Upgrade Path #2 (Above is upgrade path #1)
Update #1) Migrating my current components such as the motherboard and hard drive to the Corsair Obsidian 650D case. It has been in one spot unused for almost a year so it has gathered a good amount of dust so I think in order to restore the case to better condition; I would need to use a can of compressed air with the case in open space. Keeping the case clean would really help with good ventilation, cooling and airflow. Use alcohol and paper towel to clean the edges of the fan. For even smaller parts, use alcohol on a q tip.
My next update would be to transfer all the components from the inside of my current Zalman Z9 case into the Corsair Obsidian 650D case after I clean all the dust out of it. At first, I was a bit unsure whether or not to switch over to a different case because my computer is already working fine but I know that 9 times out of 10, in the summer months when it is hot and humid, due to the fact that I have two GPU’s with one of them being an older high performing GPU, a lot of heat is involved and if I add that to the bad cable management in the Zalman Z9 case, that would equal bad airflow. Along with Windows 10 coming out, a 512GB SSD just for “TANE”, a newer graphics card that utilizes the Maxwell Architecture along with a new CPU cooler, I think just transferring everything over to the new case would be the way to go. I am nervous about transferring everything over to the Corsair Obsidian 650D because I do not want to mess anything up but the only way I learn about the computers is by giving it a try.
Update #1) At first, I was thinking about seeing if there is a way to better utilize my current Zalman Z9 case but then I thought that the Corsair Obsidian 650D would probably be an upgrade to the Zalman Z9 case because it has more features than my current case. Also, it is made out of aluminum or metal, which my current Zalman Z9 case doesn’t have. The aluminum would help to keep the case cool. The Corsair Obsidian 650D also has a huge 220mm fan on the top, with an intake fan on the front and a rear fan on the back. My Zalman Z9 case does not have a big fan on the top. Those three fans combined would help with airflow.
Update #2) Since “Trainz A New Era” along with “Windows 10” will be released soon, I am thinking about purchasing a 1TB Portable Hard Drive so that I can back up all the content including routes and scenery from “Trainz 2010”, along with music and pictures that I already have on my computer. Not necessarily throwing all my work away but keeping a backup of all my stuff just in case all my files get lost or corrupt one day. I think it’s a good idea to have a big storage or back up closet because you never know when files and data would be corrupt. Once something is corrupt or lost, there is no repairing it or getting it back. Below, are two examples of Portable hard drives that are affordable and would probably be good for my purposes such as backing up “Windows 7”on my desktop and “Windows Vista” on my laptop along with “Windows 10”.
· Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Superspeed USB 3.0 Portable Hard disk Drive
· Western Digital My Passport Ultra 1TB Superspeed USB 3.0 Portable External Hard drive
Update #3) For improved airflow in the case, I would need to perform some cable management once the transferring over of components to the Corsair Obsidian 650D is complete.
Update #4) I have been thinking about putting a coating of Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste on my CPU for improved cooling from the heat sink because my pre-applied thermal paste that was already on the CPU fan is already 3 years old. Below are items I found to help keep the CPU cooler and in good condition
· Arctic Silver Thermal Remover
· Arctic Silver Thermal Surface Purifier
Update #5) I would like to purchase an aftermarket CPU cooler to mount above my CPU so that I can slightly overclock my AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor anywhere from 3.5Ghz - 4Ghz. My stock speed on the processor with the stock CPU cooler mounted above my CPU is 3.4Ghz. Below is a good affordable cooler that I found.
· Cooler Master Hyper212 Evo
Update #6) For Trainz A New Era, I was thinking about installing it on a 512GB SSD. The new simulator would be installed on the SSD and everything else such as the operating system, music and photos would be installed on the 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda hard drive that I already have.
Update #7) I was not really sure about this update because if I have Trainz installed on an SSD, then I should get high fps with no stuttering in “Trainz A New Era” with the GTX 570. Since I have a GTX 570 and a GTX 550Ti card in the Zalman Z9 case, the CPU fans spin faster and work harder in order to keep the computer running, so the PC is louder compared to when I was just using a single GTX 550Ti, especially when running programs like “Trainz 2010”. I read that the GTX 570 is a high performing card but it needs a good amount of wattage from the power supply causing it to easily get high temps when under load and stress. I am debating whether or not to take out the older GTX 550Ti and the GTX 570 and put in a single 7[SUP]th[/SUP] or 9[SUP]th[/SUP] generation card such as a single superclocked EVGA GTX 750Ti or an EVGA GTX 960 since they feature the Maxwell Architecture. From what I understand, the older 5th generation Nvidia cards use the Fermi architecture which is less efficient than Maxwell. The pros of buying a 7[SUP]th[/SUP] or 9[SUP]th[/SUP] generation Nvidia graphics card would be that I am a little more current than before since Maxwell is the newest architecture by Nvidia. If I went with the EVGA 2GB GTX 750Ti superclocked card or the EVGA GTX 960, that would mean that I would be able to use more high resolution textures longer than the GTX 550Ti and GTX 570 because they only have 1-1.2GB Vram. The con to purchasing the GTX 750Ti, is it would probably be a step down in terms of performance from the GTX 570 card but it would offer similar performance to a 550Ti. Can I please get some suggestions with the GPU? I don’t know if it is really worth it to add a new GPU because the GTX 570 and GTX 550Ti perform well, and if I manage the cables well in my case and if Trainz is installed on an SSD, then I should get no stutter in TANE and the cards should be able to run cooler. If I stick with the Zalman Z9 case, then I would probably remove the GTX 550Ti card and just run off of the GTX 570 card for improved airflow since both of them combined take up a lot of room, keeping the 550Ti as a backup just in case anything happens to the GTX 570