Upgrading My Budget Desktop

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For $1000 you could *easily* get a good system. You could get a complete tower for ~$850. With the parts you've already got, it'll be no problem at all.

Where abouts in Aus are you? Check if you're close to an MSY store, they've got pretty good prices: Locate US

Tassie, so the limitations start there unless I buy online.

@ keshialee, please don't double post, if you have something else to add to the conversation and no one has posted a reply since your last post (within a 24 hr. period), please use the edit button (looks like a pencil) to add it to your previous post.

You might be able to rig up an auxillary power supply but this one fits in a 5.25" bay.

Newegg.com - FSP Group Booster X5 450W Independent/Supplementary SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Dedicated Multi.GPU Power

Sorry about that, I have been doing that a lot.

As for that link, am I right in assuming that is an external thing? I'm really trying hard to keep up here, but I struggling a little. Am I right in thinking that something like that supports my current PSU?
 
The link Slaymate posted is a PSU that mounts in a 5.25" bay (like the one your Optical Drive is in). It's got power connectors for graphics cards, so yeah basically it supplements your current PSU.
I don't think you've got space for it though, I can only see one 5.25" bay in that case.
 
Ok, well thank you for all of that, much appreciated.

I'll just go for a new build I think and transfer over what I can. Where would be the best place to hunt out some information on what I should get so that I can read up on it before I come back with some more questions?
 
We can help you put a build together, just tell us what you'll be using it for mainly. Apart from that, all we need is a place to buy it from. I'll look up some NZ stores lol
 
Mainly it will be used for gaming, and the odd on-line browsing although I mainly use my Mac for tasks such as that. Although I don't play graphically intense games such as Battlefield, I guess whilst I am spending the money if I am working with the $1000 limit as an absolute maximum budget it would be sensible to get something that will be a decent system for games.

Obviously looking at future upgrades being possible as well.

I will definitely transfer what I can from current system, and just replace what is needed.

I'll just pretend I didn't read the part about NZ lol.
 
edit: haha, whoops! Mixed up Tas and NZ :p bah you little islanders are all the same anyhow :grin:

Well here's a pretty generic list of what you'll need. Reuse your cpu/ram/odd and get

1. 1Tb hdd (Western Digital Black, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12, Samsung Spinpoint F3 are all good choices)
2. 1155 socket motherboard, the Asus P8P67 series is good if you can find it
3. Case. Personal preference weighs in here a lot, but look for good airflow and cable management.
4. PSU. You'll want 460W minimum ideally. Corsair make great PSUs, Coolermaster, Seasonic, and Antec are good too though
5. Gfx card. 560Ti, 6950, 6970, 570 are the cards I'd check out (performance roughly in that order too).
 
edit: haha, whoops! Mixed up Tas and NZ :p bah you little islanders are all the same anyhow :grin:

Ha, if that gives me bragging rights in relation to the world cup I shall take that as a compliment :tongue:

Ok, thanks for that list, I'll go and see what I can find and come back with what I've found.

With the RAM, my current system has 4gb, good idea to factor in upgrading that to 8?
 
For what you use your system for, not really worth it. 4Gb will do you plenty.

Oh, one thing I left off. The operating system. Your currently license might not work, because it's retail and brand specific. I'm hurrying off to a meeting right now, so don't quote me on that, but def get a second opinion.
 
Ok, so have been doing some searching...

Two things I am a little confused about. To start with, The mobo. I can't find the Asus P8P67 series, everywhere I have searched is out of stock. I don't completely understand what to choose instead. I don't understand the 'specs' that are in the product descriptions at all.

As for the case, I just did a quick search and picked one that was in the middle price bracket of the others that I liked the look of. So something like this (here) would be adequate?

PSU, I was looking at the Corsairs, now is it worth getting more than 450W? I mean, there isn't that much of a price upping that a little more and would rather spend a few extra $$ if it would be better. Is it going to make much difference to whether the PSU that I get has a 120mm fan or 140mm fan?

hdd: Something like this do? (here)

I'll get the graphics card sorted out when I work out much I have to spend on everything else.

Edit: So I called into a local computer guy today to see what he coulld do for me, I mentioned what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to get. He emailed me just a minute ago with this reply:

'In my opinion. you may be better to sell the machine you have and buy one ready built. For gaming you may be better considering some of the AMD range of processors and maybe a solid state system hard drive. Team it up with some matched high speed RAM, a 1Tb 7200rpm hard disk and an appropriate graphics card and you will be flying. Cooling can be an issue with AMD processors.
The rebuild you are considering may cost as much or more and you will not have the performance of a purpose built gaming machine.

I would suggest that with any of the highly ventilated cases you need to consider a minimum 1000 watt PSU due to the number of fans and lights typically in these boxes, also the amount of RAM you are planning

Some ballpark figures:
The graphic cards you are considering will most likely require a specific power supply, you should allow $500-$600 for the PSU. These usually come with cable management

The video cards you are considering are expensive eg an Asus GTX580 card will be over $800
Typical ventilated case - allow $300+
Mainboard - about $250 for the one you specify; may be superseded already
Hard disk - 1Tb 7200rpm drive allow $170
Top end i7 CPUS (eg 990ex 3.4GHz) are expensive - about $1600 (this would require a LGA1366 mainboard)
Top of the pile for socket 1155 is the i7 2600K 3.4GHz - about $500
RAM - plan on installing matched RAM, all needs to be identical for stability. The more the better, up to 16Gb'

And then told me that what I wanted to do would be full of problems, and can't guarantee that it would work. Just reading that I feel as though he wants to set me up with a system that could power my whole house :p

Thing is I am going to have to get someone to build it for me... knowing me if I took a crack at it, it would only be useful for popping the disk draw out and using it as a drink holder, but I have a feeling that it's going to be like this for most computer places I visit.

Edit, again: I think I am just going to save the re-build and just go for a new system
:big_smile:
 
As for the case, I just did a quick search and picked one that was in the middle price bracket of the others that I liked the look of. So something like this (here) would be adequate?
I have the same case (well, I don't have the Advanced, which has USB 3.0 ports on the front. Otherwise they're the same). I love it, it's very quiet, easy to use and lots of room. Very heavy, though.

PSU, I was looking at the Corsairs, now is it worth getting more than 450W? I mean, there isn't that much of a price upping that a little more and would rather spend a few extra $$ if it would be better. Is it going to make much difference to whether the PSU that I get has a 120mm fan or 140mm fan?
I'd say go for 550W to give you a bit of headroom, though 450W should work fine as long as it has enough PCI-E connectors for whatever GPU you connect.

hdd: Something like this do? (here)
Yup, perfect.

Edit: So I called into a local computer guy today to see what he coulld do for me, I mentioned what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to get. He emailed me just a minute ago with this reply:
Yeah, he's really obviously just trying to get money out of you :p Recommending stuff you'd never use, like 16GB RAM and a top-end CPU (which is bad advice as well as being overpriced).


Two things I am a little confused about. To start with, The mobo. I can't find the Asus P8P67 series, everywhere I have searched is out of stock. I don't completely understand what to choose instead. I don't understand the 'specs' that are in the product descriptions at all.
To be honest, as long as it has the right socket (1155) and isn't too cheap, any 1155 board will do you fine.
 
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