I need an Upgrade, bad

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

   The ASRock Z170 Pro4S is my choice.

So, I am a mom and that means that I put my child first so when my daughter wanted a PC of her own I gave her mine. That left me with our "old" PC which at the time was more than good enough for basic browsing and watching movies etc. But that was then. Now I can barely keep 3 tabs open without the system slowing down to a crawl.
Here is my system:

CPU: AMD Athlon x2 5050e
MB: ASUS M3N78-EM
GPU: Onboard Geforce 8300 (with fan fitted to the northbridge heatsink to allow some overclocking)
RAM: 2x2gb DDR2 800 Corsair kits (one kit is value RAM)
HDD: 40gb IDE 

As you can see it wasn't exactly a beast to start off and the RAM upgrade was recent. While more RAM did help quite a bit it just isn't enough. I recently decided to get back into gaming and this thing can't run much of anything at playable fps. My husband told me about this competition so I decided to try my luck. 

I would choose the Z170 Pro4S because I don't care what the inside of my computer looks like so long as it works. That means I don't need the fancy IO Armor or colorful heatsinks. I prefer to have the most powerful motherboard I can so it will last me a good long time. In addition I plan to use the iGPU on the processor so I don't want to have that disabled if I overclock. If I had to buy a motherboard I would choose an ASRock 100 series motherboard because they offer great value for money without compromising on quality and features. 

If I win I will build a new system around the Z170 Pro4S and finally be able to play some light games again thanks to the much more powerful Skylake Graphics architecture. I am not looking for an enthusiast system, just one that will have good upgrade options and last me for a long time. I think I would go with something like an i5 6600k and 8gb of fast DDR4 RAM coupled with a decent power supply so I can get a dedicated GPU at a later date. My husband loves overclocking and I think I would like to give it a try too.

Here are some pics of my system:

Here you can see the additional fan added to the northbridge cooler to keep the integrated graphics cool enough to sustain an overclock. Without an overclock almost no games are playable.

Here you can see where my husband cut out the fan grill to make the system run a little quieter. It makes a huge difference to noise levels on this old case.

This is my customized cooler using a fan from an Intel stock cooler, again because it is much quieter than the original one on this deepcool cooler.

And lastly here is my mismatched DDR2 800 RAM which won't overclock over 833 because of instability. 

I have no unboxing experience to share but I have watched a lot of them and think I could manage it without issue. I would also enjoy the challenge. 

I want to thank ASRock for this great opportunity and wish every one who enters the best of luck!

Edited by Alexusvg - 30 Jul 2016 at 11:52pm

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Alexusvg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2016 Status: Offline Points: 10	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alexusvg Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: I need an Upgrade, bad Posted: 30 Jul 2016 at 11:46pm
	The ASRock Z170 Pro4S is my choice. So, I am a mom and that means that I put my child first so when my daughter wanted a PC of her own I gave her mine. That left me with our "old" PC which at the time was more than good enough for basic browsing and watching movies etc. But that was then. Now I can barely keep 3 tabs open without the system slowing down to a crawl. Here is my system: CPU: AMD Athlon x2 5050e MB: ASUS M3N78-EM GPU: Onboard Geforce 8300 (with fan fitted to the northbridge heatsink to allow some overclocking) RAM: 2x2gb DDR2 800 Corsair kits (one kit is value RAM) HDD: 40gb IDE As you can see it wasn't exactly a beast to start off and the RAM upgrade was recent. While more RAM did help quite a bit it just isn't enough. I recently decided to get back into gaming and this thing can't run much of anything at playable fps. My husband told me about this competition so I decided to try my luck. I would choose the Z170 Pro4S because I don't care what the inside of my computer looks like so long as it works. That means I don't need the fancy IO Armor or colorful heatsinks. I prefer to have the most powerful motherboard I can so it will last me a good long time. In addition I plan to use the iGPU on the processor so I don't want to have that disabled if I overclock. If I had to buy a motherboard I would choose an ASRock 100 series motherboard because they offer great value for money without compromising on quality and features. If I win I will build a new system around the Z170 Pro4S and finally be able to play some light games again thanks to the much more powerful Skylake Graphics architecture. I am not looking for an enthusiast system, just one that will have good upgrade options and last me for a long time. I think I would go with something like an i5 6600k and 8gb of fast DDR4 RAM coupled with a decent power supply so I can get a dedicated GPU at a later date. My husband loves overclocking and I think I would like to give it a try too. Here are some pics of my system: Here you can see the additional fan added to the northbridge cooler to keep the integrated graphics cool enough to sustain an overclock. Without an overclock almost no games are playable. Here you can see where my husband cut out the fan grill to make the system run a little quieter. It makes a huge difference to noise levels on this old case. This is my customized cooler using a fan from an Intel stock cooler, again because it is much quieter than the original one on this deepcool cooler. And lastly here is my mismatched DDR2 800 RAM which won't overclock over 833 because of instability. I have no unboxing experience to share but I have watched a lot of them and think I could manage it without issue. I would also enjoy the challenge. I want to thank ASRock for this great opportunity and wish every one who enters the best of luck! Edited by Alexusvg - 30 Jul 2016 at 11:52pm

Euro_Bucks Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 20 May 2015 Location: Manila Status: Offline Points: 26	Post Options Post Reply Quote Euro_Bucks Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Jul 2016 at 2:55am
	awesome cabling work man!

Alexusvg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 30 Jul 2016 Status: Offline Points: 10	Post Options Post Reply Quote Alexusvg Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 31 Jul 2016 at 5:38am
	Thanks I try to keep things clean and tidy for airflow and ease of cleaning.