Summer Upgrades - Want some opinions!

J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
Hey Guys, I've been on here for a long time, but not posted all that often :D

I got my rig in November 2011 and I think come June-July I'm probably gonna spend some money upgrading some bits and bobs.

My SSD is constantly at 10gb or so remaining so that really needs upgrading. One question I have, is it possible to have a second boot of windows, the new one, and I can still alternate to my old one? Would this require a new windows disc or what?

I am currently running with a GTX 580, two cons are that it's loud and it gets hot quite easily. I may upgrade to something in Christmas though from scan or something once my warranty expires.

Any opinions and help with the Windows and GPU situation would be great. I would also like to be able to run 2 monitors off whatever :)

Thanks,
James.
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Are you talking about having 2 copies of effectively the same OS installed? or windows 7 and windows 8?

the 580 is still decent, you sure it couldn't just do with a clean out if its getting hot?
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
When I jumped from a 580, to 680 I was amazed at the difference. I'd definitely upgrade if i was you.
 
J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
@mantadog - I don't mind, depends which would be best for gaming and all
@tom_gr7 yeah, I really want to get an upgrade :)
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
No need to have separate operating system installs to game on, just stick to one.

Post up your full spec and we can go from that.
 
J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
Full spec found here: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?10887-The-Beast

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2700k Quad Core (3.50GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z68-V PRO: USB 3.0, SATA 6GB/s, NVIDIA®SLI™, ATI®CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 580 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD2002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
12x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£45)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W PRO SERIES™ HX750-80 PLUS® SILVER MODULAR (£116)
Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI-E CARD (£16)
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Modem
56KBPS INTERNAL V92 DATA/FAX/VOICE MODEM (Special Offer! £6)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2473HDS 24" LED WIDESCREEN, 2 HDMI/DVI-D 1920x1080 (£159)
Keyboard & Mouse
LOGITECH® MK520 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO (£39)
Webcam
Logitech® HD Webcam C910 - 1080p HD Video & 10 Megapixel Photos (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Miscellaneous
FREE Battlefield 3 with 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ Processor-K
Quantity
1

I don't exactly want to swap HDDs as I have some plugins etc for editing programs that I had to look around for, and would like to still be able to use all of them ;)
 
J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
Funny thing is tom, you've been round ever since I first heard of PCS and you were there questioning me on the modem all that time ago xD
 
bigben

bigben

Master Poster
JamesMLB said:
My SSD is constantly at 10gb or so remaining so that really needs upgrading. One question I have, is it possible to have a second boot of windows, the new one, and I can still alternate to my old one? Would this require a new windows disc or what?
Click to expand...

JamesMLB said:
I don't exactly want to swap HDDs as I have some plugins etc for editing programs that I had to look around for, and would like to still be able to use all of them ;)
Click to expand...

Don't really understand what you mean. If you mean that your plugins are on the SSD you always just buy an upgrade kit (like this one) which would come with a caddy and software to let you transfer everything from the old SSD to the new SSD.
 
J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
bigben said:
Don't really understand what you mean. If you mean that your plugins are on the SSD you always just buy an upgrade kit (like this one) which would come with a caddy and software to let you transfer everything from the old SSD to the new SSD.
Click to expand...

I understand what you mean, but I want to be able to keep this current windows setup as it is aswell as having a new one.. :D
I got a pretty nasty virus at the end of January and that is why I need a new windows setup, I don't wanna bring anything across from the old one if that makes sense and the plugins are in folders which I don't know on my PC :D
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Ssd's of generation before the current latest have crashed in price down to roughly 50p per Gb which is an absolute steal if you ask me, and although they're old gen, performance hasn't improved enough to warrant buying new over these.

I'm not sure what your budget is but you could get a 256Gb SSD (say crucial m500 or Intel 520) create 2 partitions of say 60gb and 196gb. Off your current windows 7 install, unintstall any games/large media files to free up unnecessary bloat and then image the drive and transfer it to the 60gb partition.

You'd then have the 196gb partition for windows 8 os which would be plenty of room for games etc.

Alternatively of course you can just add the new drive to the case all for windows 8 and still boot into the other HD if required, makes much more sense!

Graphics wise, I think you'd see an improvement from your card to a 770 gtx, I'd say worth it.
 
Last edited:
bigben

bigben

Master Poster
JamesMLB said:
but I'm planning on possibly getting an xbox one
Click to expand...

9804d98c6b6a994110ccc1e1ce6d9a9d.jpg


check this out and you will see sense.
 
J

JamesMLB

Enthusiast
LOL at you guys criticising that. I know it isn't as good as PC graphics, but the exclusives etc, and the feel of playing a console.

@SpyderTracks I don't know what Win 8 is like, need some opinions on that too i guess?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
JamesMLB said:
@SpyderTracks I don't know what Win 8 is like, need some opinions on that too i guess?
Click to expand...

I always get onto the new Windows from the developer preview and run a dual boot with the old to fathom if it's any good so I've used windows 8 for a while now and have grown fond of it. It's essentially win 7 with a bolt on over the top with metro. It's more efficient than win 7, and once you get used to the navigation it's simple to get around. There's about to be a new update that adds a start menu on the desktop and gives you the option to boot straight into the desktop as well as other tweaks.

It's a very personal thing though, a lot of people can't stand win 8 and I can understand why. I'd say definitely choose it.
 
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