$470 US [Converted] Upgrade

[ImBleu]

So this is the build I currently have:

 

Intel i7-4790k

Nvidia GTX980

Asus Maximus VII Hero

WD 1TB Blue

Corsair H105

Corsair 750D

Corsair Force LS SSD

Corsair SP Fans (4x)

Corsair AF Fans (4x)

Corsair AX760

Corsair Vengeance 16GB

 

I'm planning to throw close on $500 on an initial upgrade to it, followed by another $500 upgrade in a few months.

 

Here is my plan:

 

Fractal Design Define S

Samsung 850 Evo 250GB

WD 3TB Green (2x)

NZXT Kraken G10

Corsair H55

 

This is my first round of upgrades just to fix storage forever. I have 1/2 my game library downloaded and cap my 1.5TB storage already, I'd dedicate a 3TB HDD to my Steam, Origin & Uplay Libraries, the second one for general backup of all the Laptops in my household and the 1TB drive for Work and other general files. My Corsair SSD will remain as my boot (and boot only) SSD and the 250GB Samsung SSD will go to most played games and professional applications.

 

The H55 and Kraken G10 will go towards my GTX980, I also find the 750D to be a bit big (and mine is damaged) so I plan to downsize to the nice Define S.

 

 

My next $500 Upgrade will go towards getting a second GTX980, Kraken G10 and H55.

 

 

 

(Prices are all converted from HKD to USD, Our prices are lower than the USD prices in most cases).

 

 

 

Appraisals?

[ZetZet]

Upgrade? More like side step.

[MrKickkiller]

Why go with a 3 tb drive and have it filled up with your entire library already?

Go 4Tb / 6 Tb ?

 

-snip-

[REX.exe]

You really don't need to upgrade...

[ImBleu]

You really don't need to upgrade...

 

My Case is broken, I am out of storage space and my GPU's coil whine is stupendous. As for the second 980, they're literally $400 here.

 

 

Why go with a 3 tb drive and have it filled up with your entire library already?

Go 4Tb / 6 Tb ?

 

I'd rather have 2 separate drives so that I can have one that is purely dedicated towards backup for the 5 Laptops in my house that could be hot-swapped if need be. I could split a 6TB drive but it doesn't give me the "mine and yours" physical separation.

[REX.exe]

My Case is broken, I am out of storage space and my GPU's coil whine is stupendous. As for the second 980, they're literally $400 here.

 

 

 

I'd rather have 2 separate drives so that I can have one that is purely dedicated towards backup for the 5 Laptops in my house that could be hot-swapped if need be. I could split a 6TB drive but it doesn't give me the "mine and yours" physical separation.

k, Get the define S then. But why get a AIO bracket and a h55? Why not just make a custom loop? Much better looking and better temps that way.

[Samsterstorm]

So this is the build I currently have:

 

Intel i7-4790k

Nvidia GTX980

Asus Maximus VII Hero

WD 1TB Blue

Corsair H105

Corsair 750D

Corsair Force LS SSD

Corsair SP Fans (4x)

Corsair AF Fans (4x)

Corsair AX760

Corsair Vengeance 16GB

 

I'm planning to throw close on $500 on an initial upgrade to it, followed by another $500 upgrade in a few months.

 

Here is my plan:

 

Fractal Design Define S

Samsung 850 Evo 250GB

WD 3TB Green (2x)

NZXT Kraken G10

Corsair H55

 

This is my first round of upgrades just to fix storage forever. I have 1/2 my game library downloaded and cap my 1.5TB storage already, I'd dedicate a 3TB HDD to my Steam, Origin & Uplay Libraries, the second one for general backup of all the Laptops in my household and the 1TB drive for Work and other general files. My Corsair SSD will remain as my boot (and boot only) SSD and the 250GB Samsung SSD will go to most played games and professional applications.

 

The H55 and Kraken G10 will go towards my GTX980, I also find the 750D to be a bit big (and mine is damaged) so I plan to downsize to the nice Define S.

 

 

My next $500 Upgrade will go towards getting a second GTX980, Kraken G10 and H55.

 

 

 

(Prices are all converted from HKD to USD, Our prices are lower than the USD prices in most cases).

 

 

 

Appraisals?

Get a H440, way better looking case! And alot more room for RAD in the front and top! 

[ImBleu]

k, Get the define S then. But why get a AIO bracket and a h55? Why not just make a custom loop? Much better looking and better temps that way.

 

I'll look into the cost differences, but the only shops that sell water cooling parts locally put a stupid high premium.

[ImBleu]

Get a H440, way better looking case! And alot more room for RAD in the front and top! 

 

I am a massive H440 / S340 Fanboy, but I feel the Define S does a better job hiding all the drives nicely in the back. 

[Samsterstorm]

I am a massive H440 / S340 Fanboy, but I feel the Define S does a better job hiding all the drives nicely in the back. 

You can hide the drives under that PSU cover or just put them in the bays they are very well hidden! And the SSD trays look better that u would think with an SSD in them trust me! Pictures dont do them justice!

[ImBleu]

You can hide the drives under that PSU cover or just put them in the bays they are very well hidden! And the SSD trays look better that u would think with an SSD in them trust me! Pictures dont do them justice!

 

I've had my cursor over the buy button on a H440 for a while, but if I were to go custom loop I feel the Define S would do the loop more justice than a H440.

[Samsterstorm]

I've had my cursor over the buy button on a H440 for a while, but if I were to go custom loop I feel the Define S would do the loop more justice than a H440.

Maybe, I have to say that the H440 looks alot better with a custom hardline or tubing! I have seen a looped define s and they are ok but not as good as a H440 in my opinion! But thats ur opinion! Check out the H440 owners thread on LTT and check the builds out!

[REX.exe]

I am a massive H440 / S340 Fanboy, but I feel the Define S does a better job hiding all the drives nicely in the back. 

Hiding drives? Phanteks Enthoo Pro mate. Has a stealth drive cover AND a PSU cover, all at an affordable price

[ImBleu]

Hiding drives? Phanteks Enthoo Pro mate. Has a stealth drive cover AND a PSU cover, all at an affordable price

 

Phanteks isn't in my market. It's one of the brands that aren't available within the country without massive prices to ship it international. I'm stuck to Corsair/NZXT/Fractal/Silverstone/InWin basically.

 

And from 30minutes of calculation, a full loop for only 1 GPU and 1 CPU comes up to $700 USD (including shipping). Compared to the price of 2x Kraken G10s and H55s (or way better AIOs) it's still quite a premium. It'd be $850 for 2x GTX980s + CPU without adding the cost of the second 980 into the price.

[ImBleu]

Anyone have any say in this, and what about the Klevv Genuine DDR3 Ram w/ lightbars? Any good? because I really have an upgrade itch.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there

 

The upgrade plan seems pretty good. 

Regarding the storage, WD Green drives are great for secondary storage and backups. Having two separate drives is a good idea as it gives you some level of redundancy and freedom to swap a drive if needed without affecting the other one. If you are looking for some safety and better redundancy (and if your budget allows it), you can consider a RAID setup with a few WD Red drives: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Kd6axx .

Also, if you plan on running games off one of these WD Green drives, do have in mind that you might have slower loading times due to the nature of the drives. Games' FPS and graphics are not affected by the storage's performance, but loading times are and they might be a bit longer. You can consider a WD Black for the drive with games on it and leave the second drive as WD Green for backups and massive storage. http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=wQ9uYD

 

Captain_WD.

[ImBleu]

 

Hey there

 

The upgrade plan seems pretty good. 

Regarding the storage, WD Green drives are great for secondary storage and backups. Having two separate drives is a good idea as it gives you some level of redundancy and freedom to swap a drive if needed without affecting the other one. If you are looking for some safety and better redundancy (and if your budget allows it), you can consider a RAID setup with a few WD Red drives: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Kd6axx .

Also, if you plan on running games off one of these WD Green drives, do have in mind that you might have slower loading times due to the nature of the drives. Games' FPS and graphics are not affected by the storage's performance, but loading times are and they might be a bit longer. You can consider a WD Black for the drive with games on it and leave the second drive as WD Green for backups and massive storage. http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=wQ9uYD

 

Captain_WD.

 

 

Didn't expect you stalking around my thread. The WD Reds are similarly priced here, I'll check the price of the WD Blacks however. All I know is that I kinda want to buy this extra storage and never need to upgrade it again

 

One drive will be kept probably unpowered most of the time, as just a backup for other laptops / external hard drives and the other will be for Steam/Origin etc. I'll look at upgrading the drive to a Red/Black to achieve a multicoloured WD RED/GREEN/BLUE System. It'll look like christmas lights.

 

Here are the prices:

 

$123 US - 3TB WD RED NAS

$095 US - 3TB WD GREEN

$106 US - 3TB WD PURPLE

$159 US - 3TB WD BLACK

 

Is the increase from Green > Red > Black worth the price? how much slower is it in real world performance.

[Captain_WD]

Didn't expect you stalking around my thread. The WD Reds are similarly priced here, I'll check the price of the WD Blacks however. All I know is that I kinda want to buy this extra storage and never need to upgrade it again

 

One drive will be kept probably unpowered most of the time, as just a backup for other laptops / external hard drives and the other will be for Steam/Origin etc. I'll look at upgrading the drive to a Red/Black to achieve a multicoloured WD RED/GREEN/BLUE System. It'll look like christmas lights.

 

Here are the prices:

 

$123 US - 3TB WD RED NAS

$095 US - 3TB WD GREEN

$106 US - 3TB WD PURPLE

$159 US - 3TB WD BLACK

 

Is the increase from Green > Red > Black worth the price? how much slower is it in real world performance.

 

I am omnipresent and ubiquitous ^^

 

WD Red is designed for NAS/RAID systems and has some additional features which won't be utilized in a regular desktop and should behave and perform similarly to WD Green so I doubt you'll notice a change in performance. WD Black on the other hand should give you a significant speed boost due to the higher rpm, transfer speeds, some additional features (such as the dual-core CPU that's built in for better cache handling) and faster access time (and lack of Intellipower which means it spins down much less often and does not require more time to spin up, hence the faster access times). 

I doubt you'll notice differences in gaming besides the loading times (initial and in-game) and maybe while multitasking between applications that require faster access times and higher transfer speeds.

 

Captain_WD.

[ImBleu]

WD Red is designed for NAS/RAID systems and has some additional features which won't be utilized in a regular desktop and should behave and perform similarly to WD Green so I doubt you'll notice a change in performance. WD Black on the other hand should give you a significant speed boost due to the higher rpm, transfer speeds, some additional features (such as the dual-core CPU that's built in for better cache handling) and faster access time (and lack of Intellipower which means it spins down much less often and does not require more time to spin up, hence the faster access times). 

I doubt you'll notice differences in gaming besides the loading times (initial and in-game) and maybe while multitasking between applications that require faster access times and higher transfer speeds.

 

Thanks I think I'll just see how I feel on the day to be honest. For the one that'll be dedicated as a backup I'll definitely get a Green, as for the Steam drive I might splurge for a Black or just stick with a green. I'm not too fussed over game loading time but I feel I might regret it later.

[Captain_WD]

Thanks I think I'll just see how I feel on the day to be honest. For the one that'll be dedicated as a backup I'll definitely get a Green, as for the Steam drive I might splurge for a Black or just stick with a green. I'm not too fussed over game loading time but I feel I might regret it later.

 

It's up to you Worst case scenario you get two WD Green drives, decide that the STEAM one is too slow and end up getting a faster one with one additional WD Green for storage/backup (and more money spent).

 

Captain_WD.

[ImBleu]

It's up to you Worst case scenario you get two WD Green drives, decide that the STEAM one is too slow and end up getting a faster one with one additional WD Green for storage/backup (and more money spent).

 

Captain_WD.

 

Thanks Captain Worst case scenario, as the case only supports 3 drives and I currently own one already, I'll just replace my Blue 1TB or something. HDDs are cheap enough to not really matter.

[Captain_WD]

Thanks Captain Worst case scenario, as the case only supports 3 drives and I currently own one already, I'll just replace my Blue 1TB or something. HDDs are cheap enough to not really matter.

 

Using internal drives externally is also an option as long as you store them properly. External enclosures, dock stations, SATA to USB cables with separate power cables, etc. You can store them away to a safe place in ESD bags and pull them out only when you need them. This is how I store some of my things that I rarely/never need to access. 

 

Captain_WD.