Upgrading System, couple of questions

YngSeal

Hey, my current system seems to be getting a bit cranky. Lots of crashing and unusual behaviour. I'm not sure if its due to XP, attrition or parts but its motivating me to invest in an upgrade

So far I have

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXqo

put together. Any thoughts on this would be welcome.

I have a 1tb Seagate Barracuda 7200 HD I'm hoping to salvage and 1tb external which I think should cover my storage needs. Short-sighted?

I also have a 430W PSU, I'm a bit worried its the weak link. Should I upgrade for the system above or is there any need?

In terms of Windows, I was considering upgrading to Win 8 as its only 40 bucks till Jan 31st. It's cheaper then Win 7 but I'm curious is it as bad as it seems?


1. What is your budget? [€900]

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming] (FTL, Legend of Grimrock, Super Meatboy )

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes, see question above]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [This is really what I'm asking, is my 430W PSU and 1tb Hard Drive going to be ok]

5. Do you need a monitor? [No]

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080, No]


7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [I'm not planning to, but I wanted to leave myself the option. I'm aware I would need to invest in further cooling and power for that]

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]

9. When are you purchasing? [In the next couple of weeks]

Evd-Burner

Fill this out first. Gives much more info and a good starting point. Also I doubt hat site delivers to Ireland for free, and you will prob be charged vat by customs.

YngSeal

Thanks, Burner. I've updated with that info.

That site doesn't sell parts, it just lets you put together a build for comparison and easy linkage.

I'll probably go with Komplett unless I'm seeing significant savings elsewhere.

Evd-Burner

You have enough cash for an entire build. I will have access to my pc later and will do up a spec.

Do you need also a case?

DO NOT GET WINDOWS 8!!! I have it for work and its a joke. Once I get home I boot the windows 7 partition...

marco_polo

Is this old PC a custom or pre build as i it is an OEM version of windows you can't really upgrade it and use it on a different PC.

Should be grand on the hard drive front,I am guessing it is reasonably new as a 1TB, as for the PSU do you have a model and an age fot it (If you are runnig XP it is could be old enough?). Possibly take the DVD it is SATA as well.

As for windows 8 if you have a retail version of XP and can upgrade it is probably half the price of Win 7 upgrade and it isn't that annoying in my opnion . If you need a fresh copy then by all means 7 all the way.

Komplett are very uncompetitive pricewise so I'd be surprised if we can't find good savings for you from elsewhere.

Evd-Burner

Here is a build that is very similar to the one I currently have on order.

It is very very good for overclocking both cpu side and gpu side. However for the cpu you could only give a slight overclock with that cooler, you would need to invest more in the future if you were to overclock more, perhaps a corsair h100i or something.

If you want to bring the budget down there are tonnes of cheaper components that will play the games you require but this system should last you a good few years.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€42.78
SanDisk SSD 128GB S-ATA 600|€76.87
Thermaltake Hamburg 530W|€41.01
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3|€87.14
BitFenix Shinobi Midi-Tower USB 3.0 black, ohne Netzteil|€53.03
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€13.44
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.49
Scythe Katana 4, für alle Sockel geeignet|€22.85
Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 royalKing, 3GB GDDR5, AMD Radeon HD 7950, PCI- Express|€284.54
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€932.10

YngSeal

@marco
I think the case, Dvd/floppy drive date back 10 years.

The PSU is only about 4 years old and its actually 480W, it's Vcool but I can't see any serial number.

Everything else is only 3 years old.

I'm not even entirely sure where I got XP, I know I had a code for it so it's legit but I was hoping I could just upgrade it via Microsoft website and then if I use the same hard drive in the new build it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe that's not possible though. I think Bill is in Dublin tomorrow, I'll have to track him down and see what the story is.

@Burner
Thanks for the response, I like some of the choices there but you've managed to add an extra €200 to what I had!

I liked the Mother Board, looks cheaper and does the job. The SSD seems to be in all the builds on here along with that Shinobi case (is it just the name?), does it make a large difference to performance? It's fairly costly.

I think the 3Gb card is a bit overkill for what I'm going to be running. I've ended up with this

Item|Price
16GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance blau PC3-12800U CL10-10-10-27|€75.69
SanDisk SSD 128GB S-ATA 600|€76.87
Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced, USB 3.0 - schwarz|€77.78
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
MSI Z77A-G43, Intel Z77, ATX, DDR3|€87.14
ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5, GeForce GTX 660, 2048MB DDR5|€217.73
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.49
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€845.65

Still not sure about the PSU though.

marco_polo

If it is this one this one it doesn't inspire confidence. A real 480W PSU would not have a 25 Amp 12V rail (Should be at least 40 Amp).

Shinobi is a decent pretty quiet case for the budget, the HAF is better for cooling but once you get a fairly decent one its not going to have a huge impact on performance unless you are stuffing it with a couple of graphics cards and heavily overclocking everything.

You really don't need 16GB just for gaming, 8GB is loads (even 4Gb is still adequate but may as well put in 8 from the start as its fairly cheap) .

If you are getting an SSD I would upgrade to the Crucial M4 or San Disk Extreme 120GB instead of the regular san disk for an extra few quid.

Just for the sake of it throwing up a lower budget alternative that would still tick all the boxes, without an SSD if you aren't keen one (I'd never go back to not having one TBH).

Item|Price
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€33.92
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.49
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€45.59
ASRock 970 Extreme3, AM3+, ATX|€70.34
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€42.78
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€121.44
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€28.68
MSI R7850-1GD5/OC, 1024MB DDR5, PCI-Express|€160.61
Samsung SH-118AB schwarz|€13.44
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€622.28

Evd-Burner

Budget is 900 so I just stuck to that...

That bitfenix case is solid. Good for cable management and cooling alike, and on a plus side it is cheap.

For the ssd its a good brand name and around the cheapest you will get for a 128gb.

As I said I went overkill as I was under budget AFAIK.

marco_polo

Evd-Burner wrote: »

Budget is 900 so I just stuck to that...

That bitfenix case is solid. Good for cable management and cooling alike, and on a plus side it is cheap.

For the ssd its a good brand name and around the cheapest you will get for a 128gb.

As I said I went overkill as I was under budget AFAIK.

I didn't say it wasn't very nice, I think your build is an excellent way to spend 920 euros.

YngSeal

Thanks for the help guys. Marco you are spot on with the PSU so I guess it needs replacing. Is the Super-Flower one OK with everything else I have?

I also took your advice on the RAM and I'm sold on the SSD. I just have a thing for that case though, it's probably not worth the extra 30/40 euro but still.

Final question is on the extra fan, is the one supplied useless? If I'm not over-clocking do I need the better one?

I've arrived to this build

Item|Price
Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced, USB 3.0 - schwarz|€77.78
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€204.96
ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5, GeForce GTX 660, 2048MB DDR5|€217.73
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.49
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€42.78
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€45.59
SANDISK Extreme SSD 120GB 6,4cm (2,5") SAT 6GB`s|€89.99
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€83.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€868.30

Evd-Burner

You planning to us stock cooling for the CPU?

YngSeal

Evd-Burner wrote: »

You planning to us stock cooling for the CPU?

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. If I'm not over clocking do I need the better fan?

Evd-Burner

Intells stock coolers really are brutal tbh... Your much better of spending 20 on a brand one. Will make a difference in temps. Especially when the CPU is under load.

Personally I have never used a stock cooler. The only CPU I'd use with a stock cooler is am3 as they have pretty good stock cooler IMO.

challengemaster

Evd-Burner wrote: »

Intells stock coolers really are brutal tbh... Your much better of spending 20 on a brand one. Will make a difference in temps. Especially when the CPU is under load.

Personally I have never used a stock cooler. The only CPU I'd use with a stock cooler is am3 as they have pretty good stock cooler IMO.

Funnily enough I've seen the complete opposite said here less than a week ago

marco_polo

YngSeal wrote: »

Yeah, that's what I'm wondering. If I'm not over clocking do I need the better fan?

If you have no intentions of ever overclocking you can get a slighly cheaper board and CPU.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/59305/ASRock+B75+Pro3%2C+Sockel+1155%2C+ATX.article
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Socket+1155/63549/Intel+Core+i5-3570+Box%2C+LGA1155.article

I'd throw one a cooler now for this sort of budget, but I suppose you can get a cooler for 20-30 bucks later if you find the stock fan is too loud.

Personally for the same price I'd get the nicely pre overclocked (to 1100MHz) HIS IceQ X 7870 for the same money, and it should have a reasonable performance edge over that GT660, even without overclocking it any further.

http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/his_hd7870_iceq_xturbo/index.php?p=15

Evd-Burner

challengemaster wrote: »

Funnily enough I've seen the complete opposite said here less than a week ago

lol they suck major ass though... Way to noisy and aren't great on load... CM think I've met you a few times before, am I right?

YngSeal

Evd-Burner wrote: »

lol they suck major ass though... Way to noisy and aren't great on load... CM think I've met you a few times before, am I right?

Ok way too noisy then the fan is gone.

marco_polo wrote: »

If you have no intentions of ever overclocking you can get a slighly cheaper board and CPU.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/59305/ASRock+B75+Pro3%2C+Sockel+1155%2C+ATX.article
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/Socket+1155/63549/Intel+Core+i5-3570+Box%2C+LGA1155.article

I'd throw one a cooler now for this sort of budget, but I suppose you can get a cooler for 20-30 bucks later if you find the stock fan is too loud.

Personally for the same price I'd get the nicely pre overclocked (to 1100MHz) HIS IceQ X 7870 for the same money, and it should have a reasonable performance edge over that GT660, even without overclocking it any further.

http://www.rage3d.com/reviews/video/his_hd7870_iceq_xturbo/index.php?p=15

Thanks Marco, I don't want to rule out over clocking. I initially wasn't going to as I was hoping to hang on to my PSU and save a bit on the cooling system.

Since I'm already replacing the PSU and I hate noisy fans I might as well get the new fan with everything else.

Are the PSU and fan that you've suggested going to be enough to handle an overclock or should I upgrade them slightly?

Item|Price
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€45.59
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€28.68

challengemaster

Evd-Burner wrote: »

lol they suck major ass though... Way to noisy and aren't great on load... CM think I've met you a few times before, am I right?

You could well have. Not that I can remember where though (I can barely remember last week)

T'was hardly at a midlans a few years ago?

Evd-Burner

Yeah it would have been at midlands alright... What clan were you in? The name is very familiar, ur a Galway man I think