-in rebate, which usually takes forever to get...

But yeah i am wondering whether to get it or not, because i'm not sure that will fit in my Antec 900 case. There's probably trays that exist to make it fit i bet or something like that.

As for the CPU overclocking, is there any program you would recommend to do it? Because i know for the GPU i did it with AMD Overdrive which comes with the Catalyst drivers.

 

[PP Mguire]

Hmm i see...well i thought that in the logical way of things a higher number would mean better but i guess it's not the case here.

As a side note, i found what i think is a pretty good deal for an SSD. An OCZ 120gb Vertex 3 for 80$: Buy the OCZ 120GB Vertex 3 SATA III Solid State Drive at TigerDirect.ca

Yea that's a good price for that actually. Like he said, Tigerdirect blows.

Yeah it is less, the only thing is that it's with a mail-in rebate, which usually takes forever to get...

But yeah i am wondering whether to get it or not, because i'm not sure that will fit in my Antec 900 case. There's probably trays that exist to make it fit i bet or something like that.

As for the CPU overclocking, is there any program you would recommend to do it? Because i know for the GPU i did it with AMD Overdrive which comes with the Catalyst drivers.

You can stuff an SSD anywhere, literally. I used to have my old 2.5" SSD behind my motherboard tray. My current one is 3.5" and I have it on top of the bracket that holds the top part of my case together

Overclocking with software I don't recommend. Using software for a GPU is ok, but you always want to OC with your bios. Reason being, software doesn't control voltages very good at all and you can wind up with an unstable overclock.

Edit: I would also like to mention, that yes usually Intel's enthusiast socket usually has the higher performing chips. Stock for stock though, the 3770k is faster at single threaded apps like games than even my 3960x. The only way these mammoth chips accel over the IB chips on 1155 is when all 6 cores are being used.

 

[Baez]

Yeah it is less, the only thing is that it's with a mail-in rebate, which usually takes forever to get...

Both are mail-in rebates it's just TD tries to hide it until checkout and NCIX lets you know immediately.

 

[BlackAzrael]

Hmm okay, not too sure i'm comfortable playing with voltages numbers though...

As for the video card i was contemplating between those 3 cards: 7850, 7870 or 660Ti. Just not sure if there's a noticeable difference in power between the 7850 and the 7870.

 

[PP Mguire]

The 660ti kills both of the AMD cards, including the 7950 and sometimes touches the 7970.

If you have sufficient cooling and read up enough it isn't too much of a thing.