Upgrade spree 2013

[LordTsar]

Hi there.

For next year I am planning to upgrade my March 2012 build as money was tight then and I used some lower grade parts.

For my specs we have:

i5 2320
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV
GPU: EVGA GTX560
Hard drive: Western digital 500GB
PSU: No name 500W (Need to replace ASAP)
RAM: 4GB No name RAM


Right then. So far I am planning these.


Fractal Design Define Mini Series Micro ATX Case - Black Pearl (Sick of looking at my case. its 2 years old)

Crucial CT128M4SSD1 128GB M4 Slim 7mm SATA 6Gb/s Internal SSD (Boot drive and for storing games)


Corsair CMPSU-600CXV2UK​ Builder Series 600W Power Supply

Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C​9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 Vengeance Memory Two Module Kit

Now this is just my ideas. My budget is floating somewhere between £250-£400

Thanks for looking.

 

[manofchalk]

Get the Vertex 4 128GB. Faster and cheaper at most online stores.

Make sure to get that low profile RAM.

That PSU is fine IMO, if lacking in features.

 

[LordTsar]

Hi there,

I thought the Crucial SSDs were the best available? I would like a reliable one for my boot drive.

Another thing what did you say about the RAM? I didn't understand the low profile bit. apart from the obvious.

Thanks.

 

[manofchalk]

When the Crucial M4 was relatively new, it was the to go to SSD. It wasn't the absolute fastest at the time, but it was easily the most reliable and priced fairly well.
Since then new drives have come out that have much better performance, very reliable and at a lower price point. So the Crucial M4 has largely faded away now, no reason to get it over newer drives like a Vertex 4 or Samsung 830.

Low Profile RAM is smaller, so it wont conflict with any CPU heatsinks.

 

[LordTsar]

Oh, I see. Thank you. So Samsung or Vertex 4. Gotcha.

And the RAM I also see what you mean. Why do they put the massive heat sink on it anyway? Speaking of which why do people watercool RAM?

 

[manofchalk]

Back in the day when you could only overclock using the FSB, you had to overclock the RAM in tandem with the CPU. As voltages rose to keep the memory stable and therefore clock higher on the CPU, it legitimately needed cooling, so massive heat-fins and waterblocks were useful.

Now that we can overclock the CPU separately from the RAM by using multipliers and the fact that DDR3 runs at lower voltages at stock, RAM doesn't need cooling anymore. The tall heat-fins are mainly for show, water-blocks are for those who have too much money, want to brag or are overclocking their RAM pretty hard.

 

[LordTsar]

Oh OK, thanks.

Well can anyone find any parts for me cheaper? I only know of the bigger brands Ie Scan, Ebuyer, Amazon ect.

Surely it would be cheaper to make the RAM without the fancy stuff on it?

 

[manofchalk]

Use a search engine for components. PcPartPicker is a common one, will find you the cheapest online prices. StaticIce is also good if you are in the US or Australia.
http://pcpartpicker.com/
http://www.staticice.com/

Bare PCB RAM is an option.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424
But as you can see, pretty ugly. Bare PCB kits are mostly limited to "Value" RAM, which is lower spec (1333Mhz instead of 1600).

 

[LordTsar]

I see, Being in the UK prices seem to be higher than in the US which is a shame.

Thanks.