PC Rebuilding Adventures

A place for us all come together to discuss general topics of interest. Want to chat about music, movies, news, real life, or a game that we don't have a group for? This is the place.

Moderators: General Forum Moderators, Global Moderators

PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:33 am

User avatar
Kon
Posts: 1525
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2004 8:56 pm
Location: USA
Contact:
So as some of you may know, the hard drive on my desktop died a few days back. Additionally, I could see (and hear) my PSU's creeping death, and I have had a nasty, unfixable motherboard issue that forces my graphics card into PCI-E x1 for some time now. Motivated mainly by the idea that my increasingly unstable PSU could potentially harm my other components, what began as a quest for a new hard drive has become a complete gutting of my rig. For your entertainment and feedback, here is the new configuration:

The reused:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
GPU: EVGA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Case: NZXT Alpha Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Open Window
Disk Drive: LG DVD/CD-RW Burner


The new:
Motherboard: ASUS P5QL/EPU LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
PSU: COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
HDD: Western Digital AV-GP WD5000AVDS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive
RAM: Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
Fan: Yate Loon 120x20mm Medium Speed Thin Silent Case Fan
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound


I know that some people (BD) will complain and call me names because I am going with a socket 775 and DDR2 setup, but I really wanted to keep my current CPU. I don't really have any special attachment to it, but I would much rather keep it for as long as possible instead of dropping another $200-300 into an i5 or i7, on top of the $350 I'm already paying here. It is true that there are a few 775 socket mobos that support DDR3, but none of these got particularly glowing reviews, and I didn't think they were worth the cost.

While I do have 2GB of Corsair DDR2-800 at the moment, I think I will grab the relatively cheap Kingston 4GB kit in an attempt to get the most out of my system before DDR2 prices get too outrageous to bother. My understanding is that with DDR3 coming out, DDR2 production will eventually stop completely, meaning that the tremendous increase in cost is not temporary, but will only get worse over time. If this is not the case, and DDR2 prices will go down again in the next year or two, somebody please tell me and stop me from wasting my money on the RAM, as the sticks I have now would at least work for my new motherboard.

The fan is a rare 120x120x20mm slim fan that I want to add into the front of my case. My case came with two 120mm fans on the back and side, but has no cooling in front. I noticed that before, I generally got slightly above average, albeit still safe, temperatures. Hopefully this will help fix that problem. The fan had to be a 20mm slim because a normal 25mm fan would not fit in the front of my case because of all the drive bays it has.

One question I still have no clue on is the matter of overclocking. Given that I plan to sustain this setup for another 3 years at least, I will probably start overclocking down the line. If I do that, should I invest in an aftermarket heatsink or CPU fan? If so, what are some recommended brands?

This will be my first proper build, so any feedback and suggestions are more than welcome.
"We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution."

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 12:49 pm

User avatar
M.Steiner
Posts: 6114
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:57 pm
Location: UK
Contact:
Can understand you wanting to keep your E8400 as right now that is still a decent enough CPU.
Not gonna call you names :p but considering you're having to replace so many components I do still think it would be better to just replace the lot because as it is your rebuild is almost that anyway just with older tech. If it was just 1 or 2 pieces like a PSU or a HDD then fine. - You could keep your DVD Drive and GPU to transfer over and then sell the CPU to get a bit of cash. Then go with one of the new sockets which replaced 775 - 1366 (or 1156).
It's your choice at the end of the day but this makes more sense to me and come needing an upgrade in how ever many years you'd only need to upgrade your CPU to one of the higher core models on 1366 (or 1156) and that still remain very very good and be using DDR3 and everything, and a gfx card too to keep up with the times. Wouldn't need to be replacing RAM, PSU, Mobo or any of that. Doing a build on old tech now on the other hand you'd instead be looking at yet another almost complete rebuild much sooner than you ever would with the other example and in a way be spending more money in the long run. You could of course consider upgrading the CPU to a higher 775 model when that time comes but by then they'll be even older than they are now.. This is how I see it anyway but as I say tis your choice :)


What you've selected looks alright to me though if that is what you do go with. Normally I'd say go with both Corsair RAM and a Corsair PSU if you have the option to do as you know you're getting great quality there but on the other hand that means spending even more money than the $350 you're already planning to spend. That seems more than enough already. Coolermaster & Kingston are still good brands though and I always go with ASUS personally.
On overclocking I can't really comment as it's not something I know a lot about, but, I would have thought you'd need a decent enough CPU cooler if you're wanting to do that but again, means spending even more.
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 1:42 pm

User avatar
Isileth
Posts: 1011
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 4:45 pm
Location: UK
Well as MS has said and as we have said on irc which route you choose in upgrading will be based on how much money you want to spend and when you want to spend it.
Obviously rebuilding the 775 gives you a much cheaper rig that will still perform but will need upgrading or replacing sooner.
However at the same time if you go for a 1136 or 1156 its going to cost more but will be much more powerful. However like the 775 it doesn't have a massive upgrade path since they are both being replaced next year anyway.

So in all honesty I wouldn't bother thinking to much in terms of upgrades, certainly not the CPU. In both cases the CPU you would have is near the top of that sockets offerings.
At the same time I'm not an upgrader anyway, I just dont think its worth it outside of Memory and GPU.

As for overclocking it depends how much you want to push it. Stock cooling while doing perfectly well on a stock CPU doesnt handle increases in temp much, the heatsinks just dont have the capacity to handle much of an increase without letting the temp start to sky. With a proper heatsink they are much bigger and can handle the increase in temps.
However if you are not planning on overclocking straight away there is no reason to buy one now. An aftermarket cooler will do very very little to stock temps because the stock cooler is designed to handle that just fine. So no reason to buy one until you actually need it.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 5:07 pm

Inquisitor
Posts: 3411
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 12:46 am
Location: SSX
Contact:
I am sooooo glad I got off the upgrade hamster wheel.
No signature

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 6:34 pm

User avatar
BlackDove
Posts: 3067
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:22 am
Location: Denial
And why would you be glad about that?

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:41 pm

Inquisitor
Posts: 3411
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 12:46 am
Location: SSX
Contact:
I don't need that much uncertainty in my life :)
No signature

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:36 am

User avatar
Stracius
Posts: 1471
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2004 4:02 pm
Location: under the starry night sky
Contact:
Ed, didn't anyone ever tell you that you're not supposed to flaunt the fact that you're turning into an old fart until your 80's?
hoott19 wrote:There are many drinks that are drunk by the people.So, the mostly, person like to have beer. They like because of it's benifit. The benifiti is that it hepls to reduce fat from the body and make the mental calm.
[WoW] This type of games should be up dated as soon as possible. Because there are many people that ere very found of such games. As these are very help full for make the brain power full and strong. So, mentaly strongness is the need of this presant era.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 1:54 am

User avatar
Padishar
Posts: 1713
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
Location: Next Door
Contact:
Just took the upgrade plunge myself...
Sold my old DIY gaming rig for $300 bucks :cool:
Bought a Dell XPS 9100 for $700 (more than HALF off, luv my job :thumb:)

CPU: Intel i7-920 2.66GHz (2.93Ghz TurboBoost) 8MB SmartCache Quad-Core w/HyperThreading (8 cores)
GPU: ATI Radeon HD4870 1GB DDR5 256-bit PCI Express 2.0 x16
RAM: 6GB (3 x 2GB) TriChannel DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
HDD: 750GB & 500GB 7200RPM Samsung
Sound: Soublaster Audigy2 ZA Platinum Pro
OS: Windows 7 Pro x64

RAWR

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 9:59 am

User avatar
BlackDove
Posts: 3067
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:22 am
Location: Denial
Pretty great for the money.

That 4870 will need replacing in a year or so.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 12:19 pm

User avatar
Isileth
Posts: 1011
Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 4:45 pm
Location: UK
Yeah thats a pretty nice deal.

And the GPU will last unless you cant live without playing on the best settings.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 2:22 pm

User avatar
M.Steiner
Posts: 6114
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 5:57 pm
Location: UK
Contact:
Sweet system, Pad. ;)
Seems a few of us have i7's now.


4870 is still a damn good card. My 5770 will need doubling up (getting Ava's 5770 when he either gets a 6 series or higher 5 when they come down in 11) before that'll need replacing. That being said I could still run Mafia 2 on max settings just fine, besides the PhysX for the cloth/debis which was set to medium. On high it got a bit sluggish indoors when concrete, glass, wood etc were flying about the place and all of it remained on the floor, on top of the awesome cloth physics. Still decent on medium but the 4870 may handle high slightly better. Rest of the system is most important though imo. Future proof that as much as you can at the time of buying, which you have, and you can shove a new card in there any time you like. =)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 7:13 pm

User avatar
Padishar
Posts: 1713
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
Location: Next Door
Contact:
I have FINALLY gotten around to upgrading my XPS 9100 rig, re-purposing a few of the parts (WD Red, Seagate SSHD & 7870HD Ghz).
Over the past few years, I went from the 4870HD to 6870 to my current 7870, also upgrading the Storage as needed.

Picked all this up during the black friday/cyber monday sales and built it at work yesterday (am currently posting here from it :cool: ):

NEW
Monitor: AOC G2460PQU Black 24" 1ms 144HZ Gaming Monitor
Case: NZXT H440 STEEL Mid Tower Case
MB: GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 Intel Z97 Motherboard
PSU: CORSAIR AX760 (80PLUS PLATINUM) Full Modular Active PFC
CPU Fan: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz (Devil's Canyon)
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800
Gaming HD: SAMSUNG 840 EVO 500GB SATA III SSD

REUSED
OS HD: Seagate Hybrid Drive 2TB HD / 8GB SSD SATA III SSHD
Video: GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon 7870 HD GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5
Media Storage: WD Red NAS 3TB SATA III HD
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit

Currently hunting for a sub $300 GTX970 replacement for the 7870 ;D

*Will post links, as time permits.

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 2:14 pm

User avatar
Padishar
Posts: 1713
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:15 pm
Location: Next Door
Contact:
Finally found a vendor to land me a sub-$300 G1!!!
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 $269.99 BOOM!

Installed it yesterday and I must say, 4k DSR on my 1080P AOC G2460PQU is sliiiiick :cool:

Re: PC Rebuilding Adventures

PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 4:27 pm

User avatar
BlackDove
Posts: 3067
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:22 am
Location: Denial
Pretty great.

Return to “General Discussions”