I think my PC has just about had it. It's ancient by tech standards and a bargain basement crap case has fallen apart and exposed the innards to everything, and, I think has help lead to my CPU baking itself (passive cooler, works great with case fans, not so much when airflow is crap and one of the fans has seized). To tell you how long it's been since I upgraded (and actually knew how to choose parts), I am still running a Phenom II X4.
So with that in mind I was hoping you folks could help me revise my parts list and remove any questionable descisions.
So far, I've put this together. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/m7gFFT
While my current CPU has started to become too little than what I need, I still think I am comfortable with getting a mid range CPU as a replacement. As it is, I still don't feel like I am struggling for more CPU power all that much with the exception of when I play Cities Skylines, simulating so many agents does occasionally grind the system to a halt.
As for the GPU, I am still considering upgrade options, but might keep the current one for just a bit longer. As much as I'd like a Fury or Nano (more likely the latter), I am still considering getting something cheaper, and at any rate, am likely to hold off another month or two since I don't like making single, gigantic purchases.
I'm a bit less sure on the storage. I had wanted to get an M.2 SSD (Specifically a Samsung 950), but I had wanted to bide my time and wait for the 1TB stuff to start coming out, but time seems to have run out, and in the mean time my 3.5" HDD won't fit in the smaller cases while the SSD is only 128GB, so I need something. At the very least, I do want the M.2 slot for upgrading later this year.
The rest of it, I don't really know how to look for small cases and small cooling. I want the HTPC form factor which is hard to search for, there's tons of dead ends with cases that have low profile slots instead of full height slots parallel to the motherboard, but the Fractal Design 202 I stuck in there looked decent, though admittedly, I am unsure how I will like the fact it's mostly plastic.
Anyone able to advise?
So with that in mind I was hoping you folks could help me revise my parts list and remove any questionable descisions.
So far, I've put this together. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/m7gFFT
While my current CPU has started to become too little than what I need, I still think I am comfortable with getting a mid range CPU as a replacement. As it is, I still don't feel like I am struggling for more CPU power all that much with the exception of when I play Cities Skylines, simulating so many agents does occasionally grind the system to a halt.
As for the GPU, I am still considering upgrade options, but might keep the current one for just a bit longer. As much as I'd like a Fury or Nano (more likely the latter), I am still considering getting something cheaper, and at any rate, am likely to hold off another month or two since I don't like making single, gigantic purchases.
I'm a bit less sure on the storage. I had wanted to get an M.2 SSD (Specifically a Samsung 950), but I had wanted to bide my time and wait for the 1TB stuff to start coming out, but time seems to have run out, and in the mean time my 3.5" HDD won't fit in the smaller cases while the SSD is only 128GB, so I need something. At the very least, I do want the M.2 slot for upgrading later this year.
The rest of it, I don't really know how to look for small cases and small cooling. I want the HTPC form factor which is hard to search for, there's tons of dead ends with cases that have low profile slots instead of full height slots parallel to the motherboard, but the Fractal Design 202 I stuck in there looked decent, though admittedly, I am unsure how I will like the fact it's mostly plastic.
Anyone able to advise?