Window Shopping Upgrades

Howdy ya'll!

Firstly, thanks to all those who helped me build this rig a few years back. It's been amazing, and I really appreciated all the input and help!

I'm getting promoted (with a raise) in a few months, and I'll probably be spending about $800 to beef up my toy by the end of the year. I'm looking for suggestions. I can only google so much without things starting to blur together.

Current Hardware:
Case: Generic Beige Case
Monitors: Dualscreen 2x 23" ASUS Monitors
CPU: i5-3570k Ivy Bridge (3.4GHz)
GPU: Powercolor HD AX7850 2GB
Mobo: GA-z77x-UD3H-z77
Ram: 8GB G.Skill DDR3 (2x4GB)
HD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200 RPM
GPU: Rosewill Green Series 630W RG 630-s12
OS: Windows 7 x64 Home Premium (Will try out Windows 10 when the free version is released)
Misc: 2x DvD Drives + 3.5" USB Hub (low priority) + 3.5" Memory Card Reader (low priority)

Goals & Notes:
-MicroCenter over 3 hour drive one way. I'd have to really bribe the wife with a weekend getaway for that drive. Wouldn't really count on it.
-Overclock CPU to 4.0, maybe push it up to 4.4Ghz
-Have really nice graphics on a wide variety of games. FPS, MMOs, RPGs, RTS, etc. I dabble it everything.
-Cooler & Quieter.
-New Case: Prefer no top fan, my wife & I like to put stuff on top. Not a deal breaker, but it'd be nice. Also something that will accommodate a large CPU Cooler
-I have no real interest in LEDs or clear panels. This computer will be under a desk, not being shown off. I'd rather have noise dampening or filters instead of LEDs, but again, not deal breakers.
-Is stock Thermal Paste good enough for what I want or should I buy something special?
-Carpet floor & shedding dog

Window Shopping List
1) SDD:
--SAMSUNG 850 EVO $100
--Crucial BX100 250gb $82 sale $100 regular OR
--C̶r̶u̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶M̶X̶2̶0̶0̶ ̶2̶5̶0̶g̶b̶ ̶M̶.̶2̶$̶1̶0̶6̶ ̶
2) HDD: HGST (Hitachi) Deskstar 7200rpm 3TB $95
3) New Case:
-Rosewill Wolfstone ATX $80
-Antec Nine Hundred $100
-Cooler Master HAF 912 $60
3.1) Better Case Fans: Corsair AF $30 per pair
4) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 $80 (Do these colossal monsters truly not damage the CPU from their weight?)
5) Wireless Gaming Mouse: G602 $50
6) GPU #2:
--EVGA GTX 970 4GB $350
-Crossfire PowerColor Radeon HD 7850 2GB $210
-Replace w/ GeFore GTX 960 4GB $220-240

7) G̶P̶U̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶l̶e̶r̶s̶:̶ ̶2̶x̶ ̶A̶r̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶A̶c̶c̶e̶l̶e̶r̶o̶ ̶T̶w̶i̶n̶ ̶T̶u̶r̶b̶o̶ ̶I̶I̶ ̶$̶4̶5̶-̶6̶0̶ ̶e̶a̶c̶h̶

I appreciate any input, sanity checks, "those aren't compatible," and suggestions!

In the $100 price range for an SSD, the Samsung 850 EVO is where it's at.

The 900 is a great case, but dated, as is the HAF 912. For something along those lines at that price point, I would go with something like this. Also, I've heard that the AFs aren't all that great, but someone who knows more about fans should give you a solid recommendation.

Finally, the GPU. For $10 more, you can get a 4GB 960 That'll perform probably just as well if not better than CF 7850s, and you won't have to worry about CF issues.

I'd say other than that, those seem like pretty solid upgrade choices.

Appreciate the SSD recommendation. I put it at the top of the list.

Morbid curiousity: How does a case become dated? Airflow engineering? ATX mobo sizes change?

And I'll definitely look more into NVIDIA. I've never heard of ZOTAC before (but then again, I'm usually an AMD guy, but still open minded), and if coughing up like $20 more will get me a more customer-friendly / reliable company, I'm willing to pay a little extra. (ie MSI, GB, etc). I'm sure if I got a 4gb GPU my father-in-law would love a my old GPU as an upgrade.

Tatsu08 said:

Morbid curiousity: How does a case become dated? Airflow engineering? ATX mobo sizes change?

Click to expand...

More just what people do with them has changed. More and more people are interested in AIO liquid or custom water cooling, and cases like the HAF and 900 don't allow for much of that (the better one is the Antec in this situation), because they're designed for airflow. If you don't care about water, that's fine, and like I said, both are still great cases.

I've never personally owned a Zotac GPU, but I've heard good things. If you would prefer one from a manufacturer that builds for both sides of the fence, I've worked with Asus cards before, and they're solid. But, my personal preference, if you're spending that much, would be this EVGA card. Higher stock clocks, and the ACX2 cooler.

Drop the Arctic cooler, up that to a GTX 970, call it a day.
EVGA with an ACX cooler would be my choice.

I'd stick to the 850 EVO for the SSD, Noctua for fans (since you're already paying a premium), and definitely look at a newer case design.

The NH-D14 or NH-D15 will be a great cooler for you, I ran a NH-D14 for a few years.

I second that, didn't notice the aftermarket GPU coolers on the list. As cool as these cards run, you don't need those.

Wow. So taking off the two after market GPU fans off and putting the money towards a GTX 970 keeps everything in balance. Will probably get the recommended case unless someone suggests something better.

Last two questions:
1) Will I need special Thermal Paste for the Noctua?
2) Case Fans:Stock, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052
or something else?

Corsair's got some really nice cases in the price range, and I use roswill fans but they're all the same as far as i'm concerned at that price point.

Tatsu08 said:

Wow. So taking off the two after market GPU fans off and putting the money towards a GTX 970 keeps everything in balance. Will probably get the recommended case unless someone suggests something better.

Last two questions:
1) Will I need special Thermal Paste for the Noctua?
2) Case Fans:Stock, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052
or something else?

Click to expand...

The Noctua comes with top quality thermal paste already.

The fans you linked are meh at best.
If you're planning to keep stock fans (and put that money toward a better case) then look at this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139042

For CPU cooler, if buying new don't buy the D14, buy either the D15 from Noctua or the Phanteks TC14PE, the D15 and TC14PE are identical in performance out of the box so you can't go wrong with either. They are essentially the top of the hill before traversing into AIO solutions or custom water loops.

For SSD, the 850 EVO is a great unit for it's price.

For case, this becomes a little tricky because while cases can be dated, you need to find one YOU like. Look at it like a car purchase in the form of the body, why would you buy something you don't like the look of? Just make sure YOU like the look of it, not buying it simply because someone recommended it. As far as recommendation though, I would suggest the Phanteks Enthoo Pro for the price.

As for the HDD, Hitachi such as the one in your post is good, here is another option that is recommended over at HardForum, Toshiba 3TB $89.

Case fans, there are plenty of choices out there, of course I certainly would not recommend the Corsair fans over others at that price point if you are buying your own. I'd grab Noiseblocker eLoop or Noctua fans.

Now comes what I need to ask, wireless, are you sure you want to go wireless for a gaming setup? Specifically if you play FPS titles.

My desktop is cabled directly to the router & modem. I only do wireless on my laptop, and I only casually game on it (unless I'm deployed, then I have no other option).

I'll scratch the cheap fans and probably get the better case with better stock fans, or at least better quality fans. I'll keep eyeballing recommendations and seeing how I feel about them. I guess I should ask for the wife's input as well ...

I like how NewEgg's side-by-side comparison of the Noctua's D14 vs D15 are set up. One's imperial and the other metric.