GPU/RAM/Cooler/Monitor Upgrades

[Allen]

Hi all,

In the process of moving about a year ago, my PC got rained on (don't ask.....). I took it apart, left the components in a warm airing cupboard for a few days and put it back together. I replaced the PSU as I wasn't risking it since most of the rain hit the back of the case and the bottom where the PSU was was in a little puddle. The GPU and CPU fans made odd noises whilst starting up for the first time but it worked OK and has lasted quite a while. However, things are going pretty bad mostly with the GPU and I want to replace it (artifacting, noises, slowness etc). Since I have a little spare cash I thought I'd go for something nice like a GTX 970 but I feel I'll need to upgrade everything else so as not to have a bottleneck. Also thinking about upgrading to Skylake as I still have a Sandy Bridge so hoping for a nice performance increase. Current build is:

MSI Z68A-GD55-B3
i5-2500K /w Corsair Air Series A50 (too big even for the Define R4)
Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz 9-9-9-24
128GB Samsung 830 SSD + 2x250GB (RAID 0)
Sapphire Dual-X R9 280 3G D5
XFX P1-650X-NLG9 XXX 650W Modular
Fractal Design Define R4
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
23" Dell U2311H

Proposed upgrades will be something like this:

MSI Z170A GAMING M5
i7-6700K (not sure which cooler)
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V
G.Skill TridentZ Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200

I think the new PSU should handle the increased load and the case seems to be unaffected by the water, could do with a clean but can be re-used. I need advise on which cooler to get (happy with air due to water cooler costs).

I still need to get a new monitor, thinking at least 24" with at least 1080p, 144Hz possibly, low response and all other good gubbins for a gaming monitor, would prefer something under £250 though. Storage will be upgraded later as I am constantly running out of room and would like a larger SSD for running some games.

Any thoughts, advise or suggested changes?

Cheers in advance!

[MrJim]

I doubt your i5 2500K at 4.3Ghz would bottleneck your performance - if it's just your graphics card that's giving you problems, I'd probably just replace it & keep the rest of your system. I've got the MSI 970 4G graphics card myself, & although it gets a little bit noisy under load, I've been very happy with it.

[shaithis]

Ditto, I wouldn't bother upgrading a 2500k for a 970. Maybe if you went SLI 970...but not for a single card.

[Allen]

To be honest, I think it's running at stock 3.3GHz at the moment. I have a massive cooler on it, but it's too big for the case and I never got around to replacing it, so I have to slide half of the side off, therefore I dropped the clock. I should probably try and O/C it again...

With regards to not upgrading everything else, it just feels like a good time to do it for me. The money is there, I want more RAM and DDR4 isn't that much more expensive than DDR3, and I am looking at an M.2 SSD which my current mobo can't utilise. Would be nice to run current gen equipment for once, rather than always buying one generation behind.

[MrJim]

To be honest, I think it's running at stock 3.3GHz at the moment. I have a massive cooler on it, but it's too big for the case and I never got around to replacing it, so I have to slide half of the side off, therefore I dropped the clock. I should probably try and O/C it again...

I had a look at the Corsair A50, & it didn't look all that big by air cooler standards. I have the Thermalright Macho cooler in my system, & it's about twice the size of the Corsair

Fair enough if you've got the upgrade bug...I know the feeling well!

[shaithis]

To be honest, I think it's running at stock 3.3GHz at the moment. I have a massive cooler on it, but it's too big for the case and I never got around to replacing it, so I have to slide half of the side off, therefore I dropped the clock. I should probably try and O/C it again...

With regards to not upgrading everything else, it just feels like a good time to do it for me. The money is there, I want more RAM and DDR4 isn't that much more expensive than DDR3, and I am looking at an M.2 SSD which my current mobo can't utilise. Would be nice to run current gen equipment for once, rather than always buying one generation behind.

Fair enough but it seems like a lot of money for very little.

Will you ever tell the difference between a SATA3 and a M.2 SSD? Will you be able to tell the difference in games between a SB and a SL CPU? Regardless of how old the components are, if there has been very little progress, is it worth it?


An AIO cooler, some RAM and a GPU and your system is singing again, a darn sight cheaper then the £700+ upgrade that won't give you any higher framerates.

[Allen]

I had a look at the Corsair A50, & it didn't look all that big by air cooler standards. I have the Thermalright Macho cooler in my system, & it's about twice the size of the Corsair

It just ridiculously tall. The Define R4 isn't a small case, and the side won't close with it installed.

[Allen]

Fair enough but it seems like a lot of money for very little.

Will you ever tell the difference between a SATA3 and a M.2 SSD? Will you be able to tell the difference in games between a SB and a SL CPU? Regardless of how old the components are, if there has been very little progress, is it worth it?

Probably not, but the parts look so sexxeh!

An AIO cooler, some RAM and a GPU and your system is singing again, a darn sight cheaper then the £700+ upgrade that won't give you any higher framerates.

OK, get a banging GPU and pimp out the rest with more RAM and an AiO watercooler. Any suggestions?

[DanceswithUnix]

New fan for the GPU, and wait for the new HBM stuff in Spring?

[EndlessWaves]

OK, get a banging GPU and pimp out the rest with more RAM and an AiO watercooler. Any suggestions?

Closed loop coolers are more of a waste of money than Skylake CPUs.

£250 is pretty optimistic for a monitor. Assuming you want something with a variable refresh rate (which you definitely do) then you're looking at £350+ to get something comparable to your U2311H. Closer to £500 if you want to go nVidia for other reasons and have to pay the hefty G-sync premium.

[Allen]

Closed loop coolers are more of a waste of money than Skylake CPUs.

How comes? They seem to be quite recommended by most people?

£250 is pretty optimistic for a monitor. Assuming you want something with a variable refresh rate (which you definitely do) then you're looking at £350+ to get something comparable to your U2311H. Closer to £500 if you want to go nVidia for other reasons and have to pay the hefty G-sync premium.

My U2311H cost £180 a few years ago (23", IPS panel, no apparent ghosting or dead pixels, great picture TBH), how can a 24" slight upgrade cost over double that a few years later?

[kalniel]

My U2311H cost £180 a few years ago (23", IPS panel, no apparent ghosting or dead pixels, great picture TBH), how can a 24" slight upgrade cost over double that a few years later?

When it came out the U2311H was significantly more (nearly £400), it only got discounted later.

See http://www.alphr.com/dell/dell-ultra...-u2311h-review for eg.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Keep your CPU IMHO. Your R9 280 does not support Freesync BTW. Also most of the Freesync monitors are orientated towards gaming and hence tend to use TN panels and the gaming monitors with high refresh rate TN panels tended to be £200+ and this is why this one is actually not too bad for the money:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/24-ao...hdmi-dvi-d-sub

[Allen]

I was trying to steer clear of FreeSync/G-Sync, I didn't like the idea of being tied down to one manufacturer. However, after quite a bit of reading on AnandTech and Ars Technica I now believe that there is justification in getting one of them, and of the two I am pushed towards FreeSync. Cost is obviously the biggest factor here.

With that in mind, and based upon the replies above, what do you think about these upgrades:

R9 390X Gaming 8G
Asus MG278Q
G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133
Corsair H100i GTX

Gonna get some replacement fans for the Define R4 to sort out the fan noise and airflow, probably some Noctua NF-A14's at the front and back, and push the CPU and RAM up to as high as they can go. If the H100i GTX is too loud, then some NF-F12's should do as replacements. Without the Corsair A50 hitting the side fan I should be able to close the case and sort out airflow/pressure.

The monitor is slightly (!) more than I had anticipated, but I read an awesome review about it, looks really nice even if you don't take FreeSync into account.

[Allen]

In addition, this will be my PC after these potential upgrades:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Yz9qTW

Slight compatibility issue according to PCPP, RAM needs 1.6V to run at 2133MHz/CL 9 when the max recommended for Sandy Bridge is 1.575V. Read that Sandy Bridge has been thoroughly tested at 1.65V though with no issues until going over 1.73V.

[kalniel]

In addition, this will be my PC after these potential upgrades:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/Yz9qTW

Slight compatibility issue according to PCPP, RAM needs 1.6V to run at 2133MHz/CL 9 when the max recommended for Sandy Bridge is 1.575V. Read that Sandy Bridge has been thoroughly tested at 1.65V though with no issues until going over 1.73V.

Try the mem at the lower volts first - DDR3 is so mature now a lot of it is better than rated. If not, then it might only take a very minor loosening of timings to work at your preferred speed - no impact in real world and preferable to highly overvolting the memcontroller.