First PC Build - Warning, thread will have blunders.

[NathanL]

Hi all, I hope you are well!

Before you read anything below, please be aware that I still consider myself a complete novice in the field of technology, electronics and DIY. (What's the worst that can happen)

In the summer of 2017, I posted my first thread on this forum looking for assistance in upgrading my PC. I was met by, what I considered, a load of jibberish. But my knight in shining armour, who goes by the name of 'Plec' looked after me and tutored me in to installing a new graphics card and heat sink and OCing my processor. Thing which I never thought would happen. It was a miracle.

My new found "skills" have inspired me to try and build a PC. Now, this won't be a ground up build, more of a 'Re-home the residents and introduce some new friends'.

Essentially, i'm looking to keep some of my components and stick them in a new case and find fill in the blanks. (Looking to build in a couple of months, so i'm getting my nose in early)
I'm looking for any help guiding me to the correct components to buy, to ensure i'm not wasting my money (of which I'm looking to spend £750-800).
Any assistance would be much appreciated and I'd be very grateful.

Current Build:

• GPU: GeForce GTX Gigabyte 6GB Windforce 1060
• CPU: i5-2500k 3.30ghz (OC 4.2 I think)
• Memory: 8gb Ram DDR3
• Power Supply: 600W Quiet 80 Plus QUAD Rail PSU
• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LX
• 2x HDD, 500gb and 2TB.

What I'm thinking is a new CPU, Motherboard, an SSD (finally) and DDR4 Ram. If that will all come within my budget. I also think I will probably need a new power supply.

Also also, possibly looking at a new cpu cooler, would this all in one be suitable?
CoolerMaster Master Liquid 120mm AIO CPU Water Cooler Intel/AMD

My very basic knowledge only covers Intel products and I have no idea about AMD etc. so if anyone could explain how either would benefit me that'd be great.

Case
This is the case I currently have: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/in-win-mana-136-midi-tower-case-black-ca-002-iw.html
(Apologies, I can't do the 'my checkout' thing as it's no longer being sold)

I've had this case for around 7 years and it's showing it's age inside. I'm looking for something slightly larger and more suitable for my rooms colour scheme. Which is Lime Green.

This case: https://www.**********/products/the...with-side-window-usb-30-and-3x140mm-riing?v=c
Is what I have in mind, it's slightly more expensive than i'd hoped for but it looks like there's lots of room for upgrades.


I think i've included all that's needed in this post in order for others to understand, but I've had dinner in the middle of it so some may not legible.

Thanks!
Nathan

 

[NathanL]

Ah yes it was from ***ELSEWHERE***. This was the case: http://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=c_00002696

Thank you for the suggestions, I had looked at the 8700k and a lot of the comments were that it was hot. Coolers are something I really know nothing about, so I'd definitely have to do more research into that!


No Competitor mentions please
- Armageus

 

[NathanL]

Thank you for the suggestions! Whilst those cases look great, I really have my heart set on the green one i've linked! (Not to sound rude). The cooler looks good though! Would that fit in the case i've linked?

I'm a bit confused with water cooling to be honest, how does it all work? Does it just get attached to the case and then you apply the liquid and it goes about it's business or is it more difficult than that?

 

[NathanL]

Holy Moly. You need Sunglasses on to look at that one

Yeah.. apologies! The wall behind it is that colour so I can't miss the opportunity!!

The majority of liquid coolers are sealed units. The Alphacool is expandable though, so it is possible to cool your gpu as well if you wanted to.

Blimey that sounds handy! Are they simple enough to set up? I'm fairly (completely) heavy handed, so as long as an oaf can do it then we're all good!

So are you thinking I don't need a new PSU? Even though it's verging on 7 years old? It's not shown any signs of cutting out so far.

 

[NathanL]

If you want to keep it simpler then a big air cooler such as a Cryorig R1 Universal

Hmm maybe air cooling is the better option for now. Seems more budget efficient also!

If the Bequiet unit wasmwa made by FSP- then yes would change it. Used a lower quality OEM before the switch to FSP

I'm sorry I don't quite understand any of this! Is this something regulations based?

The cooler I recently bought was this:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x be quiet! Pure Rock CPU Cooler - 120mm= £31.99

Total: £38.01 (includes shipping: £6.02)
​

I guess it no longer will cut the mustard! The cryorig one looks nice definitely!

By the time you come around to buying , Ultra 1.0 would have been replaced with the superior 2.0

What is this in reference to? Apologies again, you're dealing with a real novice! You chose the wrong post to look at


EDIT: I believe it's a BeQuiet yes, I'm not at home currently so can't check, but whatever is in my first post for PSU was what I bought when I initially bought the PC 7 years ago! I copied that directly from the order (Which was from ************)

 

[NathanL]

Try the BeQuiet Pure Rock. You probably won't be able to overclock much

I'll be honest, I'm not planning on OCing straight away, so that can be something for the future if needs be.

Speaking about hobbying on budget AMD is now for the first time in very long time again very viable choise.

I had thought about that for a moment, but s little as I know about Intel, I know even less about AMD, i feel like that would be too much of a curve as the compatibility of them confuses me!


Can I just summarise quickly? Before this all builds up to a massive amount of confusion for me haha
New CPU - 8700k seems the common choice
New Motherboard - Z370 again seems like a common choice.
Should be able to stick with current cpu cooler, if not OCing, look to buy new one if OCing
Need new PSU
New RAM as ones mentioned above.

I'll confirm my PSU specs tomorrow when i'm home, if you could categorically say I need a new one from what I say, that would be great


EDIT: In reference to 'Ultra' motherboard: SO this will be something i'll be able to buy in a couple of months correct? Will there be a significant price difference?

 

[NathanL]

If you can't fancy overclocking , and coffeelake Non K chips finally coming with higher clock rates then previous gens, just grab a 8700 and B360 board

It's not that I won't, but it's that i'll be getting over my shock of doing manual labour for a couple of months so it'll just come a bit later! THink I'll stick with the 8700k for longevity sake as well!

Bitfenix Formula Series 450W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £59.99

450W! Was I just overcompensating on my 600W? Or have things become more energy efficient in those years?


You're saying I should get a new CPU cooler, do you think the one i bought last year won't be up to it?

 

[NathanL]

So an AMD option would be something like this:

Leaves you with more money to spend on other areas.

Ah I see! AMD processor names confuse me as much as Mercedes cars...

Maybe AMD would be a sensible idea then. How much are the X370s? Sorry I would search myself but I'm really struggling with my terrible i3 HP laptop currently..

So, as far as I'd notice, there won't be a particular difference between Intel and Amd?

 

[NathanL]

Just had a look at the R7 1700. Looks very nifty, and you're right, not too bad price wise at all. Could definitely be a possibility. You're both persuading me!

 

[NathanL]

Thank you all for your help so far, it's very much appreciated.

Okay, so in a bizarre change of events, it's looking like the AMD option may be a better choice. I can of course wait for a few weeks I was realistically waiting for a couple of month till I did this anyway!
I may just go for the R7 anyway and the more expensive motherboard as you mentioned, it still seems like it'll be around the same price as the 8700k build? No?

Then get a new PSU, keep the same cooler at the moment get the new ram and go from there. May even have some cash to finally get an SSD in there too.
Ill try and keep an eye out for the new Motherboards and CPUs coming out at the end of this month.

Though one downside of it is that cheese grater front leaking out any slightest noise.

I had thought that, but I can't see it being any louder than mine currently. All review i've seen have said it keeps the sound well suppressed.

 

[NathanL]

If I remember correctly. The cooler came with an AM4 bracket. I'll have to do a bit of searching to find it though!

 

[NathanL]

One final query before lights out for tonight. Why would I not go with the R7 1800? Would that be a better option?

With that, thank you for your help! Tomorrow I will be setting up a sheet on each of the systems you've mentioned and do a bit of my own research on them. I may post on here again over the weekend. It would be fantastic if you could all lend a hand again as you've been a great help.

Have a great weekend!

 

[NathanL]

Hi again all,

This is my current power supply. I'm guessing this needs to go!

Spoiler: Warning large picture!!

 

[NathanL]

FSP one of the main decent OEMs like Seasonic ,. Believe they were first to market fully modular... though couldn't quote on that model

Ah I see, does that mean you're still recommending getting a new one? From googling it, it only seems Bronze standard, nothing above.

I have a quick query regarding Windows and storage.

If I have any cash left over, I'm hoping to get and SSD to put windows on and possibly the games that will be on the system. I currently have two HDDs.
How easy is it going to be to get windows off the HDD and onto the a new SSD?

 

[NathanL]

Ah I see. Cable wise, will I need to buy my own or will each component come with their own power cables?

 

[NathanL]

Ah okay, i'll buy the new one then, it's not too much money so no issue.

Could you give me a hand with my questions regarding Windows and Cabling above if possible please? Post #31 and #33.

 

[NathanL]

^^^^^ never underestimate the power of knowledge of the forum

Never underestimating! This forum has helped me an incredible amount since my first post last year!

As with cables, since your going new and is wise choice, it comes with all the powered connections to plug into the board, card, drives etc.
The mother board comes normally with Two sata cables for the Drives

We all do rate Seasonic Unit - and it's modular which would be a help to you .

Sounds good! Good to know I won't have to faff about with buying cables! Should be able to nick a few cables from my current pc anyway.


My main issue with switching things over is my hard drive. The one that was installed when I bought the PC is a mess. It's full of program files which are no longer used, has windows installed on it (which needs to be moved over) and has game save files on it, despite the games being saved on a newer drive. I need to get that sorted but I keep putting it off!

 

[NathanL]

Seen a few posts in the last couple of days about the Ryzen 7 2700X overclocking to 4.3 and people are impressed by them.
Any of you may be able to tell otherwise though as I don't know much about it!

Hard drive wise, my plan is to wipe the one with Windows on (whilst moving anything important to separate drive and external drive) and the reinstalling Windows on that drive to start a fresh when putting it in new build. I think that sounds sensible...

 

[NathanL]

Stick Windows on the SSD, assuming you are still buying one ? as it will boot up a lot faster. Same goes for games they should load quicker etc.

Thats the plan hopefully, games and windows on an SSD everything else on my 2tb. Don't understand how hard drive partitioning works though so will have to Google that or ask another time on here.

I dont think many that have current ryzen will jump to new chip- that would be Zen2 core.
Intel should be paying attention Ryzen+ and then be worries for Zen 2 design the year after !

So in your opinion, should I wait for the 2700 to come out to buy that? Or go with 1700/1700X?

Also couldn't see anything related to new motherboards, are there new ones coming out or are they generally done by third party manufacturers?


Cheers for the help again, both

 

[NathanL]

I did worry about the sales that are on at the moment but I'm having to wait until pay day to buy all of these things!
So having the current X370 won't be worth it for having a 1700X/2700 you think? And I'd be better off with the B350?