My Rig - Few Questions

[Johnmcbob]

Basically this is my spec right now

I7 2600 3.4GHz
Asus P8H61-M LE/USB3
4gb Corsair XMS3
Sapphire radeon 5830HD 1gb
Corsair 500watt power supply
Maxtor sata 2 500gb main drive

What I'd like to know if this is a good set of upgrades for it

Was gonna get a crucial M4 64 gig first for the OS then another at a later date for games
And 2x4gb Corsair XMS3
Also I'd like a modular power supply to clean up the cables a bit and I'd be braiding them, and suggestions on a power supply?

Also took a few quick pics on my phone, and ideas about cable management for now, there is almost no room at the back of the case, it's a cooler master 430 black elite

Thanks

John

So far thinking separate the cable ties and the power bit to the top of the mobo I can put at the top of the case then down the side of the back fan but the rest I'm kinda stumped

 

[Hyburnate]

Would you want a fully modular? AX series is for you.

If you can't afford that then go for the new XFX.

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Yes it would be a good idea for RAM if you can afford it because of how cheap it is but if you can't afford it I'm sure you can live with 4GB

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And also yes a SSD would certainly give you some speed for your OS/Games. A 64GB would be enough for your OS and about 2 games. I'd get a M4.

How much would you have for upgrades?

 

[honosuseri]

The bequiet L8 Modular PSUs might be worth a look. Reasonably priced, you could get a 630W one and 4GB of RAM for roughly the same price as a similar XFX PSU.

The crucial M4 drives are popular they dont seem to have as many problems reported as other SSDs. Although for what they cost I'd probably want to upgrade the 5830 GPU

 

[Johnmcbob]

See I don't want to upgrade the gpu as of yet as it never lags or anything and I play skyrim and crisis etc on full or high quality fine

Mainly want it sped up a bit hence the ssd and more ram

Had a wee go at tidying the cables up

See for the big white plugs that join the gpu to the PSU how do you go about braiding with those still in place? Or does a modular supply take those out the equation?

 

[honosuseri]

It's your money fella and your rig. If it was me I would probably go with the bequiet L8 and some RAM and sell the 5830 towards an upgraded GPU. If your happy with your GPU that's cool. What resolution do you use out of interest.

The SSD as hyburnate pointed out will improve load times of the OS and games. You still have your old HDD to keep "non essential files" on so you could get by with a 64GB I suppose.

Those white blocks you refer to.... I think what you mean is the molex adapters. A good PSU would have these on the loom already so you wouldn't need those adapters

 

[Johnmcbob]

Agh yeah I might get one eventually but I'd rather do the ram and ssd first buddy

Thanks for the advice

Yeah the power supply was cheap, though I got the whole pc for £400 and it had only been built for 2 months so can't complain really

Had a go at cable tidying which I think looks a lot better for now, gonna help with air flow a lot

Oh and i use is it a 1920x1080? I know it's x1080

 

[honosuseri]

Well the trouble is your case has no cable management. A modular PSU would certainly make your life easier to keep things tidy. Having your old PSU spare to use for troubleshooting could be a god send one day

It's worth mentioning that SSDs are 2.5inch so you will need an adapter to fit it in your drive bays. Some budget case like the zalman z9 include a 2.5 bay for SSDs, I'm almost 100% sure that coolermaster Elite case doesn't.

 

[Johnmcbob]

Yeah I seen you can get them on the OC site for a couple of quid so that's good at least

Yeah it'd have to be modified a bit to make it work haha. Gonna eventually get a proper good case, what ones are White and have good cable management bits?

So hard planning what to buy for my pc as I modify my car as well :L

Oh and was planning at a later date to get a new mobo, what ones allow the gpu to be upwards facing? It looks cool but sadly I can't see it :L