Guide for parts for building new PC

[rossmckay25]

Hi

I am planning on upgrading my current PC and the four things I am looking for advice on are the Motherboard, Graphics Card and the CPU. I am just going to keep my existing case as its quite big and I got this PC at the end of 2008. My budget is for just under £1000 and if I need to buy a new power supply/fans I will do.

I was looking at getting the G Force GTX 970 graphics card. Is this card worth the purchase as the purpose of this upgrade is for gaming. If this card is good to go for, what would be the best choices for CPU and Motherboard. I currently have a 2.86Ghz processor so would be wanting to make to the jump up from that.

Any help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Danny75]

Hi and welcome to the forum, Ross.

It's likely you could do with a new PSU if the existing one is from 2008. Which model is it though?

On which monitor will you be gaming, to begin with? That will affect GPU choice.

For gaming, one of the new i5's or i7's is the best bet for CPU. The motherboard choice will depend on what features you want, i.e. SLI-capable, good for overclocking (though that will greatly depend on the CPU lottery as well), etc. Or will a basic motherboard do?

As for cooling, you'll need an aftermarket CPU cooler unless you want to use stock cooler and not overclock. So your case will need to fit a 120/140/240/280mm AIO rad, or an air cooler. You say it's big but stating the model would be helpful.

Finally, how much memory do you have, and is it DDR3? And are the drives SATA or IDE? Do you already have an SSD?

 

[rossmckay25]

Hi and welcome to the forum, Ross.

It's likely you could do with a new PSU if the existing one is from 2008. Which model is it though?

On which monitor will you be gaming, to begin with? That will affect GPU choice.

For gaming, one of the new i5's or i7's is the best bet for CPU. The motherboard choice will depend on what features you want, i.e. SLI-capable, good for overclocking (though that will greatly depend on the CPU lottery as well), etc. Or will a basic motherboard do?

As for cooling, you'll need an aftermarket CPU cooler unless you want to use stock cooler and not overclock. So your case will need to fit a 120/140/240/280mm AIO rad, or an air cooler. You say it's big but stating the model would be helpful.

Finally, how much memory do you have, and is it DDR3? And are the drives SATA or IDE? Do you already have an SSD?

Thanks for the reply. I will get my specs from my current PC and my case and I will let you know.

 

[rossmckay25]

I have looked up my specs for my old PC. From what I can see the hard drive is Sata 500gb. The PSU is CM Modular PSU RS850ESBA 850W. The model for my case is Lian-Li PC7-B Plus II Alu Case if that makes any sense. I have 4GB of DDR2 memory. I'm not going to overclock the graphics card or processor and just run it as it is. The monitor I have is 22 LG L226WTQ BLACK DVI, it doesn't have a HDMI cable connection on it.

I hope from this you can give me some good advice. I would rather not buy a new monitor but will do to see the effects of the GPU.

Thanks

 

[tamzzy]

that psu is decent and you can reuse your hdd and case. what's your budget?

 

[Danny75]

Thank you for the info, Ross. Looks like you'll need new DDR3 memory too and you'd benefit from an SSD to place your OS on to help speed things up. Do you have the OS DVD? You could use your existing 500GB drive for storage if you don't need more space. I'll prepare a spec to see what you think.

My budget is for just under £1000

For Tamzzy ^ so he can get cracking too

 

[tamzzy]

For Tamzzy ^ so he can get cracking too

i'm blind lol.

anyway, here's a sub £700 upgrade (with code and free shipping: XFX290PROMO)
also, i'm assuming here that you (or someone you know) can build/upgrade a rig.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £252.58
1 x XFX Radeon R9 290 DD 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9-290A-EDFD) £199.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £696.53 (includes shipping : ).

 

[Danny75]

I would rather not buy a new monitor but will do to see the effects of the GPU.

Your present monitor has 1680x1050 resolution, so you will need to upgrade to get the best out of a new, quality GPU. Don't have to do it just yet but I've included a suggestion in the spec below, which is 1920x1080 but also 144Hz which provides a much smoother gaming experience (if the GPU can handle it, and the 970 can).

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £252.58
1 x LG 24GM77 24" TRUE 144Hz Widescreen LED Monitor - Black /w Flicker FREE Technology **OcUK Exclusive** £209.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £77.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £69.95
1 x Raijintek Aidos Direct Contact CPU Cooler £14.99
Total : £990.47 (includes shipping : £12.50).




If you don't need Windows, then you could possibly go for an i7 instead of i5, which will give you 4.0GHz stock and 4.4GHz turbo without overclocking, plus 8 threads. Bit more future-proof if you don't want to upgrade again for a good few years. But you won't see much difference between i5 and i7 in gaming right now.

8GB memory is still enough for gaming at present, can add more down the road if needed.

Budget aftermarket cooler included that's better/less noisy than the Intel stock cooler. Can spend even more on better but that one should do the job I think.

The SSD has an adapter for 3.5" bay which will come in handy for your case.

And I agree with Tamzzy about the PSU. It's worth trying with the upgrade parts as it seems pretty decent. But it's your call, some people prefer getting a new PSU with their new gear. They obviously degrade over time.

 

[rossmckay25]

Thanks for the info guys. I already have a disc for my OS so won't need to purchase a new one. I plan on getting a SSD as well for the operating system and use my other HDD for storage.

So would my current PSU be okay to work with all of the upgraded parts provided I don't overclock my machine?

 

[Danny75]

Thanks for the info guys. I already have a disc for my OS so won't need to purchase a new one. I plan on getting a SSD as well for the operating system and use my other HDD for storage.

Cool. You're welcome.

So would my current PSU be okay to work with all of the upgraded parts provided I don't overclock my machine?

In theory yes. In practice it's possible, even if rare, to experience some incompatibility between older PSUs and new motherboards/GPUs. But it should be safe to give it a try if you know the PSU is in good working order. The motherboards have some protections. If it doesn't work out, then might as well invest in a new PSU, to rule it out as the problem.

 

[rossmckay25]

In theory yes. In practice it's possible, even if rare, to experience some incompatibility between older PSUs and new motherboards/GPUs. But it should be safe to give it a try if you know the PSU is in good working order. The motherboards have some protections. If it doesn't work out, then might as well invest in a new PSU, to rule it out as the problem.

Any suggestions for a new PSU? What would be the best one to get?

 

[Danny75]

Any suggestions for a new PSU? What would be the best one to get?

Two of the best would be SuperFlower Leadex or EVGA G2, but there are other options that are nearly as good and would do. Which model will depend on your final spec and whether you want to allow room to add a second GPU in future.