Upgrade advice requested - am Autistic and could use advice.

[divpers]

Member since:
July 31, 2002
I have built all of my PCs with the advice from here. Thanks so much!

Im hoping for some advice on what parts would work with my old system - what is worth keeping or not? Or do I just need a whole new system? I can build this if shown which parts to work with. Choosing is difficult for me.
Ive been fine with it for my gaming needs, but now I'd like to play Black Desert. Current runs it terribly. I am often hitting my memory limit on the games I have played, which are 4X genre. I also tend to leave very many Chrome tabs open to help my ADHD, and that can often run 2gb memory.


My current system is from 2012. I have not reformatted as I do not know how and do not want to lose data. Lately it runs so poorly I am thinking this may be a culprit. I might as well address it with an upgrade.


Win7 64.

Samsung 850 EVO 1000gb SSD (still in box - was xmas gift but am worried about losing everything on the C drive)
C & D: WD 5000AAKS 500gb drives x2
E & F: Seagate ST31500541AS 1500gb x2 (one is clicking)

PSU: Seasonic X Gold 750

Mobo: Gigabyte P55A-UD4P http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-P55A-UD4P-rev-20#ov

CPU: Intel Core i7 860 2.8ghz currently running OC at 3.5
Cooler: I don't remember the name. Its a HUGE cube of a cooler that barely fits in the case and covers the memory some. It does not have pipe protrusions at the top like the Scythe cooler it replaced. It's just a cube of flanges.

Case: I don't remember. It was a really nice case with multiple sheets of aluminum for sound reduction, and sliding trays for all components, about $120 - got it at Frys.
5 Noctis Fans

GPU: Sapphire Radeon 7950 3gb

RAM: G.Skill ripjaw 2x4gb DDR3 1333

Well, that's about it. I use a 3.0 Seagate backup plus drive now for my photos and documents anymore. It is frustrating this mobo has only one usb 3.0 slot. I think at the time it was the one of the only mobos out that had one available. I use the 3.0 a lot.






Approximate Purchase Date: within 6 months. I am in my 40s now, more housebound than ever, and willing to wait because with all the acceptance has come patience.

Budget Range: 1500 as a guess, but cheaper is always nicer. Can go more but I am on a fixed income so upgrading is better than new. That being said I can budget in 2k if needed. I spend a lot of time at my pc.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Games: Black Desert Online; Hearts of Iron 3; Endless Space 2/Stellaris.

Are you buying a monitor: No - current is 1920x1080. But I'm curious about running it on a 4k tv too.
Keyboard and mouse are keepers.

Location: Portland, OR

Parts to Upgrade: That is why I am here. I don't know if I can upgrade this to make it better.

Do you need to buy OS: I am running Windows 7 64, via an upgrade from Vista, from XP, from 2000.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: na

Parts Preferences: I would like to stick with Intel where *reasonable* as it is local economy.

Overclocking: Maybe if it is simple. I don't want to dick around with instability.

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe if it works in BDO. No clue really.

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080 or a 4k tv (but not if that breaks the bank, its hard for my eyes to see a UI on a tv anyways.

Additional Comments: Quiet is nice for me, I am sensitive to sound; this is why it has 5 noctis fans and such a large cooler. I made my own waterblocks out of copper and a car radiator in years past, and it was really nice, but water cooling looks like it would eat up a lot of budget. Not that important when I can just run a dust catching filter behind the PC.


Thank you very, very much.

 

[jpe1701]

I think something like this would be good.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.49 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($64.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $668.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-30 23:14 EDT-0400

I didn't include the gpu because my recommendation is a gtx 1070 and until the latest cryptocurrency mining craze is done they are way overpriced.

 

[Lehan123456789]

I think something like this would be good.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.49 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($64.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($126.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $668.35
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-30 23:14 EDT-0400

I didn't include the gpu because my recommendation is a gtx 1070 and until the latest cryptocurrency mining craze is done they are way overpriced.

Hi,
This ^^^^ suggestion is very good, however I would be very careful about the clicking 1.5tb drive. A clicking hard drive often indicates it might be about to die, and take all the data with it. I would also install the 850 evo ASAP, as SSD's are noticeably faster, and much more reliable and quiet. This is a good guide on how to transfer all your files easily.

 

[Karadjgne]

You have 4Tb of hdd space on 4 drives, and you use an external backup hdd? That's nuts. (I have Asburgers so I'm comfortable with that language lol). The Seagate that's ticking is due for catastrophic failure, it's just a matter of when, not if. First priority is transferring any and all data kept on it to someplace else, probably the other 1.5Gb Seagate. His leaves C&D which should be cloned over to the 1Tb SSD under 2x partitions of 500Gb, which will match the drives as is, so no loss or corruption of data. This will make for a considerable upgrade in Windows usage speeds and gaming speeds in certain areas such as map/area load times etc.

Now comes the awkward part. A new motherboard. This is going to play Hell with windows registration and windows in general as you now have a new mobo with new drivers that are incompatible with the old mobo drivers. Generally, the easiest method is a full, clean install of windows, followed by a reinstall of the windows key. You can still upgrade to windows 10 for free with the update, the win7 key is still valid, and this might be a thought done before switching to a new mobo as the windows key is now an online key, saved at Microsoft by your Microsoft account. With win10, you just follow the registration process, then log in under Microsoft account and it'll register for you.

I'd make doubly sure any personal / private /irreplaceable files etc are saved to the 1.5 Seagate, then unplug that drive before reinstalling windows on the SSD. Solves a lot of potential issues.

Only a few things to keep from the old build. The psu is ready good quality, and large enough to accommodate any single gpu, so that's definitely a keeper. Keep just the 1.5Tb Seagate after cloning, unless you have an absolute need for that exaggerated amount of storage. Less drives = quieter. You'll still have the external backup, so internal storage isn't much of a priority. Case and fans is up to you, some ppl upgrade them with a mobo/cpu upgrade, they just get tired of the old look and want something different. Same goes for the cpu cooler, it'll bolt right in to the new Intel cpu's, any lga115x will, all the same mount.

Say goodbye to the mobo, ram, cpu, none is compatible with new stuff.

 

[divpers]

These are wonderful replies full of information, and I've started making a list this morning of steps to undertake. Thank you so much!

It does look like video cards are just ridiculous, more expensive than everything else combined. I'll keep using my 7950. Maybe I could get a cheap second one off of ebay but I heard running two causes as many problems as it solves, and is hard on the power supply.

Each of your posts is followed by "pick as the solution", not "pick for it's great advice". Inclusion of "the" suggests I may only pick one, but I feel I should pick all 3. If I click one will it deny the help the other two gave - that seems unkind.

I appreciate the parts list which I can't really start from mental scratch myself but can go from here, the advice and especially the guide on migrating windows, and the absolute tons of frank and upfront information in the last one. I have 4tb of storage, well 7 with the externals, because of all the family videos I take. So I'd truly hate to lose a drive. I already disconnected it and won't hook it up until I am ready right then to move it all over.

 

[Karadjgne]

If you look off to the right of the post, there's a number with an up and down arrow. This is a voting system, used to agree/disagree with anyone's statements/facts/bs. The 'pick as solution' is for you to use to announce the best answer to solve your question. Sometimes sucks there's only one, but it is the 'best answer' so 'there can be only one' 😛

 

[divpers]

It appears that the windows 10 upgrade you suggested is no longer valid with my windows 7 key. It also looks like it is $135-140 at B&H or Amazon.

Is that really a necessary expense for me when I can just reinstall Windows 7, and keep using it? I know it's time may come but that's a lot for a product I already have that works just fine.

 

[Karadjgne]

Nope, I have 2x pc's, one running windows 7, the other I upgraded to windows 10. There's no issues with either as of yet, even though the win7 service support was ended as of January 2015. Pretty much because of the extensive usage of win7, there's almost no programs currently available that are not compatible with 7, and for those that might have an issue, there's always compatibility mode. So you are good with 7 for a while yet. No rush.