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Thread: PC Upgrades

  1. #1
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    PC Upgrades

    Hi all,

    I'm currently upgrading my 5 year old rig to try and get another 2-3 years out of it before going for a brand new mega build. Any feedback would be great.

    It is mostly for gaming (mainly GTA IV, Wargame, FIfa, men of war and maybe GTA V if PC can handle it but not fussed.) Specs are:

    CPU: Xeon X3430 (looking to OC to 3.0-3.3/3.4) - £25 (bargain!!!)
    CPU Cooler - I'll have to dig out name. Aftermarket one.
    MB: Asrock P55M Pro - Reuse
    Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333MHz - Reuse
    GPU: XFX R7 260X 2GB OC - £87.21
    HDD 1: 1TB WB Blue 7200rpm 64mb Cache - £42.99
    HDD 2: 500GB 7200rpm - Reuse
    PSU: XFX 550W PRO 550S P1-550S-GREN - £45.06

    Total: £200.26

    Can maybe stretch it to 210/215 if it will increase performance big time.

    Many thanks!

  2. #2
    don't stock motherhoods
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    I'd like to try and cajole you into spending a little more on your main gaming rig, though short of actually giving you money I can't think of an easy way.

    Other than that, it's sense from my Point Of View, though the upgrade to a 2nd hand 280x (or a new r9 285) would be my route.

    I'd also suggest an SSD makes any system inherently more responsive, and your centrum will thank you for it. LOL.
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    In terms of your day to day experience, an SSD is easily the best upgrade there is. The system gets so more responsive and "fluid" that its almost a night and day difference. It won't do squat for gaming performance or anything like that, but that's after all just a very small part of most people's computer use.

    Other than that I second the suggestion of a more powerful second hand video card in place of the one you've listed. I don't know the 280X or 285, but I would think that for instance a second hand GTX 670 would be significantly better than the 260X. Mine performed very well @ 1440p until I replaced it with a GTX 970.

  4. #4
    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    I agree with the above - and absolutely go second hand rather than buying new if the budget is that tight.

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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Quote Originally Posted by Millennium View Post
    I'd like to try and cajole you into spending a little more on your main gaming rig, though short of actually giving you money I can't think of an easy way.

    Other than that, it's sense from my Point Of View, though the upgrade to a 2nd hand 280x (or a new r9 285) would be my route.

    I'd also suggest an SSD makes any system inherently more responsive, and your centrum will thank you for it. LOL.
    My main rig is my laptop Lol! I could go full out on a new rig but I might be moving for my new job in June and the accommodation will be without WiFi and ill be in it for around 5 months so don't see the point in going all out till Im finished down there.

    The gf is giving me some cash so maybe £250 tops?

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    Re: PC Upgrades

    I don't have an issue with second hand for the cheaper components but the worry is if I pay £100 odd for a second hand gpu and it packs up after 2 months I'm stuck.

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    • Agrippa's system
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      • Samsung SM961 256GB, 850 EVO 1TBx2, 850 EVO 250GB, 840 512GB, Seagate 1TB, 2TB, 8x8TB
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      • Operating System:
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Will you actually be needing 1TB of storage in the near to mid-term future? If the answer is no, probably not or even if it's maybe not - scrap the hard drive and get an SSD. An absolute no-brainer in my book. Hard drives will still be on the market later, when the wallet's populated not just by dust and moths.

    Since gaming's where it's at, get a second hand video card which performs at least ok. My suggestion is, again, a GTX 670, but I'm the 280X or 285 will be just fine. I've no idea what they go for over there on the island, but I sold my old card not all that long ago for less than the price you've listed for the 260X.

    Other than that there's nothing wrong with your list that I can see.

    PS: GPUs don't wear out (unless it's decades old), so if it works when sold, it'll work for ages after. As with all electronics, when a video card is faulty it'll go tits up on first power-up or shortly thereafter. There are exceptions, but a card which has worked for months or longer will likely be solid for years to come.

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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Quote Originally Posted by Agrippa View Post
    Will you actually be needing 1TB of storage in the near to mid-term future? If the answer is no, probably not or even if it's maybe not - scrap the hard drive and get an SSD. An absolute no-brainer in my book. Hard drives will still be on the market later, when the wallet's populated not just by dust and moths.

    Since gaming's where it's at, get a second hand video card which performs at least ok. My suggestion is, again, a GTX 670, but I'm the 280X or 285 will be just fine. I've no idea what they go for over there on the island, but I sold my old card not all that long ago for less than the price you've listed for the 260X.

    Other than that there's nothing wrong with your list that I can see.

    PS: GPUs don't wear out (unless it's decades old), so if it works when sold, it'll work for ages after. As with all electronics, when a video card is faulty it'll go tits up on first power-up or shortly thereafter. There are exceptions, but a card which has worked for months or longer will likely be solid for years to come.
    Hiya,

    will need the 1TB as I short on space on the desktop HDD. Plan was to clone my laptop drive onto the 1TB and use it as my main drive on my laptop.

    With the extra £50 I can afford a brand new 280 or 285 for £132 from Scan.

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    Banhammer in peace PeterB kalniel's Avatar
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Quote Originally Posted by smeders View Post
    I don't have an issue with second hand for the cheaper components but the worry is if I pay £100 odd for a second hand gpu and it packs up after 2 months I'm stuck.
    Well you're kind of stuffed if you buy new from somewhere like Scan too - GPUs drop in value quite rapidly, and Scan can be very tough on returns in such cases. You've probably more chance of a reliable card if you buy a year+ old second hand card as someone will have tested it's working and any gremlins will have been discovered by then.

    If you do buy new then for the GPU look for a shop that has a favourable returns policy.

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    Anthropomorphic Personification shaithis's Avatar
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    You can also check dabs, aria and ocuk for b-grade which comes with a small warranty.

    Just a quick look and saw this
    Main PC: Asus Rampage IV Extreme / 3960X@4.5GHz / Antec H1200 Pro / 32GB DDR3-1866 Quad Channel / Sapphire Fury X / Areca 1680 / 850W EVGA SuperNOVA Gold 2 / Corsair 600T / 2x Dell 3007 / 4 x 250GB SSD + 2 x 80GB SSD / 4 x 1TB HDD (RAID 10) / Windows 10 Pro, Yosemite & Ubuntu
    HTPC: AsRock Z77 Pro 4 / 3770K@4.2GHz / 24GB / GTX 1080 / SST-LC20 / Antec TP-550 / Hisense 65k5510 4K TV / HTC Vive / 2 x 240GB SSD + 12TB HDD Space / Race Seat / Logitech G29 / Win 10 Pro
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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Quote Originally Posted by shaithis View Post
    You can also check dabs, aria and ocuk for b-grade which comes with a small warranty.

    Just a quick look and saw this
    Missed out on 2 cracking deals :/ 280x 3GB OC - £89.99 on OCUK and the one you linked. Will keep looking.

    X3430 arrived and got it stable(ish) upto 3.6 when in "turbo" mod, just running hot under load so got to get a new CPU cooler. But a 3.6 Quad for £25+£20 cooler is a bargain!

    So 1156 Socket CPU coolers, any ideas? around £20

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    Re: PC Upgrades

    Final specs for this:

    CPU: Xeon X3430 @ 3.8GHz () - £25 (Was going to push to 4.0GHz but would need an extremely beefy air cooler or a water block. Hitting around 64 under load on Prime95, limit is 72.7 so got a little headroom with it.)
    CPU Cooler - Freezer 13 - £24
    MB: Asrock P55M Pro - Reused
    Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz HyperX - £48 (needed it to get get OC stable at 3.8 so will probably sell the 8GB 1333Mhz to recoup a bit of cash.)
    GPU: Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce 4GB - £189.99
    HDD 1: 1TB WB Blue 7200rpm 64mb Cache - £44.17 (got a free HDD cooler with it!)
    HDD 2: 500GB 7200rpm - Reuse
    PSU: Antec 650W Gold 90+ - £59.99

    Total: £391.15

    Ordering 2 fans for it as I want it as quiet as possible and ones I have now are a bit loud so add another £13 for them, thinking of taking it up to 16GB (doubt it though since next build will probably be a DDR4 one).

    My next build ill be saving up for a 1TB SSD for primary as I like to have programs and OS on the same drive (makes life a bit easier).

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