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[itry2hide]

IIts time to upgrade my little system. I currentlhy have a APEVIA X-QPACK-NW-BK/420 Black Aluminum 1.0 w/ ABS plastic front panel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply. Video is a Geforce 250 GTX. My strategy is to swap out the motherboard, processor, and power supply; and keep the three HDs (Intel SS 120 GB,2X 1 tb Seagate drives.

My final setup would be
• GIGABYTE GA-Z77N-WIFI LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
• CORSAIR CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
• CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10

System is normally very stable.

What problems do you foresee? My order is placed and ready to ship, so now is the time to let me know if I'm crazy....


Thanks

 

[Jamesbond007]

IIts time to upgrade my little system. I currentlhy have a APEVIA X-QPACK-NW-BK/420 Black Aluminum 1.0 w/ ABS plastic front panel MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply. Video is a Geforce 250 GTX. My strategy is to swap out the motherboard, processor, and power supply; and keep the three HDs (Intel SS 120 GB,2X 1 tb Seagate drives.

My final setup would be
• GIGABYTE GA-Z77N-WIFI LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
• CORSAIR CX500M 500W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
• CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10

System is normally very stable.

What problems do you foresee? My order is placed and ready to ship, so now is the time to let me know if I'm crazy....


Thanks

I believe this should work fine with Mountain Lion.

 

[itry2hide]

Just curious about the power supply. The one that came with the case is 420 watts. Do I need a higher capacity power supply? I have not had any problems with my current setup. If yes, what which one would fit (micro atx case), and what capacity to you suggest?

 

[Stork]

I'd recommend you replace the case's power supply with the newer 500W which should be fine - it's a better PSU than the one that came with your case.

Are you going to use the on-board graphics instead of your 210 graphics card? You should since HD4000 (Intel Integrated Graphics) is more powerful than the 210 card. (See http://www.tonymacx86.com/graphics/...-right-now-hierarchy-chart-toms-hardware.html) I use HD3000 (Sandy Bridge) and HD4000 (Ivy Bridge) with very good results. I ask because then you'll use very little power. So, instead of a new 500W, you can substitute a very good (Gold or Platitum) 400-450 watt PSU for about the same money. Check out Newegg's PSU calculator: http://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html

 

[itry2hide]

Sounds good. I may add another graphics card down the road. Then again, I may not. So, if I stick with the HD4000 that comes built in, I can wait on the power supply. The current one I have is rated at 420 watts, and works find with my current setup.

I just checked new egg for psu requirements. My current setup needs 4880 watts, the new setup needs 295 watts. Since my current setup needs more power, I doubt I need a new PSU. (I hope)

 

[Stork]

If you stay with an Ivy Bridge (Z77 & i3/5/7-3xxx) system, you're current PSU will be OK if it has the correct electrical connects for the Ivy Bridge motherboard (which would be good to confirm). If you go with a Haswell motherboard and processor, you'll need a new PSU as that case PSU probably won't support the Haswell drop of power during idle.

 

[itry2hide]

So does this look good_

• GIGABYTE GA-Z77N-WIFI LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
• Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

 

[Stork]

Yes. You'll find several build descriptions with this motherboard in the User and Golden Builds forum sections. You can also see the tonymacx86 Buyer's Guide for similar configuration.

 

[itry2hide]

I'm making one change to my setup after reading a little more. I'm getting the GA-Q77M-D2H motherboard instead of the GA-Z77N-WIFI, which fits better in my Micro ATX case.

Still wondering about the power supply. Will the Corsair CX Series 500 Watt fit in my case? I have a APEVIA X-QPACK. I've tried other PSU's and they don't fit...