Upgrading my rig advice

Sirrah

Sirrah

Sirrah

Associate
Joined
13 Jun 2011
Posts
26
Hi all,

I have an ageing rig that I would like to upgrade for a moderate amount of money, but the main constraint is that I would like to get it down from its current size to something around the size of a mini-itx/htpc/steam machine case. I would like to be able to take it around to a friend's house or take it home with me at christmas on the train. It doesn't have to be tiny, just manageable and can fit in a bag (I can custom make a bag as I am a bag maker).

What I bought from overclockers all those years ago (minus the monitor and some other stuff):

  • Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
  • Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
  • Antec TruePower New Modular 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
  • Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbs Solid State Hard Drive (This has since been upgraded to a new faster, larger capacity Kingston Hyper-X ssd.)
  • BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Windowed Case - Black
  • Samsung SH-B123LBSBP 12x BluRay ROM 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black
  • Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA 6Gbs 32MB Cache - OEM
  • Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit

So what I would like to do is retain the processor and hard drives and RAM at the least. They'll all be upgraded later. But I understand I will probably need a new mobo, gpu, psu and of course case.

Case wise, so far I like the look of this:
Zalman HD501 Home Theatre PC Case - Black

But I would really like something that looks like the Syber steam machine. Any recommendations here would be very welcome.

I am totally out of the loop on motherboards so would love some guidance here on what to get that will support my Sandybridge but hopefully also a newer cpu when I upgrade.

GPU-wise, I am wondering how long it will be until the next wave of Nvidia boards. Any ideas? Should I hang on until then? Once again, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I will update this thread as I go along and put together a cart.

Thanks in advance.
 
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I suspect the size of your GPU will limit how small you can go on the case, plus that series isn't particularly power efficient. If you are waiting for new cards, it's going to be summer next year at the earliest I expect.

What level of GPU power do you need (determined by games, resolution and how much you like to crank up the settings) and what is your budget? There are some small 970/980 options that might fit the bill.
 
Yeah my current gpu is noisy and ridiculously power hungry, but it was the best I could afford back in the day.

Regards GPU I would like to buy one and probably keep it for about two years (much less time than my previous card). I like to turn everything up full and properly experience games but it wouldn't be at 4k, more like 2k, and I can deal with the occasional 30fps if it isn't a twitch game. I don't want to feel limited in what I can play at these kind of settings for a good year and a half at least. On the other hand I don't see the logic in blowing the budget. Also, efficiency and quietness are important this time!

That in mind, any recommendations?

Thanks for replying btw.
 
There's the R9 nano if you want to go AMD, but expensive for the performance at lower resolutions.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-components/graphics-cards/amd/radeon-r9-nano

at the other end of the price range, if you are ok with 1080p, there's these two:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...-graphics-card-gv-n970ixoc-4gd-gx-153-gi.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-356-as.html

In the middle, depending on case measurements, you could squeeze in a smaller but full-sized 980 or 980 Ti.

You can get an idea of how the cards compare here: https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/R9_Nano/30.html
 
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You would need to be looking for a secondhand Z77 mobo for your 2600(skt 1155) SB Cpu. A more up to date board(skt1150) would require a new Cpu.
Depending on your budget, you could sell your current mobo and Cpu, then use the money towards a newer board and Cpu. A Z87/Z97 mobo and a 4690k would be the cheapest option, as you can reuse your ram. Going with the newer Skylake Cpu and mobo, will require DDR4 ram.
Or you could get something like the Silverstone Grandia GD09 and just get a new Gpu, providing it is no longer than 12.2" and 5.25" wide.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=488

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/silv...re-server-case-black-sst-gd09b-ca-376-sv.html
 
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