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Time to upgrade and possibly down size... thoughts?

T

TSDible

Golden Member
Ok...

So, I have the upgrade bug. Right now, my system is pretty big and loud, and I'm thinking of downsizing during the upgrade process.

Here is my current system:

Case : Antec Nine Hundred
PSU : CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
MB : Asus P5Q Pro
CPU : Intel Q6600
RAM : 4GB GSkill DDR2
VID : ATI 4850 512MB
HDD : 750GB Seagate and 1TB WD Black
DVD : Asus 20X SATA Burner
DVD : Sony Optiarc SATA

I've always had grand plans of running SLI/crossfire, etc, but it has just never worked out that way. So, this time, I'm going to build for what I actually do on the system.

Office work. light amounts of Video encoding, graphics design, etc. Gaming.

I would like to do some light overclocking as well, but nothing extreme.

Right now, the case is huge, the PSU is overkill and loud.

I'm thinking I can reuse the optical and storage drives. Perhaps the Case and PSU if I need to. Although I would be very interested in going to a nice micro-ATX setup with a quieter PSU.

Budget isn't really a huge concern, but I'm always looking for the best bang for the buck.

So far I'm thinking:

CASE : ? or reuse
PSU : ? or reuse (would really like something quieter... even if I reuse the nine hundred)
MB : ? - light overclocking. Perhaps downsize to mATX.
CPU : Intel i5 2500K
RAM : 8GB
VID : ATI 6850 or 6870
HDD : SSD ? and use current drives as storage
DVD : reuse

I'm open to just about any and all suggestions. I'm pretty set on using 2500K. It just seems to be the best bang for the buck.

I realize I'm not that far along yet, but any help is appreciated.
 
Sell you RAM, CPU, Case and MB. Buy a 2500K, 8gb of ram and a mATX mobo (the asus genez is supposed to be a really capable board for overclocking) and a mATX case. Sorted.

If you feel your current GPU isn't up to the task you could look at upgrading it but you don't mention if this is required or not so I will not comment on it for now.
 
Sound dampening helps a little bit, but you'd need a LOT of it to really negate the noise from a loud PSU, CPU fan, or video card.

If you really want a quiet computer it's best to think in terms of not generating noise in the first place rather than trying to block it.

That said, the Fractal Define cases are very nice entry level quiet cases with decent fans and good airflow. The sound deadening material does help to cut down on stuff like HDD vibration (which drives me insane).

Go with the Define Mini, a Noctua or Thermalright HSF, a Seasonic X-series PSU, and a video card with a quality 2-fan cooler, and your new machine will be as close to silent as you can get without becoming obsessive about it (and it'll stay very cool as well).
 
TSDible said:
But normally sound deadening material and overclocking don't go so well together.
Click to expand...

They do know:biggrin:
I basically can't hear my rig under my desk, but I must say that the firepro fan is loud and I can hear it whining when pushed hard (not very often though ).
 
TSDible said:
I've always had grand plans of running SLI/crossfire, etc, but it has just never worked out that way. So, this time, I'm going to build for what I actually do on the system.
Click to expand...

Hallelujah! Mods, can we get this man an Elite title?
 
Puppies04 said:
Sell you RAM, CPU, Case and MB. Buy a 2500K, 8gb of ram and a mATX mobo (the asus genez is supposed to be a really capable board for overclocking) and a mATX case. Sorted.

If you feel your current GPU isn't up to the task you could look at upgrading it but you don't mention if this is required or not so I will not comment on it for now.
Click to expand...

The GPU is also likely a significant contributor to the noise level, the 4800 series was not known for low power draw at idle.

Here's what I would do:
i5 2500 $195 AP - the K is not worth it right now and the non-K can be OCed to around 4GHz anyway.
Scythe Mugen 3 $50
ASRock Z68 Pro3 $79 AR AP
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $35
6870 $145 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $189 - remember to flash to latest FW
Reuse HDD and ODD
XFX Pro 450W $39 AR
Reuse case (unless you really want to be uATX, the case isn't what makes it loud)
Total: $732 AR AP
 
...and if you want to go matx you might want to look at the Silverstone SG03 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163164. I was faced with a similar dilemma of whether to build an entirely new rig or upgrade an old one. I went with building an entirely new one with all new components (Sandy Bridge 2105 cpu) and I used the SG03. It's a very classy, quiet case, is all I can say. Great compact size, and not heavy. No room for a big cpu fan, but then I'm not overclocking.
 
Last edited:
mfenn said:
Hallelujah! Mods, can we get this man an Elite title?
Click to expand...

LOL!

It just seems that everytime I...

Buy a MB because it can be upgraded to the next processor on the way...

Buy a video card because later I can buy a second one and SLI/Crossfire...

Buy a PSU that is way to big than what it needs to be because of the above...

It never works out that way. By the time I upgrade, even the new less than bleeding edge CPU needs a new board/socket/chipset; a matching video card is hard to impossible to find unless I want to gamble with FSFT.

I don't spend as much time on the desktop as I used to... No need to kid myself about future upgrades... 😉

I'm not sure that warrants Elite status though...

LOL.

😀
 
mfenn said:
The GPU is also likely a significant contributor to the noise level, the 4800 series was not known for low power draw at idle.

Here's what I would do:
i5 2500 $195 AP - the K is not worth it right now and the non-K can be OCed to around 4GHz anyway.
Scythe Mugen 3 $50
ASRock Z68 Pro3 $79 AR AP
Patriot DDR3 1600 8GB $35
6870 $145 AR
Crucial M4 128GB $189 - remember to flash to latest FW
Reuse HDD and ODD
XFX Pro 450W $39 AR
Reuse case (unless you really want to be uATX, the case isn't what makes it loud)
Total: $732 AR AP
Click to expand...

Any reason not to go witht the dual cooler XFX 6870 for $5 or so more?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521
 
TSDible said:
It never works out that way. By the time I upgrade, even the new less than bleeding edge CPU needs a new board/socket/chipset; a matching video card is hard to impossible to find unless I want to gamble with FSFT.

I don't spend as much time on the desktop as I used to... No need to kid myself about future upgrades... 😉
Click to expand...

It's just that way too many buy thinking this... and like you found out never go through with it. Those of us who've been around the computing block a few times know all about it but are unable to convince others. Thus, marketing trumps logic.
 
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