Out with the Old Soldier...In with the New Champion.

[chedrz]

I built my current computer in July 2006. It's seen many great days, traveled to and from college, held its own at LAN parties for years, and now...well, it's dying. I've had to replace the sound card once and the GPU twice. It's on it's second processor. It's old, and it's time to move on. The system's being retired to the basement to serve as a media/Minecraft server, a somewhat noble end to a fine machine.

Final Specs:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+ Black Ed. (Motherboard sucks, so I could barely overclock it even with the unlocked multiplier without constant BSODs)
Thermaltake MaxOrb heatsink
Powercolor AMD Radeon HD 4650
4gb DDR2-800 Corsair XMS RAM
1.6TB storage across 3 drives
ASUS Xonar D2X
Thermaltake Tsunami case
Thermaltake ToughPower 700W PSU (worked well for my 8800GT before it died, now it's just stupid amounts of overkill)

And now, it's replacement. I ordered parts on Black Friday, it should all be here around Wednesday. I think we can call this a "slight" upgrade.

Silverstone Fortress FT03 Titanium mATX Tower
Gigabyte G1 Sniper M3 motherboard
Intel i5 3770K (undecided on how far the OC is going with this)
16GB DDR3-1600 Corsair RAM + 8GB G-Skill DDR3-1600 RAM (the 8GB kit was free, might as well use it)
Corsair H80 Contained Water Cooler
eVGA GeForce GTX660 SuperClocked Ed.
Samsung 840 250GB TLC SSD
Seasonic 620W PSU

I'm carrying over the Xonar and the 1TB Caviar Black drive I have to the new system, although I'm undecided on the hard drive. I might just leave it in the old tower and pull files over the network. Depends on how much I want to put on the SSD. I'll update the thread with pics as I can, I'm really excited to fit the H80 in this case.

 

[DSF]

Are you looking for feedback, or are you just announcing that you have a new build in the works? It's definitely a cool looking case.

 

[mfenn]

If gaming is your main concern, you definitely spent way too much on the mobo, CPU, and RAM and not nearly enough on the GPU. A i3570K + ASRock Z77M + 8GB of RAM + GTX 670 would blow the doors off that machine in games and perform within 10% otherwise.

 

[chedrz]

@DSF: Just announcing. I've got that new PC excitement, so I'm sharing it with the community. Plus like you said, it's a cool case and I think it should be an interesting setup when it's all done.

@mfenn: I shared some of your concerns initially but in the long run, I felt this suited my needs best. I know I could have gone with a 670 or even a 660ti and had better gaming performance, but it's not a top priority at this point. I don't need absolutely fantastic maxed-out settings for everything, and I don't do a whole lot of PC gaming anymore anyway. The 660 will make things look pretty nice, and I really don't like spending over $250 on GPUs, particularly when I don't game nearly as much as I used to. If I end up disappointed, I can always upgrade later.

 

[videoclone]

Its easier to upgrade the GPU... then it is the Motherboard and CPU nice system.. i would have gone the Samsung 830 256GB over the Samsung 840 (non Pro) its not only a faster drive but its 27nm MLC Nand "on paper" should last like 4 times longer.

Massive upgrade either way...
I went from an intel E8200 Dual Core with 4GB DDR2, HD5770 to a i7-2600, 8GB DDR3, HD7970 and it was a huge upgrade... Like you my old system started to fail blue screens and lock ups all the time.. think it was the motherboard.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Nice OP!

I was like you. My old machine was from around 2006: Athlon 64 3200, 8800GT, 250GB HDD to the system I have now.

It was like upgrading from a nagging ex-wife to a hot young co-ed.

 

[DSF]

If you're not gaming primarily what's all the CPU power going towards?

 

[videoclone]

If you're not gaming primarily what's all the CPU power going towards?

a 64 x2 5000+ back in the day would of cost almost twice as much as a I7-3770k so i'm guessing its a good replacement CPU when comparing price VS previous product

 

[chedrz]

Nice OP!

I was like you. My old machine was from around 2006: Athlon 64 3200, 8800GT, 250GB HDD to the system I have now.

It was like upgrading from a nagging ex-wife to a hot young co-ed.

When I first built this system, it had an Athlon X2 4200+ and a 7900GT. Sold the 7900GT and bought an 8800GT, which lasted about 2 years before it died. Going from a 8800GT to a Radeon 4650 hurt. A lot. If I manage to get 6+ years out of the new computer, I'll be more than satisfied.

 

[chedrz]

Its easier to upgrade the GPU... then it is the Motherboard and CPU nice system.. i would have gone the Samsung 830 256GB over the Samsung 840 (non Pro) its not only a faster drive but its 27nm MLC Nand "on paper" should last like 4 times longer.

Massive upgrade either way...
I went from an intel E8200 Dual Core with 4GB DDR2, HD5770 to a i7-2600, 8GB DDR3, HD7970 and it was a huge upgrade... Like you my old system started to fail blue screens and lock ups all the time.. think it was the motherboard.

The original plan was to buy a 256GB Samsung 830, but I got the 840 for something like $150, so it was hard to turn that down. It's my first foray into the SSD world, we'll see what happens with it.

If you're not gaming primarily what's all the CPU power going towards?

Right now I'm going to have far more processing power than I need. My roommate and I do play Minecraft, so if the old tower can't handle server duties as well as I'd like it to, the new system will serve in that role. I'm considering running virtualizing multiple OSes on the system too, so more cores/RAM for dedicating to each system would be better. And when I do game (I do play Diablo 3 on occasion and got Assassin's Creed 3 free with the SSD), I'll have the power there. A big part of it is future-proofing somewhat, since I expect this computer to last several years at least.

I should also add that I do a fair amount of building/selling for friends and family, and this system will serve as a demo of where computer tech is today and how it can be realistically applied. I have a good friend who's been looking for a reason to update his computer that I built around the same time as my old system above. Showing him the new system and what it can do has a good chance of putting a few extra bucks in my pocket.

 

[mfenn]

If you're not gaming primarily what's all the CPU power going towards?

:thumbsup: And no, VMs are not CPU intensive. You'll run out of IOPS long before you run out of CPU power.

 

[chedrz]

:thumbsup: And no, VMs are not CPU intensive. You'll run out of IOPS long before you run out of CPU power.

Then I'll have too much compute power. I'm not sure how that's a bad thing. And I got the 3770K for like $20 more than a 3570K would have been, so again...where's the negative? I'll do some Folding@Home, game when I want to, and be future-proofed for a good chunk of time.

 

[AustinInDallas]

if you have 8 gigs free, then why buy the 16 gigs?

 

[mfenn]

Then I'll have too much compute power. I'm not sure how that's a bad thing. And I got the 3770K for like $20 more than a 3570K would have been, so again...where's the negative? I'll do some Folding@Home, game when I want to, and be future-proofed for a good chunk of time.

And now the curtain is finally pulled open. There's nothing wrong with having too much CPU power other than probably spending too much on it. If you got the i7 3770K for $20 more than a i5 3570K, then that's perfectly fine. I just wonder why you didn't mention that first thing?

 

[chedrz]

if you have 8 gigs free, then why buy the 16 gigs?

I have a friend who's got a tight money situation, I'm probably going to give the 8GB kit to him.

And now the curtain is finally pulled open. There's nothing wrong with having too much CPU power other than probably spending too much on it. If you got the i7 3770K for $20 more than a i5 3570K, then that's perfectly fine. I just wonder why you didn't mention that first thing?

Because I didn't talk about money at all. I got a really great deal on the whole system, otherwise I wouldn't have bought yet. And at normal price, there's NO WAY I would have bought a 3770K over a 3570K. I think I saved like $300 on the whole thing.

 

[chedrz]

Got everything in yesterday and assembled. Looks like I got a bad H80 though, the fans run but the pump isn't doing anything. I'm working with Corsair to diagnose the problem and fix it quickly.