New build

byte

1. What is your budget? ~ €400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming, general browsing, video, etc.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? I hope to transfer exising W7Pro licence.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? I've already bought a new SanDisk Ultra II 480GB SSD. Also have GTX950 I bought few months ago. I'll probably reuse the HDD's, the BD drive and the Corsair TX 650W PSU. I guess I could reuse the Xigmatek Midgard case, but part of me wants a new case! Or a cheap case and psu to house my old mobo with i5 760...

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? 1920*1080 Acer job. I think it'll do for now.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Wouldn't mind a decent keyboard; still happy with my aging MX518 mouse.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yeah

8. How can you pay? Any

9. When are you purchasing? Next fortnight, sooner if sales exist.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Built a few already so hopefully OK.

Digital Solitude

i5 4460 €175
H81M board €50
8gb RAM €50
Loads for a case and second PSU

byte

Thanks for the quick reply, DS.

I'll be aiming to get this rig to last 4 years, just like my existing one. I'd be concerned the 4460 is getting on now.

What do you think of the 6600K CPU? I know it'll cost a fair bit more, but maybe worth it if I expect 4 years out of it? Other bits and pieces can be upgraded through time, but not really the CPU and Mobo.

I could, if I had to, just keep the Midgard case, though it has no USB3 port at the front.

Digital Solitude

Not worth the price difference. By the time the 4460 is bottlenecking your GPU (it'll be quite the GPU) then the 6600k will be bottlenecking it too, or very close to.

They'll become obsolete at essentially the same time

Not worth it for me anyways, DDR4 is a boost with the new CPU but it definitely isn't worth the change

byte

Thanks, DS.

I think I'll take your advice onboard, and start looking around at 4460s and mobos etc tomorrow.

That'll give me scope to maybe get a new case with USB3 ports at the front. I could stretch maybe an extra 100 if I had to.

byte

I know you say the 6600K isn't worth the price difference, but I priced a rig with the basic 6600 anyway!

Intel i5 6600 €229
Asus Z170K ATX mobo €122
Crucial Ballistix 2x8GB DDR4 2400 €87
Zalman Z3 case €41.50

TOTAL (excl. shipping) €479.50

Going back to the older setup

Intel i5 4460 €180
Gigabyte H97-D3H mobo €85
Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1600 16GB €70
Zalman Z3 case €41.50

TOTAL (excl. shipping) €376.50

Prices all pulled from Mindfactory.

Digital Solitude

€100 for negligible performance gain, no brainer for me

byte

OK. However, would it make much difference that the 6600 seems to support DX12, whereas the 4460 only seems to support DX11.1? Plus the difference in GT/s between the 2?

http://ark.intel.com/compare/88188,88191,80817

Sorry for what are probably stupid questions, I just want to be sure I'd do the right thing by not throwing the extra few bob at it...

Would you think the likes of the Asus mobo would be a good brand? Current is Gigabyte, never had issue. Don't want an mATX mobo.

Also, would the Zalman Z3 be relatively OK for the price?

Thanks

Digital Solitude

Fairly sure that's for the built in graphics, DX12 will be the same on either CPU

I don't know what GT/s means, if you do, and its useful information to you then there's no point in me giving advice here

The Z3 is a grand case iirc, I'm not an expert on any cases though

*edit* ASUS are sound

byte

Haha, you're probably right, that makes a lot more sense! Did wonder why the CPU would care about DirectX.

The GT/s (GigaTransfers/second) I think is a new way of measuring FSB speed, instead of Gbps. I'm really not sure it will make any odds to me, as I'd imagine everything else would have to have similar xfer speeds... ugh.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/281729-28-what

byte

After much consideration, deliberation, etc. I've decided that I'll go for the 4460... mainly because I didn't consider other things I want like keyboard, internal cardreader, etc...

Mobo wise, I'm kinda leaning towards 3 different ones...
ASRock H97 Pro4 at €85
ASRock Fatal1ty H97 at €98 (seems to offer more PCI(e) and USB ports)
Gigabyte H97-D3H at €85
Asus H97-PRO at €105 (I'm put off by this only having 4 SATA ports).

Are ASRock a good enough motherboard? Might get the Fatal1ty.

Keyboard wise, would it be worth considering a mech keyboard?
Was looking at this Cherry G80-3000-LPCEU

Digital Solitude

ASRock are sound.

I'd pick up the cheapest board I can with the stuff you need, wouldn't see any point in spending big money needlessly here.

I've a mech with cherry keys, its fecking lovely. I think they're cherry anyways... It's pretty loud if that's a concern

byte

Keyboard noise wouldn't be a concern, as I usually wear headphones anyway.

Though I realise there are different variations of Cherry keyboards, where they seem to be based on colours. I just want a kb that's good for both gaming and typing.

byte

Just to keep this thread updated,

I've ordered the i5 4460, ASRock Fatal1ty H97 mobo, Ballistix Sport RAM (16GB) and IcyBox cardreader off mindfactory for €407 delivered. I ordered Zalman Z3 case from Amazon (I'd have ordered it all from Amazon, but they didnt have that RAM in stock nor would ship the mobo to Ireland for some reason) and I also ordered a Gigabyte keyboard with brown Cherry switches going cheap enough (€70) on dabs.ie

I was thinking about the moving of my OS to the new rig. Can I just put a new install of Windows 10 on my new PC and use my Win7 product key?

MarkAnthony

byte wrote: »

I was thinking about the moving of my OS to the new rig. Can I just put a new install of Windows 10 on my new PC and use my Win7 product key?

It really depends. Is it a retail or OEM licence?

A new key will be about €20 of adverts if needed. Alternatively join the insider program and get win10 for free. The downside it it's new builds so they're could be niggles. I've never had an issue personally.

byte

MarkAnthony wrote: »

It really depends. Is it a retail or OEM licence?

A new key will be about €20 of adverts if needed. Alternatively join the insider program and get win10 for free. The downside it it's new builds so they're could be niggles. I've never had an issue personally.

It's a boxed retail licence that I'm using - Windows 7 Professional

byte

Actually, after some looking around, it seems I can decommission the licence on this old PC first...

Right click CMD, click Run as administrator
At the command prompt type: slmgr.vbs -upk

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/transfer-windows-7-ultimate-license-from-old/b4d7e12b-c226-4373-bc6b-dab53a55419b?db=5

MarkAnthony

I've rung them numerous times - on the odd occasion I've not done it with the machine, the people I've spoken too have been great.

byte

Just to put a final update on this, I got the stuff from MindFactory yesterday, and got it all built up today.

So far... so good! I had a few issues with Windows 10 install but all seems fine now. It wouldn't install from USB, but installed fine from DVD drive.

Had other issues trying to access the User folders from old C drive but somehow got permissions working to some extent to get access to the folders I wanted.

I have configured Documents, Pictures, Videos, Downloads, etc. to save onto a HDD to try keep free space on the SSD...

Thanks to DigitalSolitude and MarkAnthony for the advice and assistance.

God, it's fast at loading applications!