Improve current rig? Or build new?

[wisedrgn]

Long time lurker first time poster... I am not the worlds greatest PC enthusiast. I like to think i do okay with general understanding of the PC and its components, but i am no Mastermind.

I have a rig I built back in 2014/2015 and it has served me well. I built it while i was still in college and was very budget conscious. But I believe it is high time I look into some upgrades for general all around improvement. 

 

I did not know what info to include. So I ran userbenchmark and hopefully that is enough information for you all. 

 

UserBenchmarks: Game 51%, Desk 91%, Work 61%
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K - 71.7%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 - 48.5%
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB - 110.4%
SSD: Intel 660p NVMe PCIe M.2 2TB - 169.6%
HDD: WD Blue 1TB (2012) - 78.4%
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2400 C11 2x8GB - 51.3%
MBD: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3
 

 

For clarification on what i am looking for improvement wise. 

- I currently run a 4 monitor setup. A bit of daytrading, some photo/video manipulation, general gaming. 1080p monitors with 60hz, dont have a 4k monitor, but can entertain the idea. 

- the 250gb SSD is my OS and critical apps. 1TB HD was my primary data drive, but recently got the 2TB SSD because a friend noticed a price mistake and I grabbed it, well worth the 80$. 

- Looking for improved gaming. I primarily play DOTA 2, They Are Billions, Cities Skylines, and the ANNO series. Would like to see less chugging along on Skylines and ANNO. 

 

 

In general my question: Is anything reusable? Or am i better to go out and build all new? could i resell this system? 

I entertained the idea of getting more ram. Tried DDR4 but found out the cpu im using doesn't support it. Again, not a mastermind. 

 

System still boots up in under 10secs, excel workbooks and the like run smoothly, and my very limited knowledge of Adobe Premiere allows me to edit simple training videos for my company and absolutely terrible vacation videos for my family and friends. 

 

I am always budget minded but in the case where i can probably get my company to pay for this, $2500USD. 

 

Any and all help appreciated. Thank you. 

 

[star_pilot475]

@wisedrgn Completely up to you, but maybe it’s time to upgrade. Your current i7 is still solid, but new stuff completely blows it out of the water. Here’s an example build of a pretty insane system under $2500 that you could upgrade to.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor	$499.99 @ Best Buy
CPU Cooler	be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$89.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI MPG X570 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard	$199.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$274.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card	$1198.99 @ Walmart
Case	Thermaltake Level 20 MT ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	EVGA 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$90.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2494.73
	Mail-in rebates	-$40.00
	Total	$2454.73
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-11 13:05 EDT-0400

 

[steelo]

44 minutes ago, wisedrgn said:

Long time lurker first time poster... I am not the worlds greatest PC enthusiast. I like to think i do okay with general understanding of the PC and its components, but i am no Mastermind.

I have a rig I built back in 2014/2015 and it has served me well. I built it while i was still in college and was very budget conscious. But I believe it is high time I look into some upgrades for general all around improvement. 

 

I did not know what info to include. So I ran userbenchmark and hopefully that is enough information for you all. 

 

UserBenchmarks: Game 51%, Desk 91%, Work 61%
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K - 71.7%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970 - 48.5%
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 250GB - 110.4%
SSD: Intel 660p NVMe PCIe M.2 2TB - 169.6%
HDD: WD Blue 1TB (2012) - 78.4%
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2400 C11 2x8GB - 51.3%
MBD: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3
 

 

For clarification on what i am looking for improvement wise. 

- I currently run a 4 monitor setup. A bit of daytrading, some photo/video manipulation, general gaming. 1080p monitors with 60hz, dont have a 4k monitor, but can entertain the idea. 

- the 250gb SSD is my OS and critical apps. 1TB HD was my primary data drive, but recently got the 2TB SSD because a friend noticed a price mistake and I grabbed it, well worth the 80$. 

- Looking for improved gaming. I primarily play DOTA 2, They Are Billions, Cities Skylines, and the ANNO series. Would like to see less chugging along on Skylines and ANNO. 

 

 

In general my question: Is anything reusable? Or am i better to go out and build all new? could i resell this system? 

I entertained the idea of getting more ram. Tried DDR4 but found out the cpu im using doesn't support it. Again, not a mastermind. 

 

System still boots up in under 10secs, excel workbooks and the like run smoothly, and my very limited knowledge of Adobe Premiere allows me to edit simple training videos for my company and absolutely terrible vacation videos for my family and friends. 

 

I am always budget minded but in the case where i can probably get my company to pay for this, $2500USD. 

 

Any and all help appreciated. Thank you. 

 

The specs aren't that bad. Maybe try a 1070 for gaming?

[BottomLack]

Man, for 2.5k you can get a completely new highend rig (depending on your location). However, I think that some of your components (your drives and presumably also your case) are pretty reuseable.

Thus the only components worth exchanging are your graphics card, CPU, Motherboard, RAM and PSU. I don't know about pricing in your region which is why I won't advise you to get some specific component names (e.g. instead of "MSI B450 Gaming Pro Carbon" I'll say "some high quality B450 board") but I think the following setup will serve you pretty well:

 

Motherboard: some high quality B450 or x470 board (150 - 250$)

-> Based on your input, I assume that you're not the kind of person who needs access to PCIe 4.

CPU: r7 3700X (300 - 350$; also includes a highly capable cooler)

-> Not quite but nearly as good as the i7 9700k in gaming, better in everything else. If u want a future-proof CPU and don't have to handle heavy workloads all day long this is the perfect choice IMHO.

RAM: any low latency 2x8GB (in case you want to upgrade to 4x8 later on) 3600MHz kit from a reputable brand (100 - 150$)

-> I'm certainly no expert on RAM but the mentioned specifications don't cost a fortune anymore so...  why not?

graphics card: 2080S or 2080Ti (700 - 2000$)

-> You're running multiple monitors but personally I wouldn't pay the 400$-ish nvidia tax to get the king of the hill (2080Ti) but then again doing so wouldn't be much of a problem with your kind of budget.

PSU: at least 750W, 80+ gold from a well known manufacturer (100 - 300$)

-> Don't hesitate to invest into a PSU that meets your system's premium-ness. Techtubers don't get tired of mentioning hiw important a good PSU is.

 

I hope this helps.