Christmas Shopping

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1

Hi guys.

I need some advice on what to upgrade with my money ill get for Christmas.

At the moment i'm thinking,

Case (preferable side window)

PSU with custom sleeved cables (nice to have a project to do).

So obviously a fully modular PSU would be in order for this task. However i am inconclusive and unsure whether to upgrade these parts or spend some money on peripherals. I'm edging towards the case and PSU because the are the most important things ATM so that in march i may be able to upgrade further.

My  build ATM is:

CPU: AMD FX 6300

HEATSINK: Coolermaster hyper 212

MOBO: Asrock 990FX Extreme 3 

RAM: 8GB Corsair vengeance (2x4gb) 1866ghz

GPU: Powercooler HD Radeon 7770

(EDIT)Case: http://www.pixmania.co.uk/pc-tower-case/advance-x11-pc-tower-case-8102b0/11129298-a.html

HDD: WD 1TB Cavier black

SSD: Don't have one yet

CPU Cooler: Cooler master 212 evo, looking to water cool 

PSU: 800W storm (Bought separately from a local computer shop(Defection with original))

I'm looking at probably the £200 mark maybe £250 and everything will be bought after Christmas so if anyone knows if any sales are going to be going on then that's great.

Any help is appreciated and I do have some stuff in mind but i don't want that to effect any recommendations so i won't post them just yet.

(ps: Also looking at getting LED strips but not bothered if not. Also my colour scheme is Black, Blue (and white). One final thing is that case fans may be needed.)

Thanks for reading and once again any help is appreciated.

2

To me a case is a "buy once, cry once" type of purchase. If you get something nice you can keep using it over and over. Same thing with a power supply, I have a Seasonic X650 that's been nothing but perfect since I got it a couple years ago. I think it was only the third power supply I actually bought.

Although that HD 7770 is probably a little slower than what most people would like nowadays.

3

Thanks for the comment i obviously have a case and PSU but they were there for the budget and not for the upgradibility and it's come to the time to upgrade so really that's were i need to start. Also still this is my first ever personal build so i want to gradually upgrade it to the best it can be so ....?

Also what GPU would you suggest. R9 280x maybe?

However i must say that ATM the HD 7770 does the job as i'm not a "hardcore PC gamer" yet but an upgrade could be nice.

4

I'd turf that psu immediately. Cheap yumcha psu's are a problem waiting to happen.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/deejeta/saved/cryLrH - good ssd, a quality psu and a nice case. I have a switch 810 and imho the H440 is an all-round better case.

If you're not that phased about a new gpu, get the most out of your existing card and upgrade when you need to.

5

Nice suggestion. The only reason i had that psu is because the original was faulty and it was a good price and thus far it has been alright but i know i need to upgrade it.

The only thing with the H440 is that it has no Disk drive (I know but i have one and i use it occasionally) however it was one of the cases that i was looking at and aesthetically i really like it so its a consideration.

7

No sorry my fault i don't have a NZXT switch 810. I forgot i put that up because about 3 months ago i was certain of getting the 810 but now i'm not sure. Also it was on offer then for like £80 but it has obviously gone up so i don't know which case im getting. This is what i have at the moment.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/pc-tower-case/advance-x11-pc-tower-case-8102b0/11129298-a.html

I cant run both of the side fans because of my Heat sink and the back panel is off because there is literally 2mm of space for cable management but it was a cheap case and did what i needed it to do at the time.

9

What are your primary uses for this computer? If your main use is gaming, then I would think about upgrading the GPU and PSU. You'll see a greater performance increase in games out of a GPU upgrade. The PSU is for peace of mind. It would be absolutely awful if you bought something like an R9 290 only to have it melt due to a faulty power supply.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/LD284D

10

ATM im not gaming as such but its my 16th in march so any GPU upgrades will probably be then when i buy some games as well. But i definitely need a PSU upgrade ?

 

11

R9 290 at least. In US Newegg, price difference between the cheapest 280x and the cheapest 290 is $55. Go for R9 290 for better lifespan and you get to enjoy all the new features as bonus.

13

Nice build and yes your presumption is correct and i may just look into the primo. Theres one on ebay from SCAN for £168?

15

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/121431393929?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108 

This ?

16

This is where i saw the switch for £80 as well

18

This is what im thinking atm: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/XTrv23

Also on the peripheral side im looking at getting a mouse, keyboard and headphones/earphones as i travel and listen to music alot. Any suggestions of what to get if i dont upgrade the case and psu

19

what about a Phantom ? (i like the aesthetics of NZXT)

20

for mouse: I really like the Mionix NAOS... it's super right-handed but really, really comfortable... also a big fan of the Razer DeathAdder...

for keyboards: I use a Maxx Nighthawk X9 and it's awesome... but it's also $150... worth checking out their site though, just for the customization options... for a cheaper mechanical, the CM Quickfire is decent for the price... not a huge fan of Corsair's keyboards... of course WASD makes a nice custom keyboard as well... Ducky also makes a very nice keyboard and has some cheaper options if you don't need backlighting...

Of what I've laid my hands on, the Maxx Nighthawk X9 and Ducky Shine are my favorites...

I'll let the headphone guys take headphones... but...

http://www.adorama.com/SEHD449.html?utm_term=Other&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=cj_3938566&cvosrc=affiliate.cj.3938566

That's what I use, pretty good price on them, I think I paid like $120 or so for them...they sound like $400 headphones, but the build quality is kind of cheap... lotsa plastic...

21

thanks big help ill look into this

23

ok thanks