Build AdviceNew build to replace an i7 930 system
Build AdviceNew build to replace an i7 930 system
Greetings all, Approximate Purchase Date: August, 2010 Budget Range: < 1000 after rebates System Usage from Most to Least Important: Practicing and recording music with Audacity, Pro Tools and MUseScore with a Focusrite 2i2, while watching instructional videos, Microsoft Office products, surfing the internet. Are you buying a monitor: No Parts to Upgrade: Motherboard CPU & a cooler Video card Memory HDD (if I am building, I would like to go SSD) Do you need to buy OS: Yes Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon Newegg Location: Montana Parts Preferences: I have had good luck with the current Asus Motherboard, so I am partial. Overclocking: No SLI or Crossfire: No Your Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Additional Comments: My current system is very quiet. I would like to keep it that way. And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I built a system in 2010 for Photoshop, casual gaming, watching videos, and surfing the internet. It has performed flawlessly, in fact it handled Photoshop like a dream. But, times change. I have changed careers. I no longer use Photoshop, and I don’t game on it anymore. For several years, I only used it for casual surfing, banking, and keeping photos. For the last couple years, I have been using it primarily for playing and recording music via Audacity and Pro Tools. This is just a hobby. I am learning to play bass guitar. This system allows me to watch instructional videos and record what I play for later review. For that, I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to input audio. It is operating smoothly and handling the workload just fine. However, I am getting the warning that I need to upgrade to Win11, but cannot because the motherboard\CPU don’t comply. This computer has served\is serving me very well. It has plenty of processor to do what I need. The best case scenario would be to just somehow get Win11 to work on it. But since it is 14 years old, I wouldn’t mind replacing it. I am stuck between buying an off the shelf system (note: I am laptop-opposed) or upgrading what I have. The system I built was with the thought of potentially upgrading as necessary, hence the nice full tower case and big PSU. I hate the thought of an off the shelf system. I like building systems because it is fun, though this one was the last one I did. I love my HAF X case. It is huge, but not taking up much-needed space. It was super easy to build my current system in it. I have had several other mid-tower cases over the years, but they all had drawbacks. My biggest complaint is that the current system will heat my office. In the summer, that can be a pain. But with A/C, I can keep the room at 77° or so. Current system: Case: Coolermaster HAF X Motherboard: Asus P6X58D Premium Power Supply: Zalman ZM750-HP 750w CPU: Intel core i7 930 2.8 GHz quad core Memory: 2Gx3|CORSAIR CMP6GX3M3A1600C8 I have since replaced this with (3) G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) Desktop Memory, 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM CPU cooler: ZALMAN|CNPS10X Video card: ATI Radeon HD 4870 1GB This was replaced by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti that a friend gave me Monitors: (2) - Asus VH236H via DVI Primary HDD: WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0 Secondary HDD: WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 ATA 1 TB Tertiary HDD External Seagate 2 TB SSD USB I use as a backup drive. CD/DVD: ASUS 24x DRW-24B1ST SATA CD\DVD Burner I would like to reuse my case, power supply (unless it is suggested I replace it due to age), CD\DVD burner, external SSD HD, and monitors\keyboard\mouse. I am thinking I could probably sell the mobo\CPU\HDDs to someone locally that is into building systems and doesn't mind it cannot run Win11.
Yes, a new power supply is needed. The HAF X case is still okay to use. Some people buy X58 motherboards because they want to play with them, even though those boards can get hot. There are Chinese used or refurbished boards that have added modern features like NVMe drives. I think an RTX 3060 card and a good 8-core CPU will work for you.
Here are the parts for building a computer. The CPU is an Intel Core i7-12700K with 3.6 GHz and it costs $203.08 at Amazon. It has a Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE cooler that moves air well and also costs $35.90. You can get the motherboard from MSI called PRO Z790-S WIFI ATX which fits an LGA1700 socket and runs on power and costs $149.99. It needs two sticks of Silicon Power Value Gaming memory that are 32 GB total (two 16s) using DDR5 speed at 6000 CL30 and that memory is $79.98 from Amazon. The hard drive will be a Western Digital WD_Black SN850X with 1 TB of storage, it's an M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME drive, so you get fast speeds for data and that costs $84.99 at Amazon. You also need a Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC Rev 2.0 GeForce RTX 3060 with 12 GB of graphics to help games run smoothly and it is $279.99 from Amazon. The case will be Cooler Master HAF X full tower case to keep things organized while you build the PC and costs nothing extra but fits under the hood. You also need a Corsair RM650 power supply that has 650 watts of power, it is rated for 80+ Gold, and it can run everything with modular connectors so your wires are tidy and this one is $79.99 from Corsair. The computer will run on Microsoft Windows 11 Home and you get a free OEM version that comes in DVD form and costs only $119.99 at Adorama. All of these prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when they are available so the total cost to build this thing is $1033.91. This list was made by PCPartPicker on January 16th, 2025 using EST time zone settings.
Here is a list of parts and their prices. The CPU is an Intel Core i5-12400F that runs at 2.5 GHz with six cores for $109.04 on Amazon. I also bought the ID-COOLING FROZN A410 BLACK cooler, which moves air at 78.25 CFM and costs $26.99 on Amazon. The motherboard is a Gigabyte Z790 S WIFI DDR4 model with LGA1700 socket for $123.18 from Amazon. I have three sticks of Corsair Vengeance LPX memory totaling 32 GB (two 16 GB sticks) running at 3200 MHz on CL16, which costs $51.99 on Amazon. My storage is an Acer Predator GM7000 with a 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME drive for $132.99 from Amazon. I added a Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC Rev 2.0 GeForce RTX 3060 with 12 GB of video memory, which is 12 GB and costs $279.99 on Amazon. The power supply is Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 rated at 750 Watts with an 80+ Gold certification for $84.99 from Amazon. My computer runs Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM in a 64-bit version for $119.99 on Adorama. All prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. This list was made using lowest prices found by PCPartPicker rules. The total cost is $929.16.
Thanks for sharing your ideas! When I set up my current system back in the day, everyone said you should have a big hard drive just for your computer's operating system, and then another one to hold all your other programs. I went even further by adding a third space just for storing things like photos, music, and files. Is that still the usual way people do it? Now that SSD drives are so cheap, I wouldn't mind keeping up with that plan too! I really like that my Gigabyte board has three M.2 slots available. I thought I'd only need a 500 GB slot for the main drive and then a 1 TB one as backup. (Just a side note: I didn't know how easy it was to put SSDs directly on the board. That's pretty cool, but this is what happens when you ignore all these new rules back in the day, lol)
It can help things get easier when backing up data. Both options are totally okay to use. Apps you run all the time should live on your main drive. I think getting at least a 1TB drive is worth it. 512GB drives aren't half the price after all. The bigger memory pool usually means better performance and way more durability. Even though SATA SSDs are still good backups, buying a 6-8TB hard drive now isn't that expensive anymore.
Putting the operating system and apps on separate drives isn't really helpful. Put the OS and programs on one drive but put games like Steam on another drive too. Just make sure the Steam client and all your apps are on the same drive as the operating system.
I would buy a separate SSD for my operating system and another one just for storing games. Since you are not playing video games, a graphics card like the RX 6600 isn't really needed either. Even if you were gaming, an AMD Radeon RX 7600 or similar model usually beats that 3060 because it is faster and cheaper. I chose to build on the AM5 socket using an APU setup, which gives me way more performance now compared to what most people have today. Plus, this route has a great upgrade path if your needs change in a few years or even longer since AMD keeps supporting these chips well into 2027 and beyond.
Here is what I bought:
* **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 7 8700G with 4.2 GHz speed, 8 cores ($254.98)
* **Cooler:** Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ($35.90)
* **Motherboard:** ASRock B850 Pro RS ATX AM5 board for $179.99
* **RAM:** G.Skill Flare X5 with 32 GB total (split into two sticks of 16 GB), running DDR5 at 6000 speed ($96.99)
* **Storage:** Two solid state drives from Inland. One is a 1 TB model for $69.98, and the other is a larger 2 TB model for $129.99
* **Case:** Cooler Master HAF X ATX full tower case ($55.00)
* **Power Supply:** Corsair RM650 power supply rated at 650 watts with gold certification, fully modular design ($79.99)
You also get Windows 11 Home on the box for $119.99. The total price of everything comes to $967.81, which includes shipping, taxes, and any discounts that were active at the time I bought this list from Newegg or Amazon.
Ten years from now, an RTX 3060 might still work okay for me. It's like a cheap gaming card. Changing parts later would be easy, so swapping to an RX 6600 could also work. I'm not sure about Intel right now for jobs that need a lot of power. I looked at the AM5 version, but I'd picked a Ryzen 7700 instead. That price was too high. Since it takes a long time to get things working, changing motherboards isn't really important to me.
Looking at the IGP for non-APU chips, it seems pretty okay for what they're doing right now. Since a GPU is easy to upgrade later on, maybe I should pick a model with more cores. I took Windows out of my list to make sure I get better hardware. They might be able to use their old license if I link them to Microsoft, letting me keep using it on this new rig. If that doesn't work out, I'll just run windows unlicensed until I have money for a real license. This way, the annoying watermark disappears and all my customization features come back.
PCPartPicker Part List:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X (4.4 GHz) 12-Core Processor ($409.99 @ Amazon)
Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140 (77.8 CFM)
Motherboard: ASRock B850 Pro RS ATX AM5 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 (32 GB total, 2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Inland Performance Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Inland Performance Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD ($129.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF A3 - TT Premium Edition (750 W, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular ATX Power Supply) ($97.75 @ Amazon)
Custom Component: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140 Cooler ($47.90)
Total Cost: $1032.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. Generated by PCPartPicker on January 17, 2025 at 12:49 EST.