Time to replace my system - Would appreciate advice please?

firbolg

firbolg

firbolg

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2014
Posts
34
Hi My current system is a bit long in the tooth
- Coolermaster Mystique, Corsaid HX620W, Asus P5KE/WiFi-AP, dual-core E8400 (O/Clocked to 4.2), 4MB ram, GEForce8600GTS with SSD etc.

Built with advice from this forum, it is very responsive and has served me well but I'm starting to have some issues (USB connections, WiFi etc) and I reckon I've got my money's worth and it's time to replace it.

My workload is browsing,email,WP,Music,video,Virtualisation, minimal games. I run WIn7 and Arch linux. My workload does not justify a high-powered system but I want a very responsive system - at least as responsive as my current system.

I plan to re-use some components initially (Disks,DVD,display,mouse,KB etc), so I am looking for
- Case, Power supply, Motherboard, (Intel) Processor, Ram, Graphics card.
I want a decent life-span from it with some upgrades perhaps along the way

My thoughts (just thoughts - willing to consider others) are
- socket 1150 / 1155?
- Processor i5-4670 / 4690? I will want to over-clock to 4.0 or higher
- Decent graphics card without being expensive (Not really into gaming)
- 8GB ram
- case ATX (not too big) or micro-ATX case (a la bitfenix prodigy ?) Good cooling, looks secondary.
- Processor water cooler (Corsair hydro?) (since over-clocking)
- Motherboard to have min 3xsata 6 and min 2xUSB 3.0 and min 8xusb in total, and ideally on-board wifi but not essential.

I'm not specifying a budget (NOT because I'[m loaded - I'm NOT) but I want a level of responsiveness at least the same as I have and preferably a bit more.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Ed
 
Since I posted, I've been doing some searching.
My thoughts at this stage are as follows

Definite
- Definitely ATX - I've ruled out Micro-ATX / Mini-ITX
- Processor i5 4670K or i5 4690K (Any key implications either way?)

Possible choices
- Case Corsair Carbide 300R mid-tower
- CPU Cooler Corsair Hydro - Not sure which version
- Power Corsair CS550M

No thoughts yet
- Ram 8GB no suggestion yet
- Motherboard No suggestion yet
- Graphics card No suggestion yet but max £175

I'm open to alternatives to my own suggestions - I don't have a preference for any one manufacturer. I'm open to considering bundles etc.

Ed
 
What disks do you currently have?

SSD makes a big difference to responsiveness, especially when used as OS/software drive.
 
Samcat / Stas823

I'm already using SSD.

Re the i7
That would be overkill for me.
I'm looking to match or better my current performance (dual-core E8400 over clocked to 4.2ghz). The i5 is plenty.

Ed
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £258.58
1 x KFA2 Geforce GTX 770 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - OEM (77XPH6DV6KVX) £179.99
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 Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £49.99
1 x Raijintek Agos Midi Tower - White £39.95
1 x Raijintek Themis Direct Contact CPU Cooler £19.99
Total : £844.06 (includes shipping : £8.00).



However as you aren't gaming, the GPU is probably way overkill and you could make do with the onboard GPU?

This PSU is much much much much better than that cheapo corsair :)
Is this case ok?
This motherboard unfortunately doesn't have onboard WiFi and 8 USB ports, do you need that many?
 
Last edited:
Shivy011
Thanks for the specs.
I will be carrying forward 2xssd and 1 spinning disk so I don't need the disks.
Not sure yet what OS I will run.

Re the rest:
- Z97x bundle: I can do without the on-board wifi if I can add a wifi adapter. There are enough USB on this (6). Is this motherboard a good overclocker? Does it have any O/clocking facilities built in? I may have missed it in the specs but I assume it supports both old and new BIOS?

- GTX770 probably is over-kill. I could start with the on-board graphics I suppose. As a way to deciding, is it possible to say what price I should go for to get somewhat better than on-board graphics? e.g is on-board same as say £100 card?

- Ram is fine

- Superflower is not modular I think? Is that a disadvantage in any way?

- Not sure about the case. I was thinking of something along the lines of Corsair carbide 300R / Coolermaster cm690. How does this one compare from a cooling and installation point of view? If more or less on a par then great.

- Also not sure about the CPU cooler. I was willing to go £70/80 for a hydro-type to give maximum protection against heat, especially since I want to do some overclocking. This seems a long way short of that ?

Thanks again.
 
That sounds fine, something like this would be better I expect.
The SuperFlower PSU is the creme de la creme of the budget range of SuperFlowers (Golden Green.) However, there's a modular lineup and I've included a watercooler here also

The 300R won't take the H105 cooler, so I opted for an alternative :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-SLI - Devils Canyon Core i5 4690K Bundle **£14 Saving** £258.58
1 x Powercolor Radeon R9 270 TurboDUO 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
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 SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 650W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £73.99
1 x BitFenix Ronin Tower Case - Black £69.95
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2133HC11ADC01) £65.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £61.99
Total : £903.46 (includes shipping : £12.50).



The leadex PSU is quick a bit more expensive, does have glowy LED connectors though :)
Obviously the price would drop should you opt for the Golden Green, and the Golden Green should be fine even though it's non-modular, just tie the cables up and it will be fine :)



The motherboard should overclock decently, it's a mid-range Z97 board and should cope well
R9 270 should be great for casual gaming and a decent chunk better than integrated graphics

H105 is a great cooler, however for £30 something like the Raijintek Ereboss is a great air cooler and will also allow a decent overclock, but this is your choice ofc :) The Themis I specced earlier will even allow for a mild OC
 
Last edited:
Hi Shivy011
Looks like I'm almost there.
I need to make a call on the cpu cooler and the power supply. I intend to take a last look through all the specs this evening with a view to placing an order tonight / tomorrow.
One last question if I may: If I opt NOT to go for the liquid cooler, which case do you reckon is best - 300R or Ronin or is there no significant difference.

Thanks again for your help in this.
ed
 
That's up to you alone, both great cases and I guess it's just a visual thing
Personally I'd be going for the Ronin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom