Making a good PC from a HP Elite

DJ46 · March 4, 2013

Hi guys. I decided to make this thread so I can discuss every step I'm planning to take with my rig.

My PC was bought by my father, who decided to buy me a prebuild PC with some changed components. It was a HP Elite with i5-2400, 500GB, 4GB RAM and at the shop he bought it from, the put a GTX560 into it and replaced the stock PSU with Seasonic SS-500ET T3. I knew it sucked, so I decided to slowly change it to a good looking PC that will not overheat. First thing I changed was the case. I almost bought some CoolerMaster low-end cr*p but then I got some more â‚¬ to spend and I went with a Fractal Design Define R3. I just LOVE it. Not so long ago I bought a windowed side panel for it. That's all I bought. I spend 120â‚¬. Now, I have 105â‚¬ to spend again. I want to make it a bit more silent and good looking. What should I do? I will not have enough money to do something else for a looong time.

1. Buy a better motherboard (I could get an ASUS P8Z68V/GEN 3 or a new MSI Z77A-G45)

2. Buy a CPU cooler, LED strips, HDD silencer (Silentmaxx HDD silencer rev. 2) and Bitfenix cable extenders/some games

I just don't know what to do. I'm thinking about it every day and I just can't decide what to do. Also, if I should buy option 1, what LED strips should I get? (Under 10â‚¬ each?) And how many would be enough? (1 in the front of the window, or 2 - 1. on top and 2. on the bottom?) I want only blue, no RGB stuff. And I'm not capable to make my own strip.

DJ46 · March 4, 2013

This is how my rig looks:

http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/692/imag0313no.jpg

http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/829/imag0315r.jpg

and how I wanted to install LED strips:

- one like this: http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/6/panelspleximaketamonos2.jpg

- or two like this: http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/9/panelspleximaketamonos1.jpg

(these pics were made before I got the panel, so I made paper copy.

Wats · March 4, 2013

I'd get a Z77 anything, when you get a lot of extra mulah you can upgrade your chip to an IB.

I recently bought a roll of white LED strip just so I could make the perfect lighting in my R4. I made a rectangle around the top and one strip on the bottom, so I could still open the side panel with ease. (I'd post a pic of what I did but my rig isn't done!)

I also recommend sleeving your own cables. I know buying the sleeved extender thingies is really easy but then you have to deal with extra cable length. There's a bunch of guides, you can even cut your PSU wires down to the perfect size and re-crimp the connections.

DJ46 · March 4, 2013

From those pictures, you can see how crappy is my CPU cooler. My cables aren't even long enough, my ATX 4 pin can't reach the connector on my MB so I have to run it how I'm running it. Also, it's pretty easy to manage extended cables. I have a non-modular PSU and you still can't see more than is necessary. And it is not even done perfectly because it wasn't possible.

I'm not going with white LEDs, I wan't it to have that stock blue on top and a blue glow through the sidepanel.

Also, upgrade to a IB chip will not happen. Till I'll get enough money to get a new CPU, it will be past Haswell... So if I will upgrade my board, it will be just for looks and I will get a used one.

I think I will go with the second option. My hard drive is driving me (get it? :D) crazy and my CPU cooler is louder then a jet taking off.

DJ46 · March 5, 2013

After some research I think I will go with a used Silenmaxx HDD silencer and a used Z68/P67 board with Ivy Bridge support (just in case) or an used Z77 board. It will make the whole computer a bit quieter and a bit better looking. Then I will get a CPU cooler and LED strips.