Upgrade for 2011!

xanvincent

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 6, 2009
Messages
84
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Primarily gaming and live streaming while gaming.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Let's say around $1400.

3) Where do you live?
KY (Microcenter nearby)

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Just the internal parts of the tower, but not the case itself.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I'm buying a new case but not including it in the budget as that's personal preference. I might reuse my power supply, a Corsair TX650w, a couple of years old. HDDs and my SSD will be reused.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes, definitely.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22-24", 1920x1080 or x1200. (will buy a new one)

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Immediately, although I could wait on new deals, etc.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
Decent cooling, USB3, SATA 6Gb/s

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

Competent system builder, but I figured you guys would be more up-to-date with the current deals and could save me some money. Would prefer good performance but as quiet as possible as system noise is a concern (considering the H50 for this reason).
 
What SSD and HDDs are you reusing?

Assuming that you have a decent SSD and HDDS and reusing your 650TX, I recommend the following:
$325 - Intel Core i5 2500K CPU + MSI P67A-G45 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard Combo
$65 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$280 - XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$40 - Thermalright Cogage TRUE Spirit HSF
---
Total: $710 plus tax and shipping.

Now if you're wondering about the HSF, the Corsair H50 isn't that good of a choice for quiet system since the pump it uses is actually quite noisy. The above Cogage HSF is a fairly quiet HSF and cools very effectively.

As for quiet cases, I recommend the following:
$127 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
 
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Hi Danny, thanks for the quick reply.
I have an OCZ 64GB Vertex II and 500GB storage drive (not that fast).

Is the 6970 2GB worth the little extra money over the 6950 2GB?
 
I have an OCZ 64GB Vertex II and 500GB storage drive (not that fast).

I recommend that you upgrade both storage devices:

$230 - Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD
$70 - Samsung EcoGreen F4 HD204UI 2TB 3.5" SATA 3Gb/s HDD (with $10 off promo code EMCKCKC28, which expires 7/13)

The above combination will be considerably faster than what you currently have.
 
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