How does this PC build look?

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 21:02

This is a 3 year old PC build that I got back then for £550 and it worked great for three years. I was wondering if anything could be improved? Thanks in advance.

Intel core 15 4460:

ASROCK H81 PRO BTC: https://www.asrock.com/mb/intel/h81 pro btc/

HyperX FURY Series 8 GB DDR3 1866MHz CL10 DIMM Memory Module:

Geforce GTX 960 4GB WF2:

EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G2:

Hyper 212 EVO CPU Air Cooler CoolerMaster Heatsink:

A basic 1TB HDD

** No Competitors, please re-read the rules **

TallPaul1878 · 1 Mar 2018 at 21:12

Absolutely recommend an SSD. Either a more modest 120 - 250 GB drive as a boot drive / key apps

Or splash out on a 500GB and put a couple of your favourite games on it.

If the graphics card is doing it for you then hold on just a bit longer for the GTX 20xx range, otherwise that could be something to upgrade.

RAM is expensive right now but it would be nice to go up to 16GB

Personally I wouldn't bother swapping the CPU unless I was going for a full rebuild.

So yea. SSD is probably the thing to improve first.

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 21:22

TallPaul1878 said:
Absolutely recommend an SSD. Either a more modest 120 - 250 GB drive as a boot drive / key apps

Or splash out on a 500GB and put a couple of your favourite games on it.

If the graphics card is doing it for you then hold on just a bit longer for the GTX 20xx range, otherwise that could be something to upgrade.

RAM is expensive right now but it would be nice to go up to 16GB

Personally I wouldn't bother swapping the CPU unless I was going for a full rebuild.

So yea. SSD is probably the thing to improve first.

I am planning a full rebuild. It's dying, potentially dead soon.

I had a 60GB SSD but that space just filled up with apps that needed a direct access to the operating system. Like Photoshop for example, it just stopped working because I had no space.

Wouldn't the 2000 GTX series just up the price by a few hundred? Are there any 1000 series that are good replacements? how is the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050 Ti G1 GAMING 4GB GDDR5?

Thanks for your help

TallPaul1878 · 1 Mar 2018 at 21:53

GTX 1050Ti is the go to card for respectable 1080p gaming.

It'd also be a wise choice if you are planning a full rebuild down the line. Graphics cards are expensive and there are no signs of them easing back.

Keep your eyes on the forums when new cards release. There are occasionally special offers posted for forum members to grab limited time deals on graphics cards. Maybe there'll be some clearance deals on current gen cards, maybe there'll be some introductory deals on new ones. Who knows???

PC building is a rich man's hobby these days.

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 21:57

TallPaul1878 said:
GTX 1050Ti is the go to card for respectable 1080p gaming.

It'd also be a wise choice if you are planning a full rebuild down the line. Graphics cards are expensive and there are no signs of them easing back.

Keep your eyes on the forums when new cards release. There are occasionally special offers posted for forum members to grab limited time deals on graphics cards. Maybe there'll be some clearance deals on current gen cards, maybe there'll be some introductory deals on new ones. Who knows???

PC building is a rich man's hobby these days.

Thanks. So if an SSD is a must have. Would anyone do? Could I buy any 250gb SSD for £60 quid or do I need specific specs on it?

TallPaul1878 · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:02

You should make sure it's an up to date SATA 6GB/s model but they all are these days.

If you think 250GB is enough for you then go for it. You'll fit Windows, your key apps and a handful of your favourite games on it. If you still have the 60GB then keep that too and shove a game on it

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:09

TallPaul1878 said:
You should make sure it's an up to date SATA 6GB/s model but they all are these days.

If you think 250GB is enough for you then go for it. You'll fit Windows, your key apps and a handful of your favourite games on it. If you still have the 60GB then keep that too and shove a game on it

Thanks. If you could help me with another problem I still have my old OS on the old SSD. How do I wipe a drive? I tried manually doing it from the finder but it didn’t work and when looking it up the only option is paying for software to do it.

TallPaul1878 · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:12

Ah I had a pain in the backside when putting an old SSD with Windows on it into a new build.

I wanted to install the OS onto my M.2 drive but it would just boot back onto the SSD.

Best thing to do is take out the old SSD and reinstall windows onto a fresh hard drive. Once you have that all up and running you can go ahead and install the old 60GB drive again.

You will then be able to reformat the drive and have use of it again. It's a PITA to be honest but you don't need any additional software. It can all be done from Windows.

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:15

TallPaul1878 said:
Ah I had a pain in the backside when putting an old SSD with Windows on it into a new build.

I wanted to install the OS onto my M.2 drive but it would just boot back onto the SSD.

Best thing to do is take out the old SSD and reinstall windows onto a fresh hard drive. Once you have that all up and running you can go ahead and install the old 60GB drive again.

You will then be able to reformat the drive and have use of it again. It's a PITA to be honest but you don't need any additional software. It can all be done from Windows.

I have my OS installed on another HDD that worked. But when trying to uninstall the stuff on my SSD manually by selecting it all and just clicking delete but it wouldn’t let me (i’m afraid I can’t remember the error). How do I wipe a drive from Windows?

Chugz · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:32

Alex Adamson said:
I have my OS installed on another HDD that worked. But when trying to uninstall the stuff on my SSD manually by selecting it all and just clicking delete but it wouldn’t let me (i’m afraid I can’t remember the error). How do I wipe a drive from Windows?

Use Eraser: https://eraser.heidi.ie/

Select Erase Disk/Drive, and be very careful to select the SSD, the partitions below the disk will let you see which one the SSD is. Let that wipe for a few seconds, then cancel it. Press Win+R and type in "diskmgmt.msc". When it prompts you to select MBR or GPT, select GPT.

Alex Adamson · 1 Mar 2018 at 22:36

Chugz said:
Use Eraser: https://eraser.heidi.ie/

Select Erase Disk/Drive, and be very careful to select the SSD, the partitions below the disk will let you see which one the SSD is. Let that wipe for a few seconds, then cancel it. Press Win+R and type in "diskmgmt.msc". When it prompts you to select MBR or GPT, select GPT.

Awesome thanks very much