Help Upgrading PC for Gaming

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Nano511

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My Specs:
Windowx 7 x64
AMD Athlon II X4 640 Processor, 3GHz
6144MB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4200
DirectX 11
Dont know what power supply
Dont know what motherboard


Well i need some help upgrading my computer. I want to be able to run games like BF3 on high, and im also planning on buying 3D modeling software like 3ds Max. I dont really want to spend more than $300 on any one component.

Here is the setup i think i want after doing some research:
Windowx7 x64
Intel®- Core™ i7-2600K Quad-Core 3.4GHz Processor
8GB RAM
GeForce GTX 295
DirectX11
Corsair - Gaming Series 600-Watt ATX CPU
Dontknow what motherboard


Also, what order should i buy the parts in?
 
Why not buy modern GPU like GTX 560 or GTX 570 ?

GTX 295 is good but it is old and lacks newer features such as DX11
 
Why not buy modern GPU like GTX 560 or GTX 570 ?
GTX 295 is good but it is old and lacks newer features such as DX11
Seconded. For what I can tell is the price of a GTX 295 you could get a nice GTX 560Ti (here)
A GTX 570 would run you around $340, but since you don't want to go over $300 I think thats out.

For motherboards I'd go with one of these:
Z68 Gen3 Motherboard Comparison

Purchase order shouldn't matter too much, best bet is to get everything at once though.

Also, assume you're reusing your optical drive, hard drive, and case?
Otherwise you might want to add them to the list.
And if your copy of Windows is OEM you'll have to get a new copy when you get a new motherboard.
If you're not sure it should say on the license sticker, or:
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. On General Tab, under “Registered to:” you can see a product ID (divided into 4 groups of characters separated by hyphens). On an OEM installation, the 2nd group of characters is always OEM whereas on a Retail installation, you will see numbers (such 623).
 
*Note to mods: I'm not sure if the last message went through and your just taking a really long time, but im pretty sure it diddnt go through so im posting again lol.

I have 2 more questions:

Is the power supply i picked out fine?
How would i get more RAM? I remember hearing something about paying to upgrade from 6GB to 8GB but after looking in my computer and looking around google i think i just have to buy another module?My computer has space for 4 modules and only 3 are there, so im assuming each one is 2GB. Would any 2GB module work or do i have to get a specific one?
 
I still have some questions.

1. My computer has had hardware problems in the past to the point where it diddnt work at all. I sent it to HP and they supposedly changed the motherboard. I sometimes get BSOD's related to graphics card malfunctions so i think that is the problem. You might be thinking "no -blam!- idiot" but if it were so obvious wouldnt HP have changed the graphics card and not the motherboard?

So the question is, should i switch out the graphics card or the motherboard? Im worried that a bad motherboard will 'taint' a new graphics card and vice versa.

2. How important would you say a good powersupply is?

3. I heard that the i5-2500 is better than the i7-2600K because of "Dat Sandy Bridge Technology". How true is this?
 
1. No, a motherboard will not "taint" a graphics card. Should a mobo go out there is a possibility it might fry a card, but that is part of life.

2. Extremely. If a PSU blows it will usually take out other components as well. A crappy PSU may say it puts out xxx volts but it actually puts out much less becuae, well, it is crap. The choice of PSU should be more important than all the other components, period.

3. The 2600K is an unlocked CPU, meaning you can overclock the crap out of it. It is also hyper-threading, meaning the individual cores can perform double duty. The only way the 2500 is better is the price; besides, I would buy the 2500K before I would buy the 2600K as it will overclock to 2600K speeds with no problem.
 
The general consensus about the 2500k vs. the 2600k is that if you're only going to be using your computer as a gaming rig then go for the 2500k. If you use it as a work station that runs programs which take advantage of eight cores then the 2600k is the way to go. Most games don't use more than two to four cores, and the ones that do don't use them enough to make a real gameplay difference.
 
The general consensus about the 2500k vs. the 2600k is that if you're only going to be using your computer as a gaming rig then go for the 2500k. If you use it as a work station that runs programs which take advantage of eight cores then the 2600k is the way to go. Most games don't use more than two to four cores, and the ones that do don't use them enough to make a real gameplay difference.

For a work station you wouldn't need a "K" processor at all. You could probably use a dual core i3 and have plenty of headroom left over (for most office work). A graphics workstation would benefit from a quad, but again a "K" would be a waste.
 
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