Upgrading my PC

[rjones378]

Hi!

 

Im looking to upgrade my old PC and Im hoping I can get some guidance on what would be best to get an all-round performance based machine. I will need to be able to do some 3D modelling and HD streaming as well as playing some pretty intensive games however the highest end of games performance is not required. I broke my original graphics card and have a replacement however I can't remember the name of it right now as im at work, however it needs to be replaced either way!

 

My current build is as follows:

 

Processor: Intel® Core i5-3570 Quad Core 3.40 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1155

Motherboard: Asus P8H61-MX Intel H61 chipset Micro ATX Mainboard w/ 2 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, SATA-II, 1xGen2 PCIe, 1xPCIe , 1 x PCI (B3 Stepping)

Graphics: Unknown - however its a dedicated AMD I believe (its awful - needs replacing)

HDD: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache HDD

Memory: 2*4GB  PC10666 DDR3/1333mhz Dual Channel Memory Kingston value

Case: Cyberpower own brand coolermaster elite 430 mid tower gaming case

Cooling: Asetek 510LC / Xtremegear Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator

Powersupply: CyberPower 500W Gaming Power Supply

 

What I was thinking so far was the following:

 

Replace the memory with:Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900 C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit

Replace the Motherboard (Bit of agh but I feel like it has to be done): MSI H61M-P31/W8 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) Motherboard

Replace the Graphics card with: MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING TWIN FROZR V OC 4GB GDDR5

Replace the Storage with: Samsung 850 Evo Basic 500GB Solid State Hard Drive 2.5"

 

Obviously liquid cooling is a bit of a pain - as ive never really upgraded my pc before any tips or recommendations are really appreciated, I do have a pretty good knowledge of what to do and how to build one but im no Linus! Any changes anybody would recommend will be really helpful! Not looking to spend more than about £700 on this!

 

Cheers Guys!

 

 

[Nacho Marco Segui]

get 8gb of ram,you need that ssd? i would get an smaller ssd,like 120 gb and get a better gpu

[msvelev]

Why swap the MB?

I'd get a 250/120 SSD and a GTX 970/r9 390. That'll provide much better gaming experience.

[BrinkGG]

Hi!

 

Im looking to upgrade my old PC and Im hoping I can get some guidance on what would be best to get an all-round performance based machine. I will need to be able to do some 3D modelling and HD streaming as well as playing some pretty intensive games however the highest end of games performance is not required. I broke my original graphics card and have a replacement however I can't remember the name of it right now as im at work, however it needs to be replaced either way!

 

My current build is as follows:

 

Processor: Intel® Core i5-3570 Quad Core 3.40 GHz 6MB Cache LGA1155

Motherboard: Asus P8H61-MX Intel H61 chipset Micro ATX Mainboard w/ 2 RAM slots, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, SATA-II, 1xGen2 PCIe, 1xPCIe , 1 x PCI (B3 Stepping)

Graphics: Unknown - however its a dedicated AMD I believe (its awful - needs replacing)

HDD: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache HDD

Memory: 2*4GB  PC10666 DDR3/1333mhz Dual Channel Memory Kingston value

Case: Cyberpower own brand coolermaster elite 430 mid tower gaming case

Cooling: Asetek 510LC / Xtremegear Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator

Powersupply: CyberPower 500W Gaming Power Supply

 

What I was thinking so far was the following:

 

Replace the memory with:Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-14900 C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit

Replace the Motherboard (Bit of agh but I feel like it has to be done): MSI H61M-P31/W8 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) Motherboard

Replace the Graphics card with: MSI GeForce GTX 960 GAMING TWIN FROZR V OC 4GB GDDR5

Replace the Storage with: Samsung 850 Evo Basic 500GB Solid State Hard Drive 2.5"

 

Obviously liquid cooling is a bit of a pain - as ive never really upgraded my pc before any tips or recommendations are really appreciated, I do have a pretty good knowledge of what to do and how to build one but im no Linus! Any changes anybody would recommend will be really helpful! Not looking to spend more than about £700 on this!

 

Cheers Guys!

GPU and maybe a smaller SSD, keeping the HDD as well. 

[Inception9269]

This isn't really a build list, just parts I'd recommend upgrading to from your current ones

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($229.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($145.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($48.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($69.44 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($51.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $546.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 10:33 EDT-0400

 

I do recommend upgrading the cpu cooler to an aftermarket one. The intel stock cooler sucks ballz.

As for the gpu, whatever you want to splurge on.

[Guest]

get 8gb of ram,you need that ssd? i would get an smaller ssd,like 120 gb and get a better gpu

8 GB of RAM is not ideal for Streaming yet alone some 3-d modelling (depending on software)

[mata-pombos]

why not buy a high end i7 on your current socket?

r9 380 4gb is better than the 960, but i would buy a smaller ssd and get a gtx 970

[rjones378]

The reason behind me wanting to swap the HDD is the fact that my current build at the moment is not running well at all! Im pretty sure Windows 7 is broken, have spent ages trying to figure out the problem behind it. First the original graphics card drivers failed and then the card seemed to be completely rejected by the system hence the swap. Then a series of other issues that come up and then go away by themselves including WiFi not working at all and currently all browsers except windows explorer have broken, possibly a shockwave issue but hard to work out exactly and have given up. Hence im hoping that I can wipe the HDD and reinstall windows on a new SSD ( a smaller one is a good idea as I could just use that for the OS, cheers for that!). The motherboard I feel is a bit outdated however I guess its not entirely necessary to upgrade if im looking to boost performace!

[Guest]

snip

He's not from the US just judging by the links given

[mata-pombos]

8 GB of RAM is not ideal for Streaming yet alone some 3-d modelling (depending on software)

i think he ment adding more 8gb to his current 8gb for a total of 16

[rjones378]

He's not from the US just judging by the links given

Correct im from the UK

[Guest]

snip

If you do streaming, you'll need a better processor, the Intel Xeon E3 series would fit in better because it's ideal for more multi-threaded apps

 

You will also need a slightly more powerful GPU than a 960, maybe an R9 380 or R9 280x

 

You can also just add the RAM, but you will need slightly higher frequencies during streaming (Get whatever fits your budget)

[Guest]

i think he ment adding more 8gb to his current 8gb for a total of 16

I hope that's what he meant too

[mata-pombos]

I would get a i7 3770k + h100i AIO cooler (or a hyper 212 evo if you dont fell like overclocking) + gtx 970 + add more 8gb of ram + 120gb samsung 850 evo + 1tb wd blue hard drive

[rjones378]

I was going for a total of 16 GB yes

[rjones378]

If you do streaming, you'll need a better processor, the Intel Xeon E3 series would fit in better because it's ideal for more multi-threaded apps

 

You will also need a slightly more powerful GPU than a 960, maybe an R9 380 or R9 280x

 

You can also just add the RAM, but you will need slightly higher frequencies during streaming (Get whatever fits your budget)

Can socket that processor work in a 1155 socket? im not quite sure how the whole socket business works exactly and if theres any crossover at all.

Okay ill look at a better GPU and smaller SSD. Cheers!

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£251.94 @ Amazon UK) 

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£57.11 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£86.37 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£40.29 @ Ebuyer) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  (£259.00 @ Aria PC) 

Total: £694.71

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 15:54 BST+0100

 

You can get an SSD, but it will go over budget so get cheaper parts if you want too

Just add the RAM if you want to get 16 GB

 

Or get this

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£251.94 @ Amazon UK) 

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£57.11 @ Amazon UK) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£64.76 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  (£40.29 @ Ebuyer) 

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£51.54 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390 8GB Nitro Video Card  (£259.00 @ Aria PC) 

Total: £724.64

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 15:57 BST+0100

 

The only difference is a cheaper Motherboard (Without SLI support)

And added 120 GB SSD

[rjones378]

 

 

 

Wow, thanks that helps a lot!

 

Any idea on how easy to install that will all be? Will need to reinstall windows as well I think.

[Guest]

Wow, thanks that helps a lot!

 

Any idea on how easy to install that will all be? Will need to reinstall windows as well I think.

Installation will depend on how much space you have around you

I like having a clear work space, so right around 10-20 mins depending on your pace and space

 

You will need to reinstall Windows during Motherboard switches

[rjones378]

Installation will depend on how much space you have around you

I like having a clear work space, so right around 10-20 mins depending on your pace and space

 

You will need to reinstall Windows during Motherboard switches

When you say between motherboard switches... You mean reinstall on SSD/HDD using the old system then assemble the new system and start it running? Sorry to be a newbie pain in the backside, never done this before so want to make sure I get it all right!

[Inception9269]

He's not from the US just judging by the links given

 

 

Correct im from the UK

 

That's even better. UK parts are cheaper than US.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£178.29 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£109.16 @ Scan.co.uk)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£44.16 @ Scan.co.uk)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£51.54 @ Aria PC)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£39.41 @ Amazon UK)

Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card  (£264.99 @ Dabs)

Total: £687.55

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-04 16:23 BST+0100

 

MSI is my favorite brand for motherboards and gpus

[Guest]

When you say between motherboard switches... You mean reinstall on SSD/HDD using the old system then assemble the new system and start it running? Sorry to be a newbie pain in the backside, never done this before so want to make sure I get it all right!

The Motherboard connects all the systems together, so switching them out will mean disconnecting everything else

 

Here's a guide on YouTube:

 

It's recommended to do a full reinstall, so you won't lose data

 

Try to go on this forum for more questions: http://linustechtips.com/main/forum/10-operating-systems-and-software/

[rjones378]

quote

Cheers man that's really helpful!!

[rjones378]

The Motherboard connects all the systems together, so switching them out will mean disconnecting everything else

 

Here's a guide on YouTube:

 

It's recommended to do a full reinstall, so you won't lose data

 

Try to go on this forum for more questions: http://linustechtips.com/main/forum/10-operating-systems-and-software/

Ahh cheers, yeah im planning on uninstalling windows 7 and then installing windows 10 on the new system so I should just format the hard disk completely before building the new system and then installing win 10 once its built?