[Build Log] Crimson

Crowes · December 6, 2015

So, finally time to whip out the ol' wallet and splash the cash.

My old build, which I named, "Hatham", isn't too old, but it's not offering all of what I require. With an old AMD A10 6800K APU and an R7 260X that performs quite well for what it is, but doesn't come with the upgrade path I'd like. Sure, I could either (A) upgrade my APU, but that'd still bottleneck a higher GPU; ( B) move for AM2/3 and FX CPUs, which although do quite well, don't give me any room; or © head to Socket 1150 or 1151, which give me both a clear upgrade path (i5 not enough? i7. without having to build a new system to do so.

With that said, setting myself a budget of £1500, I've come up with a decent build; one that I call "Crimson".(inspired by this guy), so I'm looking for burghundy-ish to brown and grey, matte black, et cetera - something like this, only less tacky. Tacky's not my thing.

This is the Parts List I've come up with: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/4cg8D3

That's about it. Some changes I may do:

Storage - Get rid of the extra 500GB Seagate, partition the 2TB.
Colo(u)r Scheme - Move to 1150 instead and go all black and white.
Processor Cooling - Move to a Corsair H1-something or other. NZXT apparently leaks.
Graphics Card - Change to a 980.
Processor - Change to an i7.
Monitor(s) - I haven't mentioned, but my monitor is an Acer G226H/Q/L 21.5". I'm considering getting two more to help with.. sceen real estate. Gonna struggle though, they don't manufacture that exact variant anymore, from what I can tell.

Crowes · December 7, 2015

I personally would get a lower end motherboard and get an unlocked cpu and maybe a r9 390 instead of the 970 because of more vram and performance

I currently have an R7 260X. I wanted to upgrade anyway, but Crimson drivers made a lot of my games impossible to play, which I ended up having to use my laptop to enjoy; that being an NVIDIA 940M. Over the time I've had the laptop (3 months now), it's been more stable than my desktop ever really was. Desktop served me well, never the less.

Moving on, I guess.

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Parts ordered.