n00b First time build/upgrade

[_Rapid]

Hi, I would like to upgrade my PC that I have. I had planned on building this pc however deciding to *don't hate* buy a pre-built (sigh ikr) as I have a limited knowledge of assembling a PC and really didn't want to screw up. Since that time I have accumulated a lot of knowledge about upgrading and how the components work. I have now decided that I want to upgrade my PC as my CPU (Pentium G3220 3GHz) is just not enough. However, I have cats and a dog in my house and the hair is EVERYWHERE. The garage is filled to the brim with stuff so I cannot use that as a station. I was thinking about renting a storage unit for a couple of days when I need to work on my PC but was worried about the dust.

 

So, after all that here is my question; What conditions are required to 'tinker' with my PC.

 

I was also thinking about clearing and cleaning a cupboard and cover with curtain when not using inorder to keep pet hair free, but I think a few could still get in. Any advice?

 

If its fine having a little amount of pet hair, (Like I think it would as case fans would bring that inside the case anyway) then how much is 'acceptable'.

 

I appreciate all help and, if anyone is interested I have put my planned upgrades into the spoiler below (all upgrades are compatible)

Spoiler

                      BEFORE                       |                              AFTER 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3GHz        |           Intel Core i5 4690K 3.5GHz (unlocked due to planned overclock)

RAM:  8GB Kingston HyperX              |           16GB Kingston HyperX

HEATSINK/CPU COOLER:  Stock       |           Zalman CNPS5X

 

[Moonzy]

welcome to the forums!

remember to quote or mention the person you're replying so they get a notification

18 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

I have cats and a dog in my house and the hair is EVERYWHERE. The garage is filled to the brim with stuff so I cannot use that as a station. I was thinking about renting a storage unit for a couple of days when I need to work on my PC but was worried about the dust.

i have 3 dogs and 1 cat at home and i have no problems building my pc without having a speck of fur in it

just make sure your work station is free and have minimal airflow so the furs dont fly all over the place (and potentially into your new rig)

18 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

What conditions are required to 'tinker' with my PC.

having a static free workplace is my only suggestion, keep your bare feet on the ground (not carpetted) full time is a good way of ensuring that

or keep your feet on a grounded piece of metal (ie. your psu casing thats plugged in but not turned on)

20 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

I was also thinking about clearing and cleaning a cupboard and cover with curtain when not using inorder to keep pet hair free, but I think a few could still get in. Any advice?

just make sure your workplace when u build the pc doesnt have pet fur flying around and you're probably fine `-`

20 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

If its fine having a little amount of pet hair, (Like I think it would as case fans would bring that inside the case anyway) then how much is 'acceptable'.

for me, even if i see a speck of dust on my gpu backplate, thats unacceptable because i like my pc to look great all time `-`

just get dust filters for your fan and you should do fine (some cases comes with built in dust filters, get those )

22 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

I appreciate all help and, if anyone is interested I have put my planned upgrades into the spoiler below (all upgrades are compatible)

  Hide contents

                      BEFORE                       |                              AFTER 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3GHz        |           Intel Core i5 4690K 3.5GHz (unlocked due to planned overclock)

RAM:  8GB Kingston HyperX              |           16GB Kingston HyperX

HEATSINK/CPU COOLER:  Stock       |           Zalman CNPS5X

 

can we know the system's full spec? does your motherboard support overclocking?

also, if you dont mind buying new rams, skylake is a good platform to invest in

and maybe get the hyper 212 evo cooler?

[_Rapid]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

welcome to the forums!

remember to quote or mention the person you're replying so they get a notification

i have 3 dogs and 1 cat at home and i have no problems building my pc without having a speck of fur in it

just make sure your work station is free and have minimal airflow so the furs dont fly all over the place (and potentially into your new rig)

having a static free workplace is my only suggestion, keep your bare feet on the ground (not carpetted) full time is a good way of ensuring that

or keep your feet on a grounded piece of metal (ie. your psu casing thats plugged in but not turned on)

just make sure your workplace when u build the pc doesnt have pet fur flying around and you're probably fine `-`

for me, even if i see a speck of dust on my gpu backplate, thats unacceptable because i like my pc to look great all time `-`

just get dust filters for your fan and you should do fine (some cases comes with built in dust filters, get those )

can we know the system's full spec? does your motherboard support overclocking?

also, if you dont mind buying new rams, skylake is a good platform to invest in

and maybe get the hyper 212 evo cooler?

Thanks for your reply! I have read everything you have said and this has helped alot! Dust isn't really an issue if I can just use my desk or clear out my cupboard and but a table or something in there, I am just worried that if a couple strands of cat hair could damage my components. I wouldn't allow lumps of fur or anything just a few. And I didn't know about the carpet thing, I just presumed that I had to ground myself with the PSU so that really helped! I have an area which I have cut out my carpet and replaced with lino. I have already ordered the ram and cooler just saving the cpu but if I need to upgrade again (I still have a spare ram slot) I will definitely consider skylake, as long as they have the correct frequencies of course

 

And, as requested, below are my full specs  (don't ask me why they are black highlighted I just copied them from my steam profile)

Spoiler

CPU: Intel Pentium 3.2GHz 
GPU: NIVIDIA MSi GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB (OC) 
RAM: 8GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
PSU: Corsair CX600 600W 
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB Sata 6GB/s 
SSD: (NYA) Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD Sata 6GB/s SSD 
Case: Vantage Green 
Monitor: AOC 23" 1920x1080p | Dell 20" 1440x900 
Headset: ASUS Cerberus Gaming Headset 

 

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, _Rapid said:

Dust isn't really an issue if I can just use my desk or clear out my cupboard and but a table or something in there, I am just worried that if a couple strands of cat hair could damage my components.

well just make sure your case is well ventilated, dont isolate it from fresh air just so furs dont get in

i would recommend a dust filter, it would prevent furs from getting in `-`

as for damaging it, if enough fur gets stuck at the fan's shaft, pretty sure it'll kill it eventually

but that'll probably be few years later and the fan is supposed to die in a couple years if you run it full time anyway

3 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

as long as they have the correct frequencies of course

skylake uses DDR4, so you'll have to buy ALL new rams if you wanna invest in skylake

your current choice is fine, you probably wont need an upgrade for quite awhile if you're just gaming

 

4 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

below are my full specs

what about the motherboard? `-` you might need an upgrade here in order to OC

 

and i would personally switch out that psu if you've been using it for a couple years, its not that reliable in the long term

but it should do fine for your system since its a light load one

 

and maybe a new gpu if you're craving for more gpu horsepower  

 

but your cpu is in the most need to upgrade, so do that first lol

[_Rapid]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

well just make sure your case is well ventilated, dont isolate it from fresh air just so furs dont get in

i would recommend a dust filter, it would prevent furs from getting in `-`

as for damaging it, if enough fur gets stuck at the fan's shaft, pretty sure it'll kill it eventually

but that'll probably be few years later and the fan is supposed to die in a couple years if you run it full time anyway

skylake uses DDR4, so you'll have to buy ALL new rams if you wanna invest in skylake

your current choice is fine, you probably wont need an upgrade for quite awhile if you're just gaming

 

what about the motherboard? `-` you might need an upgrade here in order to OC

 

and i would personally switch out that psu if you've been using it for a couple years, its not that reliable in the long term

but it should do fine for your system since its a light load one

 

and maybe a new gpu if you're craving for more gpu horsepower  

 

but your cpu is in the most need to upgrade, so do that first lol

I would probably have to consider skylake if I decide to do a complete re-build some-time in the future then as it is mainly for gaming. The GPU is sufficient enough at the moment but was contemplating upgrading that too, but I decided the CPU takes priority

I will probably get a dust filter based on what you've said. I have just one more concern to clean up.

 

What if a small amount of pet hair (3-5 strands) gets on my motherboard whilst upgrading?

 

And the motherboard is a Gigabyte H81M-S2H (which to my knowledge is capable of overclocking)

 

I appreciate all your help  Thanks

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

What if a small amount of pet hair (3-5 strands) gets on my motherboard whilst upgrading?

blow it off `-`

it probably wont do anything except annoy you (if you're into looks)

unless your pet grows metallic furs, then please do contact me

4 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

Gigabyte H81M-S2H

nah, you need z87 or z97 chipset board to overclock the i5, maybe you can OC the pentium on an H81 chipset (i dunno) but definitely not the i5

[_Rapid]

 

54 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

blow it off `-`

it probably wont do anything except annoy you (if you're into looks)

unless your pet grows metallic furs, then please do contact me

nah, you need z87 or z97 chipset board to overclock the i5, maybe you can OC the pentium on an H81 chipset (i dunno) but definitely not the i5

That really helped! I was under the impression that I was able to overclock on my motherboard as in the bios I can edit frequency ratios, however is limited at the stock ratio as it is locked, I will probably stick to the 4690K as the same locked version is only around 15 bucks cheaper.

 

Thanks for all your help!

[Moonzy]

6 minutes ago, _Rapid said:

That really helped! I was under the impression that I was able to overclock on my motherboard as in the bios I can edit frequency ratios, however is limited at the stock ratio as it is locked, I will probably stick to the 4690K as the same locked version is only around 15 bucks cheaper.

 

Thanks for all your help!

yea get the unlocked version so if you wanna oc, just get a new board

 

and you're welcome