The Let's Upgrade Build

[ConfusedNewby]

For at least 4-5 months, I have been meaning to upgrade to an i-7, and my RAM from DDR3 to DDR4.

I'm pretty new to building a pc, I have however completely rebuilt a pc from scratch last year, an improvement from 2017.

Part of the reason I wanted to start a new build was because I had an older motherboard(GIGABYTE GA-H81M-S2PH 1.0 micro-atx LGA 1150),

but it didn't support my new CPU(LGA 1151), and was only DDR3 compatible.

This was quite a journey for me, I though I had a too big gpu(was actually supposed to be in a io shield spot 1 space down) and almost took part of the gpu fin off.

Thankfully, nice people at Geek Squad gave me help and common sense advice.

Making my build easier is that I've had my NVIDIA 960 for almost 3 years.

 

I will be naming my PC, and his name is Aqua. If and when I'm a father, my son will be called "Other Kid", in the presence of Bob.

I've purchased all my parts over 2 months, while having sold my old case, cpu, etc.

2 months without a pc isn't hard, but it sure is different.

This has been an emotional journey.

Thank you.

(https://pcpartpicker.com/list/fvKdhy) 

-------------------------
**CPU** | [Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/C9hj4D/intel-core-i7-8700-32ghz-6-core-processor-bx80684i78700) | $299.99 @ Amazon 
**CPU Cooler** | [Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/hmtCmG/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2) | $29.89 @ OutletPC 
**Motherboard** | [Asus - Prime H370-A/CSM ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9YRzK8/asus-prime-h370-acsm-atx-lga1151-motherboard-prime-h370-acsm) |-
**Memory** | [Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/y9rcCJ/corsair-memory-cmk16gx4m2a2400c16) | Purchased For $0.00 
**Video Card** | [MSI - GeForce GTX 960 4 GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ZJVBD3/msi-video-card-gtx960gaming4g) | $388.00 @ Amazon 
**Case** | [NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/p8x2FT/nzxt-h500-black-atx-mid-tower-case-ca-h500b-b1) | $69.99 @ Amazon 
**Power Supply** | [Corsair - CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/R2mxFT/corsair-power-supply-cp9020103na) | $59.99 @ Amazon 
 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
 | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $857.86
 | Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
 | **Total** | **$847.86**
 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2019-04-09 23:57 EDT-0400 |

[Derrk]

960 is probably going to bottleneck with an 8700. You'll probably want to upgrade your gpu at some point

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

upgrade from which cpu?

what other spare parts do you have?

[Fasauceome]

If you're keeping that 960 long term, you can spend a whole lot less cash. This build doesn't need much change if you plan on upgrading the GPU at some point though:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	$299.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Cooler Master - Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler	$31.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - Fatal1ty H370 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$111.98 @ Newegg
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	Purchased For $0.00
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$77.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 960 4 GB Video Card	$388.00 @ Amazon
Case	NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	BitFenix - Formula Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply	$69.00 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1048.94
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-10 00:28 EDT-0400

 

I picked a way better board for the money. The Asus prime is just so bare for the cost (seriously it's an $80 board with a $115 price tag) and added an SSD if you didn't already have one, since that's likely to make the biggest difference. The Hyper 212 evo is just awful value above $25 so get the black edition for one dollar more. Also got a better PSU but if you want the cheaper CXM instead it would work.

[ConfusedNewby]

Just now, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

upgrade from which cpu?

what other spare parts do you have?

It was the i5-4460.

 

Sorry, I didn't mention my HDD and SSD.

WD Black 2TB HDD

WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB