Results 1 to 10 of 42
Thread: First Build/Upgrade
-
10-17-11, 03:02 PM #1
First Build/Upgrade
With new releases such as skyrim, rage, and bf3 coming up I decide that its time to upgrade the old family rig. This will be my first build minus the parts already installed.
Old Parts:
- Antec 900 Case: Case works great just have to dust it off.
- Zalman CNPS9700 LED CPU cooler: I'm going to keep the cpu cooler on the current rig for the upgrade. Its five years old but works great and I have to double check but it should work with LGA 1155 socket on my motherboard.
- Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 750W PSU: I know its 5 years old like the other parts and should probably be replaced but it works great and no problems right now. Its modular and supports SLI and its 750W which is exactly what I need. I just have to double check all the cables will fit with the motherboard.
- Smsung CD - DVD Burner: Works. Dont need blu ray.
- A Vantex Nexus fan controller: Works fine
- Motherboard: I was going to get the B3 version until i saw this updated model. Been through a couple bios updates and looks stable even though its pretty new. Future proof with Ivy Bridge and PCIe 3.0 and is a great price.
- RAM: 8gb is fine for me at 1333. The i5 I'm pretty doesn't support 1600 and ram is extremely cheap that if I have to upgrade it won't be that expensive. I chose this particular one because its supported by the motherboard on the ASRock website.
- GPU: I think taking 2 - 3 steps down from the top card is the best for the value. Some of the higher cards are way to much for little increase in performance. I don't really need big anti -aliasing or any of the those features that much- I can barely tell the difference in multiplayer games and don't really care. If the 880Mhz core clock and 2gb is correct I think that this a really good deal if they restock it soon.
- HDD: Nothing special. I'm not getting an SSD until the prices become lower in a year or so.
- Keyboard: Best keyboard for the price. Does conflict with the color scheme I have going but so does the ram.
- Surge Suppressor: Good review and pretty cheap
- Thermal Paste: Looks like the best out there and easy to use judging by the method Paul used in the video.
- Cleaner: Going to use to clean off the paste on the old cpu cooler.
- Mouse: The only decent left-handed mouse out there thats not too expensive
- CPU @ Microcenter $190 total: I'm getting the i5 2500k at microcenter since its only about 40min away. I'm going to be mostly gaming and don't need the extra threads i guess that the 2600k comes with for the price. Also, instead of paying extra for the 2600k I am probably going to wait for the ivy bridge to come out and get that instead in a year as my board supports that.
- Monitar @ Best Buy $180 total: 23 inch acer LED 2ms VGA/DVI/HMDI and 3 year warrenty. Very good deal imo.
Last edited by Webs; 10-17-11 at 03:05 PM.
-
10-17-11, 04:36 PM #2
Pretty solid build. RAM speed doesn't mean much these days unless you plan on seriously overclocking, so I wouldn't worry about that. It seems for your purposes, a card in the $180-250 range is the sweetspot. I think there is something better than Arctic Silver but I can't remember the name; Ceramique or something?
If you have 95% or higher isopropyl alcohol with NO fragrances, you can use that and coffee filters to remove thermal paste instead of buying that stuff from Arctic Silver. Really, any microfiber cloth (something that doesn't leave behind threads or fibers) would work to clean off thermal paste, but nearly everyone already has coffee filters.
Personal taste, I love mechanical keyboards and can recommend the standard Razer Blackwidow. It is very affordable and works extremely well. It is not a silent keyboard, though. Those tend to cost a bit more and use either Cherry MX brown/blue switches or a Topre switch.
Monitors are the toughest buy, always. I prefer IPS panels for the better colors and viewing angles with a matte finish to the screen. As you are building a gaming rig, the most important stat on a monitor is input lag. This is different than response time and is rarely advertised or listed in official specs; you generally have to do a good bit of refresh to figure it out. I think the number to aim for there is less than 16ms since that is the border at which you start getting a full frame behind (assuming 60 fps).
Sent from my DROID3 using TapatalkLast edited by kibner; 10-17-11 at 04:41 PM.
-
10-17-11, 04:59 PM #3
Re: First Build/Upgrade
I have used the Arctic Silver thermal paste as well as the remover. I love the remover stuff, works WAY better than alcohol does, and for $5 or however much it costs, its well worth it - i have had the same two bottles for the last 5 years for all the PC's I've built and worked on for people.
Rest of it looks fine. Agree with kibner that ram speed doesn't matter much - just match CPU/Mobo/Processor so they are all in their "sweet" spot with one another and you're good.
I think the monitor is a huge item that shouldn't be downplayed. It's what you're going to be spending all your time looking at. Shop thoroughly. The Dell U2410 24" IPS monitor was one of the most celebrated "uber" gaming monitors - roughly $450-500. They have a new U2412 that is an IPS with LED backlight - haven't had the chance to read reviews on it, but seeing one of the U2410's in real life, they are freaking amazing.
-
10-17-11, 05:20 PM #4
I was just trying to save him a bit of money.
I agree with you on the monitor but it can be a subjective thing, similar to speakers /headphones. Hell, if you wanted to go balls out, you also need to buy a colorimeter (still trying to justify the price of one for myself).
In my mind, the most important things for a gaming monitor, in order of importance are:
Input lag
Colors
Response time
Resolution/size
Viewing angles
Unique features (3d, 1:1 scaling, etc.)
Ports/connectors
Backlight bleed
Stand
A bag of cheetos
Contrast ratio
Ignore all published contract ratios. They never measure the same thing and come with so many stipulations that the numbers end up as just marketing garbage.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
-
10-17-11, 06:20 PM #5
Re: First Build/Upgrade
Be sure your DVD burner is SATA interface; I planned to use an older burner on my recent upgrade, and forgot it was IDE. Had to buy a SATA drive locally for 50% more than Newegg's price.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
-
- Join Date
- 11-13-07
- Location
- Plano, TX and Ruston, LA
- Posts
- 32,364
- Post Thanks / Like
- Blog Entries
- 43
-
10-18-11, 11:20 PM #7
Re: First Build/Upgrade
Thermaltake Toughpower Cable Management 750W PSU: I know its 5 years old like the other parts and should probably be replaced but it works great and no problems right now. Its modular and supports SLI and its 750W which is exactly what I need. I just have to double check all the cables will fit with the motherboard.DJ Ms. White liked this post-- Intentionally Left Blank --
-
-
-
Thread Information
Users Browsing this Thread
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks