Overhauling my Computer

IrrationalShark

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Feb 10, 2015
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Hello,

I already have a PC, but I am looking to overhaul it. In other words, I am getting a lot of new parts but keeping some old ones that I like. That said,

Parts I'm Keeping:
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760
- 8GB RAM (I can do that, right?)
- 700w power supply (do you think I should upgrade?)
- Hard Drive (I can do that, right?)
- Optical Drive (I can do that, right?)

New Parts:
- Pretty much everything else. Here's what I'm thinking:
- MoBo: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150
- CPU: i7 4790k
- CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM
- Case: NZXT Phantom 410 Mid Tower
- Sound card: recommendations?
- Other expansion cards: recommendations?
- Case fan: Noctua NF-S12A ULN 120mm Fan

Anyway, I'm not a hardware expert and while I think most of what I'm wanting to do is possible, I figured I might check in with people who actually know what they're talking about before dropping hundreds of dollars on this project. So, what do you think? Is there anything wrong with what I'm wanting to do? Anything I'm missing? Compatibility issues?

Thank you for taking the time to read, and I would very much appreciate a thorough response. Thanks.
 
If you just building a gaming pc, i5 4690k is fine. An i7 is overkill unless you do some editing with video and images.
The onboard sound on the Hero is fine, you don't really need a sound card.
You may need a new window licence if your old one was not a retail version. I would reformat the old hard drive before installing windows.
You can reuse the optical drive,
You can reuse the 8gb ram if it is DDR3 with 240 pins.
What 700W psu do you have? Brand and model?
What are the amps on the 12V rails?
 

JimF_35

Distinguished
- Sound card: recommendations?
- Other expansion cards: recommendations?

- No sound card because the ASUS board has a desecrate sound system onboard.
- None.

I agree with the above. If you are looking getting better performance I would upgrade your graphics card first.

Also the question about the PSU as above is important because some older PSUs do not support Haswell lower c states. You want to make sure your PSU is Haswell ready.

Good Luck.
 

Assuming you've got DDR3, yes.


Around 550W is more than enough. Age and quality are more the issue.


Yup. You may end up needing to reinstall Windows.


Yup.


Both good choices. The i7 may be overkill - the i5 4690K is an excellent choice, unless you need the extra cache, HyperThreading, or clock frequency. Noctua's NH-U12S is excellent and very quiet, if you don't mind spending a bit more.


Try the onboard sound - it's very good.


A good choice, unless you're pulling air through a filter (P12's instead, in that case). If you run it around 7V, it should be near-silent (my A14 FLX's are a bit noisey at 12V for me).


How about an SSD to make everything feel super-snappy? The Crucial MX100 (good performance, cheap) or Samsung 850 EVO (slightly better performance, more expensive, 5 year warranty) would be my choices.

You don't say what your current CPU and motherboard are - you might be able to get away with just a GPU upgrade, although the GTX 760 is a decent GPU.
 

IrrationalShark

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About the power supply, I actually don't remember. Is there a hardware checker or something that will tell me?
 

IrrationalShark

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Would keeping my current Hard Drive screw with the new components, such as the motherboard? I do have a retail copy of Windows 7.