Need help upgrading my PC

[Guest]

Hello. I'm new to the forums and am looking for a good bit of help. I've had my PC for a little over a year now and am now looking to give it almost a complete overhaul. 

 

Budget & Location:

$550 give or take $50. $US.

 

Aim: 

System will be used for gaming. I want to be able to run games like Far Cry 4, Evolve, etc. on 60 FPS or more using High-Max settings.

 

Monitors:

I plan on only running 1 monitor. I do not plan on using more than 1 monitor. Current resolution is 1920x1080.

 

Peripherals:

I do not require any peripherals and do not need an OS.

 

Why I am upgrading: 

I've noticed that after just this one year of owning my PC that the newest games (like Far Cry 4 and Evolve) I'm not seeing the beautiful 60 FPS and instead getting 40-50 if things don't get too intense. My case also has literally 0 cable management options which inhibits my air flow which I desperately need as my CPU, GPU, and PSU seem to get much hotter than they should be. My motherboard only has the capability of running one external fan so that needs to go as well. Overall I just want a much more powerful gaming system to get these games running smooth and my system running extremely cool. 

 

Current Specs:

AMD FX-4130 CPU (Standard Fan/Heatsink)

 

ASUS Micro ATX Motherboard 

 

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 RAM

 

Corsair Bronze Certified 750W Modular PSU

 

Radeon R9 270 GPU

 

1TB Hybrid Drive

 

DVD/CD Drive

 

Standard Mid Tower Computer Case 

 

Parts I am looking to replace/add:

CPU and Heatsink (looking for a CPU that can handle bigger loads and a good heatsink/water cooling unit if at all possible)

Motherboard (looking for a full size ATX motherboard with more external fan inputs)

SSD (looking to add it to the system. Want enough space to hold my OS and some games)

Case (looking for a mid-full tower case with great cable management options and can easily optimize airflow)

Fans (looking to add more fans with strong airflow)

 

Notes:

I do not care about aesthetics. I just want a solid system. 

If any other information is needed about my system I would be more than willing to add it.

I realize I'm asking for a lot of information being a first time user of these forums.

I know I said I want better FPS. So I am open to a GPU upgrade if it fits my current budget.

 

 

 

 

[SImoHayha]

snip

Here is a very nice build ^~^...its over the budget by 10$ tho

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($68.98 @ OutletPC)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.99 @ Best Buy)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($21.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $555.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-19 21:47 EST-0500

 

  Base :$560.92         Promo Discounts: -$5.00         Total: $555.92  

[adamsjus1]

Hello. I'm new to the forums and am looking for a good bit of help. I've had my PC for a little over a year now and am now looking to give it almost a complete overhaul. 

 

Budget & Location:

$550 give or take $50. $US.

 

Aim: 

System will be used for gaming. I want to be able to run games like Far Cry 4, Evolve, etc. on 60 FPS or more using High-Max settings.

 

Monitors:

I plan on only running 1 monitor. I do not plan on using more than 1 monitor. Current resolution is 1920x1080.

 

Peripherals:

I do not require any peripherals and do not need an OS.

 

Why I am upgrading: 

I've noticed that after just this one year of owning my PC that the newest games (like Far Cry 4 and Evolve) I'm not seeing the beautiful 60 FPS and instead getting 40-50 if things don't get too intense. My case also has literally 0 cable management options which inhibits my air flow which I desperately need as my CPU, GPU, and PSU seem to get much hotter than they should be. My motherboard only has the capability of running one external fan so that needs to go as well. Overall I just want a much more powerful gaming system to get these games running smooth and my system running extremely cool. 

 

Current Specs:

AMD FX-4130 CPU (Standard Fan/Heatsink)

 

ASUS Micro ATX Motherboard 

 

G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 RAM

 

Corsair Bronze Certified 750W Modular PSU

 

Radeon R9 270 GPU

 

1TB Hybrid Drive

 

DVD/CD Drive

 

Standard Mid Tower Computer Case 

 

Parts I am looking to replace/add:

CPU and Heatsink (looking for a CPU that can handle bigger loads and a good heatsink/water cooling unit if at all possible)

Motherboard (looking for a full size ATX motherboard with more external fan inputs)

SSD (looking to add it to the system. Want enough space to hold my OS and some games)

Case (looking for a mid-full tower case with great cable management options and can easily optimize airflow)

Fans (looking to add more fans with strong airflow)

 

Notes:

I do not care about aesthetics. I just want a solid system. 

If any other information is needed about my system I would be more than willing to add it.

I realize I'm asking for a lot of information being a first time user of these forums.

I know I said I want better FPS. So I am open to a GPU upgrade if it fits my current budget.

Dude I have almost the same pc. But I have the hyper 212 and and "x" on the gpu. But I would get an i5 4690k and motherboard. If you get a cheaper motherboard you could get another R9 270. 

[adamsjus1]

Here is a very nice build ^~^...its over the budget by 10$ tho

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($175.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock H97M Anniversary Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($68.98 @ OutletPC)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($44.99 @ Best Buy)

Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: Rosewill FBM-02 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($21.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($38.99 @ NCIX US)

Total: $555.92

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-19 21:47 EST-0500

 

  Base :$560.92         Promo Discounts: -$5.00         Total: $555.92  

He doesn't need another hard drive or more RAM. And I would say get the i5 4690k because you can overclock it. Why be limited to a locked i5 for gaming?

 

And that case WON't be an upgrade so why get that?

[SImoHayha]

He doesn't need another hard drive or more RAM. And I would say get the i5 4690k because you can overclock it. Why be limited to a locked i5 for gaming?

 

And that case WON't be an upgrade so why get that?

oops...I guess I didn't come back in time to see that he made an edit for parts to be replaced T~T

[adamsjus1]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DmxpMp

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DmxpMp/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.89 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.00 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $525.85

 

That's what I would do. 

[Guest]

Such fast response. I appreciate it. I will look into these part listings that you guys have provided me and write an update if I find what I needed. Thank you. 

[Guest]

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DmxpMp

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DmxpMp/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.89 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.00 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($67.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $525.85

 

That's what I would do. 

 

2 quick questions. I'm not very savvy when it comes to the inner workings of most PC parts. My questions are: How would that CPU compare to something like the AMD FX-8350? (I might be asking a stupid question so bear with me.) I currently own 2 Corsair AF series 120mm fans. The one that is installed doesn't seem to push out any air at all. What would you recommend as a replacement set of fans? 

[adamsjus1]

Well the difference between the two is that the i5 has better per core performance because of the design Architecture of the cpu. The 8350 has 8 cores great for multitasking and for applications that are designed to use all 8 (games usually use two) And the i5 is a quad core with normal threads. And did you test these fans in a case of what? Where is it installed because the "AF" fans are sensitive to pressure as in if they are moving open spaces or through hard drives. 

[Guest]

Well the difference between the two is that the i5 has better per core performance because of the design Architecture of the cpu. The 8350 has 8 cores great for multitasking and for applications that are designed to use all 8 (games usually use two) And the i5 is a quad core with normal threads. And did you test these fans in a case of what? Where is it installed because the "AF" fans are sensitive to pressure as in if they are moving open spaces or through hard drives. 

The one fan that is installed is in the back of my case directly under my PSU (My PSU is top mounted). There's nothing in front of the fan (the stock heatsink isn't very tall) so I can't see anything that would be inhibiting its performance.

 

To clarify my needs for a CPU. I generally have some sort of VOIP application and several browser windows open when I play games. Would the i5 handle perfectly fine with the lower amount of cores? I understand that more cores doesn't equal more performance. Again, I'm not very savvy when it comes to how the CPU works and what makes one strictly better than the other. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

[Guest]

The one fan that is installed is in the back of my case directly under my PSU (My PSU is top mounted). There's nothing in front of the fan (the stock heatsink isn't very tall) so I can't see anything that would be inhibiting its performance.

 

To clarify my needs for a CPU. I generally have some sort of VOIP application and several browser windows open when I play games. Would the i5 handle perfectly fine with the lower amount of cores? I understand that more cores doesn't equal more performance. Again, I'm not very savvy when it comes to how the CPU works and what makes one strictly better than the other. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

I've been looking into case fans and the Noctua NF-F12 seems to be a fan favorite. It's $20 per fan which is kind of steep for me but do you think it would be worth the investment to get 4 of these fans for the entire NZXT case?

[Guest]

Flexing the budget quite a bit. I've added the NZXT Phantom 410 Chassis to accommodate a Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler as well as adding 5 Noctua NF-F12 case fans. 2 fans on the top to cool the radiator, 1 fan in the front, 1 fan on the side panel, and 1 fan at the rear of the case. Overall, along with the other parts recommended by adamsjus1 the final price comes up to $703.67. From the original $525.85. Basically I feel that these parts add a massive cooling boost to the system rather than using air cooling and using high quality fans rather than the stock ones that come pre-mounted in the chassis. I feel that this investment will give me a much longer lasting system and one that I generally won't need to worry about in terms of in-optimal cooling. 
 
Here is the build:
 
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/psx799
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/psx799/by_merchant/
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.75 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Micro Center) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 
Total: $703.67
 
 
Please let me know if any of what I just said seems wrong or extremely unnecessary.
 
Thank you.

[9ballfreak]

Flexing the budget quite a bit. I've added the NZXT Phantom 410 Chassis to accommodate a Corsair H100i Liquid Cooler as well as adding 5 Noctua NF-F12 case fans. 2 fans on the top to cool the radiator, 1 fan in the front, 1 fan on the side panel, and 1 fan at the rear of the case. Overall, along with the other parts recommended by adamsjus1 the final price comes up to $703.67. From the original $525.85. Basically I feel that these parts add a massive cooling boost to the system rather than using air cooling and using high quality fans rather than the stock ones that come pre-mounted in the chassis. I feel that this investment will give me a much longer lasting system and one that I generally won't need to worry about in terms of in-optimal cooling. 

 

Here is the build:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/psx799

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/psx799/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.89 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.75 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($129.00 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($74.99 @ Micro Center) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 

Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm  Fan  ($20.01 @ Amazon) 

Total: $703.67

 

 

Please let me know if any of what I just said seems wrong or extremely unnecessary.

 

Thank you.

 

Overkill on the cooling especially with the liquid cpu cooler