new build after 6 years, "future proofed" + super fast boot up desired

Associate
Joined
26 Nov 2013
Posts
1
Hi All

budget...variable, £700 maybe, lower is better

My current system is coming to the end of its life, 6 years old it has served me well, but it is time to do the journey. I like to build my PCs on a budget.

Current set up (it was pretty dated even for 2010!)

-Pentium dual core E5300 @2.60 GHz
-2 GB of DDR2 RAM (it was 4 but 2gb died a couple of years back and i didn't replace them)
-NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
-ASUS p5k motherboard
-A 1 TB HDD
-Its in an ATX cooler master case with i think a 300 watt PSU,
-I stuck in a dvd writer (SATA) and an wireless card (PCIe)


I originally planned on upgrading this machine, but the CPUs all got discontinued so i can not get anything decent (think it is an LGA 775 board)

The only things i think i would keep is the case, the HDD (as extra storage, see below) the DVD writer (mainly because i wont take it out of the case), and the wireless card.

I want a PC that i can actually upgrade in a few years, down the SLI route and with a decent CPU, when prices come down. with this is mind my proposed build as follows:

- OS - windows 10, what is the deal with windows 10, is it free now? i shelled out for an OEM of windows 7 back in 2010, can i just install that then upgrade?

- MB*[/COLOR]*****.com/719820-msi-z170a-gaming-m5-socket-1151-dvi-hdmi-8-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-z170a-gaming-m5"]MSI Z170A GAMING M5 Socket 1151 for the so called "future proof," £136.98

- HDD *[/COLOR]*****.com/725816-samsung-950-pro-256gb-m-2-ssd-mz-v5p256bw"]Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2 SSD x 2(raid 0, for the quick boot for the ultra quick boot, £145.98 x 2 = 291.96

- CPU (this is where i start getting budget) *[/COLOR]*****.com/729181-intel-pentium-g4400-3-3-ghz-socket-1151-3mb-cache-retail-boxed-processor-bx80662g4400"]Intel Pentium G4400 3.3 GHz, this is the cheapest CPU for the 1151 socket - £50.99

-RAM *[/COLOR]*****.com/710628-kingston-8gb-2133mhz-ddr4-non-ecc-cl15-dimm-memory-kvr21n15d8-8"]kingston 8gb 2133mhz ddr4-non-ecc-cl15-dimm-memory-kvr21n15d8-8 £30.48 pretty standard ram

- GPU *[/COLOR]*****.com/720987-gigabyte-gtx-950-oc-2gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-gv-n950oc-2gd"]Gigabyte GTX 950 OC 2GB GDDR5 at £127.98 this GPU is the best for price vs performance on the passmark site, but or i might go with *[/COLOR]*****.com/721930-msi-gt-730-4gb-ddr3-vga-dvi-hdmi-pci-e-graphics-card-n730-4gd3v2"]MSI GT 730 4GB DDR3 at £68.99 the only game i play ATM is DOTA 2 but I have been known to dabble in others.

PSU - I havent run the numbers yet but for completeness ill throw in *[/COLOR]*****.com/713439-aerocool-integrator-700w-80-certified-psu-12cm-black-fan-active-pfc-tw-acp-i700hg"]this at 37.98

Total is £676.37

So i think the future proofing is there, if i chose to i could blow another £800 on a couple of sweet gaming cards with SLI and a sweet i7 processor

On the other hand, i could scale this back: recycle my old graphics card (or use the integrated), HDD, and PSU shaving a huge £457.92 bringing my "upgrade" cost down to £218.45 i.e. just the MB, Ram and CPU

What would you guys do in my situation?
 
Soldato
Joined
28 May 2007
Posts
18,200
This lot can be had for not far off half the price.


AMD FX-8320E 3.2GHz 8-Core Processor
2x Patriot Signature 8GB
ASRock 980DE3 motherboard
XFX Radeon R9 380 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card
Corsair Builder 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
 
Associate
Joined
22 Mar 2014
Posts
1,560
Location
Plymouth
Personally I would buy something like this

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £681.58
(includes shipping: £11.70)


EDIT
If you have the money you can get 2x8gb of ram but this would be additional 40 pounds

I would wait for others too as they will be able to give you maybe perhaps better bundle. I usualy get gpu used as you can save quiet a lot. For example I got r9 270 2gb for 30 pounds which performs very well even today (Yes I know this gpu is 2 yrs old but still very good for casual gaming on full hd medium settings at decent fps) This is just my 2 cents

You can use your windows 7 key to install windows 10 on new machine. You just need to get newest version of windows 10 from microsoft website and put in your win 7 key during installation.​
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
3 Jul 2008
Posts
3,729
Location
London
Overspec'd on the SSDs, underspec'd on everything else, especially the CPU and RAM.

With such an unbalanced build you're painting yourself into the same corner you did in 2010. The SSD raid won't give you anywhere near the performance boost that a single SSD + better CPU +_ 16GB RAM will.

I get that the intention is to upgrade the CPU and RAM later "when prices drop". But the problem with that approach is you can't control the future - who knows where prices will go (exchange rates, supply problems etc) and you might end up leaving yourself in a bind.

Buy the best balanced system you can for your money now and enjoy it, rather than buying something that is fundamentally hamstrung and hoping you might be able to upgrade it later.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
6,659
Location
Leicestershire
Agree with the aboves, no point having raid for your needs, will make it slower due to additional post time and increase risk if the array falls over, synthetics looks good though if you want to do some willy waving ;)
 
Associate
Joined
5 Jul 2015
Posts
251
Location
Reading, UK
By far easiest method for achieving ultraquick "bootup" is not to shutdown your machine ever and use standby instead. I only boot my laptops whenever it is time to patch windows.

Much faster than booting up from even the fastest ssd's.
 
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