Hi, so i was wanting to upgrade my rig for a while now, got some money together over the easter holidays so need to start picking out some new hardware.
Current hardware:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 3.2ghz
Motherboard: ASUS M3N78 Pro AM2+
GPU: XFX ATI HD Radeon 4870x2
RAM: 8GB Corsair xms2 DDR2 800mhz
CPU: Cooler: Zalman NPS9700
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB + WD Caviar Green 500MB
PSU: OCZ 600SXS 600Watt
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos S
Picture: (Ignore the cable management, I was lazy to redo it after cleaning the case/hardware)
*This rig was my first custom PC buy when I just started becoming a PC hardware geek at the age of 16 so I only really concentrated on CPU/GPU at the time hence no need to change them as I believe they are still good.
So my thoughts on what i have at the moment...
I'm pretty happy with my CPU, I still read many building guides that recommend the Phenom II quad cores as good value gaming chips that perform so I don't feel the need to upgrade that.
The GPU is also OK in my opinion. On Tom's Hardware it ranks alongside a GTX 570 which is respectable, I am a bit annoyed about choosing a dual chip GPU as I hate the micro stutter you get from using Crossfire/SLI but I'm not willing to chuck this out just yet seeing as it cost like £350 at the time.
The chassis will have to stay for the time being as it's not as important and does its job in respect to airflow. I initially bought it thinking I would upgrade to custom water cooling in the future but I won't be so the size is inappropriate and I will be downscaling to a Cooler Master Silencio 550 when I have more money. It also has the aluminium coloured interior which I don't like and no sound dampening which causes massive noise echoing from the interior.
The motherboard is a nightmare. Seeing as I didn't do any research at all into it when i bought this PC I expected no better but to say the least, the layout is crap, its aesthetically eye burning, supports very old RAM and has very out dated features. Another thing that is making me throw this out is the fact that i read that AM2+ motherboards, especially the older revisions, actualy hinder the performance of AM3 CPU's... would be nice if someone would confirm this.
The RAM is slow and two of the four modules have died so this one is a no brain-er.
CPU cooler needs to go. I suppose it's good, but the ball bearings are getting old and noisy, and in combination with the case it creates too much noise for my liking, I want to substitute for something with better cooling and quieter ie. something from the Corsair Hydro Series.
What I'm looking for in my upgrade...
Motherboard - Needs to be cheap ~£65. Must be AM3+ with support for 1600mhz RAM, SATA 3 6Gb/s, have decent OC features, good layout ie. 90 degree angle SATA ports, 24pin connector on right side, and finally/hopefully it's something pleasing to the eye; I like black PCB's with pretty heatsinks. I was considering the ASRock 970 extreme3 as it has everything i am looking for and i can get it off of amazon for ~£65. My only Concern is that it is ASRock...
Ram - I got my eyes on the LP Corsair vengeance 2x 4GB 1600mhz 1.35v low voltage special edition modules. It's cheap, good, and looks nice. Is this a good choice?
CPU cooler - Ever since the H50 hit the market I wanted it, it's small, clean looking, quiet, and does a good job. I know there is the H100 now but for my price constrictions I think I want to go for a H60 and add a push pull config on it for better performance.
That's pretty much where I stand at the moment. So in summary I need a Mobo, RAM and CPU cooler, which I've kind of picked but need feedback if possible. Definitely plan to get a Vertex 4 SSD some time in the future and the CM Silencio 550 but currently I have a budget of around £160. I'm a student by the way so you can imagine the reason for the shitty budget.
Current hardware:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 3.2ghz
Motherboard: ASUS M3N78 Pro AM2+
GPU: XFX ATI HD Radeon 4870x2
RAM: 8GB Corsair xms2 DDR2 800mhz
CPU: Cooler: Zalman NPS9700
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB + WD Caviar Green 500MB
PSU: OCZ 600SXS 600Watt
Chassis: Cooler Master Cosmos S
Picture: (Ignore the cable management, I was lazy to redo it after cleaning the case/hardware)
*This rig was my first custom PC buy when I just started becoming a PC hardware geek at the age of 16 so I only really concentrated on CPU/GPU at the time hence no need to change them as I believe they are still good.
So my thoughts on what i have at the moment...
I'm pretty happy with my CPU, I still read many building guides that recommend the Phenom II quad cores as good value gaming chips that perform so I don't feel the need to upgrade that.
The GPU is also OK in my opinion. On Tom's Hardware it ranks alongside a GTX 570 which is respectable, I am a bit annoyed about choosing a dual chip GPU as I hate the micro stutter you get from using Crossfire/SLI but I'm not willing to chuck this out just yet seeing as it cost like £350 at the time.
The chassis will have to stay for the time being as it's not as important and does its job in respect to airflow. I initially bought it thinking I would upgrade to custom water cooling in the future but I won't be so the size is inappropriate and I will be downscaling to a Cooler Master Silencio 550 when I have more money. It also has the aluminium coloured interior which I don't like and no sound dampening which causes massive noise echoing from the interior.
The motherboard is a nightmare. Seeing as I didn't do any research at all into it when i bought this PC I expected no better but to say the least, the layout is crap, its aesthetically eye burning, supports very old RAM and has very out dated features. Another thing that is making me throw this out is the fact that i read that AM2+ motherboards, especially the older revisions, actualy hinder the performance of AM3 CPU's... would be nice if someone would confirm this.
The RAM is slow and two of the four modules have died so this one is a no brain-er.
CPU cooler needs to go. I suppose it's good, but the ball bearings are getting old and noisy, and in combination with the case it creates too much noise for my liking, I want to substitute for something with better cooling and quieter ie. something from the Corsair Hydro Series.
What I'm looking for in my upgrade...
Motherboard - Needs to be cheap ~£65. Must be AM3+ with support for 1600mhz RAM, SATA 3 6Gb/s, have decent OC features, good layout ie. 90 degree angle SATA ports, 24pin connector on right side, and finally/hopefully it's something pleasing to the eye; I like black PCB's with pretty heatsinks. I was considering the ASRock 970 extreme3 as it has everything i am looking for and i can get it off of amazon for ~£65. My only Concern is that it is ASRock...
Ram - I got my eyes on the LP Corsair vengeance 2x 4GB 1600mhz 1.35v low voltage special edition modules. It's cheap, good, and looks nice. Is this a good choice?
CPU cooler - Ever since the H50 hit the market I wanted it, it's small, clean looking, quiet, and does a good job. I know there is the H100 now but for my price constrictions I think I want to go for a H60 and add a push pull config on it for better performance.
That's pretty much where I stand at the moment. So in summary I need a Mobo, RAM and CPU cooler, which I've kind of picked but need feedback if possible. Definitely plan to get a Vertex 4 SSD some time in the future and the CM Silencio 550 but currently I have a budget of around £160. I'm a student by the way so you can imagine the reason for the shitty budget.
