Upgrade or New Build

[Doublemeter2m]

Hi Guys

 

I want to get some advice from the pros here

 

I did a build roughly 5 years ago with following specs

i7 6700k

gigabyte gtx 980ti xtreme

16gb of ram (corsair vengence (dont know clock speed but 2 sticks)

an asus z170-a

800 watt power supply

500gb samsung evo ssd

and a 2 tb wd black hdd

with a crosair h110

 

would you upgrade singular components, do you think the gpu is still enough in comparison to the new rtx 270 super etc

should I go for amd or intel?

 

I am a bit out of the building scene and dont know what is up to date atm. I would also like to go with a custom soft tube watercooling

 

[Epimetheus]

in my opinion the system is still pretty solid, especially the 980 ti is still a 1070-level card. If you need more performance maybe, but i'd upgrade the CPU too in that case. I think it's still not bad though

[Doublemeter2m]

5 minutes ago, Epimetheus said:

in my opinion the system is still pretty solid, especially the 980 ti is still a 1070-level card. If you need more performance maybe, but i'd upgrade the CPU too in that case. I think it's still not bad though

cheers man, but if i update the cpu id update the mother board and in that case id do a full upgrade. I could also just take the challenge on and do a full tubing watercooling. would be a fun project. 

[berberries]

IMO the 6700k is still a solid platform, shouldn’t be an issue even with a 2080 maybe even a Ti

[Doublemeter2m]

1 minute ago, berwynhan said:

IMO the 6700k is still a solid platform, shouldn’t be an issue even with a 2080 maybe even a Ti

so if I understand you would just suggesta gpu upgrade

 

[berberries]

Just now, Doublemeter2m said:

so if I understand you would just suggesta gpu upgrade

 

Yup, just a gpu upgrade should be good

[Zando_]

What games do you play, and at what res? With an OC the CPU is fine for most games and the 980 Ti is 1070 level, you can push 1440p60 or 1080p144 still in a lot of titles. If you just want to upgrade for fun, again what games do you play at what res, and what's your budget? 

[Doublemeter2m]

I mean the main game I play doesnt need a lot of power. CSGO. However I like to casually play games such as gta 5, witcher 3, metro exodus, and looking forward to cyberpunk 2077. I like to play on ultra. Maybe I als just want a challenge. I could go for a watercooling of my components. But it would mainly be an upgrade for fun and budget would be roughly 2k usd

[Doublemeter2m]

3 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

What games do you play, and at what res? With an OC the CPU is fine for most games and the 980 Ti is 1070 level, you can push 1440p60 or 1080p144 still in a lot of titles. If you just want to upgrade for fun, again what games do you play at what res, and what's your budget? 

I mean the main game I play doesnt need a lot of power. CSGO. However I like to casually play games such as gta 5, witcher 3, metro exodus, and looking forward to cyberpunk 2077. I like to play on ultra. Maybe I als just want a challenge. I could go for a watercooling of my components. But it would mainly be an upgrade for fun and budget would be roughly 2k usd

[Stormseeker9]

4 minutes ago, Doublemeter2m said:

I mean the main game I play doesnt need a lot of power. CSGO. However I like to casually play games such as gta 5, witcher 3, metro exodus, and looking forward to cyberpunk 2077. I like to play on ultra. Maybe I als just want a challenge. I could go for a watercooling of my components. But it would mainly be an upgrade for fun and budget would be roughly 2k usd

Well if you have 2k I’d suggest going the new ryzen 3000 route

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Doublemeter2m said:

I mean the main game I play doesnt need a lot of power. CSGO. However I like to casually play games such as gta 5, witcher 3, metro exodus, and looking forward to cyberpunk 2077. I like to play on ultra. Maybe I als just want a challenge. I could go for a watercooling of my components. But it would mainly be an upgrade for fun and budget would be roughly 2k usd

Ah yeah, CS:GO runs fine on a tater tot, Witcher 3 is uh... it's a lot beefier for sure. That and CP2077 will be the beefiest games on that list graphics wise, IIRC GTA V pushes systems really hard too. Also what kind of watercooling would you go for? It gets pretty expensive fast, is around $500-700 for a full custom loop if you're buying bigger brand stuff, less if you go used and shop around. 

 

[Doublemeter2m]

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

Ah yeah, CS:GO runs fine on a tater tot, Witcher 3 is uh... it's a lot beefier for sure. That and CP2077 will be the beefiest games on that list graphics wise, IIRC GTA V pushes systems really hard too. Also what kind of watercooling would you go for? It gets pretty expensive fast, is around $500-700 for a full custom loop if you're buying bigger brand stuff, less if you go used and shop around. 

 

id go with an ek waterblocks kit. i am putting one together right now and post it here in a bit.

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Doublemeter2m said:

id go with an ek waterblocks kit. i am putting one together right now and post it here in a bit.

The aluminum kits or a custom list of the nicer stuff? Tag me when you post it so I can take a look-see. Wouldn't recommend sticking with a single brand for watercooling though. I have a... GTS rad or something, I forget the company (was the one that fit my needs best), EK pump/res combo and tubing, some EK fittings, some alphacool fittings, and Watercool's excellent Heatkiller IV CPU block (did have their Vega block for my GPU but I traded that away and the block went with it). Find the stuff that fits the look and case you're going for (LianLi's O11 cases look awesome, are built for watercooling, and IIRC EK makes a distribution block to replace the front glass panel, making it incredibly easy to run super clean lines), not stuff from a single brand. Performance PCs (https://www.performance-pcs.com) is a great place to shop cause they usually have a big selection (sometimes stuff is out of stock there but in stock elsewhere though) and usually good prices. 

[Doublemeter2m]

2 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

The aluminum kits or a custom list of the nicer stuff? Tag me when you post it so I can take a look-see. Wouldn't recommend sticking with a single brand for watercooling though. I have a... GTS rad or something, I forget the company (was the one that fit my needs best), EK pump/res combo and tubing, some EK fittings, some alphacool fittings, and Watercool's excellent Heatkiller IV CPU block (did have their Vega block for my GPU but I traded that away and the block went with it). Find the stuff that fits the look and case you're going for (LianLi's O11 cases look awesome, are built for watercooling, and IIRC EK makes a distribution block to replace the front glass panel, making it incredibly easy to run super clean lines), not stuff from a single brand. Performance PCs (https://www.performance-pcs.com) is a great place to shop cause they usually have a big selection (sometimes stuff is out of stock there but in stock elsewhere though) and usually good prices. 

wouldve gone with this here. 

https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/shared/oW5d37646ccc838

 

I would like to do hard tubing but have never done custom watercooling before. You think I should go for it?

[Doublemeter2m]

1 minute ago, Doublemeter2m said:

wouldve gone with this here. 

https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/shared/oW5d37646ccc838

 

I would like to do hard tubing but have never done custom watercooling before. You think I should go for it?

the lianli case look siiick

[Zando_]

8 minutes ago, Doublemeter2m said:

wouldve gone with this here. 

https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/shared/oW5d37646ccc838

 

I would like to do hard tubing but have never done custom watercooling before. You think I should go for it?

Why are there two CPU blocks? Also you can save a bit going with different companies like I said before. I got my 360mm slim rad for $60 or so IIRC, a bit less than the $75 EK wants for one. If you're up for the challenge hard tubing looks amazing, but you'll need a bend kit, compression fittings (more expensive than barb fittings + black zip ties and a special cutter that snips the ends flush and makes it look really nice), and about 2-3x more tubing than you think, depending on how much you mess up trying to bend it and whether you'll accept slightly derped bends or not. It's a good challenge though, I've done 2 full soft loops and one CPU only hard loop. 

 

Also very important tip: Don't forget to add a drain of some sort somewhere. If you can't drain your loop easily, maintenance will be really messy, annoying, and possibly a risk to your hardware. You'll want a drain plug of some sort at the lowest point in the loop. 

 

 

EDIT: here's the rad I have, it's $51, well made, and I've had 0 issues with it so far. Need to redo my loop and put it on my X99 rig instead of the X58 bench it's on currently tbh, but I've been thinking about a Zen 2 upgrade so IDK. 

https://www.performance-pcs.com/black-ice-nemesis-l-series-360-stealth-radiator.html

[Doublemeter2m]

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

Why are there two CPU blocks? Also you can save a bit going with different companies like I said before. I got my 360mm slim rad for $60 or so IIRC, a bit less than the $75 EK wants for one. If you're up for the challenge hard tubing looks amazing, but you'll need a bend kit, compression fittings (more expensive than barb fittings + black zip ties and a special cutter that snips the ends flush and makes it look really nice), and about 2-3x more tubing than you think, depending on how much you mess up trying to bend it and whether you'll accept slightly derped bends or not. It's a good challenge though, I've done 2 full soft loops and one CPU only hard loop. 

  

Also very important tip: Don't forget to add a drain of some sort somewhere. If you can't drain your loop easily, maintenance will be really messy, annoying, and possibly a risk to your hardware. You'll want a drain plug of some sort at the lowest point in the loop. 

oh yes completely forgot about the drain plug. good that you reminded me. Oh I think that is a gpu block. owever I want to get a fucll gpu block. I think Ill go for a hard tubing challenge. Do you think a 280 and 140 rad is enough? for gpu and cpu

[Zando_]

2 minutes ago, Doublemeter2m said:

oh yes completely forgot about the drain plug. good that you reminded me. Oh I think that is a gpu block. owever I want to get a fucll gpu block. I think Ill go for a hard tubing challenge. Do you think a 280 and 140 rad is enough? for gpu and cpu

A rig I built for a friend runs just a single 280mm slim rad for an R9 290X/390X (I always forget which it is) and 6700K, you should be fine. I personally like slim rads unless you need the absolute best cooling, you can run your fans at a lower rpm so the rig is quieter. Thicker rads need more static pressure and that's usually a combo of slightly louder fans and they need to be ran at a higher rpm. 

[Doublemeter2m]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

A rig I built for a friend runs just a single 280mm slim rad for an R9 290X/390X (I always forget which it is) and 6700K, you should be fine. I personally like slim rads unless you need the absolute best cooling, you can run your fans at a lower rpm so the rig is quieter. Thicker rads need more static pressure and that's usually a combo of slightly louder fans and they need to be ran at a higher rpm. 

thx man really appreciate your help. any online tools/configurators that help with putting together a loop?

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Doublemeter2m said:

thx man really appreciate your help. any online tools/configurators that help with putting together a loop?

Other than EK's, I don't really know of any. Just download a picture of the case you're using, slap it in MS paint, then sketch out a rough loop based off the hardware you're choosing and then post that and any juicy info in the watercooling section. Peeps can give you recommendations on cheaper or better hardware, airflow, the works. Helps to have a visualization too, if you wing it you'll be like me and realize you forgot any kind of draining mechanism and then have to wait for the hardware for that to ship and everything. 

[Doublemeter2m]

2 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Other than EK's, I don't really know of any. Just download a picture of the case you're using, slap it in MS paint, then sketch out a rough loop based off the hardware you're choosing and then post that and any juicy info in the watercooling section. Peeps can give you recommendations on cheaper or better hardware, airflow, the works. Helps to have a visualization too, if you wing it you'll be like me and realize you forgot any kind of draining mechanism and then have to wait for the hardware for that to ship and everything. 

hahaha yep ill do so. MY first pc build: finished the build. pc doesnt start... whats wrong. dang it forgot to order ram XD haha

[Zando_]

3 minutes ago, Doublemeter2m said:

hahaha yep ill do so. MY first pc build: finished the build. pc doesnt start... whats wrong. dang it forgot to order ram XD haha

On my first proper gaming PC (had tinkered with old core 2 era stuff before) I forgot to plug in the CPU power, lol. Freaked out cause I'd bought a 1050 Ti, new case, and a CX450M (still have that, hella solid PSU) for this build after scrounging up a pentium, motherboard, and some DDR3 from my dad's junk. It worked fine after I plugged it in though, still have the mobo somewhere but the dual core pentium was replaced with an i5 2400 later on. 

[Doublemeter2m]

9 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

On my first proper gaming PC (had tinkered with old core 2 era stuff before) I forgot to plug in the CPU power, lol. Freaked out cause I'd bought a 1050 Ti, new case, and a CX450M (still have that, hella solid PSU) for this build after scrounging up a pentium, motherboard, and some DDR3 from my dad's junk. It worked fine after I plugged it in though, still have the mobo somewhere but the dual core pentium was replaced with an i5 2400 later on. 

hahah those are the things you have to go through. I love to go through my tub of old hardware and sometimes through something together