It's time to retire my i7 920 CPU. I'm amazed it's lasted me over 10 years as I was expecting to swap it out after a year or two for an eight core CPU but I haven't felt the need. I've added faster SSDs, bigger HDDs, added RAM and been through a few GPUs but the 920 and ASUS mobo have done well. A few years ago I built my GF, now my wife, a quiet little PC with great help from here in this thread: https://forums.hexus.net/review-my-b...ing-400-a.html . Now I'd like some help to update my PC knowledge and build myself a new system.
One of the HDD controllers just doesn't work with windows 10 and the whole PC has started having more & more issues since downgrading from windows 7 to 10. Direct3d has failed somehow meaning I can't play any 3d games, one of my drives has failed, another is possibly failing and Windows update has started failing as well as other niggles and glitches. I could possibly buy a new SATA SSD and with a fresh install of windows it might be fine for a while but it feels like it's time, plus I have spare money. I'm willing to spend as much as about £1000 but if I can get a satisfactory result for £500 then all the better.
It's a general purpose build for games, photo & video editing, CD ripping, music listening. I don't feel the need for the most powerful CPU & GPU any more or any watercooling and of course reasonably quiet. I used my tiny fanless PC temporarily as my desktop and I loved the silence of it. I've done a bit of research in other threads here and other reviews etc. and this is what I've come up with and my reasoning: