My main PC stopped working today. No matter what I do the network adaptor on my Abit IP35-Pro motherboard won’t work. I’ve been toying with building a new high-end Windows 7 rig for a while and given that my PC is my livelihood I want to build a new Windows 7 machine fast. If I can salvage any of the parts from my current system, I will use them to upgrade other PCs in my household.
My current spec is below:
- Q6600 LGA775
- Abit IP35Pro Motherboard
- 4GB Ram
- ATI HD 4650
- X-Fi soundcard
- Swiftech CPU&GPU watercooling
- 600w Seasonic S12-600 PSU
- 400GB HDD
- Gigabyte case
I’m planning on keeping the PSU, GPU, HDD and soundcard so I need:
- A new fast HDD to run the OS – should I get a SSD? Which one?
- A new CPU and motherboard. I’m hoping to keep my LGA775 watercooling block, but getting a different size isn’t a problem -it just adds $50 to the cost (hassle removing as well, but I can handle)
- Lots of new RAM – how much should I get? I don’t play games but I do a lot of encoding/decoding, multitasking etc
- Will I need a more powerful PSU?
My total budget is £1000/$1600 so this should buy me a very good spec machine. Suggestions on what I should buy and why below please! Also suggestions for a cheap LGA775 motherboard please just in case I can’t salvage the Abit IP35Pro.
Update 20/12: I’ve ordered my parts and they should arrive on Tuesday – thanks to everyone who made suggestions. Here’s the spec for the new machine (new parts in bold):
- Case: Gigabyte Aurora
- PSU: Corsair TX 650W
- CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz pre-overclocked to 4.00GHz
- Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5
- RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB)
- GPU: HD4650
- Soundcard: X-fi Xtreme Music
- OS HDD: 80GB Intel X25-M SSD
- 2nd HDD: 400GB SATA II
- Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 (ditching my Swiftech watercooling as the pumps are about to go/it’s getting very noisy)
- Monitors: Samsung T220 22-inch x2
I can’t wait to put this baby together!
My old Abit IP35 Pro motherboard completely died last night, so I ordered a Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H motherboard to build a new machine for my wife (she has a very,very old laptop at the moment) from what was left of my old PC:
- CPU: Q6600
- PSU: Seasonic S12-600
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EG41MF-US2H to go in an old Foxcon microATX case
- RAM: 4GB Ram
- HDD: 400GB SATA II(canibalised from my WHS)
- Cooler: stock
- Monitor: Samsung T220 22-inch
