Suggestions Please

[Antony1995]

Hello all,
I made a promise to myself this year, that I will upgrade my entire system.
My current rig isn't much but I've had to make do, the specs are as follows:

CPU: Pentium E5200 2.5ghz (running at stock) with Intel cooler
MOBO: Foxconn G31MXP-K (Micro-ATX) lga775
RAM: 4gb (2x2gb) DeKing DDR2 800mhz
GFX: XFX AMD 7770 double dissipation edition
PSU: Corsair CX600M
SSD: OCZ vertex 4 64gb
HDD: Maxtor 160gb 7200rpm, Seagate 250gb 7200rpm

The case is some unbranded thing with bare metal insides.

I'm going to start by buying a new case first, the reason why, because having a nice new case will urge me to fill it with nice new hardware, and i think the case is a good starting point to base the rest of the build upon.

I have £80 from christmas which I want to spend on a new case. I don't think i will need support for anything bigger than ATX mobo as my budget isn't going to be huge, but i would like a nice sized case that i can fit an H100i in. I quite like the CM Stryker but obviously that is out of my budget, and far to much for what i will need. But something with similar styling in a smaller form would be great.

Any suggestions?

As for hardware I'm not to sure. I mainly use my PC for internet use and gaming (Well what my hardware can play at least) and I am getting into programming. I'm also hoping to start a Youtube channel so something that can render quickly would be ideal.

So I'm thinking an I5, 8gb RAM, and a gigabyte or msi mobo, i know they do some great value boards.

Any suggestions though would be greatly appreciated. I've only ever really had old hardware (apart from my current GFX and PSU) but have been playing around with hardware for about 4-5 years now so know what I'm doing. I am also doing a Computer course at college so hope to get into the industry.

As for a budget as low as possible, I don't get much money but i am hoping i can get a job this year (finally!) so that will help pay for this.

Thanks for reading,
Antony

P.S. could an admin please rename this thread to "suggestions please "

 

[MadShadow]

Case:
Corsair Carbide 300R
http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/...rbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html
Fractal Design R4
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r4-black-pearl
Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower-haf-series/haf-912-advanced/

CPU:
Intel i5 4670K
http://ark.intel.com/products/75048/

Motherboard:
Gigabyte G1. Sniper Z87
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4802#sp
MSI Z87M Gaming
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z87M-GAMING.html#overview

GPU:
ASUS R9 270X
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/R9270XDC2T2GD5/
Sapphire R9 270X
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/product_index.aspx?pid=2036&lid=1
MSI R9 270X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-R9-270X...F8&qid=1389033071&sr=8-1&keywords=r9+270x+msi
Gigabyte R9 270X
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4795#ov

PSU:
Corsair CS650M
http://www.corsair.com/us/cs-series-modular-cs650m-650-watt-80-plus-gold-certified-psu.html
Corsair RM650
http://www.corsair.com/us/power-sup...m650-80-plus-gold-certified-power-supply.html

I didn't include memory because anything by Corsair, G. SKill, Mushkin, Kingston, etc will be fine.

I didn't include storage because you can always recycle your old drives. If you insist on new storage, consider these brands: Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung, Kingston, etc.

These parts should cost between 500 and 600 pounds, depending on where and when you buy them.

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask questions!

 

[WYP]

Can you give us a full budget for your system upgrade?

 

[TheOuterOne]

Corsair 350D
I really like the design of this one, might not be within budget though. In the Netherlands it would be, not sure about the prices in the UK. Also, you will have to build a micro-atx system since this case won't fit any bigger.

NZXT Phantom 530
Once again might not be within budget. I hope so, though, it's a neat little case with excellent build quality, and it'd fit the H100i in the top w/o problems

NZXT Phantom 410
Within budget for sure, looks very neat to me. Fits the H100i perfectly well.

 

[Antony1995]

Can you give us a full budget for your system upgrade?

I'm thinking around the £500 as a ball park figure, perhaps a bit more or less, any less would be great. But planning on doing it over time.

Corsair 350D
I really like the design of this one, might not be within budget though. In the Netherlands it would be, not sure about the prices in the UK. Also, you will have to build a micro-atx system since this case won't fit any bigger.

NZXT Phantom 530
Once again might not be within budget. I hope so, though, it's a neat little case with excellent build quality, and it'd fit the H100i in the top w/o problems

NZXT Phantom 410
Within budget for sure, looks very neat to me. Fits the H100i perfectly well.

You're right about the 350D and 530 a little over my budget but the Phantom 410 is a very nice case.

Case:
Corsair Carbide 300R
http://www.corsair.com/us/pc-cases/...rbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case.html
Fractal Design R4
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-r4-black-pearl
Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower-haf-series/haf-912-advanced/

CPU:
Intel i5 4670K
http://ark.intel.com/products/75048/

Motherboard:
Gigabyte G1. Sniper Z87
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4802#sp
MSI Z87M Gaming
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/Z87M-GAMING.html#overview

GPU:
ASUS R9 270X
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/R9270XDC2T2GD5/
Sapphire R9 270X
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/product_index.aspx?pid=2036&lid=1
MSI R9 270X
http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-R9-270X...F8&qid=1389033071&sr=8-1&keywords=r9+270x+msi
Gigabyte R9 270X
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4795#ov

PSU:
Corsair CS650M
http://www.corsair.com/us/cs-series-modular-cs650m-650-watt-80-plus-gold-certified-psu.html
Corsair RM650
http://www.corsair.com/us/power-sup...m650-80-plus-gold-certified-power-supply.html

I didn't include memory because anything by Corsair, G. SKill, Mushkin, Kingston, etc will be fine.

I didn't include storage because you can always recycle your old drives. If you insist on new storage, consider these brands: Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung, Kingston, etc.

These parts should cost between 500 and 600 pounds, depending on where and when you buy them.

I hope this helps, and feel free to ask questions!

Thanks this helps a lot.
Liking the 300R just something about it looks the part, also liking that MSI mobo and the I5.

 

[WYP]

I'm thinking around the £500 as a ball park figure, perhaps a bit more or less, any less would be great. But planning on doing it over time.

Thanks, that will help us a lot in helping you.

I will post back later with my recommendations, but right now I need to eat something.

 

[akzy]

Tom did an article about this not too long ago which is probably well worth a look at;
http://www.overclock3d.net/articles/systems/oc3d_recommended_systems_-_q4_2013/1

 

[Antony1995]

Tom did an article about this not too long ago which is probably well worth a look at;
http://www.overclock3d.net/articles/systems/oc3d_recommended_systems_-_q4_2013/1

Awesome don't know how I missed that thanks.

 

[cooperman]

I'm thinking around the £500 as a ball park figure, perhaps a bit more or less, any less would be great. But planning on doing it over time.

Well thats not a lot of money considering you whant a psu+cpu+mobo+gpu+case+ram(you cant use DDR2)+posably a better hdd/ssd the mobo and cpu alone will be close to this with the parts you where looking at.

Something like this is around your 'ball park'

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2wJ68

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£79.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£104.42 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.99 @ Novatech)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£189.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.12 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £531.69

 

[Antony1995]

Well thats not a lot of money considering you whant a psu+cpu+mobo+gpu+case+ram(you cant use DDR2)+posably a better hdd/ssd the mobo and cpu alone will be close to this with the parts you where looking at.

Something like this is around your 'ball park'

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2wJ68

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£79.19 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£104.42 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£62.99 @ Novatech)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card (£189.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case (£47.98 @ Dabs)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£47.12 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £531.69

Graphics I'm not to worried about to start with, i can always upgrade that later on. the main things i want to upgrade really is Mobo, CPU and RAM, i can use my current PSU, GFX and storage. Plus as i will be doing this over time it's doesn't matter really if i have to go over, £500 was just a round number to work from.

 

[MadShadow]

You can look back at my previous post. I updated it with more information.

 

[Antony1995]

I've come up with a list:
(I rounded the numbers slightly)

CASE: Fractal Arc Midi R2 £75
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...243&sr=1-1&keywords=arc+midi+r2&condition=new

CPU: I5 4670K £175
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Graphics-BX80646I74770-Generation-Technology/dp/B00CO8TBOW

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB 1600Mhz £65
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...&keywords=corsair+vengeance+8gb&condition=new

MOBO: Haven't decided yet but will say about £110-£130

PSU and GFX: I plan on just using my current ones for a while, then looking at whats available at the time. If i need to upgrade my power supply when i upgrade graphics i will do.

STORAGE: Again just use what i already have.

COOLING: Just use standard cooler to start with to get the system up and running, then add H100i later.

In total looking at about £440 which is what i expected. obviously when i upgrade graphics and add H100i will go up to around the £650-£700 mark for the entire upgrade.

 

[NeverBackDown]

You could save some money and go for an H80i if you do not plan on overclocking the balls off the CPU.

Case,CPU,Ram all look great to me. Obviously an i7 will help you greatly if you start doing heavy rendering or software the benefits from extra cores. Though not needed if only for youtube.

In the future i would choose a 280x over a 760. Prices will return to normal and at the stating MSRP a 280x is barely more expensive yet much faster.

 

[Antony1995]

So it's been quite a while now but I finally have a job!
I used my first pay check last month the get a decent monitor, I went with the AOC I2369VM http://www.aocmonitorap.com/root/my/product_display.php?id=449 as suggested by paulstung here on the forum. It's a great monitor miles ahead of my crappy TV I was using.

As for everything else I bought the case (Arc Midi R2) in January with money I had from Christmas, and I have to say I am very pleased with it. Now I have a job I can start to plan better what parts I want to get and have come up with this:
(Original) http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/27pQf7
(Updated 15/6/14)http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/NJCZzy

Was planning on adding a second GFX all along, forgot to mention that before. But instead of having 4/8gb vram it would now only be 2/4gb, but I only game at 1080p so shouldn't be a problem.

I also changed the memory, it is okay to run two 8gb kits right?

I hate the red and black theme that is pretty dominate these days, so am going for blue and black as blue is my favorite colour.

Please let me know what you think!
Antony

EDIT: Updated 15/6/14 Thanks Barnsley, Just noticed it said's you live in Cambridge I live in Soham not to far away

If you just game an i5/8350 is all you need tbh. An i5 and a R9-290 (from sapphire or powercolor) is the way I'd do it ^_^.

 

[barnsley]

If you just game an i5/8350 is all you need tbh. An i5 and a R9-290 (from sapphire or powercolor) is the way I'd do it ^_^.

 

[NeverBackDown]

Running 2x8GB kits are fine yes. Also with the GPUs and vram, at 1080p "next gen" games are using a hell of a lot of vram at even 1080p. Watch Dogs is the newest example and it absolutely uses as much as it can. I would consider trying to get a 280x so the extra 1GB of vram will help you now and down the road when newer games come out. Also slightly faster which is a plus. As long as it fits within the budget its a very solid upgrade.

 

[Antony1995]

Running 2x8GB kits are fine yes. Also with the GPUs and vram, at 1080p "next gen" games are using a hell of a lot of vram at even 1080p. Watch Dogs is the newest example and it absolutely uses as much as it can. I would consider trying to get a 280x so the extra 1GB of vram will help you now and down the road when newer games come out. Also slightly faster which is a plus. As long as it fits within the budget its a very solid upgrade.

Good I just wish I could find a 2400mhz blue kit to go with the silver. And ultimately the graphics card is probably going to be the last thing I get so will see what's about at the time