Time to upgrade my PC

[Kaze]

Hello everyone,

I've taken apart my PC for it's annual clean up and noticed I might do with some upgrades. I'm not a PC person so my knowledge is basic and this is where I need your help! The biggest help I need is to find the fastest hardware that complies with my setup.

Thank you in advance for your help/guidance/assistance/advice


My current specs are

CPU: Intel i5-2500 @ 3.3Ghz
MOBO: ASUS PBH67 PRO
HDD: Samsung 1TB
PSU: Corsair CX500
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengence

Now my objective is to make this PC quiet and smooth/power.

Fans

I want to change my chassis fan as well as my CPU fan. They are both the standard shitty ones and would like to you know get faster and quieter fans.

RAM

Currently on 8GB. Do I really need an upgrade? I'm more concerned about the ram speeds. How can I check my current ones so I can evaluate if it's worth upgrading.

HDD

Yet again, I'm thinking if it's worth upgrading this. It seems fine but I have that vibe that it will die out on me at any moment. Initially I thought about getting a SSD for OS and if this HDD dies I'll grab a 300GB one. Can anyone recommend a good/fast SSD for my OS? I'm using Win10

PSU

Now this is a tricky one. Aesthetically it's nasty because it has wires I don't use hanging around on my PC so it looks ugly but it has been working fine. Just like the HDD, I have a bad vibe about it because often my PC doesn't connect to the monitor so I have to turn it off and on a couple times to get the monitor signal working (can say the same for HDD, maybe turning it off and on harms the HDD?)

GPU

Well where do I begin. I had a Nvidia GTS 450 but it fried so now using intergrated GPU. This is where I need the most help. If anyone has a spare old card thats lying around (no I'm not expecting a £200+ GPU) I would appreciate it if you could donate it to me. I would pay the postage costs. Needless to say, is my PSU good enough to power my next potential GPU? It's not worth buying an expensive GPU since I don't game that often hence why I'm not buying one.

[AK47]

Fans; Depends on the size of the ones you have now but most of the fans are good/quiet if you still rock original fans. I myself use some Corsair 120mm and they are silent and good. For my CPU I use Hyper 212 LED (I'm an RGB-whore :p) and Hyper delivers good quality at a low price.

RAM: 8GB is kinda enough if you aren't doing stuff like playing AAA-games and Stream at the same time etc so 8 GB should be fine, if you have some old DDR3 I'd recommend buying some new DDR4-ones.

HDD: Some people say that they don't really care about loading times etc and that's a valid point but if you want to boot the PC and be in a game within 30 seconds I recommend an SSD. I have a 250GB Corsair Force (great SSD) for my OS and a 500GB for games + 3TB HDD-storage (lmao).

PSU:Sounds like it's time to buy a new then and if you worry about cables not being used you can always pick up a modular one and some sleeved cables for the looks. 500-550W ones should be enough tho.

GPU: Well I have an overclocked 1070 and I have a 500W PSU so you should be good with the same size.

[TheRock]

Fans:
Why worry when you use integrated? As Emmett said Hyper 212 Evo is the best option for CPU, for case fans anything cheap wont be quiet unless you have money to spare on Noctua's. Be Quiet products are cheap and good though, but those are too low RPM, almost useless when your PC has no thermal issues.

RAM: You can download CPU-Z and see the 'SPD' menu for that. (Keep in mind it will report the half speed just like my signatures 1200Mhz though it runs 2400Mhz), perfect enough no need for upgrade.

HDD: The only good about it is the loading times, you will win 5 seconds on boot or at some heavy application and then again you will say 'wasted money'. I do use Photoshop and Video Editing software which do need a fast SSD to process files so it fits me. You can get an SSHD (Hybrid HDD) though, those can be 1TB with SSD Cache and they are fast enough. That's a tough question really. Whatever you can afford check it out here: http://ssd.userbenchmark.com for example. I could have 10 options of SSDs ranging price from 45-75 though only one was actually worth in that price. For me anything less than Samsung 850 Evo is not even worth to buy!

PSU: Corsair is too good to cause such issues. I have a Corsair VS450 even running a GTX 670 which needs 180watt alone and it runs perfectly fine.
Having a bigger PSU does not necessary mean it will waste more wattage, it will just be capable of higher load.
Monitor issue is not power issue but motherboard/graphics one. All HDD or SSD count times powered up!

GPU: Same as previously, your PSU is over enough for any card actually. Try looking tutorials on how to reflow a GPU through Google (aka fix fried cards), unless you have an electrician / engineer friend of yours do not try removing the PCBs. I have successfully recovered a 9800GT with reflow way.

[Kaze]

After reading both of your posts I have decided not to go through with buying HDD/SSD. I'll just use this one till it completely dies out. I might buy an external HDD to backup everything here though. Worst case scenario if my HDD stops working and I buy a new one, how can I have a legitimate copy of Win10 again without buying it?

BTW, I'm not looking for heavy duty gaming (i.e GTA 5 constantly on 60+ FPS) As I just use my PC for genera websurfing, streaming movies, using MS Office and couple chrome tabs open for music and research and occasional gaming (games like GTA SA, GTA 4, CS GO) however it would be nice to play GTA 5 too if I can because why not lol

In terms of the Fans these are the ones that caught my eye due to the customer reviews and it's pricing.. are they any good or should I look elsewhere?

CPU FAN - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-RR-H103-22PB-R1-Heatpipe-x/dp/B00D4EEEFQ/ref=sr_1_10?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1491815937&sr=1-10&keywords=cpu+cooler
Case FAN - https://www.amazon.co.uk/ARCTIC-F12-Standard-Noise-Case/dp/B002KTVFTE/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1491816061&sr=1-1&keywords=CHASSIS+FAN

RAM - Is there a drastic change between DDR4 and DDR3 ram? How would I know if my MOBO supports DDR4? Sadly I can't access my PC anymore because I fucked up the stock PC cooler.

GPU - IF I fail to find someone kind enough to donate an old GPU that means I would have to sadly suck it up and spend on a GPU - Can you guys recommend me a decent one? 30 FPS on most games is enough for me. As long as its smooth I don't mind.

@TheRock @Emmett


EDIT: I've done some youtubing about the CPU cooler and most of the guys done it whilst the MOBO was out of it's case. Can I put this CPU cooler without removing the MOBO?

[Kaze]

UPDATE:

I have a MSI GTX 560Ti 1GB GPU on the way after someone kindly donated it to me. Yet again the point remains about the Hyper evo CPU cooler.. Is there any possibility to put that on without taking out the MOBO?

I've been trying to find 'normal' cpu coolers with the standard clip in ones (anything is better than the stock ones) how does this look to you guys?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Fans-Cooling/ARCTIC-Alpine-Cooler-Sockets-Patented-Holder-Vibration/B003JGMVUE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491835628&sr=8-3&keywords=CPU+fan

[AK47]

Yeah a SSD isn't really that necessary for a budgetbuild, if you happen to get a few quid in the future it can be a good upgrade tho.
Casefan seems decent, jut keep in mind on how you place them so that you get a smooth airflow through the case to keep the components nice and cold!



As long as you can remove the backside of the case you do not need to remove the whole MOBO since most of the cases has a cutout behind the CPU. Coolers like Hyper (most of them) have a backplate that needs to be placed behind the MOBO which then the cutout in the case can be used for


(Upper right corner)

And before connecting the whole thing please do connect the cable to the MOBO since it can be a bit tight to connect it after the cooler is in place (was that for me, almost threw out the pc lol)

[Kaze]

Sadly my case does not have the cut outs so I ended up purchasing this (https://www.scan.co.uk/products/arctic-freezer-11-lp-low-profile-processor-cooler-for-intel-socket-1150-1151-1155-1156-775-100-watts)

Should I be buying thermal paste for my CPU or is the one that comes with the CPU fan itself good enough?

Is my new GPU as good as my previous GPU? I had a EVGA GTS 450 1GB.

[ahmedXD]

Sadly my case does not have the cut outs so I ended up purchasing this (https://www.scan.co.uk/products/arctic-freezer-11-lp-low-profile-processor-cooler-for-intel-socket-1150-1151-1155-1156-775-100-watts)

Should I be buying thermal paste for my CPU or is the one that comes with the CPU fan itself good enough?

Is my new GPU as good as my previous GPU? I had a EVGA GTS 450 1GB.

Thermal paste comes pre-applied with your cpu, but its better to buy this Thermal paste Arctic Silver, it will make a huge difference like 10C° lower temps.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LT0ZWJE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491838833&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=arctic+silver

[AK47]

Thermal paste comes pre-applied with your cpu, but its better to buy this Thermal paste Arctic Silver, it will make a huge difference like 10C° lower temps.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00LT0ZWJE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491838833&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=arctic+silver

Yes it comes pre-applied but you should always change thermal paste when changing the cooler since it will probably be old and dried up. Most CPU-coolers comes with a little bag of thermal paste so if you do not care that much you do not need to buy one but the one Ahmed linked is good, I've always used Arctic Silver and Hyper EVOs and I've never gone over 40C when gaming AAA-games

[Kaze]

Ok so I've also purchased thermal paste so that + the thermal that comes with the CPU cooler itself will do the trick.

Now I'm full on broke waiting for payday! Next step is case fan. Not sure if you can see from the pic I've provided but what mm should I choose? Interestingly enough I don't have anything to measure the size  - I should invest in a ruler or something too haha.