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Computer update

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Maxvla:
Looking at finally upgrading the core of my system after nearly 7 years.

Current rig:

Looking to update:

i7 860 2.80GHz (LGA 1156)
Gigabyte P55M-UD2 Micro ATX
4 x 2GB DDR3 1600
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus - Might move to a CLLC system with accompanying case, like a Corsair.
Wifi card

The i7 still does well enough, but extracting large rars is testing my patience these days, and encoding videos takes a while. Unfortunately this was a one-off socket, the 1156, so there was never an upgrade path. Lately I've been picking up new tech that I'd like to be able to take advantage of, such as USB 3.0 (my tablet, portable hard disk, and micro SD card reader) and bluetooth (Deepblue 2), and I'd like to update to faster wifi than my addon card was made for, so my tablet can stream easier from my main rig. Also, it seems this might be a good opportunity to make the step to DDR4.

I think I've waited long enough to get all these technologies (and maybe others) up to date in one shot and make it worthwhile even though my current rig is still ok-ish. Last year I helped a co-worker build a computer using a Corsair case and water cooling setup that was easy and effective. My last water cooling adventure (12 years or so ago) was back when you used aquarium pumps and had to do it all yourself. That was very effective, but some months later there was a small leak and my system force shut down to protect the chip (thankfully it was Intel back then, AMD didn't have that).

Another issue I've had with my rig for a very long time is USB transfer speed. I've tried everything over the years to fix it, but it must be a hardware problem. The USB 2.0 transfer starts fine, but almost immediately tanks to extremely low speeds. USB 2.0 isn't all that great anyways for large transfers anyways, so I am hoping to 'fix' this by replacing the mobo and upgrading to USB 3.0/3.1. When I recently bought a 128GB sd card, I tried loading my music from my main rig and it bogged so much I had to cancel (actually pull the drive out because it wouldn't cancel via software), plug it into my tablet, access my directory on wifi and load it that way. Silly. Sure 10MB/s is pretty slow when transfering ~120GB, but at least it will actually finish. I'd been thinking about a computer upgrade the last couple years, but never took it seriously, but this comedic file transfer was a sign.

Things that are recent upgrades, or don't need replacing:

Asus R270 2GB - I mostly play older games and only play on a single 1080p monitor (Sony 52" TV)
Corsair 850TX 850W PSU - was originally in my rackmount raid server (unless i need different plugs for modern stuff)
2 x 2 TB hard disk (sata)
1 x 4 TB hard disk (sata)
2 x 1 TB hard disk (sata)
Blu-ray/DVD burner

Possible updates:

Intel X25-M G2 80GB - still working fantastically, but space is always an issue. Windows + 1 large game usually is all that will fit. Modern drives offer much more speed, too.

Plan:

Broadwell finally just recently went up for sale, but it is not a full release like we are used to seeing. Just a couple chips to satisfy those who have to have something. Skylake is supposedly going to be up for sale this August and is supposed to be a real world 5% improvement on Broadwell, though no tests have been shown publicly. I looked at some of the extensive CPU benchmark sites and noticed that a modern Broadwell is roughly double the score of my current chip. This is enough of an improvement to warrant a change, imo. Skylake is going to be the first of another new socket, the 1151, and will be accompanied by the new 100 chipset series. This chipset is a good platform for updating those technologies I mentioned before, USB 3.1, faster wifi on board, bluetooth on board (perhaps), and of course DDR4. It will also feature M.2 for ultra fast SSD operation should I choose to use it.

So I propose to get whatever the best value i5 Skylake is released (lowest usually), a well featured motherboard (full ATX this time...), 16GB of DDR4, a CLLC water setup and matching case, and perhaps a new SSD on the M.2 interface.

DaveBSC:
I would definitely replace that SSD. Currently 550/550 is a typical speed now even for mid-level drives, and I'm sure IOPS would be more than what you have by an order of magnitude. 256GB drives have also gotten cheap enough that you can basically buy them on a whim.

IMO water cooling is a total waste of time and money. The cheap Asetek rebranded closed loop setups are at most 5-10% better than a top level tower cooler, for 30% more cost. And you may have to return it two or three times until you happen to get one with a pump that doesn't scream. And that's if you get the ones with 240 rads. The ones that are a single 120 or 140 often have WORSE temps than tower coolers. A full system loop with a dedicated pump will do better, for WAY more money, but unless you're trying to over-volt and overclock every last ounce of performance, it's pointless. Spend the money on a multiplier unlocked Core i7 instead of you want faster performance.

As far as cases, I really like what Phanteks is doing. Corsairs I think are boring, and many aren't that well suited to air cooling.

Maxvla:
Yeah, I have been watching SSDs drop in price and gain in performance. I'd probably do a 512 minimum if I went for a new SSD. Maybe that Samsung SM951 M.2 drive either 256GB or 512GB. For as fast as they are, they are still less than a dollar per GB, which is surprising.

The Corsair setup I did for my friend was whisper quiet and provided great temps. The case was alright looking/featured and was designed for the water setup, so it was easy to assemble. The Hyper 212 I have now does a great job, so this would be more of a 'I just want it' thing, but the temps are certainly higher than my friend's water setup. Also, I would imagine most of the Corsair cases are designed around using one of their CLLC systems, so air performance isn't their priority anyway.

My computer is near my headphone rig, so silence (or close to it) is mandatory. I picked the Asus R270 video card because it was enough performance for what I play and it was very quiet, the Hyper 212 is like-wise quiet. The case I'm using now is very old and only has 80mm fan locations, so I'd like to move to a case with 120mm minimum. Presently the only noise I ever hear from my computer is those 80mm case fans at a light hum, and some occasional hard disk grumble.

briskly:
Might as well spring for a larger NVMe drive since SSD prices are going down, so it won't be much of an expense. I guess there will be more M.2 sized drives by then.

The Corsairs are easy to work with, but in the past I have found their designs boring as well. With water cooling, thermals are going to be tied to the radiators and the water block . A lot of space has to be dedicated to rads if you want higher cooling performance than high end air, and you still need to cool the rest of the system.

Video encoding and compression are very paralleled tasks, and would see benefits from i7 Hyperthreading, or just throwing more cores at the problem. DDR4 won't bring much of a performance benefit, if any, but it's not dead-ended if you want more than 16GB in the future.

Maxvla:
Well it doesn't get much more boring than my current case, a Chieftec Dragon that I originally bought back in 2002, yes 13 years ago.



I also have a really nice Silverstone HTPC case I used for a time, until I consolidated my HTPC and server into fewer larger drives, but still enough that would not all fit in the Silverstone.



Regarding the i7 thing, I am glad I went with the i7 way back when, but I think i5 will be the way to go this time. The performance difference (my chip to an i5) is enough to overcome any hyperthreading differences, and I don't do those tasks enough to warrant the extra expense of a modern i7.

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