Time to build a new computer

sunandshadow

My gaming machine is 7 years old and the graphics card will not play some newer games.  It also has Vista as the operating system.  I'm looking to build a new machine that will play new games for another 6 years.  I assembled the last one from parts and will have no problem doing that again.

What I don't need or have already chosen for myself: Monitor and other rperipherals, Power Supply, Optical Drive, and Case (assuming it's compatible with the new board).  It's a full-size tower ATX case.

What I do need: Motherboard, CPU, RAM, 1 TB solid state HD, graphics card, and Windows.
Budget: $1,200

So, suggestions?  I heard something about this being a bad time of year to buy graphics cards, is that true?

Quizzical

If you're planning on reusing a power supply, optical drive, and case from the old computer, you might just want to leave the old computer intact instead.  A 7-year old power supply should probably be replaced on general principle, as performance degrades as they age.  And the others are probably cost less than the value of an intact, working computer.

If you've already chosen a power supply, optical drive, or case, but aren't keeping old ones, then I'd like to know what they are.

Enough video cards of the new generation are out that it would be a good time to buy if you could find whichever card you want in stock at MSRP.  That's really not the case at the moment, so if you buy a card now, expect to pay about 10% more than if you bought the same card a month or two from now.  It's reasonable to say, I want a new computer now and will just pay the extra $50 or so, but it's up to you whether you want to wait.

H0urg1ass

First off, be very careful carrying over an old power supply, especially a seven year old PSU.

Also, you will always hear someone saying to wait to buy a new graphics card.  Just ignore them, when you're ready to build, buy what you want then.  If you're always waiting for the next pass, then you'll never stop waiting.

sunandshadow

The power supply was a beast when I bought it, and it's been protected by a UPS (battery backup surge protector) so it shouldn't have taken any damage from power fluctuations or anything.  This is also a no-pet no-smoking house so it should be relatively clean inside.  What is supposed to degrade over time with them?

RollieJoe

If you bought a high-end PSU 7 years ago and have taken care of it (as you described) and haven't had any issues, chances are it will be perfectly fine for your new build, especially if you aren't going to be running it near max, multiple GPUs, or heavily overclocking, etc.   With a single SSD and a new video card, there's a good chance you'll actually be putting *less* stress on the PSU than 7 years ago.

13lake

sunandshadow said:
 What is supposed to degrade over time with them?

The capacitors. Premium japanese ones have an average shelf life of 10 years. So even if you have the best, highest quality psu money could have bought back then, it's still not going to last much more than 10 years. And having the capacitors replaced is more expensive than buying a new unit.

RollieJoe said:

  With a single SSD and a new video card, there's a good chance you'll actually be putting *less* stress on the PSU than 7 years ago.

The amount of stress is irrelevant to the capacitors, they age uniformly just buy having any current pass through them, and even when the power supply is turned off, they will still age because their whole purpose is to hold charge, and hold it when they're disconnected from power.

jdnewell

Take the advice and buy a new PSU. They do not last forever, and if you have gotten a good 7 years of use out of the one you have then either keep it in the old PC or retire it.
I would not buy all new components and use a 7 year old PSU lol.

sunandshadow

I'm still considering whether to replace the PSU, but if anyone's curious at the rest of it, I'm looking at an 17 quad core 3.6ghz CPU and a GTX 1070 graphics card.  Not sure about how much RAM I need - 8, 12, 16?

Also I got distracted looking at vertical mice and mouse alternatives if anyone wants to recommend on.  I remember seeing one reviewed on this site years ago where it looked like you put your hand inside something like a steering wheel and gripped toward the outside... couldn't figure out what that gizmo was called or if they are still being made.