New Build (July 2014)


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My old PC:

 

ASUS P5K-E WIFI (2008 era) (Custom BIOS)

Intel Core 2 Duo (3.2GHz)

8GB (4x2) DDR2 (in Dual Channel) pff Corsair I think

NVIDIA 560GTX videocard

 

New Rig:

 

ASUS H87-PLUS

Intel i5 (4th Gen) Haswell 3.1 GHz

8GB (2x4) DDR3 Kingston (in Dual Channel) Sporty looking with "heat spreaders"

Corsair 500W "quiet" PSU <- I brought this back for a refund

 

Cost (around ?360)

 

Stuff I kept:

 

Kingston 120 GB SSD (Windows 8.1)

1TB Seagate Barracuda (Sata 3)

LG DVD-RW (Sata II?)

Coolermaster Midi Tower

AOpen 500W PSU

 

Stuff I still want:

 

Optical backplate connector for my Cambridge Soundworks THX 250D (ordered and shipped) <- this is not included with the motherboard? :s

Blu Ray (quiet) DVD-RW etc player, but I have to research this first

 

It wasn't too long ago that I got the SSD and was really impressed with the bump in speed, but my network connection kept failing in the past couple of weeks, and the front panel USB ports too (a reboot recovered it all for varying times) but I must say I am well impressed with this new build, especially now that I don't need my noisy video card, the dual monitor setup on hdmi and dvi works great :D

 

Confession: :(

 

I broke the first motherboard by installing the CPU wrong, meaning I had to pay another ?87 for a new one, but that was somewhat compensated by bringing back the PSU (it was damaged and I forgot my PSU is reasonably new and already 500W).

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Was this your first build ?

Nah I built all my own PCs, but upgraded the old one constantly (last time in Oct 13 with the SSD) I've had at least 3 CPUs and multiple video cards in the old build too :)

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Yeah, that's one hell of a jump from the C2D to a Haswell i5. I was forced to upgrade from an i7 860 to a i5 4670 when my old build died, and I gained some performance on the way (even though it's only a 2 generation gap between the 2 CPU's). The i5 also consumes less power, and is more efficient. Enjoy! 

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Cheers, I'm just wondering if Half Life 2 Deathmatch will play alright on it (I only play once a month if that for a bit) not enough to warrant an expensive noisy video card (anymore).

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Cheers, I'm just wondering if Half Life 2 Deathmatch will play alright on it (I only play once a month if that for a bit) not enough to warrant an expensive noisy video card (anymore).

 

 

Should run fine, nothing amazing like but should run decent enough. HL2 DM <3

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Cheers, I'm just wondering if Half Life 2 Deathmatch will play alright on it (I only play once a month if that for a bit) not enough to warrant an expensive noisy video card (anymore).

 

People still play HL2DM? I'm downloading it now!

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IMO go get another Corsair PSU.

Never heard of Aopen... so can't trust that.

 

Several years ago, I had a corsair that "died" after a powercut... tested it a few months later and it was alive again. Has been sitting pretty ever since in my "server" box.

 

And add another 8GB RAM

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AOpen PSU ????

You dont hangout in HH much do you ?

Crappy, generic PSU are a big NO-NO

Just because it doesnt make things go faster doesnt mean it isn't important.

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My old PC:

 

ASUS P5K-E WIFI (2008 era) (Custom BIOS)

Intel Core 2 Duo (3.2GHz)

8GB (4x2) DDR2 (in Dual Channel) pff Corsair I think

NVIDIA 560GTX videocard

 

Confession: :(

 

I broke the first motherboard by installing the CPU wrong, meaning I had to pay another ?87 for a new one, but that was somewhat compensated by bringing back the PSU (it was damaged and I forgot my PSU is reasonably new and already 500W).

 

Huh, what do you know; I also have a core 2 duo (but much slower at 2.33 GHz) and a GTX 560 (Ti). RAM is still 4GB.

 

That i5 is bound to make things a LOT faster. My 560 is badly bottlenecked by the CPU, although nvidia's latest driver improved the FPS by a huge margin by removing a big chunk of CPU overhead. Still not enough though.

 

How did you even manage to install the CPU wrong?! CPUs can only sit in one position, or can they?

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The PSU is solid. I have had this computer (with varying parts) on 24/7 for the past six years and the PSU that came with the coolermaster case failed after the first year lol.

 

Oh and right now I don't have a need for 16GB when my memory is only sitting at 50% max :)


Huh, what do you know; I also have a core 2 duo (but much slower at 2.33 GHz) and a GTX 560 (Ti). RAM is still 4GB.

 

That i5 is bound to make things a LOT faster. My 560 is badly bottlenecked by the CPU, although nvidia's latest driver improved the FPS by a huge margin by removing a big chunk of CPU overhead. Still not enough though.

 

How did you even manage to install the CPU wrong?! CPUs can only sit in one position, or can they?

Yeah I know, was my own stupid fault at hurrying. I could have just left that part out :shifty: lol

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That's quite the jump in performance. I, too, went from a Core2Duo rig to a Haswell Core i5-4570.

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Cannot complain, after using it for a few days now I'm really happy at how quiet it is compared to my old build. A friend is giving me a spare Radeon card that is advertised as "quiet" and supports Crossfire, so I'll be adding that along with the Optical in bracket that is on the way. I can wait on a BluRay player, I saw they are only around ?75 (for an LG) but as I pointed out I want to ensure it doesn't sound like a drill when it spins up (like my current LG DVD-RW) :s

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Steven, just because 1 PSU lasted for a while, does not mean the next one will too.  You have to go by the law of averages.  A-Open PSUs are not a solid, reliable brand, period.

Saying "well it worked before, so it will work again" is like the mom & dad who say "well our last HP worked for 8 years, so we will get another HP so it will last 8 years..."

Law of averages suggests you have better odds by going with something of quality, but if you want to save $30 while possibly sacrificing reliability...

I only mention this and stress it because what you are saying is the typical newbish (not trying to be a pr*ck) mindset.  So, you posted this in here looking for advice from people who have more experience, then when 2 people mention the PSU is a mistake -- you dismiss as if you know better....

Just trying to help, this is not my 1st rodeo ;)

UPDATE - I see you already built it, well cross your fingers

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^ This would only make sense if I was building a gaming rig or am planning to do some overclocking, neither of which applies here. I don't know why you're taking it so personally :s I am happy with my build, period. I don't remembering asking for advice either :P

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Ooooooooh, bitch mode enabled?

 

All jokes aside, if he's happy with it, leave him be - if it blows up in a few months it's his issue :)

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