Looking to upgrade budget £900

Bluedawn · 25 Jul 2013 at 14:59

Hello all, I'm looking to upgrade my 3 years old computer which I built and just a few days ago Windows says that my hard disk is failing so I want to get my upgrade done asap before it really dies on me. With my spec, I think my power supply can be reused and I'm interested in a new case since overtime, the Antec 300 started making noises. Additionally, whenever I try to use my headset for gaming, the microphone gets distortion, which I tried many methods to fix but didn't work - and I know it has something to do with interference on the parts in my computer.

I also got 3 Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm and 1 Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet fans. Other peripherals such as monitor, optical drive, mouse, OS etc. I already got as well.

Current spec:

Mobo - Asus M4A79XTD Evo
CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core
GPU - Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5850
RAM - Geil Value 4GB (2x2GB)
PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w
Case - Antec 300 Three Hundred
HDD - Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB SATA-II

I will be using it for gaming and want to run games such as Guild Wars 2 and FF14 at high settings. I was thinking of getting an i5, with 8GB ram and two hard drive with one being SSD. I'm also quite temperature weary as I like to keep my graphics card and CPU cool during gaming (my current graphics card can go up to 90 degrees without fan monitoring software in this weather!). Would be great if the new upgraded PC would be more quiet than my current one - and hopefully no distortion when I use the headset mic. I would want the upgrade to last me a good few years (about 5-ish) but also have room for upgrade such as the RAM if needed.

My max budget is £900, anything lower would be great.

Thanks

snips86x · 25 Jul 2013 at 15:47

Hello & Welcome to the Forum

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £148.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart M550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.95
Total : £928.92 (includes shipping : £11.75).

This would be my recommendation. The g/card gets you £150 of free games and the TwinFrozr versions are seriously silent. I have 2 TwinFrozr III's and even on full under BF3, you cannot hear them.

SSD is the new release by Samsung, not sure when it's in (contact OCUK), but it would be worth waiting for, that's for sure.

Do you need an OS?

Any good?

Bluedawn · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:43

I had a look at the reviews for the graphics card and I'm not sure if it's the right choice since people seem to have some issues with it.

In regards to the power supply, can't I re-use my current one instead of buying a new one? I'm not sure if you read my post properly but I did mention that I don't need an OS and optical drive

.

In terms of the case, are there any other alternatives you can suggest?

snips86x · 25 Jul 2013 at 16:59

Bluedawn said:
I had a look at the reviews for the graphics card and I'm not sure if it's the right choice since people seem to have some issues with it.

In regards to the power supply, can't I re-use my current one instead of buying a new one? I'm not sure if you read my post properly but I did mention that I don't need an OS and optical drive .

In terms of the case, are there any other alternatives you can suggest?

I may have missed that, I was distracted while reading.

The MSI cards are great and any issues will be covered by warranty and OcUK, however, there are alternatives:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?catid=56&groupid=701&sortby=priceAsc&subid=1502

There are nVidia cards too, but I'm a bit loathed to spec them as current drivers issues are causing problems with cards.

With your PSU, you could by all means re-use your OCZ PSU, but they are not great in terms of quality. I would recommend, Thermaltake, XFX, Seasonic, Silverstone and some Corsair PSU's.

Case is personal preference, what kind of case did you have in mind?

Bluedawn · 26 Jul 2013 at 02:28

Might sound strange but is it possible that my current PSU may be causing distortion on any mic I use on my computer -not USB mics-? If so then yes I will definitely get a new PSU then.

Well I've dealt with one of BitFenix's case -Shinobi i think- and wasn't fond of having to use force to pull some panels/parts off when I was building a computer for a relative. Breaking a computer case is the last thing I want ;P.

I was thinking if there are alternatives where its easy to open the panels/different parts of the case e.g. like my Antec 300 easily slide or unscrew. I'm not too fussed with looks so even a simple decent black case will do.

EDIT: graphics card wise I was thinking of the Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC since I've had good experience with them with my 5850

honosuseri · 26 Jul 2013 at 03:14

Kudos to you for reading up and not just buying blind

The MSI 7950 is the new revision which solves the issues people were having and yes as Snips says it comes with a MEGA bundle of games. Hard to say what's causing the mic distortion, have you tried the rear jacks on the mobo and not just the front one on the case?

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (PV38G240C0K) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £53.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 90 Day Guarantee £39.95
Total : £866.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).

I'd go with the Ronin too as it can take 240mm rads so I have included this bargain H100. An alternative would be the Corsair 200/300R if you hate the Shinobi (I didn't find it hard to build in myself) but you'll need to switch to an air cooler. I've left out the PSU as you might as well re-use what you have and see what's what.

stulid · 26 Jul 2013 at 05:44

snips86x said:
Hello & Welcome to the Forum

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £148.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit (PV38G213C1K) £59.99
1 x Thermaltake Smart M550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £59.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
1 x OcUK 20x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £12.95
Total : £928.92 (includes shipping : £11.75).

This would be my recommendation. The g/card gets you £150 of free games and the TwinFrozr versions are seriously silent. I have 2 TwinFrozr III's and even on full under BF3, you cannot hear them.

SSD is the new release by Samsung, not sure when it's in (contact OCUK), but it would be worth waiting for, that's for sure.

Do you need an OS?

Any good?

Heres some better RAM, should have Samsung or Hynix IC's,

YOUR BASKET
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £59.99
Total : £68.69 (includes shipping : £7.25).

Bluedawn · 28 Jul 2013 at 15:57

honosuseri said:
Hard to say what's causing the mic distortion, have you tried the rear jacks on the mobo and not just the front one on the case?

I tried both front and back of the case - the front is the worst but the back still has some distortion even when I put the recording volume very low :/.

honosuseri said:
I'd go with the Ronin too as it can take 240mm rads so I have included this bargain H100. An alternative would be the Corsair 200/300R if you hate the Shinobi (I didn't find it hard to build in myself) but you'll need to switch to an air cooler. I've left out the PSU as you might as well re-use what you have and see what's what.

After looking at the other cases, the Ronin does seem to be better with the features it provides - this was the Shinobi I dealt with. I've never used a liquid cooler but is it worth getting over a fan one? I assume it's also easy to install as well?

So this is what I came up with:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-09-40G) £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £59.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £59.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) HDD £46.99
Total : £872.47 (includes shipping : £10.50).

My current 500GB hard drive still have a lot of space (about 50% free) so I thought having 1TB of hard drive is overkill as I do backup files into an external hard drive. I would love to get the 250GB SSD but again it might be overkill and I don't want to go over budget too much. The thermaltake PSU was out of stock so I went with the XFX one (my current set up will be passed down so might as well get a new PSU).

Haven't included the coolers yet as I want to see what else you guys can say about it. Hoping to get some of these parts before the offer goes !

honosuseri · 28 Jul 2013 at 16:11

That Teamgroup RAM is good but it's very tall. That's not an issue if you use a CLC but will make choosing air coolers more tricky.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £71.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (PV38G240C0K) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £48.95
Total : £893.93 (includes shipping : £11.75).

* MSI 7950 will look nicer with the black PCB it also has a longer warranty
* Modular PSU, always wise to help cable management. The Ronin will thank you for it
* 1TB HDD for a couple of quid more. Doubling the capacity for that is a no brainer

Bluedawn · 29 Jul 2013 at 18:55

Well okay I decided to get the following:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-09-40G) £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £191.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE120BW) £86.99
1 x BeQuiet Pure Power L8 630W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in £71.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (PV38G240C0K) £65.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) HDD £46.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1150 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £26.99
Total : £917.46 (includes shipping : £10.50).

Slight over-budget it'll do I guess. Thanks for the help guys

.