My current build is in my signature and has encountered issues (posted a thread in Tech Support, hopefully someone has a solution) but it's got me thinking about whether or not I need to upgrade. The PC is 3 years old now and I feel that's usually the time one begins to consider upgrading their system(?) so here I am! If it is worth upgrading to begin with, what should I look at? Individual parts improved or just a completely new rig? Just for the usual gaming, animation (probably goes hand-in-hand with gaming I imagine), music production (my sound card probably still suffices) and of course all the usual movies + report writing a scientist does Also, importantly I want to do water cooling! I love DIY stuff and water cooling is just something to add to my "I've built something with this!!!" sort of thing. It looks awesome, it sounds awesome and.... well it is awesome Also... for some reason I have a MASSIVE crush on the Cooler Master Cosmos II. Just because it feels like if I buy that case, I'm set for a decade with more than enough room to do Water Cooling on a very large scale. Someone talk some sense into me?
I have a 2500K and a p67 sabertooth and see absolutely no reason to upgrade. The new cpu's are better but not enough to warrant a change for me. Your 650 and the 64gb ssd are the obvious targets for me.
I'm still running a 2500K and I have no problems at all. You probably don't need to upgrade, but then who has that ever stopped on bit-tech? (I am not going to convince you not to buy a COSMOS they look amazing!!)
I'd personally just watercool it; either you do a custom loop or just buy an all-in-one such as the Corsair H series, then overclock that 2500k! I'd also have to agree with CrapBag with upgrading the graphics card, and maybe a larger SSD. I've never ran out of space with my 128gb M4, but I don't install my games on it, and I don't have too many programs either. Other things to consider upgrading: Peripherals; monitor, keyboard, mouse, headphones, amp, dac, speakers, monitor stands, new desk, chair, etc. What resolution is your current monitor? Any particular games you have difficulty running on higher settings?
If you are eager to platform upgrade I would wait until 9 series motherboads are available which should be very soon. I think m2 ssd support at least is worth waiting for. Though overall performance wise I don't suspect there will be a vast improvement in real world usage over what you currently have for motherboard, cpu and ram. I would go for a bigger faster ssd, gtx770, and if you use the hdd for anything other than storage I would get something better than old slow Samsung.
No. But really it depends on your usage. Do you have any problems playing the games at the resolution / graphics level that you want? If not, then you're fine. Sounds like money is burning a hole in your pocket.
I don't envisage a quantum leap like the 2500k for a long time to be honest. If you have to spend money transplant it all into a different case and sort out your ssd and GPU.
Thanks for the advice. Any personal recommendations for the GPU and SSD department? They DO look amazing! The doors, size, handles... I want one Yeah, I use the 64GB one as Windows plus a few other things, but most of the stuff I use is over on the Samsung 1TB drive (games etc). My resolution is 1680x1050. And my system does struggle to run the latest Thief game on higher settings, have to tone down the resolution and details to make it run really smooth. Thanks for the advice. Do you have any immediate links to articles on the 9 series motherboards? I'm interested in the advance in technology. Same with the m2 SSDs. So you agree with previous mentions- bigger SSD, better GPU. And also more storage. That's a pretty solid idea I can agree with As said previously, I have problems with Thief. Can't run it on too high a setting (I think I use medium plus a lower resolution). I'm a Chemist. It's never money burning holes in my pocket
I recently purchased a 500gb Samsung 840 which might be a bit of a big jump for you so maybe a 256gb one, really makes a difference to loading times if you install your games on it. As for gpu as recommended earlier a 770 or maybe a 760 is your budget doesn't allow.
Instead of a platform upgrade, I'd go with a new monitor and gpu. Maybe one of the Dell 24inch IPS panels, coupled with something like a GTX 770. You can re-use your current monitor as a 2nd screen.
Have my 2500k with no intention to upgrade TBH I think the newer Intel CPU's are kind of a sidegrade more than upgrade. Gain a little performance and a lot more heat. (not good if you like a silent rig like me) I have my 2500k running at 4.1Ghz with stock voltage and its been solid like that for the past 2 years.
Good advice. Glancing at prices from amazon, the difference between the two GPUs is about £60. How much of a difference is there between the two and is it worth spending the extra bit in you opinion based on said difference? Thanks for the advice and recommendations! That sounds strange considering normally technology gets better as the progress rather than sidetrack with no improvement. I presume that there's virtually no significant difference gained from upgrading the CPU, which is handy to know (as in, you GET a bit of boost, but you get a lot more heat so the benefit is outweighed by the negatives). Do you water cool your CPU to get it overclocked that much? I'm completely new to OCing too, but mine is 3.33ghz stock, do you need a lot more cooling power to keep it decent at 4.1? I should look into OCing more to understand better Thanks! Good question. Any thoughts from others on this?
My spec is in the sig cooler is listed too With that cooler my core temps never go over 60 under load and idle at about 29. you should be able just to bump the multiplier to 40 =4Ghz without making other changes. I would give that a try first so how it runs how your temps change. BTW the newer chips are better and do give an improvement BUT not enough to warrant a full system upgrade for me. plus I am personally not happy with the way intel have changed things and made the newer chips hotter to save a few quid BUT don't even pass this saving on to the customer.
I ran an i5 2500K at 4.7GHz with 1.5 volts and it didn't go above 75c under Prime loading which was done on air cooling only. Obviously, it's not recommended to run that high of a voltage for 24/7 usage and most can do at least 4.5GHz on reasonable voltages. Start a thread or shoot me a PM if you want any help with overclocking.
If it helps you feel better about it, I'm still using an E8400 Like others have commented on, I'd definitely upgrade that GTX650 and get a 240GB SSD in there Budget permitting of course.
I believe my temps for my 2500k at 4.5ghz on 1.35 or 1.4 volts is something like 55-60 while gaming, probably closer to 65 when running prime95. Had to bump it up to 1.4 after like 2 years of having it at 1.35 and it started BSOD'ing on me. Using a H80 with noctua fans for cooling. My case though is a tad on the warm side, so if you have a case with better airflow and such, can expect better temperatures.
Thanks for your input Thanks! I'll definitely do both. Thanks for the input. Budget won't be a problem for just those 2 things I believe Thanks for the input
