Upgrading my setup - opinions needed

Platoro · August 9, 2019

Hello, I am new to the forum, so I hope I am writing this in the right section.

I have a desktop computer that I have assembled myself years ago, and since then I have updated it many times.

I think it is time to iterate again.

My current setup

Here is a link to a pcpartpicker list

Trying to make a ASCII table (sorry for those reading this on a phone, or small device):

Spoiler

| Component   | Selection                              | Comment                 |
| ----------- | -------------------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| CPU         | Intel i5-8600k                         | with a basic over-clock |
| CPU cooler | Corsair H100i v2                       | front-mounted           |
| Motherboard | Asus Prime Z370-A                      |                         |
| Memory      | G.Skill Trident Z 16GB (2x8) - 3200MHz | XMP profile loaded      |
| Storage     | Samsung 970 Evo 500GB NVME (M.2)       |                         |
| GPU         | Asus Dual GTX 1060 3GB                 | lame, I know            |
| PSU         | OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro                | oldest component        |
| Case        | NZXT H500                              | full black color        |

1. Do you think there is any problem with this setup? (I think not, but I may have missed something)

The upgrade(s)

The current build fits all of my needs and I am happy with it, but I feel like blowing some money on it anyway.

Some info:

all prices in this post are taken on the same day as this post.
when I use the $ symbol, I mean US dollars
my location is Italy (currency is €). Unfortunately being in Europe means that every component cost more than the corresponding in areas like USA.
my main "store" of choice is amazon.it in case you want to look at prices and/or suggest something to me.
my setup is mainly black and white with some RGB, but i favor decent prices and good performance over flashy/RGB components

GPU

Primarily, I want to upgrade the GPU, the second oldest component in the build right now, a GTX 1060 3GB.

What I would like to do with the new GPU is:

decent gaming at 1440p (maybe at something more than 60Hz) when I upgrade my monitor accordingly (most probably to a double or triple monitor setup, but I will only game on one at a time, no mosaic or extended screen setup)
and, most importantly, some machine/deep learning specifically in NLP (natural language processing) (for those who care, I will use Python and PyTorch) which in case you do not know loves to hog your GPU. As far as i know, this is what I should be looking for:
- high memory bandwidth
- a reasonable amount of CUDA cores
- and lots of VRAM
the above reason basically blocks me from going red-team (AMD), as far as I know

Now, given that I have not won the lottery and I am not rich either (yet), I would like to spend the "right" amount.

Also by "doing" some deep learning, I mean that I will most probably work with small datasets for testing sake, and will probably move to "cloud" GPU clusters when needed. Still, as long as I can, I would like to stick to local resources.

My current choice is the RTX 2070 super, most probably a GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming OC (636€, ~713$) or an MSI GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING X TRIO (647€, ~725$).

2. Do you think it would be a good fit?

In any case I would like to spend no more than 700€ (~785$) (again, remember that prices in Europe are different from other areas, also within countries in EU, prices can change).

References:

GPU in deep learning: 1080Ti vs 2060
Some GPU info
and an article I cannot find discussing that, for machine learning beginners, the 2070 super has the best value/performance ratio

PSU

My current PSU is a OCZ 700W ModXStream Pro (here it is, in an amazon.com page, with details in the description) (here the manual).

Yes... a quite (very?) old PSU, given also that OCZ has died years ago.

This PSU has served me well for ~9 years and still works very well and never failed me.

(Just for some laughs: when I moved to the new case, a NZXT H500, with the PSU mounted to the bottom, I had to splice a little extension to the EPS cable in order to reach the connector on the top of MOBO. Do not worry, I know how to solder and the 8 cables have a protective sheath over the exposed parts)

3. Do you think it may be time to upgrade?

Right now I have my eyes on a Corsair RM750x (110€, ~123$), because if I want to upgrade, I would like a fully modular PSU.

4. Any other "better" choice?

The above pcpartpicker list estimates ~420W for power requirement (assuming I install a rtx 2070 super in the future). Also outervision says ~432W.

Fans

My case has four fans:

2x SP120L (stock fans with the AIO CPU cooler Corsair H100i v2) front-mounted (in-take)
2x Aer F120 (stock fans with the case) top and rear mounted (exhaust)

So, I actually do not think there is any reason to upgrade these, since they seem to be doing their job and every component reaches reasonable temperatures.

5. Is it worth to upgrade the fans?

In any case, fans have a "low" price, and I would not mind getting more quiet and "anti-vibration" fans. (Even if I always where headphones)

I was looking into NOCTUA's fans (the chromax.black.swap series to avoid the stock brown color).

In general i do not know much about the fans market, so I may need help with this.

6. Do you have any other suggestions?

Also note that the top fan can be upgraded to a 140mm fan in case.

References:

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my "long" post.

Please let me know your opinions.

Edited August 9, 2019 by Platoro
fix pcpartpicker link/content

brob · August 9, 2019

Is this the psu OCZ ModXStream Pro 700 W 80+?

If you don't want to post a pcpartpicker list you can post a rich text format table.

GPU upgrade makes sense.

A new, more modern psu would be a good investment. RMX (2018) is a good choice but check pricing on Seasonic Prime models as I've seen them very competitively priced recently. A 650W unit would do the job.

Platoro · August 9, 2019

11 minutes ago, brob said:

Is this the psu OCZ ModXStream Pro 700 W 80+?

If you don't want to post a pcpartpicker list you can post a rich text format table.

GPU upgrade makes sense.

A new, more modern psu would be a good investment. RMX (2018) is a good choice but check pricing on Seasonic Prime models as I've seen them very competitively priced recently. A 650W unit would do the job.