Upgrade current PC or buy a new one?

[Jiniix]

Form factor: uATX - 24.4 cm (9.6 inches) x 24.4 cm (9.6 inches)

To me it looks like a normal mATX board, except for the bottom. Position seems a bit off, but the top/middle looks normal.
And there's absolutely no reason to buy Z77 when his CPU won't overclock anyway.
Something like a Gigabyte GA-B75M-HD3: $68 would suffice

 

[PCunicorn]

Sure, it'd suffice but being OP can afford a Z77 why not go for it? It has more features, better quality, etc.

 

[G80FTW]

Sure, it'd suffice but being OP can afford a Z77 why not go for it? It has more features, better quality, etc.

Yea that board he has now is pretty crap from what I read. Im sure his CPU could benefit from a better board.

 

[Jiniix]

I'm not saying he shouldn't upgrade, but at least go with H77 then. There are no quality difference between chipsets, only features. I seriously doubt that OP will upgrade to a 2600k/3770k, and he could save a few $$$ by getting the H77 equivalent of a Z77 board and spend it on the GPU.
For the money he has available, he could buy a great case, a quality H77 mobo, a quality 600-700W PSU and an R9 290/780 and still be able to buy steak for dinner.
I assume by the fact that he bought his PC in a Costco that he lives in the US?

ASUS P8H77-M LE: $55 ($20 rebate)
Corsair Graphite 230T: $70
Thermaltake TR2 TR-700: $40 ($20 discount and $20 rebate) / SeaSonic S12II 620: $70 ($10 discount)
ASUS GTX 780 OC: $520

Highest price with discounts but without rebates: $735 excl shipping.

The Thermaltake PSU is 50% on sale/rebate and would probably do the job, but personally I would shell out the extra $30 and get the Seasonic.

 

[PCunicorn]

I'm not saying he shouldn't upgrade, but at least go with H77 then. There are no quality difference between chipsets, only features. I seriously doubt that OP will upgrade to a 2600k/3770k, and he could save a few $$$ by getting the H77 equivalent of a Z77 board and spend it on the GPU.
For the money he has available, he could buy a great case, a quality H77 mobo, a quality 600-700W PSU and an R9 290/780 and still be able to buy steak for dinner.
I assume by the fact that he bought his PC in a Costco that he lives in the US?

ASUS P8H77-M LE: $55 ($20 rebate)
Corsair Graphite 230T: $70
Thermaltake TR2 TR-700: $40 ($20 discount and $20 rebate) / SeaSonic S12II 620: $70 ($10 discount)
ASUS GTX 780 OC: $520

Highest price with discounts but without rebates: $735 excl shipping.

The Thermaltake PSU is 50% on sale/rebate and would probably do the job, but personally I would shell out the extra $30 and get the Seasonic.

The case looks like crap for the price. I always try for a case with rubber grommets. And at $70 that'll be easy. TT makes some pretty junky products, I don't recommend them. Also, you can tell a PSU isn't great when you get 700W for $70. Never get a mATX motherboard with a ATX case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

 

[Okedokey]

The case looks like crap for the price. I always try for a case with rubber grommets. And at $70 that'll be easy. TT makes some pretty junky products, I don't recommend them. Also, you can tell a PSU isn't great when you get 700W for $70. Never get a mATX motherboard with a ATX case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

What are you talking about, the TR2 is a good quality unit, mATX is fine if thats all you need....

 

[PCunicorn]

1. mATX has barley any expansion room.

2. How is the TR2 a good unit? I see no reviews on it and its a high wattage for the price which is almost never a good sign.

 

[G80FTW]

1. mATX has barley any expansion room.

2. How is the TR2 a good unit? I see no reviews on it and its a high wattage for the price which is almost never a good sign.

Well like whats already been stated, if the OP wants to stick with his original CPU and motherboard (which he will have to do unless he wants to buy another copy of Windows) then he will stuck with an mATX case. And I think even the case he has now should have plenty expansion room for a high end video card:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6YHKvb_mP8

Thats not the same exact model, but looks like the same exact case. Honestly, he is probably fine with the case he has.

And it looks like the reason the TR2 is cheap is because its not as efficient as most power supplies. Just a guess. But Iv never heard anything bad about Thermaltake products.

 

[PCunicorn]

I was replying to Jiniix saying a matx Asus isn't a good idea. And according to this picture there is no room for expansion

 

[G80FTW]

I was replying to Jiniix saying a matx Asus isn't a good idea. And according to this picture there is no room for expansion

There is. Those cables above that card can be moved up. Im not saying there would be good airflow, it would be cramped. But what mATX case isnt cramped?

 

[PCunicorn]

A 780 will extend way past a mATX mobo. Also, for thernaltake, they are on the lowest end of decent, or the highest end of bad. Avoid them when possible.

 

[G80FTW]

A 780 will extend way past a mATX mobo. Also, for thernaltake, they are on the lowest end of decent, or the highest end of bad. Avoid them when possible.

Well, if he is going to stick with that platform a 780 would be waste of money anyway.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...p=&AID=10446076&PID=3952373&SID=1q90e1b9atb1p

The good people of Newegg seem to think that TR2 is a perfectly fine PSU. Maybe you have had a bad experience with Thermaltake, but that doesnt mean they make crap. Iv always heard they make decent power supplies.

I once owned an Ultra 500w modular PSU. Was the first ever modular PSU. Never had a problem with it. And Ultra is like the best choice brand of computers.

 

[PCunicorn]

A 780 is not even close to a waste with a i7 2600.

Thermaltake makes a ton cheap products, simple as that. I know that some of there PSUs are actually pretty damn good, Seasonic or Corsair level, but the TR2 just can't be a good PSU for the price with 700W. A corsair comes at 200W less for that price, you don't add more watts for the same price with making cutbacks.

 

[G80FTW]

A 780 is not even close to a waste with a i7 2600.

Thermaltake makes a ton cheap products, simple as that. I know that some of there PSUs are actually pretty damn good, Seasonic or Corsair level, but the TR2 just can't be a good PSU for the price with 700W. A corsair comes at 200W less for that price, you don't add more watts for the same price with making cutbacks.

On that motherboard, the 780 would be a waste. That motherboard would be a huge bottleneck to both the processor and the graphics card.

First off, his motherboard is limited to 8GB of RAM. Second that 8GB is limited to 1333MHz.

No support for SATA3.

A DMI speed of 2.5GT/s, limiting its speed between components.

And the manufacture is Pegatron. Need I say more? Pairing a 780 with that board would be nonsense if you ask me.

And I dont see how you can knock a power supply you have never owned just because you dont want to accept its price.

 

[Okedokey]

1. mATX has barley any expansion room.

2. How is the TR2 a good unit? I see no reviews on it and its a high wattage for the price which is almost never a good sign.

Because I understand PSUs, and can tell by the capacitors, design, efficiency, 12V rail amperage and warranty that its fine.

A 780 will extend way past a mATX mobo. Also, for thernaltake, they are on the lowest end of decent, or the highest end of bad. Avoid them when possible.

This is both a non-issue and complete bs at the same time.

 

[Jiniix]

The case looks like crap for the price. I always try for a case with rubber grommets. And at $70 that'll be easy. TT makes some pretty junky products, I don't recommend them. Also, you can tell a PSU isn't great when you get 700W for $70. Never get a mATX motherboard with a ATX case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157297
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011

The case comes with 3x120mm fans with 2x in front and 1x in the rear and the quality is outstanding. But cases are personal preference. Personally I would choose the 230T over the 300R because the side-panel on the 300R is god-awful ugly.

How is the TR2 a good unit? I see no reviews on it and its a high wattage for the price which is almost never a good sign.

As for the Thermaltake PSU, read this LegitReviews review conclusion - but I even said I suggested the Seasonic unit which undoubtedly is a quality unit.

Regarding the motherboard, I highly disagree with the mATX mobo =/= ATX case - unless you have a side window. As longs as the mobo suits your needs, it doesn't really matter.
Also, the ASRock Z75 Pro3, have you personally owned it? I have one, and besides from auto-overclocking and fan-management it's utter crap. (It OC'd my i5-2500k to 4.8GHz which was stable and coolable by a CM 212 Evo in a CM HAF 912). It's broken now btw.

 

[PCunicorn]

Because I understand PSUs, and can tell by the capacitors, design, efficiency, 12V rail amperage and warranty that its fine.



This is both a non-issue and complete bs at the same time.

How? The case itself barely fits the board itself, much less a 780.

On that motherboard, the 780 would be a waste. That motherboard would be a huge bottleneck to both the processor and the graphics card.

First off, his motherboard is limited to 8GB of RAM. Second that 8GB is limited to 1333MHz.

No support for SATA3.

A DMI speed of 2.5GT/s, limiting its speed between components.

And the manufacture is Pegatron. Need I say more? Pairing a 780 with that board would be nonsense if you ask me.

And I dont see how you can knock a power supply you have never owned just because you dont want to accept its price.

Number one rule when getting a PSU: Get a quality one. A easy way to see is the wattage per dollar. To high, and it means it's crap almost always. And of the several Thermaltake products I've owned they've always been cheap. And which board are you talking about? You should fully read my post and the post above it. I reccomended against the HP motherboard.

The case comes with 3x120mm fans with 2x in front and 1x in the rear and the quality is outstanding. But cases are personal preference. Personally I would choose the 230T over the 300R because the side-panel on the 300R is god-awful ugly.


As for the Thermaltake PSU, read this LegitReviews review conclusion - but I even said I suggested the Seasonic unit which undoubtedly is a quality unit.

Regarding the motherboard, I highly disagree with the mATX mobo =/= ATX case - unless you have a side window. As longs as the mobo suits your needs, it doesn't really matter.
Also, the ASRock Z75 Pro3, have you personally owned it? I have one, and besides from auto-overclocking and fan-management it's utter crap. (It OC'd my i5-2500k to 4.8GHz which was stable and coolable by a CM 212 Evo in a CM HAF 912). It's broken now btw.

The 230R is ridiculously overpriced. And, for the board your set on having one under $100. If you would think wisely you would understand a nice ATX board is the way to go, like the Extreme4. And Jiniix, thanks for the review link. As the review said, TR2s have had lousy performance. Apparently the 700W doesn't suffer from that. MATX has no expansion, nothing to do with looks (actually a little but that's besides the point).

 

[G80FTW]

Number one rule when getting a PSU: Get a quality one. A easy way to see is the wattage per dollar. To high, and it means it's crap almost always. And of the several Thermaltake products I've owned they've always been cheap. And which board are you talking about? You should fully read my post and the post above it. I reccomended against the HP motherboard.

Well we have been talking about the HP board this whole time so perhaps you should keep up with the conversation.

 

[PCunicorn]

Form factor: uATX - 24.4 cm (9.6 inches) x 24.4 cm (9.6 inches)

To me it looks like a normal mATX board, except for the bottom. Position seems a bit off, but the top/middle looks normal.
And there's absolutely no reason to buy Z77 when his CPU won't overclock anyway.
Something like a Gigabyte GA-B75M-HD3: $68 would suffice

Sure, it'd suffice but being OP can afford a Z77 why not go for it? It has more features, better quality, etc.

Yea that board he has now is pretty crap from what I read. Im sure his CPU could benefit from a better board.

I was saying that the board Jiniix reccomeneded would suffice, wasn't talking about the HP one. You did this several times.

 

[Jiniix]

The 230R is ridiculously overpriced. And, for the board your set on having one under $100. If you would think wisely you would understand a nice ATX board is the way to go, like the Extreme4. And Jiniix, thanks for the review link. As the review said, TR2s have had lousy performance. Apparently the 700W doesn't suffer from that. MATX has no expansion, nothing to do with looks (actually a little but that's besides the point).

Yeah, paying more for a bigger board, more unused PCI slots and slightly worse quality is a good idea.
The 'nice ATX board' you suggested is 0.4" wider and 2.4" taller, but $75 more expensive and has 2 more SATA ports (on a different controller), 2 more RAM slots (arguably better, somehow I don't think OP cares) and the ability to overclock, which OPs $305 CPU can't anyway. 75$ put towards the GPU/case/PSU is a much better way to prioritize the budget in my opinion. Had OP had a K-edition I would totally agree with you.
And about the PSU, I said he should buy the Seasonic. Seems like you miss that point. The Thermaltake will power his system and most likely will not fail, but I still recommend the Seasonic.