Upgrade advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter SJN
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SJN

SJN

SJN

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Joined
2 Jul 2018
Posts
7
I'm looking to upgrade the case, cooling and I think the PSU for my current setup. It's janky as all hell with missing back plates, a damaged case and a weird issue where the PC will power itself on after being shut down unless I flip the power switch. On every boot I have to press F1 to enter the BIOS and save the config, I've never been able to solve this.

I'm looking to upgrade I think to CPU water cooling, a better case with more fans and I don't know if it's possible but something to reduce dust, if that's at all possible.

Currently, idle CPU is around 60-70 °C and my Motherboard is always around 110°C which I don't think is good. My GFX card idle is 40-45°C and I've never seen it go beyond 60°C after playing a game or something.

Current components:

CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.00GHz (Haswell 22nm Technology)
RAM: Corsair 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
MOBO: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. H81M-PLUS (SOCKET 1150)
GFX: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (MSI) (4GB)
PSU: some kind of 4-5 year old nova**tech one
SSD: 119GB M4-CT128M4SSD1 (SATA (SSD))
HDD: 1863GB Seagate ST2000DL003-9VT166 (SATA )
Case: Corsair Carbide 300R Black Window

Looking to upgrade my: PSU, cooling, case and if it would help; my mobo. A key is that I'd like to make the PC as small as possible, without ruining cooling with poor airflow.

Can overlockers or any service help me with a custom bundle or deal to purchase everything I need to just insert my existing cpu/gfx/ram/SSD and away I go?

I'm struggling with compatibility and I'm nervous just buying individual components with no advice as I've only ever built one PC and upgraded parts like my CPU/GFX over the years.
 
Hi, considering I'm keeping my CPU/GFX/SSD I think £500 is reasonable for me, for the components I'm looking to replace. I wouldn't mind seeing higher end options as I'm looking to make this last several years at least.
 
Have a look through the case section and see if you like the look of anything there. The NZXT below is MATX to suit your current board. You can switch to an ATX case though if you want something that can house ATX/MATX for future builds.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £279.59 (includes shipping: £11.70)
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Thank you Lee, I presume I would need to purchase the coolant also with the CPU cooler (I can't see it mentioned, but I may be blind). Could you suggest a MOBO, that would fit my current and these components that could be an upgrade on my Asus H81M-Plus? Perhaps with 4 RAM slots instead of 2?
 
SJN said:
Thank you Lee, I presume I would need to purchase the coolant also with the CPU cooler (I can't see it mentioned, but I may be blind). Could you suggest a MOBO, that would fit my current and these components that could be an upgrade on my Asus H81M-Plus? Perhaps with 4 RAM slots instead of 2?
Click to expand...

Hi

The cooler is pre-filled so you don't need to do anything to it.

You would have to look for something 2nd hand unfortunately, as the cpu you have won't work with current Intel boards. You would be looking for a Z97 chipset (Socket 1150) board.
 
Thank you Lee, much appreciated. So I guess any MATX case from the store would be suitable for me? Do I need to worry about the radiator mount for CPU cooler for cases or?
 
SJN said:
Thank you Lee, much appreciated. So I guess any MATX case from the store would be suitable for me? Do I need to worry about the radiator mount for CPU cooler for cases or?
Click to expand...

Any MATX case that supports a 240mm radiator will be fine. To be honest though if you are sticking with that board you can't overclock anyway, so you could go with a cheaper air cooler if you wanted to save some money.

Are you currently using the stock Intel cpu cooler that came with the cpu ? If so then any aftermarket cooler i.e Cryorig H7 for example will do a better job of keeping it cool.
 
Yes I'm using the intel cooler that came with it, I don't consider £85 for water cooling that much compared to some coolers I'm looking at that seem to range from £20 to £100. Presumably less noise as well, not that it's a real concern.
 
SJN said:
Yes I'm using the intel cooler that came with it, I don't consider £85 for water cooling that much compared to some coolers I'm looking at that seem to range from £20 to £100. Presumably less noise as well, not that it's a real concern.
Click to expand...

That could be one reason why your temps are high then as the stock cooler isn't that great.

So a better aftermarket air cooler like below would drop the temps on your cpu. The Cryorig H7 I mentioned is cheaper, although out of stock at the moment. If you are not planning to buy a 2nd hand Z97 chipset board then the coolers below will be fine. You might find that 2nd hand boards are asking silly prices as well, as there is still demand for them.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £97.84 (includes shipping: £9.90)​
​
 
overclockable cpu with a terrible board
(the board is adequate for day to day use, but not something i'd pair a 4790k with tbh)

like having a porsche and putting a 60hp dacia engine in it, if you get the drift
 
Oh, I'd never try and overclock anyway and it's fine for my use :d - just want to get it a bit cooler really.
 
tamzzy said:
TBH, @lee32uk , i think @SJN is better served with a top-down cooler.

mobo has no vrm heatsinks...


i quite suspect there's going to be a lot of unintended throttling going on.

@SJN watercooling is perhaps the wrong choice of cooling for this mobo
Click to expand...

That would be another option. I reckon that a tower cooler would do the trick though.

Of course if he wanted a beefy top down cooler.....


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £83.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​
 
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