Wanting to upgrade pre-existing machine. Tips?

chaoxf457

Member
Hi guys.

Came here before four or five years ago with questions. I purchased things that people recommended and i was thoroughly pleased! The Pc has lasted a long time and continues to still be a very good bit of kit!

Little backstory. I'm an enthusiastic gamer who would like to get into streaming, and also i do a fair bit of editing. Because of this, my PC was bought with the future in mind. Here were the specs when i purchased in 2012

http://puu.sh/oLLsk/6dcb218a9b.png

The PC has done me well, but it's just getting old and there is a little damage to it from frequent use, and a dog who thought it was funny to knock a bottle of water all over the top of it. Thankfully, the case is mostly solid, but there are a few bits of the PC which are now faulty, and im basically just running by the skin of my teeth.

My wireless adapter (PCI) Is dying. I'm surprised it's still working.

One of the GTX 670's has burned out (Assuming). The study i work in is a little box room, and ventilation is non existent. Essentially, this card sometimes works, but more often not.

The case has had it, cracks, general damage and it's just gotten old. I admit, i haven't taken as much care of it as i should have! The front and rear USB slots are dodgy, often disconnecting if i budge it even slightly.

A lack of ventilation has my cards running at nearly 90-100 in the summer. More fans are a must!


So, my question to you guys is, what kinda thing should i be looking for? I'm looking to pay monthly a max of about 50 pounds via the pay monthly scheme, And while i know what i would want to buy in a brand new pc, i feel like im letting a lot of things go to waste if i do. I'd like to upgrade if possible (i know my CPU isn't bad at all!) but if the general consensus is to just get a brand new one, i'll do that.

Many thanks for any help sent my way ^^
 

keynes

Multiverse Poster
The pay monthly is only for new purchases not upgrades. What is your budget for upgrades?
 

chaoxf457

Member
Ah, i wasn't aware of that.

Well, i'm happy to buy the parts over a period of months, and i imagine this pc can last another year tops. so i would say 300 pounds maximum a month, but more between the 100-200. So lets say i have no immediate problems with expenditure!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Changing the case is practically the same as building a PC from scratch. Obviously, as you need to unscrew and unplug most of the stuff. So prepare yourself for that if you've not built or swapped a motherboard out before. It's perfectly do-able, it just requires a little prep. :)

For a new case, your choice is pretty open. Biggest issues are CPU and GPU clearance and you should frankly be fine with most ATX cases with your setup.
Perhaps a Fractal R5 (~£80-85 kind of region). Perhaps with an extra front intake fan added yourself (buy a Noctua fan?)
There's also Nanoxia Cases which are generally, big, sturdy, and high quality: http://nanoxia-world.com/en/products/cases/deep-silence-series/ but PCS don't do them afaik.
A PCS case that's supposed to be good for temps is the Corsair Carbide 540.
Cooltek W2 is nice, fits large components in quite a compact format. If you can find one, they're not very widely available.

For a new GPU, perhaps the GTX 1070M when that's released. No point buying a new high end one right now. RRP's supposed to be $379, who knows what that will be in pounds, maybe £350? We'll see in June I guess.
Also, the GTX 970 gives similar performance to SLI's 670s so would be a bit of a sideways move from your original setup anyway.

As for the wifi card, that won't be too expensive. Exactly what you want to get depends on your router I guess - no point buying a super high speed dual band AC wifi card if you have a £10 router
 
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chaoxf457

Member
Changing the case is practically the same as building a PC from scratch. Obviously, as you need to unscrew and unplug most of the stuff. So prepare yourself for that if you've not built or swapped a motherboard out before. It's perfectly do-able, it just requires a little prep. :)

For a new case, your choice is pretty open. Biggest issues are CPU and GPU clearance and you should frankly be fine with most ATX cases with your setup.
Perhaps a Fractal R5 (~£80-85 kind of region). Perhaps with an extra front intake fan added yourself (buy a Noctua fan?)
There's also Nanoxia Cases which are generally, big, sturdy, and high quality: http://nanoxia-world.com/en/products/cases/deep-silence-series/ but PCS don't do them afaik.
A PCS case that's supposed to be good for temps is the Corsair Carbide 540.
Cooltek W2 is nice, fits large components in quite a compact format. If you can find one, they're not very widely available.

For a new GPU, perhaps the GTX 1070M when that's released. No point buying a new high end one right now. RRP's supposed to be $379, who knows what that will be in pounds, maybe £350? We'll see in June I guess.
Also, the GTX 970 gives similar performance to SLI's 670s so would be a bit of a sideways move from your original setup anyway.

As for the wifi card, that won't be too expensive. Exactly what you want to get depends on your router I guess - no point buying a super high speed dual band AC wifi card if you have a £10 router

Great reply, thanks very much.

I'm not massively keen on the idea of buying all the parts and putting it all together, i'm paranoid that i'll miss something like the dimensions or something super basic that'll thwart the build! I was thinking about the new GTX card, as exactly what you said about the 970 was the sole reason i didn't buy it. I'd probably buy a 1070/80 and then just add a second one down the road. I'm looking for long term!


Yeah, the wifi card and the router stumps me. I live in a rural area that has only recently got fibreoptic broadband, and i'll be getting that soon. Hopefully its fast enough to allow me to stream, i'll have to look into it a bit more.

Would you per chance go with just upgrading what i have already, or should i ultimately just buy out a new PC with the aformentioned specs?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Just upgrade parts, you don't need a whole new rig. Your CPU, mobo, RAM, etc are all fine for gaming and other things. You can see I have a similar setup (also originally a PCS PC) myself and I don't feel a need to upgrade to a new processor for a while to come. I've just added new storage, GPU, PSU, etc as things have broken or needed upgrading along the way.
 
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