[SOLVED] Can an expert buy me some time?

Phil_33

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Nov 8, 2016
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Hi, I'm Philippe (Phil) from Belgium. I will put my specs, details, what games I play and my problems with the system down below.
I have found myself in some difficult financial situation. I would like to buy myself some time because I can't pay for upgrades at this moment.
I could pay for some components at the end of this year but I don't know what the budget will be as I have other important things to pay for and I want to pay that first.

So my question is, is there something in need of upgrading before it dies? Or can I buy myself some time with simple things that I could do? If so, how much time? I'm not so experienced in pc stuff.
The reason why I also ask this is because of the prices of the graphics cards. Ultimately, if I decide to upgrade my CPU, I shall take the ones with integrated graphics and wait out the expensive storm of GPU's. I find this the smartest way.

Now I do have a few options here (I need to be smart and carefull about this):
  1. I buy myself some time hoping that nothing brakes. I pay the important stuff first and then see how much money there is left but at the cost of running out of money to change anything.
  2. I could replace a few things like my case, psu and HDD (only if it helps buying me some time) (this is the least costly option but I do need to have someone to help me a couple of times (replacing the mobo as well later on) because the PSU I have now is a non modulair and the 24 pin isn't going anywhere. I don't get any movement in it and my mobo is already fragile)
  3. I wait till I have enough money to do a full upgrade except for the graphics card, in the hope that nothing brakes. This is the most costly option but in doing so, I only need to have someone to help me 1 time.
  4. I do nothing and just wait till 1 of my components die and then do a fully upgrade but at the risk of not having enough money at that specific time.
  5. I buy item per item, like a collector, and do a full upgrade when I have everything. But this is at the cost of alot of time and I will need help from someone several times because components might die and I don't know which it will be.
Specs
Aerocool GT-A white (8 years old) with 1 front fan, 2 topfans and 1 backfan
PSU: non modulair Corsair CX 750w (I think this one is bronze? ) (8 years)
Mobo: MSI Z170 gaming a (5 years old)
CPU: Intel core I7 6700 non k with stock cooler (5 years old)
Ram: Hyperx 16gb DDR4 (5 years old)
GPU: amd XFX RX590 Fatboy 8gb (almost 3 years old) (downvolted)
SSD: Kingston 240gb (5 years old)
HDD: WD 1,5 tb (10+ years old)
Display LG 24 inch 1080p 144hz 1ms (2 years old)
Keyboard: Razer Ultimate (8 years old)
Mouse Logitech g pro hero (1 year old)

Games I play
League of legends, Warframe
Games I sometimes play
Horizon Zero Dawn, Forza Horizon 4, Shadow of the tomb raider, No man's sky

Problems I have encountered
-Everytime I boot up for the first time, my graphics card is having issues. It boots up into standard settings (without the downvolt) and my screen would freeze. I then have to reboot, and then it boots up into the downvolted settings and everything runs smoothly and normal. So I reboot directly if I boot my pc up for the first time that day. then it doesn't have any issues. Currently this is the only way because I've tried everything (with DDU in save mode) except for a clean install.
  • Rarely, my screen goes black my graphics card starts ramping up it's fans and goes non stop. I then either pull the displayport out of my gpu or if he still has it hard shut down the computer (not the plug) and I just have to completely pull out the graphics card manually. And then everything works fine.
  • Rarely I got the black screen that says "Reboot and select the proper boot drive, insert boot media" eventhough when everything is attached and my win10 is installed. I then need to manually replug my SSD boot drive in order to work.
I hope someone can help me in taking some decisions. Not easy when you don't have alot of money and you get the impression your pc is dying out...
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HELP!
Kind regards, Philippe

https://ibb.co/986FPNy (my pc)
https://ibb.co/zGr6RCy (while playing horizon zero dawn)
https://ibb.co/Qv2Mw1T (normal settings of gpu)
https://ibb.co/Gkkz1Z7 (downvolted settings of gpu)
 
Last edited:
Solution
You have several factors that are most definitely not in your favor.
  1. Case. That case had really bad airflow from the start, which helps keep warmer air trapped inside for longer, which add heat to the cpu/gpu as they use case air temps as a base.
  2. Airflow. See #1. Your fan setup isn't ideal, and the case is partly responsible for that. I'd be getting rid of those useless hdd cages and stick the front mounted top fan down in front intake instead. 2 fronts, 1 top rear exhaust, 1 rear exhaust.
  3. Xfx fatboy. Gpu OC versions usually jack up the speeds, memory and consequently the voltage, all which adds to heat and that xfx is no exception. Xfx has never really spent much R&D on cooling, usually using a reference board with...

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hi, I'm Philippe (Phil) from Belgium. I will put my specs, details, what games I play and my problems with the system down below.
I have found myself in some difficult financial situation. I would like to buy myself some time because I can't pay for upgrades at this moment.
I could pay for some components at the end of this year but I don't know what the budget will be as I have other important things to pay for and I want to pay that first.

So my question is, is there something in need of upgrading before it dies? Or can I buy myself some time with simple things that I could do? If so, how much time? I'm not so experienced in pc stuff.
The reason why I also ask this is because of the prices of the graphics cards. Ultimately, if I decide to upgrade my CPU, I shall take the ones with integrated graphics and wait out the expensive storm of GPU's. I find this the smartest way.

Now I do have a few options here (I need to be smart and carefull about this):
  1. I buy myself some time hoping that nothing brakes. I pay the important stuff first and then see how much money there is left but at the cost of running out of money to change anything.
  2. I could replace a few things like my case, psu and HDD (only if it helps buying me some time) (this is the least costly option but I do need to have someone to help me a couple of times (replacing the mobo as well later on) because the PSU I have now is a non modulair and the 24 pin isn't going anywhere. I don't get any movement in it and my mobo is already fragile)
  3. I wait till I have enough money to do a full upgrade except for the graphics card, in the hope that nothing brakes. This is the most costly option but in doing so, I only need to have someone to help me 1 time.
  4. I do nothing and just wait till 1 of my components die and then do a fully upgrade but at the risk of not having enough money at that specific time.
  5. I buy item per item, like a collector, and do a full upgrade when I have everything. But this is at the cost of alot of time and I will need help from someone several times because components might die and I don't know which it will be.
Specs
Aerocool GT-A white (8 years old) with 1 front fan, 2 topfans and 1 backfan
PSU: non modulair Corsair CX 750w (I think this one is bronze? ) (8 years)
Mobo: MSI Z170 gaming a (5 years old)
CPU: Intel core I7 6700 non k with stock cooler (5 years old)
Ram: Hyperx 16gb DDR4 (5 years old)
GPU: amd XFX RX590 Fatboy 8gb (almost 3 years old) (downvolted)
SSD: Kingston 240gb (5 years old)
HDD: WD 1,5 tb (10+ years old)
Display LG 24 inch 1080p 144hz 1ms (2 years old)
Keyboard: Razer Ultimate (8 years old)
Mouse Logitech g pro hero (1 year old)

Games I play
League of legends, Warframe
Games I sometimes play
Horizon Zero Dawn, Forza Horizon 4, Shadow of the tomb raider, No man's sky

Problems I have encountered
-Everytime I boot up for the first time, my graphics card is having issues. It boots up into standard settings (without the downvolt) and my screen would freeze. I then have to reboot, and then it boots up into the downvolted settings and everything runs smoothly and normal. So I reboot directly if I boot my pc up for the first time that day. then it doesn't have any issues. Currently this is the only way because I've tried everything (with DDU in save mode) except for a clean install.
  • Rarely, my screen goes black my graphics card starts ramping up it's fans and goes non stop. I then either pull the displayport out of my gpu or if he still has it hard shut down the computer (not the plug) and I just have to completely pull out the graphics card manually. And then everything works fine.
  • Rarely I got the black screen that says "Reboot and select the proper boot drive, insert boot media" eventhough when everything is attached and my win10 is installed. I then need to manually replug my SSD boot drive in order to work.
I hope someone can help me in taking some decisions. Not easy when you don't have alot of money and you get the impression your pc is dying out...
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE HELP!
Kind regards, Philippe

https://ibb.co/986FPNy (my pc)
https://ibb.co/zGr6RCy (while playing horizon zero dawn)
https://ibb.co/Qv2Mw1T (normal settings of gpu)
https://ibb.co/Gkkz1Z7 (downvolted settings of gpu)
Hard drives and SSDs can die at ANY time. You have relatively old storage. You definitely need enough USB storage to do frequent backups. A disk image for both disks and daily incrementals. You could also think about replacing your storage, that is a relatively inexpensive longevity tonic. SSDs will be on sale for Black Friday. Get a new 500GB or 1TB. You may be able to have a single 1TB SSD handle all your storage requirements.
 

Phil_33

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Nov 8, 2016
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18,595
Hard drives and SSDs can die at ANY time. You have relatively old storage. You definitely need enough USB storage to do frequent backups. A disk image for both disks and daily incrementals. You could also think about replacing your storage, that is a relatively inexpensive longevity tonic. SSDs will be on sale for Black Friday. Get a new 500GB or 1TB. You may be able to have a single 1TB SSD handle all your storage requirements.

Thank you so much for your answer! I thought of that and I have 2 external hard drives, 1 that is 5 years old, and the other one that is 9 years old (the 9 years old one is out of usage but I can still use it. It's not dead yet). My storage is as follows:
SSD: Win10
HDD: All my games (most games are steam, origin and uplay)
External drive (5 years old) (500gb): All my documents

Also, and this will help, I can indeed buy a seagate HDD of 1tb. They are less then 50 dollars. If needed I could replace my SSD as well, but I actually want to invest in an m.2 500gb that I can use afterwards if I ever do upgrade. Can I install this onto my 5 year old mobo? Or would that brake something? The slot is just above my graphicscard. Not the ideal place since it could get hot there... The other option would be an SSD like I have now, only a newer version but that seems to be a waste of money since this won't be faster then my old ssd.

Also do I still need to make a backup drive to my external drive? Or would you recomend me a usb stick of like 8gb with backup?
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
You have several factors that are most definitely not in your favor.
  1. Case. That case had really bad airflow from the start, which helps keep warmer air trapped inside for longer, which add heat to the cpu/gpu as they use case air temps as a base.
  2. Airflow. See #1. Your fan setup isn't ideal, and the case is partly responsible for that. I'd be getting rid of those useless hdd cages and stick the front mounted top fan down in front intake instead. 2 fronts, 1 top rear exhaust, 1 rear exhaust.
  3. Xfx fatboy. Gpu OC versions usually jack up the speeds, memory and consequently the voltage, all which adds to heat and that xfx is no exception. Xfx has never really spent much R&D on cooling, usually using a reference board with tweaks. Undervolting is a good thing there.
  4. 8 year old builder grade CX-750 green label. That's the highest wattage, lower quality office use psu CX had. Group regulated garbage. It did your equipment no favors when new and even less so now. They don't age well. Those old style CX had an average lifespan of 18months-2 years and were so cheap ppl didn't bother with warranty replacements as shipping charges usually equalled the price of just buying new. At 8 years old its well beyond 'on its last legs' and is just a heartbeat or 3 away from failure, if that's not already started.

Upgrade as you can or need to, psu, case fans location, storage. As for buying time, clean out windows, CCleaner tool and registry tool. If that fails, reinstall a clean version. Might think about a new battery for the bios/cmos.
 
Solution

Phil_33

Distinguished
Nov 8, 2016
249
19
18,595
You have several factors that are most definitely not in your favor.
  1. Case. That case had really bad airflow from the start, which helps keep warmer air trapped inside for longer, which add heat to the cpu/gpu as they use case air temps as a base.
  2. Airflow. See #1. Your fan setup isn't ideal, and the case is partly responsible for that. I'd be getting rid of those useless hdd cages and stick the front mounted top fan down in front intake instead. 2 fronts, 1 top rear exhaust, 1 rear exhaust.
  3. Xfx fatboy. Gpu OC versions usually jack up the speeds, memory and consequently the voltage, all which adds to heat and that xfx is no exception. Xfx has never really spent much R&D on cooling, usually using a reference board with tweaks. Undervolting is a good thing there.
  4. 8 year old builder grade CX-750 green label. That's the highest wattage, lower quality office use psu CX had. Group regulated garbage. It did your equipment no favors when new and even less so now. They don't age well. Those old style CX had an average lifespan of 18months-2 years and were so cheap ppl didn't bother with warranty replacements as shipping charges usually equalled the price of just buying new. At 8 years old its well beyond 'on its last legs' and is just a heartbeat or 3 away from failure, if that's not already started.
Upgrade as you can or need to, psu, case fans location, storage. As for buying time, clean out windows, CCleaner tool and registry tool. If that fails, reinstall a clean version. Might think about a new battery for the bios/cmos.

Nice! THANK YOU! I will see what I can do. My assumptions were right. I expected that it might be my PSU and case. I feel lucky and I feel I have done a great job at keeping it alive. I hope nothing else is damaged. Luckely, psu's and cases aren't so expensive. My thought would be to upgrade to a corsair 650 RMX and the case would be a fractal design meshify 2. These cases come with the right fansetup and I won't need to put additional fans directly. If possible I'll upgrade them both.
 

larkspur

Distinguished
PSU: non modulair Corsair CX 750w (I think this one is bronze? ) (8 years)
This is absolutely 100% the thing you need to replace ASAP. As mentioned by Karadjgne that is a very poor quality PSU and it is very old. I am surprised it still works at all. Replace that with a quality 650w (or higher if you like) as soon as possible. If you get a quality PSU you can use it on a new build whenever you have the money to do that.
 

Phil_33

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Nov 8, 2016
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This is absolutely 100% the thing you need to replace ASAP. As mentioned by Karadjgne that is a very poor quality PSU and it is very old. I am surprised it still works at all. Replace that with a quality 650w (or higher if you like) as soon as possible. If you get a quality PSU you can use it on a new build whenever you have the money to do that.

Important question, is this PSU going to catch fire at some point? We have an appartment with animals in it and I would rather avoid this worst case scenario...
Also, I will be getting some money in December. Untill then, I assume it would help if I don't game on intensive games? I could run Warframe on a lower profile so that my grpahics card doesn't heat up or anything.

That 650w RMX from corsair that I've mentioned is 80+ gold. I assume it's good quality?
 

larkspur

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Important question, is this PSU going to catch fire at some point? We have an appartment with animals in it and I would rather avoid this worst case scenario...
Also, I will be getting some money in December. Untill then, I assume it would help if I don't game on intensive games? I could run Warframe on a lower profile so that my grpahics card doesn't heat up or anything.

That 650w RMX from corsair that I've mentioned is 80+ gold. I assume it's good quality?
Unlikely that it will blow up or catch fire - professional reviewers concluded that it isn't a fire-hazard (like the super junk PSUs can be). But it is a low-end "entry-level" unit that is 8 years old. 8 years old is old for any ATX PSU, even top-of-the-line. The freezing on start-up that you are getting could be related to that PSU. It's time to replace that PSU. And yes, the Corsair 650w you mentioned is a good PSU.
 
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Phil_33

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Unlikely that it will blow up or catch fire - professional reviewers concluded that it isn't a fire-hazard (like the super junk PSUs can be). But it is a low-end "entry-level" unit that is 8 years old. 8 years old is old for any ATX PSU, even top-of-the-line. The freezing on start-up that you are getting could be related to that PSU. It's time to replace that PSU. And yes, the Corsair 650w you mentioned is a good PSU.

Ok thank you for the answers!
 

Phil_33

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Corsair psus have a reputation of just dieing quietly, not of blowing up or catching fire. That has happened, but it can happen to even the best psus. The better built psus just have a much smaller chance of it going wrong.

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the answer.
Also, I'm going to replace that case asap as well. That case does me even less favors because the only thing I can do is add a fan at the front. Putting the top fan down leaves a hole at the top, which will then attract dust. Having those cages out could be too tricky to do as I need to rewhire everything and put my ssd at the back of my motherboard.
I'm gonna go with the fractal design meshify 2. I'll see what I can do with the storage as well.
 
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Phil_33

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Nice choice on case.
I'm going to order from some local store (like in the USA some sort of microcenter). But the local store is too far away from me to bring my pc as I'm not experienced in building and probably it's better since the old psu might be tricky to get out of my motherboard.
I'm not going to replace my motherboard-cpu-ram directly. Might take 6months/a year before I can do that. I'm arleady going to ask to replace the paste of the cpu.

If needed, do I ask for a replacement for the battery of the bios/cmos?
 

Phil_33

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I usually recommend cmos battery replacement after @ 4 years. It's just a simple cheap CR2032 watch battery found in most drug/hardware stores everywhere.
I've bought the meshify 2, the rm750x and even a ssd 1tb samsung qvo which was on black friday sale (30 euros's off). I'll update you further when its all installed. I have a cpu cooler already as well which will deffinately help (got it for free from my brother)
 

Phil_33

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Unlikely that it will blow up or catch fire - professional reviewers concluded that it isn't a fire-hazard (like the super junk PSUs can be). But it is a low-end "entry-level" unit that is 8 years old. 8 years old is old for any ATX PSU, even top-of-the-line. The freezing on start-up that you are getting could be related to that PSU. It's time to replace that PSU. And yes, the Corsair 650w you mentioned is a good PSU.

Nice choice on case.

Here are the results:
View: https://imgur.com/a/dMX4KBF

View: https://imgur.com/3x13A2M

View: https://imgur.com/BbEomvf

View: https://imgur.com/O3Ipyx8

old one:
View: https://imgur.com/e9KnjYE


Cpu cooler has been changed as well as the paste, and the battery has been changed too. I don't even recognize my own pc anymore. Changes are always so speciial (in a good way)!
 
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