€400 upgrade to PC

Recurve360

Sorry about the new thread again but after my pc didnt sell i asked for upgrade advice and got no response. Looking into a few upgrades for my PC that was only recently built. I have a budget of 400-450 max.

For that im looking to get a:

• 8gb 1600mhz ram(single stick as i have 1 8gb Ripjaws at 1600mhz)
• SSD(just for os, photoshop and premier pro)
• 2TB HDD for media files
• Gaming graphics card( not bothered by ultra and 60 fps once it holds steady at 30-40 fps at med/high)
• CPU cooler for AM3 processor.

Here is my current system if needed:
Item|Price
8GB G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL10|€58.79
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€101.96
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0, AM3+, ATX|€62.51
2 x Cooler Master BC 80 LED Blau|€11.22
Cooler Master Elite 431 RC-431K-KWN1 Midi-Tower - pure black, ohne Netzteil|€39.40
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€3.32
LogiLink Wireless LAN 300 Mbps PCI Karte 802.11n 2T2R|€14.64
PowerColor Radeon HD 6670, 1GB DDR3|€56.69
Samsung SH-224BB bare schwarz|€17.18
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€55.64
Thermaltake Munich 430W|€37.09
2 x ARCTIC COOLING ARCTIC F12|€6.38


I was thinking along these lines but let me know if you would make any changes:
Item|Price
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660Ti OC, 2GB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort|€179.00
8GB G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-12800U CL10|€56.75
Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€79.79
SanDisk SSD 128GB S-ATA 600|€77.01
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.83
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€441.37

Will be purchasing in the next 3 weeks. Will be using Geizhals if using HWVS as it will save me about 30-40 quid.

Main question is that my PSU only has 1 pci power out and that card appears to need 2. Do these cards come with a molex to pci adaptor? Or would i need to scale back to a regular 660?

BloodBath

Looks good. i'd probably go for the samsung 840 evo ssd.

You should get an adaptor with the g-card to convert a molex to an 8/6 pin graphics power connection.

That TT Munich wouldn't be the best psu in the world though but you should be fine.

Recurve360

Looked up a unboxing of the 660ti and it does come with 2x 6pin to molex adaptors. Will look into your recommendations of the 840evo aswell. Anything else i should change? Im assuming the 212 evo is one of the best air coolers as it is highly recommended. How high should I be able to clock with an evo?

BloodBath

I'd say around 4.5ghz on that board. It doesn't have any vrm heatsinks so I'd be careful on how high you go.

It has 4+1 power phases as well so it won't be able to go too high.

You could add heatsinks to the vrms if you wanted.

Recurve360

BloodBath wrote: »

I'd say around 4.5ghz on that board. It doesn't have any vrm heatsinks so I'd be careful on how high you go.

It has 4+1 power phases as well so it won't be able to go too high.

You could add heatsinks to the vrms if you wanted.

Was just wondering how high it would go is all. Not familiar with adding heatsinks. Is it straight forward/worth the investment?

Its mainly for gaming and a little video and photo editing as i start a multimedia course in 3 weeks. Nothing too hectic really.

Another thing I heard is that the 212 evo can be a bitch to fit if your ram has heat spreaders. Seems to be a good bit of clearance in lane 2 with stock cooler though so i dont think it will be too much of a problem.

Going to see if Geizhals will knock anything off the 660ti when its updated. Fantastic price as it is though

BloodBath

Adding vrm heatsinks would end up costing about €20. You can buy kits in a few places. It shouldn't be a problem if you don't push the overclock too far anyway.

The 212 evo doesn't overlap the ram slots on most boards. I have big heatsinks on my ram and it's not a problem.

Recurve360

Thanks for all that again bloodbath. 99% sure thats what ill go for anyway

Recurve360

Is there a noticable difference between the 212 evo and the v8 from coolermaster? I know the 212 would have some slight advantages with cooling power but the v8 is an awesome looking cooler and I have a chance of getting one for around the same price as the 212 evo.

BloodBath

I'd expect the V8 to perform better, especially if you added a second fan to it. If you can get it or the same price go for it.

Recurve360

BloodBath wrote: »

I'd expect the V8 to perform better, especially if you added a second fan to it. If you can get it or the same price go for it.

Any ideas how to fit a 2nd fan? Theres only space for 1 fan on the cooler as far as im aware. Will have to check out the dimensions to make sure it fits. Its a beast of a cooler

BloodBath

I'm not sure. Some ghetto mod maybe? A 120mm blower if it fit's would help push some air through those 4 heatsinks.

Recurve360

BloodBath wrote: »

I'm not sure. Some ghetto mod maybe? A 120mm blower if it fit's would help push some air through those 4 heatsinks.

I have heard suggestions of adding a 120 to both sides and cable tying them together, havnt seen this but it had been suggested elsewhere when somebody looked into upgrading the fans.

Sorry to pick your brain again but any ideas if it is safe to paint plastic parts of components? Such as heat spreaders on ram, fan casings(not the fans themselves) and top part of the v8 cooler?

BloodBath

Yeah I don't see why not. I've seen it done without issues.