This build was originally put together in 2010. I've since been upgrading it. The only thing original left on it is the AM3 phenom 965, on a ASUS motherboard with Nvidia 980a chipset. (i know weird nvidia / amd cobo). Still using the ORIGINAL Corsair Hydro series CPU cooler, i bought it when they first came out and everyone was skeptical. Physical HD WD black something something. (i know 5 year old HD still spinning)

In 2012 i upgraded some hardware to what i'm still currently using.
I had 2 GTX560Ti 448's but i sold one. 16gb Corsair DDR3. 1200w Antec PSU.

So what is everyone using these days? I want to take advantage of black November here and get some deals. Are people gaming on windows 10 yet? I think i may grow up and actually buy an operating system, for the first time in my life. SSDs are starting to be the right price, i'm guessing it's worth getting one of them.

I have a mid tower ATX case, GPUs longer than 10.5" are no good(which is what the current GPU i have is)

Option 1: I get a new motherboard, processor, cooler, ram, GPU, SSD.
Option 2: I just get one of them new badass $600GPUs and call it a day.
Option 3: Get a somewhat badass GPU $3-400, SSD, new OS.
Option 4: Other suggestions?

 

I don't know anyone who's gaming on win10 just yet. The only reason I'd ever goto 10 is for the directx update. But seeing how I just finally got up to win7 pro it might be a while.

The rest of your setup is still decent. I like option 3 the most.

Turn the old WD drive into a game storage drive and for whatever else. Run your OS off the new SSD and pickup a evga or msi gtx960 gpu

 

SSD will change your life. And make women sleep with you. Whatever you do get a fat SSD.

 

To good to be true?
Crucial MX200 2.5" 500GB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT500MX200SSD1 - Newegg.com

I remember a few years ago saying "i'll buy an SSD when it reaches $1 per GB. lol

 

+1 for fat SSD, more programs/games to load with the quickness. With my 256GB I have the win7 pro OS + Some games where my WD Black drive takes the rest of the games. Big ones that will eat up my SSD space.

I've never used Crucial memory or their SSDs.

But I've been loving my 256GB samsung

256GB - $129
512GB - $219

I picked up one of these Corsair drive mounts, snug and works.

 

Here's to a cozy winter of gaming.



Did i do okay?

 

 

So far so good, this thing really scoots.


Here is a little blast from the past, a picture from 2008ish. When i first built this rig, i've been updating and changing it ever since. I think the ONLY thing that is still original(other than the case, obviously) is the thermaltake fan. I think i was a sophomore or junior in high school when i built this.



Man i was poor...
I think i want to get some pictures together and document in chronological order the changes this PC and I have been through.

 

Are you upgrading to Windows 10?

 

Still thinking about it.

Once i decide if i want to keep 7 for now or upgrade i'll buy a copy and install the SSD.

 

The only Win10 benefit I can think of is you getting the most out of that nice new gpu with directx features.

 

I'm not much a fan of how intrusive it is.
My tuning laptop runs 8.1 and has been bugging me to update to 10. So i may try on that computer first to see how i like it.

 

This thread has me really wanting to buy this 850 EVO 500GB mSATA drive while it's on sale for $160 + a free $60 game. Must...resist...temptations...

 

Does it come in the case?

I got that free game. (in fact, i got it twice because i got a copy with my GPU too).
But here's my problem:

 

Your CPU and ram are fast enough to not demand replacement. I would only replace if your motherboard isn't fast enough for a modern video card. If you have the money, I'd definitely replace it with a newer intel cpu.

Without question, whatever you do, I would upgrade to an SSD and a faster graphics card. HD to SSD is a life changing difference. Get a Samsung 850 evo, it's the best bang for the buck these days.

I'd get something at least as fast as a gtx780/970/r9-3xx. Pretty much all the 300-350 dollar cards are as fast as the 700 dollar cards from 2 years ago and they're all more than fast enough for any game you could possible play at 1440p. You could probably go even cheaper if you only play games at 1080p.

 

So i installed Win10 on the laptop. Doesn't seem all that bad. I went ahead and bought a copy of win10 pro for the computer. Got it on Newegg for $120 which seems like a good deal. But since it's a one use thing, maybe not. Then again, they were $200 at best buy and they didn't even have the 64 bit versions. Fail!

Now i need a few new games. Everything on Steam doesn't look appealing to me. :(

 

Installed the SSD, windows 10, drivers, my main programs (browser, anti virus, steam, media players, ect.), all in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

That's a serious record in my books. Time to do the super long process of downloading all my games and installing.

Oh, i never had to restart ONCE! That's also a first for me on a fresh restart.
I did restart just to see how fast it was and it took about 30 seconds. Most of the time spent posting BIOS.
My only issue is getting this PCI audio card to cooperate and work as well as it did before.

yay

 

Congratz on the win10 move

Crank all GPU settings to ULTRA!!

 

Nevermind

 

So i've been running Prime95 now for the last 2 hours or so now. Temperatures are steady at 47c. This is at the stock clock of 3400mhz @ 1.34v.
Overclock results coming soon.