I need some advice (Planning serious GPU, processor and case upgrades)
9 replies, posted
Hi all.
Every time I get an upgrade I ALWAYS make a thread asking you good people for your help and you never fail me. Well, times are different, I have a full time job now and I'm wanting to upgrade my cardboard box computer into something better, and I'm asking facepunch to help me pimp my system.
[IMG]https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/p296x100/10929068_10205120194831845_7588656427236140794_n.jpg?oh=525f990cf2ac8c32d506d465a5d9283b&oe=552F2680[/IMG]
As you can see, the case is fucking old. Side panel has been missing for centuries and I'm probably breaking every rule in the book regarding cable management and placement.
The cases front panel USB ports are fucked, don't think audio and mic jacks ever did bloody work and the button has a tendency to get stuck half into the case when I turn it on.
System specifications are currently:
Intel Core i7 870 (2.9 GHz) idle temp 60 degrees
8GB DDR3 Corsair XMS3
nVidia 660TI GTX msi version
Corsair CX600 PSU (600 watts, obviously)
I have 1TB hard drive space, may get another some time but at the moment I'm content with deleting old games and software to make space for the new.
My budget is around [B]£300 [/B]for the GPU and I'm hoping you can find me the best for that price, preferably nVidia
for the case I'm not too bothered aslong as its around £70- £100, it's good to keep cool and is spacious as GPU's these days are pushing past 30cm and over
My framerates are pretty poor considering the system specifications but I've never had money for cooling and such. I do have money aside to buy a decent fan for the CPU. My current one is very old and has seen itself bathing in 100C temperatures at some points.
Thanks for reading
Meow. Hello there~!
For a GPU, I'd recommend [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NZT6D68"]Gigabyte's GTX970. [/URL]
Gigabyte is a tried and true, trusted brand and it's £270 for the card + Free shipping to the UK.
For a case, there are several options (ultimately up to you).
For 52, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007C008L2"]Zalman's Z11 Plus[/URL]
For 70, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008B6ONXA"]Corsair's Carbide 300R[/URL] (which I'd recommend if you can't decide, as it's the best rated out of these and Corsair's a very reputable, reliable and trustworthy name brand)
For 77-78, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008NFWNFO"]Fractal Design by R4[/URL] (which is a windowless version of the case I just bought, myself!)
and at the top of your budget for 90 is the [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HVZIXDI"]NZXT H440 Tower[/URL] (which is one that PCPartPicker just used for a featured build recently)
As for a case fan, [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0068OI7T8"]CoolerMaster's Hyper 212 EVO[/URL] is a pretty bread-and-butter fan for budget builds.
As always, though, research the choices given, yourself, and decide what's best for you and what you like the most.
[QUOTE=Catscratch;46877537]Meow. Hello there~!
For a GPU, I'd recommend [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NZT6D68"]Gigabyte's GTX970. [/URL]
Gigabyte is a tried and true, trusted brand and it's £270 for the card + Free shipping to the UK.
For a case, there are several options (ultimately up to you).
For 52, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007C008L2"]Zalman's Z11 Plus[/URL]
For 70, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008B6ONXA"]Corsair's Carbide 300R[/URL] (which I'd recommend if you can't decide, as it's the best rated out of these and Corsair's a very reputable, reliable and trustworthy name brand)
For 77-78, there's [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008NFWNFO"]Fractal Design by R4[/URL] (which is a windowless version of the case I just bought, myself!)
and at the top of your budget for 90 is the [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HVZIXDI"]NZXT H440 Tower[/URL] (which is one that PCPartPicker just used for a featured build recently)
As for a case fan, [URL="http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0068OI7T8"]CoolerMaster's Hyper 212 EVO[/URL] is a pretty bread-and-butter fan for budget builds.
As always, though, research the choices given, yourself, and decide what's best for you and what you like the most.[/QUOTE]
Wow, thanks for the content and detail filled response :) Any more ideas on a new processor?
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;46879103]You already have a first gen i7.
It's still a great performer you won't have to upgrade that for another 2-3 years, unless it decides to crap out.[/QUOTE]
I'm sure it's been slowed down by overheating, I've had it with the stock fan in an old case for years (my own fault, never had money for upgrades)
Is there a good way to test CPU performance to see how it handles?
[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;46879252]Anything CPU intensive. Although I found this.
[video=youtube;YH4aUh1PmFQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4aUh1PmFQ[/video]
guys spec in the description but a i7 870 at stock clocks with a 660 running watch dogs high ish at 30 fps is more then what I get on average with my i5 3470 and 750 ti. :v:[/QUOTE]
Suprised that his specs are so similar to mine! Yet I also play Arma 3 multiplayer (singleplayer will run decent but it will turn to shit on MP capture the island), latest Total War games, Far Cry 4 and I'm preparing my system for GTA 5 which they haven't released the requirements for yet, so I'm hoping to already have a PC capable of running max settings at atleast 35-40 FPS :)
Oh, and not at 1080p as my res is like 1300 x 768 or something so I hope it will be achievable
Some good advice in here, any chance any of you super helpful people could offer me any feedback on my thread? I would be forever in your debt.
Ordered the case and 2 of those fans. Will probably have my old CPU fan attached to the case slot for extra coolness, thoughts? :v:
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