need help on PC! LOTSSS of help!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
B

benbenhor

Honorable
Jan 20, 2015
22
0
10,510
Hi guys! An EXTREMELY NOOB PC guy here but I was planning to upgrade my PC since I've been using it for the past 6 to 7 years now and I feel it's about time I upgraded it, and it has also been having some problems recently.

Just 3 years ago, it kept crashing(blue screen of death) and eventually, wasn't able to be booted up. Sent it for fixing few months later as I wasn't really sure what to do with it as it was my brother's PC and his hard drive was inside and usually fixing would mean reformatting the hard drive of all his files?? Anyway, after fixing, all was well but it did feel slower and not as good as before it got spoiled. Life went on as usual, with the PC still feeling "okay" up till 2 weeks ago when the same thing happened again(ie. blue screen of death and unbootable). Borrowed my friend's hard drive to try to boot the PC, hoping that it's the only problem(not mobo or any other hardware) and it was bootable! So went to buy a hard drive for myself but the problem was still there after installing windows in the hard drive and trying to boot the PC, no change..sighh... So I gave up trying to "fix" it myself and just sent it for proper fixing this morning.

Anyway, sorry about the long-ass story! But here's the specs for my PC right now:
Case: Cooler Master ATX Centurion RC-690
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 6M
CPU Cooler: Zalman Casing Fan 12cm Blue ZM-F3BL
MOBO: GIGABYTE S775 GA-EP45-DS3
RAM: Corsair DIMM 4GB TWIN2X 6400C4DHX 800MHz (4-4-4-12) DDR2
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM
GPU: Asus GTX260 896MB PCI-E ENGTX260
PSU: Cooler Master PSU 550watts Real Power Pro

So just a few questions here.
1. Should I upgrade my PC? My budget is only around $500(~RM2000) as I come from a real stupid country(Malaysia) and the prices of tech stuff are hiked the shit up here, so in fact you should add $50 to all hardware that you're going to suggest, if you were to suggest any. And I'm still only a college student which like all others, are broke, so yeah...

2. With the specs listed below, would my PSU be able to handle it? (Listed a few as...well..I don't know which to choose? Both price and performance wise..I'm broke!! :'()
CPU: Intel Core i5-4440
Intel Core i5-4460
Intel Core i5-4590
MOBO: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
GPU: GeForce GTX 750
GeForce GTX 750 Ti
GeForce GTX 760

3. Are there any other better alternatives?(cheaper & better/better & slightly pricier/cheaper & still good)?
or things I should be changing first?
or others things I should worry about more?(yes, I know I should be focusing on my studies, but this problem is making me unable to study!)

I know I'm tight on a budget but I prefer Intel over AMD and GeForce over Radeon. Sorry for being so contradicting.

What I'm trying to look for is a PC that firstly....wouldn't "die" so easily!!!! And secondly, a modest gaming PC. Yeah! emphasis on GAMING. Would love to play games like far cry 4, AC unity, modded skyrim, modded minecraft, shadow of mordor and dragon age inquisition with a smooth FPS. Though I'd most probably only end up playing games like Simcity and The Sims 4! Weee~~ I love The Sims!

Anyway, please educate this lowly console peasant(I admit I am more into consoles, just bought the PS4, hence the broke-ness) on the beauty of PC!!....Thanks for reading, and for helping!
Damn that post was long. Sorry
 
Solution
C12Friedman
There are a few things to check on a system that old, look over the motherboard for and leaky or blown capacitors, also check that the CMOS battery is at 3v. Either one of those can cause issues you describe.
As to your questions;
1) I don't think you'd get any performance improvement with a new PC at that budget
2) I'd suggest the i5-4440, Asus H97M+, 8GB of ram, and a GTX750Ti but I'm sure that'll put you over your budget (plus you still need an OS)
3) I think I'd look at simply upgrading your graphics for right now

Last, the primary reason PC is considered better than console has to do with the limitations of console graphics but there is more to it than that, this article may help explain some...
Sort by date Sort by votes
C12Friedman

C12Friedman

Glorious
Jan 25, 2012
8,966
1
46,965
There are a few things to check on a system that old, look over the motherboard for and leaky or blown capacitors, also check that the CMOS battery is at 3v. Either one of those can cause issues you describe.
As to your questions;
1) I don't think you'd get any performance improvement with a new PC at that budget
2) I'd suggest the i5-4440, Asus H97M+, 8GB of ram, and a GTX750Ti but I'm sure that'll put you over your budget (plus you still need an OS)
3) I think I'd look at simply upgrading your graphics for right now

Last, the primary reason PC is considered better than console has to do with the limitations of console graphics but there is more to it than that, this article may help explain some http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcochiappetta/2014/07/14/the-console-war-is-over-the-pc-already-won/
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
B

benbenhor

Honorable
Jan 20, 2015
22
0
10,510


Thanks for the reply! Lots more to learn about PC but I'm sure to get there someday?? Anyway, just a few final questions. Between the Asus H97M-Plus and Z87-Pro, which is better? and how much of an upgrade would the things you suggested be compared to my current specs? Performance and graphics wise. And just wanting to double check and make sure, would the PSU I'm using be able to handle the upgrade?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C12Friedman

C12Friedman

Glorious
Jan 25, 2012
8,966
1
46,965
The H97 and Z97 chipsets (Z87 is older and may require a BIOS update to work with 4th gen Core CPU's) are very similar except the Z chipset allows for overclocking, the H chipset does not (as a rule, there have been a few exceptions). To utilize the advantages of the Z chipset an unlocked (overclockable) processor should be chosen, CPU's with a "k" at the end are unlocked (i.e. i5-4690k).
A PC built on the specs I show would be a significant improvement over your current PC but not too much of an improvement over a console (if any) I chose the 750Ti as a graphics card since it is low power and even considering the age of your PSU (I'm going to readdress that below) it should work.

I think I would reconsider the PSU though simply due to age. Your current issues may even be related to power becoming "wonky" from the PSU. I hadn't considered that before although I should have. I might suggest checking your voltages in BIOS or with HWmonitor to see what they report (it may not be too accurate though)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

benbenhor

Honorable
Jan 20, 2015
22
0
10,510


I see...well I guess I'll have to wait for the report from the fixers then. Btw, are the H chipsets good for gaming? As I was reading around, I found out that H weren't meant for gaming? While Z were better as they had much more features including the ability to overclock? However, I do not plan to overclock my PC. Anyway, going through price list of shops here, this is what I came up with:

Core i5-4460 3.2GHz - RM603 ($166.74) (4440 was only cheaper by RM8/$2.21, so the 4460 would be better?)

Asus H97-Plus - RM380 ($105.08) (wasn't able to find the H97M-Plus, though can you recommend any Z mobo around that price?)

GeForce GTX 750 Ti Palit StormX Dual 2GB Edition - RM549 ($151.81) (which brand/model of 750 Ti would you recommend for around the same price? Though looking around, I wasn't able to find much of a price difference. In fact, this was one of the cheapest)

Total: RM1532 ($424.68)

So, that leaves around RM700-800 ($194.13-$221.87) [strike]will save to accommodate for the extra cost[/strike] for RAM and a PSU (if needed). What would you recommend for RAM and PSU (650watts for future investment?)? And as for the OS, I might ask my friend, who is also the fixer of the PC, if there's any way he could install it in without me buying a new one.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C12Friedman

C12Friedman

Glorious
Jan 25, 2012
8,966
1
46,965
Without the desire to overclock and using a GTX750Ti, your PSU can be as low as 400W provided it is a quality PSU - I'd recommend a quality ~500W PSU though which will give you the ability to throw any single GPU graphics card in there without worry of overwhelming the PSU. The PSU is not the place to cut the budget, the entire system depends upon it for stable power (we consider it the "heart" of the PC)
This comparison of the two chipsets may help, basically it comes down to PCIe lane support and Overclocking http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z97-vs-H97-What-is-the-Difference-562/ but they believe the Z97 may be a better fit overall, "While the H97 may sound like the ideal chipset for the majority of our customers, we have found that the Z97 motherboards are almost always a better fit. Since Z97 is the top chipset, manufacturers tend to include ports and headers on those motherboards that are not on their H97 equivalent." (bear in mind this is a retailer site that has a vested interest in selling a more expensive board). I personally have not found the need to upgrade a customer's chipset from an H model but there certainly isn't any harm from using the Z chipset
As far as ram goes, there are two specs that determine it's responsiveness, Frequency (shown in MHz) and Timings (shown as numbers like 10-10-10 or CL 10) frequency is straight forward, higher is better (up to what the motherboard supports) while the timings represent a delay, a lower number means less delay, quicker response. The manufacturers of ram are very close in quality, in fact I believe almost all have lifetime warranties, I don't favor any brand over another as far as ram (Intel also recommends ram not exceed 1.5v)
I wasn't sure about your chassis size which is why I chose the H97M-Plus motherboard since it's a little smaller than the full ATX H97-Plus and fits most cases
I probably missed something during this so ask for any clarification
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

benbenhor

Honorable
Jan 20, 2015
22
0
10,510


Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, the case I have is a mid tower ATX, so the H97-Plus would fit. Anyway, been searching around for RAM and was planning to get the Kingston HyperX Fury 8GB 1866MHz CL10 (1x8GB) [strike]although 2x4 is better, it's also pricier and takes up more slots, and I couldn't find any dual ones for that same model of RAM[/strike] as the higher frequency would be better for things like video editing? Also regarding RAM, which is better? 1600 MHz CL9 vs 1866 CL10? Would need your advise on that as I'm more on gaming than video editing. And also, is there a significant difference between performance and standard PC ram? And I also did my research on H vs Z chipsets to gain more clarity about it and, have decided that H would be good enough for me as the H97 pretty much has everything Z97 has other than overclocking and SLI, which I'm definitely not planning [strike]or have the resources[/strike] for a second graphic card. As for the PSU, I found the Seasonic S12G-550 which seemed like a pretty good quality PSU? Would need your opinion on that as well. Was planning to go 650w for future proof but...nehhh... Pretty sure the next time I were to upgrade my PC, it'll be better to get a new PSU as well.

Ohh! 1 more thing. Found a Core i5-4570 3.2GHz that was just $8 pricier. Would it be worth it to get the 4570 instead of 4460? Also found a 4440 which is about $8 cheaper than the 4460. So basically, question is which would be best?
4440 ($161.25)
4460 ($167.95)
4570 ($175.19)

So sorry about the amount of questions I keep bombarding you with!

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
C12Friedman

C12Friedman

Glorious
Jan 25, 2012
8,966
1
46,965
First, we'll look at the SeaSonic S12G-550, as this review from HardOCP states about SeaSonic, "Seasonic builds some of the best computer power supplies on the market" and the S12G-550 gets a recommendation from them. Something worth noting about the way HardOCP tests is best stated by them "HardOCP’s testing methodology is intended to very much push power supplies to their advertised wattage rating in temperatures that will represent some of the hottest computer enthusiast cases. So if a unit passes all our testing it is definitely not something to take lightly. In fact we expect more power supplies to fail our testing than make it through unscathed." I would recommend replacing your PSU and the SeaSonic should be an excellent choice IMO
Next, the CPU, my personal choice is to get the best CPU you can afford but the CPU's you list are very close in performance, the 4570 only performing better with turbo boost. But a $15 difference makes the 4570 desirable IMO
Last, RAM, there is a formula for determining the overall responsiveness of memory, Timing Divided by Frequency multiplied by 2000 = response in nanoseconds so we find the 1600@9 ram takes 11.25ns to respond while the 1866@10 ram takes 10.71ns it's an imperceptible difference as far as performance but if the 1866MHz kit fits the budget...

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom