PC taking a long time to post... i think it might be time for an upgrade, can you help?

[champ222]

Hi All

Sorry for the monster post.

back in 2006/2007, with the help of you guys, I built the following:

• Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM £0.00 1 £93.99 Now Q6600
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775) £0.00 1 £13.99
• Pioneer DVR-111BK 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter - (Black) OEM £0.00 1 £18.35 Now a Blu-ray reader
• Sony Floppy Drive - Black £0.00 1 £4.99
• Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS II Aluminium Midi-Tower Case - Black £0.00 1 £48.99
• GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) £0.00 1 £147.99 Now 6GB
• Gigabyte GA_965P_DS4 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £0.00 1 £99.99
• BFG GeForce 8800 GTS OC 640MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £0.00 1 £247.99 Now Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3320620AS) £0.00 1 £56.99 Now Samsung 128GB SSD
• Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK) £0.00 1 £84.99
• Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) £0.00 1 £49.99 Now windows 10
  

City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri): £10.95
VAT: £153.86
Order Total: £1033.06


I Also have a Samsung 27" IPS 1440p monitor

Now, over the last few days the PC will take quite a while, to get through the memory checking part of the POST. sometimes it wont happen at all, then a reset is required. seems to work faster the second time. ive swapped various memory around, and it doesn't seem to actually be a memory issue. In addition, ive got this glitchy audio latency issue that's VERY annoying, that I cant seem to fix.

This might be an ideal opportunity for a new PC.

Now, money is rather tight, at the moment, and I'm using it less often at the moment, due to a 1 year old being in the next room. this wont always be the case though, and I may look into the steam link to bring the games downstairs. I'm not a big gamer, but like a nice experience when I do.

So, I was thinking of buying a decent Motherboard, reasonable RAM and a entry level CPU and using the rest of my existing stuff. The logic behind this is that a decent Mobo is worthwhile, as it gets linked to windows and is time consuming to upgrade later (I'm skint, but still have less time than money). RAM and CPUs are easy upgrades, and roll on a couple of years, an i7 in from the members market would be a nice upgrade.

I want it to last me another 10 years ideally, I'd like some overclocking potential, but I'm not looking to get every possible hz out of the CPU. Also require:

Well behaved USB3 - I use a PCI card, and I have one on my laptop, both cause me issues with sleep etc.
plenty of sata ports.
SPDIF optical out
Reliability

Case, I'm fairly happy with the Lian Li, but I'd like it quieter if possible. I think I can lower the noise of the noctua fans... wouldn't be against change, but it might have to wait until later.

PSU, id really like to keep the one I have, but I'd consider renewing this if there are compatibility issues, CPU power connector etc.

Drives, these are fine at the mo. the 128GB Samsung ssd is big enough for the boot drive at the moment.

GPU, this one will do for now, the budget doesn't allow for a decent upgrade, so may as well wait until it does.

So, this leaves PSU (if need be) Mobo, RAM, CPU, and cooler.

how about one of these mobos?

Maximus VIII Hero Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £176.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-651-as.html

GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £172.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-526-gi.html

Z170 Sabertooth Mark S Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £164.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-fs-100-as.html

Maximus VIII Ranger Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £142.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-650-as.html

or a little cheaper:

GA-Z170X-UD3 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £122.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-529-gi.html

looking through the specs, they all seem much of a muchness to me... ive gone with 2x Sata express ports for future proofing a little, and ive narrowed it down to those with on board optical out, as I use a stereo receiver with hifi speakers. It seems to come down to what ports you want, but there must be more to it?

ive noticed the gigabyte ones have intel usb3.1, vs ASmedia in the ASUS, is the Intel considered a better option?

There is also Intel LAN vs Killer LAN, would the Intel be better bet?

Also, I assume they all have similar overclocking options?

For RAM, perhaps this, just to get me started?

Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black - £43.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...annel-kit-black-cmk8gx4m2a2400-my-437-cs.html

This Cheapo CPU until I can upgrade later:

Pentium Dual Core G4400 3.30GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 - £53.99

If I need a cooler, perhaps someone could recommend one?

 

[varkanoid]

Now, money is rather tight, at the moment, and I'm using it less often at the moment, due to a 1 year old being in the next room. this wont always be the case though, and I may look into the steam link to bring the games downstairs. I'm not a big gamer, but like a nice experience when I do.

Headphones are a very good answer when you have a 1 year old. I ditched my speakers 5 years ago when our first was born and used headphones every since. Once you have kids and want to PC at night speakers just wont be used.

PSU, id really like to keep the one I have, but I'd consider renewing this if there are compatibility issues, CPU power connector etc.

The Corsair will be fine for some time to come.

Drives, these are fine at the mo. the 128GB Samsung ssd is big enough for the boot drive at the moment.

I couldnt see this in your list. I was going to recommend a SSD but if you have one then fine. I would consider a larger HD.

GPU, this one will do for now, the budget doesn't allow for a decent upgrade, so may as well wait until it does.

Should have listed your budget it would help find alternatives.

So, this leaves PSU (if need be) Mobo, RAM, CPU, and cooler.

GA-Z170X-UD3 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard - £122.99
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-529-gi.html

To be honest if you are not a big gamer I would go for the £100-£125 motherboards like the one above, maybe even less and put the savings on this and the PSU into a GPU. Maybe a AMD 380 if you can afford it.

ive noticed the gigabyte ones have intel usb3.1, vs ASmedia in the ASUS, is the Intel considered a better option?

never heard of ASmedia, Intel is fine.

There is also Intel LAN vs Killer LAN, would the Intel be better bet?

Killer LAN is a gaming product then again I have it and dont think it makes much difference.

This Cheapo CPU until I can upgrade later:

Pentium Dual Core G4400 3.30GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 - £53.99

If I need a cooler, perhaps someone could recommend one?

Really need to know your budget to comment. As for Cooler after all that time I would get one. Something about £20-£30 would suffice.

eg https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-themis-evo-professional-cpu-cooler-hs-007-rt.html

 

[champ222]

Hi, thanks for the message. Yeah I've been thinking about the board since I posted, and I'm sure I'd be fine with a cheaper one.

I do use headphones. I have a stereo on the desk I use for both headphones and speakers. The issue is, that my desk is right outside the baby's door, we keep the door open as she is very prone to waking at the moment, so the light from the big monitor would light up her room. Plus I'd do my gaming once the wife has gone to bed... I can imagine the look id get if she had to wake up to see to our baby, walk past me because I haven't heard her crying due to the headphones...

Once she starts sleeping better again, it'll be OK.

The gpu I have at the moment does what I need it to for now. No point changing it until I need to. Pc failure has caused replacement of the other bits.

Thanks again.

 

[varkanoid]

in the early stages I did my gaming between 11pm to 2am and I could hear ours crying even with headphones I just had one earphone on and the other sat slightly off my ear.

 

[champ222]

Thanks again

I use IEMs rather than over the heads, so its not as easy to do that.

I'll see how the cash is nearer the end of the month.

Cheers

 

[turbot1984]

DITCH THE 6850 AND BUY A MAN'S CARD