Thread: Upgrading my PC

  1. #1

    Upgrading my PC

    Hey everyone,

    This is my current setup (it's now 3 1/2 years old, apart from the crucial m4)
    CPU AMD Phenom II X4 Black Edition 955 4x 3.20GHz So.AM3 BOX
    Mainboard Gigabyte GA-870A-UD3 870 AM3 ATX
    RAM 2x2048MB Kingston ValueRam DDR3-1333 CL9 Kit
    and: 2x 4GB Transcend 8GB Dual Channel Kit DDR3 1333MHz PC3-10667U CL9 DIMM
    PSU 520W Antec High Current Gamer ATX23
    SSD Crucial M4 256GB
    HDD500GB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C HDS721050CLA362 7200U/m
    CaseATX Midi Cooler Master 690 II LITE PURE Black Edition
    Graphics2048MB XFX Radeon HD 6950 Eyefinity DDR5 PCIe

    So, what do I want to change? First of all... It's pretty noisy and already was noisy 3 1/2 years ago... I guess the main reason is that it only got the cpu cooler that was shipped with the cpu. I definitely want to change that. And while I'm at it, I thought I might do some other upgrades as well. I don't wanna do a whole new build, I thought I might spend ~300€-350€ for upgrades.
    My idea was to upgrade the mainboard and CPU and leave the rest as is for the moment. I am probably going to upgrade everything sooner or later and when I get a cooler now and a new cpu in a few month and the cooler doesn't fit on that, that would be kind of wasted. (Apart from that, I sometimes use the pc for programming as well and more cpu power is usually nice for compiling ) If you tell me, it absolutely makes no sense to only upgrade mainboard+cpu or is not even possible (because something else is not compatible) I'll have to think about it once again :S I'll probably go for the cooler only i guess...

    So what I'm searching for is: Mainboard+CPU+Cooler for about 300-350€. I'm living in Germany, so I will probably buy at alternate or mindfactory or maybe amazon (if anyone wanna look for prices).

    Budget 300-350€
    Resolution 1920x1200 (yes it's 16:10 <3)
    Games / Settings Desired Playing WoW on it, not much else currently (though i'm looking forward to the witcher 3)
    Any other intensive software or special things you do Programming (Sometimes Compiling more or less large stuff)
    Country Germany
    Parts that can be reused See above
    Do you need an OS? no
    Do you need peripherals? no

    Any suggestions are appreciated
    Last edited by Marani; 2014-10-12 at 09:19 AM.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    This is the closest I can come up with:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€221.85 @ Amazon Deutschland)
    CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 45.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (€17.90 @ Caseking)
    Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€80.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
    Total: €320.64
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 09:36 CEST+0200

    That offers the best bang for the buck, although you'll lose out a little on the I/O of the 690 II not normally having USB 3 on the front.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    if you wanna get something a little better:

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (€221.85 @ Amazon Deutschland)
    CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (€32.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
    Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€94.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
    Total: €349.83
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-12 11:20 CEST+0200

  4. #4
    Hiya...I'd recommend Kostatoo option if you can afford it. For the extra €30 you'll get a motherboard with better features & better overclocking.
    CPU: Ivy Bridge i5-3570K OC @ 4.2 GHz, Cooler: ARTIC Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
    MB: ASUS P8Z77-V LE, RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
    GPU: MSI R9-280X, Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
    SSD: 120GB SanDisk SSD, HDD: 2x 1TB Seagate HDD in RAID 0
    PSU: OCZ 700W (multi-rail) PSU, Case: Cooler Master Elite 334U case
    Monitors: ASUS VE247H & ASUS VE228H Cooling: Totes cute Akasa 120mm Rainbow LED fans

  5. #5
    Thank you for the suggestions!
    Hmmm I haven't overclocked anything at all up to now, so I'm not sure, if I really need the "K"-version. If I don't want to overclock the cpu, I could save a few bucks and go for the "non-k" version of the cpu, right? (Or are there any other differences between the i5-4690 and the i5-4690K apart from the latter being unlocked for overclocking?)

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Marani View Post
    Thank you for the suggestions!
    Hmmm I haven't overclocked anything at all up to now, so I'm not sure, if I really need the "K"-version. If I don't want to overclock the cpu, I could save a few bucks and go for the "non-k" version of the cpu, right? (Or are there any other differences between the i5-4690 and the i5-4690K apart from the latter being unlocked for overclocking?)
    Yep, you're right...4690 vs 4690K the same expect for the overclocking. If you go for a 4690 then you can also get a cheaper motherboard & don't need an aftermarket cooler (if you sure you won't want to replace CPU + overclock in the future).

    I think the ASUS H81M-E is a good option: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-h81me

    With the i5-4690 + H81M-E should come to ~€250

    http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/art...ifference-473/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell...top_processors
    Last edited by CandyFresh; 2014-10-12 at 09:15 PM.
    CPU: Ivy Bridge i5-3570K OC @ 4.2 GHz, Cooler: ARTIC Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2
    MB: ASUS P8Z77-V LE, RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
    GPU: MSI R9-280X, Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
    SSD: 120GB SanDisk SSD, HDD: 2x 1TB Seagate HDD in RAID 0
    PSU: OCZ 700W (multi-rail) PSU, Case: Cooler Master Elite 334U case
    Monitors: ASUS VE247H & ASUS VE228H Cooling: Totes cute Akasa 120mm Rainbow LED fans

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