Phil, your's is a flaky geek solution. In the real world, it would be a smoky jaloppy creaking and groaning every time it is powered on. It wouldn't last 6 months. It's Geek city I would be embarrassed to hand it over as solution.

My unit would be faster, last longer , much quieter and far more reliable.

Sorry, what did yours have going for it again ?

Of course, if you were willing to put some money on this , we could battle it out in the real world Shouldn't be too hard to reproduce the OP rig , and get some benchmarks , measurements taken....

Let me save you the trouble, someone has already compared the two

http://www.overclock.net/7437741-post391.html

As you can see the I5 vs an overclocked/overstretched 6600 is 30% faster in the CPU tests.
The overclocked Q6600 does not scale up with the card, it can barely fill the GTX560 , and will die if a bigger faster card is chosen next. the I5 will scale up easily for years to come.

Ah yep, I checked and you're right. The GTX-550 and 560 are much better for gaming apparently. As far as complete systems go, only this one seems up to scratch:

http://www.digitec.ch/?param=toppreise&wert=218880

No SSD and above his budget, though. Still, I'd argue that the convience of ready-made systems makes it worth it. A friend of mine ventured into the realm of building his own computer recently. He's a pretty tech-savy guy and enjoyed the experience at first, but he regrets it now. His SSD died and just dealing with separate components has been a hassle.

Completely agree with Phil here. A Q6600 is still a very capable processor and when combined with a decent GPU will play just about anything you can throw at it. From the sounds of it, the Windows iinstall and slow HD are the culprit here.

Simply reinstall WIndows and upgrade to a new graphics card (I also reccommend a GTX560, checking your power supply is up to the task) and you will be good to go, without the hassle and expense of getting a completely new PC.

What about these guys?

http://www.gamer-pc.ch/index.php?page=product&info=620

Try playing around with the specs, you may get the price down to desired levels and keep everything you want.

a cheaper option would be:

- run CPU at 3.2ghz on air cooling.
- The GTX-560 or HD6870 or better card
- add SSD drive

gives similar or better performance than the UTH option at a fraction of the price.

3.2 on air, thats going to be too loud to play Phil, it will drive the OP nuts. You must be deaf to suggest that lol

Seriously, you are scraping the barrel here. You are over-geeked and not focusing on the needs of the OP, instead, just trying to prove a non existent point. The OP has a 1000CHF to spend. Go away, and try and do better for a gaming rig, allowing for expansion and upgrade-ability in the future.....OOOPS ! you forgot about that didn't you...

already have done. the money saved would be able to buy a new machine a few years down the line that will still perform better than the one you suggested.

Thinking of throwing in a mobo/CPU/ram/gpu upgrade myself. Is it always recommended to reinstall the OS? I have done in the past, but it is such a pita.

http://www.anandtech.com/print/2485

if you run windows, it's too much of a pain not to re-install.

It's ancient. It's a Geeks dream, overclocked and loud. It wont scale up to the next gen GPU , it's power hungry etc.

I am sure, given the budget, the OP would prefer something more ...

a) Quieter
b) Scaleable
c) Cheaper to run
d) A greater degree of Future-proofing.
e) Uses modern Intel features such as QPI
f) Can take advantage of faster memory
g) Can be overclocked 50% more than the 6600 and still remain stable on air.

I mean the list goes on an on...

If the OP presented me with a budget of 500, then I would lower my standards and consider Phil's option - but why ? Saving that 500CHF is false economy as it will have to be upgraded again real soon , and the investment wasted as the OP must eventually get on to the iX processors etc.

It's easy to geek it up and show off about saving, but in the real world , the geek case falls down outside of the geeks lab. It shows no consideration for usability.

Who wants an old loud unreliable gaming rig ? Not me , my solution given the OP's budget , is simply far superior , much more elegant and makes much better financial sense.

...and how loud on on overclocked Q6600 at 3.2GHz ?

Much much louder....

No, if your system is fine now , the OS will simply want to check the license again, load new Graphics drivers and System drivers for the new MB SATA/NIC/USB3 devices etc. Have them all ready, be prepared to reboot a few times and you should be good to go.

Rubbish ! Prove that please.

I build my own, however from what I've seen, the assembled offers are full of cut corners, 2GB vs. 8GB, the 530 vs. the 560 alone are major cuts. I do a face-palm genuflect ten times every time I open a such box to help out a friend...plus the wads of dust and spider nets. Mr. Hatter has indeed conjured up quality guts.

can't you read?? it's 19dB(A) at maximum speed, which means that in practice, it can be considered silent as this will be lower than the noise of the other components in the system.

Hi there, I have an OS and and LCD screen already yes.. I do like the thought of a new system for approx 1100chf though. any other recommendations?

That's on a standard unclocked chip at idle load... or can't you read ? When running on an overclocked Q6600 it goes as high as 40dBa

Are you seriously suggesting that that fan on an overclocked tp 3.2 Ghz Q6600 under load when playing games will run at 19dBa ? Please, think again.

See my last link: http://www.gamer-pc.ch/index.php?page=product&info=620

Swtich the processor to the 2500k and you've still got a pretty awesome system for ~1200. 2 year warranty, too.

I don't know what the geekier ones in this thread think.

You could buy that system, and invest 200CHF in ripping out the current GPU, they might even fit one for you, refund the difference etc.

It's not a bad buy, but the GPU is not brilliant, it is out of depth for HD gaming. Phone them up, get a quote on an upgrade to the 560/570/580... It might not be that much, and if your budget can squeeze to that, then I would say go for it. Digitec build good machines , offer a good RTB warranty and after sales care etc. Not something I really want to get into.