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Upgrading gaming system

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Fizzerman

New Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2011
I'm wanting to upgrade some parts on my gaming system. I'm looking at HAF 932 case. I will be overclocking my CPU. I would like to get two video cards and run sli. What would be good video cards to get? Looking at getting new hard drive. Is there a better CPU fan the the one I have? Main parts I'm looking at case, video cards, power supply, CPU fan, and hard drive. I play Starcraft two, WoW, and some other games.

COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 Stepping
EVGA LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA GeForce 275GTX
CORSAIR 620W Power Supply
ZALMAN CNPS9700
CORSAIR XMS2 4GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Professional Series
Western Digital 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
I've heard great things about the Cosmos case, especially with modding. No need to change that. Great PSU for single card too, IMO you're better off getting a single newer card then going SLI.

Keeping it as cheep as possible, I'd grab a 2500K, ASRock Extreme3 Gen3, and 8GB of DDR3-1600 CL9 RAM. When the new generation of GPUs debutes next week, I'd see if you could grab a 6950 cheap, they're already showing up in large numbers on the used market. That should get you a GREAT jump in performance.
 
You would probably be better off saving your money for a complete system upgrade.

Also, your CPU (even overclocked to the max) would baddly bottle neck two newwer video cards in SLI so don't go that route unless you like burning money...
 
Really? His case/PSU/sound card/HDD is fine, IMO. They're all quality stuff that'll last.

Another thing if you have the money, an SSD will make everything feel a lot faster.
 
Really? His case/PSU/sound card/HDD is fine, IMO. They're all quality stuff that'll last.

Another thing if you have the money, an SSD will make everything feel a lot faster.

Agreed, I should have been more specific... mobo, cpu, RAM first
 
What video card would be good to get? The reason i'm looking at getting HAF 932 because it looks like it has better airflow. It has more fans then my case.
 
You do realize you have one of the greatest cases ever made? There's plenty of space to put more fans in your current case.

What card you need depends on your monitor resolution. Assuming 1080P, a 6870 should be around your price range and max those out. However, there are new GPUs coming out soon, that's why I think you should get the CPU and stuff first.
 
Dear god don't swap to a haf from a cosmos.. oh the humanity lol.

Id probably swap your current mobo, CPU and RAM. Considering 2500k here. With a z68 extreme 4 from Asrock. Perhaps a different cooler.. not sure how that one performs. Or if it even fits on 1155? And an ssd. Id change the gpu later after the hd7970 has come out and prices have settled or dropped on other gpus on the market.


Edit. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/180?vs=169 your gpu still holds its own mostly against a 460. Which should be fine for a little while still, especially if you jump to the Sandy Bridge platform. You should still be able to run most games on generally high settings at 1080p or less.
 
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What would be the best fans to get? The top can take two 140mm fans.

Thats all relative to the user... best in what way? Some of the fans with the best airflow and pressure are also some of the loudest (which is an issue for some people)... Silent fans move next to no air in comparison and there are a lot in between.

Check out the Aerocool Shark black edition 140mm x 25mm fans... they have a nice balance between performance and noise.
 
The cosmos was a great case.. The CM 690 and the Cosmos series are the only cases I like from Cooler Master.

Even 4 years on that case is still fantastic. You could surely do some work to it though. If you want to show off your goodies I believe you can get a Side-Window panelled version of it. ^^.

As far as fans go.. Depends. If you stick to the non-window version; you don't need to worry about fancy LED's.. So google some fan reviews (theres' several out there that compile many fans and compare them) and work out what would be best for you.

If it were a question of the Cosmos vs HAF for a pure air-cooling build; starting from scratch; the HAF may be the better option simply because it's better as an air-cooler in general. But because you already have the Cosmos.. I wouldn't swap to a HAF from that.
 
No matter how good a case is to me after a certain amount of time its ready to go. Cases are a personal choice though. The HAF 932 is good. If the cosmos is still in really good shape I'd consider just adding fans and maybe the side panel, front panel led fan controller, etc to spiff it up. Otherwise there are some higher end cases that would be an improvement but you'd be looking at closer to $300 for those.

I really like the Cougar fans. Got 4x120's on my H100 and a 140 in the rear exhaust.

Another reason for a new case would be if you are going to totally build a new system and want to leave your current stuff where it is and either use it for some other purpose or sell it off.
 
Cosmos, doesn't matters if it is 20, 30 or a hundred years old case, will still be an awesome case for a build. No need to throw that or buy another one. Same goes to PSU and HDD. Soundcard can work if you're not audiophile and that HiFi stuff.

Grab some genuine YL fans (from FTWPC.com, f.ex.) and put them wherever you need fans. They're in 140mm and 120mm flavor. Best case fans IMHO.

The CNPS9700 will work with ASRocks motherboards, but if I were you I'd grab a Hyper 212 EVO. That heatsink is probably the best bang for the buck you'll ever find.

The PSU can still rock any monoGPU single card build you want to get. No need to replace that.

As far as for the CPU/RAM/MoBo "assembly", you should aim for a i5 2500k/Z68 Extreme3 and 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz CL9 1.5v RAM. Grab the cheapest one that has those features.

Graphics, right now I'm outdated, but you should go for a 560Ti or a 6950/6970 if you are running 1080p and want to "max" games. If you're running at something lower, and you're not planning on upgrading your screen, get a 6870 or so.
 
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