Build Help - Upgrade existing rig or buy completely new? (Gaming)

[Velsu]

First of all hello, i am new here. Had no idea linus has boards so from youtube i moved here looking for an advice.

 

As i just saw the sticky i am updating my post, sorry for beign a moron and posting before reading.

 

1. Budget & Location

No real budget, but i do not want to throw money away as well. Prefer to buy high end components but with "head" and not overspend on something i won't need. Location is Poland in Europe but please use US$ if that makes it easier for You. Let's say i want to spend 1500$-2000$ MAX without the GPU.

2. Aim

Gaming in 1440p and 4k on 144hz Monitor. Demanding games like MMORPG or CPU intensive like Football Manager. Also coding and rarely streaming or Adobe Photoshop.

3. Monitors

For now one but that might increase in future. Atm running 1440p 144hz G-sync monitor, planning to upgrade to 4k ultra wide soon.

4. Peripherals

Mechanical Keyboard for gaming and typing would be great, especially brown Cherry.

5. Why are you upgrading?

My CPU is bottlenecking the GPU and performance in games is not as i would expected. Also it seems my CPU is acting weird lately by going to stupid % usage on simple applications like Steam or Hearthstone (sometimes 90%). It is 8 year old rig so to optimize it for my GPU and Monitor upgrade is necessary.

 

I am considering an upgrade OR buying brand new PC (except some parts) as my rig is over 8 years old and i want to fully get exposed to playing in 144hz and 1440p (and might upgrade monitor in the future to 4k)

My current setup:

Mobo: Sabertooth Z77
Cpu: Intel i5 3570k
Ram: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8gb
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooler: Noctua DH14
Soundcard: Creative Titanium HD
GPU: RTX 2070
SSD: 2x SSD (samsung evo 256gb for windows and crucial m2 1tb for games)
HDD: 4 additional drives for data storage (some are old but should still be able to connect them to new mobo)
Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
Monitor: Acer XB270HU 144hz 1440p G-Sync

 

At first i considered to just replace mobo + cpu + ram. But then i started thinking that my PSU is already 8 year old and i am a little worried it might stop working in close future, same for cooler, like how viable it if after 8 long years?

 

Would You say i should make a clean build and replace everything (including cooler) except the GPU, soundcard and hard drives or i should try to just replace mobo, cpu and ram and go with existing parts? I need to add that while i love my case it would be nice to upgrade to something fresh and clean (unless this one is pretty good and throwing it away would be a waste).

 

I am aiming towards gaming mostly and intel CPU's. At the moment i had this in focus:
Mobo: Aorus Master
CPU: Intel i7-9700K or i9-9900 (worth paying extra?)

No idea about other parts such as cooler, PSU, RAM, Case so i would be delighted if someone could give good suggestions. I am prepared to pay premium but i would prefer to not overspend if not necessary.

 

I would appreciate any help or feedback.

[Turtle Rig]

4 minutes ago, Velsu said:

First of all hello, i am new here. Had no idea linus has boards so from youtube i moved here looking for an advice.

 

I am considering an upgrade OR buying brand new PC (except some parts) as my rig is over 8 years old and i want to fully get exposed to playing in 144hz and 1440p (and might upgrade monitor in the future to 4k)

My current setup:

Mobo: Sabertooth Z77
Cpu: Intel i5 3570k
Ram: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8gb
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooler: Noctua DH14
Soundcard: Creative Titanium HD
GPU: RTX 2070
SSD: 2x SSD (samsung evo 256gb for windows and crucial m2 1tb for games)
HDD: 4 additional drives for data storage (some are old but should still be able to connect them to new mobo)
Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
Monitor: Acer XB270HU 144hz 1440p G-Sync

 

At first i considered to just replace mobo + cpu + ram. But then i started thinking that my PSU is already 8 year old and i am a little worried it might stop working in close future, same for cooler, like how viable it if after 8 long years?

 

Would You say i should make a clean build and replace everything (including cooler) except the GPU, soundcard and hard drives or i should try to just replace mobo, cpu and ram and go with existing parts? I need to add that while i love my case it would be nice to upgrade to something fresh and clean (unless this one is pretty good and throwing it away would be a waste).

 

I am aiming towards gaming mostly and intel CPU's. At the moment i had this in focus:
Mobo: Aorus Master
CPU: Intel i7-9700K or i9-9900 (worth paying extra?)

No idea about other parts such as cooler, PSU, RAM, Case so i would be delighted if someone could give good suggestions. I am prepared to pay premium but i would prefer to not overspend if not necessary.

 

I would appreciate any help or feedback.

Def I sugggest you upgrade RAM MOBO and CPU.  You have a great video card and you have SSD and a super great monitor.

 

What is your budget for these 3 items ?  As for PSU your Corsair has 10 year warranty I would keep it.  You looking to go AMD or Intel ?  What is your budget and what else do you do with the computer besides gaming?  Do you use HT apps like Adobe stuff or CAD or 3D Modeling or DAW ?  If so you will want a 8 core 16 thread CPU.  However if you don't use those apps we can get you a 8core 8 thread cpu and what not.

[star_pilot475]

8 minutes ago, Velsu said:

First of all hello, i am new here. Had no idea linus has boards so from youtube i moved here looking for an advice.

 

I am considering an upgrade OR buying brand new PC (except some parts) as my rig is over 8 years old and i want to fully get exposed to playing in 144hz and 1440p (and might upgrade monitor in the future to 4k)

My current setup:

Mobo: Sabertooth Z77
Cpu: Intel i5 3570k
Ram: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x8gb
PSU: Corsair AX850
Cooler: Noctua DH14
Soundcard: Creative Titanium HD
GPU: RTX 2070
SSD: 2x SSD (samsung evo 256gb for windows and crucial m2 1tb for games)
HDD: 4 additional drives for data storage (some are old but should still be able to connect them to new mobo)
Case: Corsair Obsidian 650D
Monitor: Acer XB270HU 144hz 1440p G-Sync

 

At first i considered to just replace mobo + cpu + ram. But then i started thinking that my PSU is already 8 year old and i am a little worried it might stop working in close future, same for cooler, like how viable it if after 8 long years?

 

Would You say i should make a clean build and replace everything (including cooler) except the GPU, soundcard and hard drives or i should try to just replace mobo, cpu and ram and go with existing parts? I need to add that while i love my case it would be nice to upgrade to something fresh and clean (unless this one is pretty good and throwing it away would be a waste).

 

I am aiming towards gaming mostly and intel CPU's. At the moment i had this in focus:
Mobo: Aorus Master
CPU: Intel i7-9700K or i9-9900 (worth paying extra?)

No idea about other parts such as cooler, PSU, RAM, Case so i would be delighted if someone could give good suggestions. I am prepared to pay premium but i would prefer to not overspend if not necessary.

 

I would appreciate any help or feedback.

Are you getting the kind of performance you want? What kind of budget are you looking at for an upgrade or the new build?

[Velsu]

12 minutes ago, Turtle Rig said:

Def I sugggest you upgrade RAM MOBO and CPU.  You have a great video card and you have SSD and a super great monitor.

 

What is your budget for these 3 items ?  As for PSU your Corsair has 10 year warranty I would keep it.  You looking to go AMD or Intel ?  What is your budget and what else do you do with the computer besides gaming?  Do you use HT apps like Adobe stuff or CAD or 3D Modeling or DAW ?  If so you will want a 8 core 16 thread CPU.  However if you don't use those apps we can get you a 8core 8 thread cpu and what not.

 

No budget, looking to get best possible performance for money but at the same time do not want to "throw them away" on things that are overkill or not necessary. As i mentioned in the thread i want to go Intel. I mainly do gaming, sometimes coding or running a server in the background. Maybe a little streaming. No CAD or modelling. Adobe Photoshop rarely.

11 minutes ago, star_pilot475 said:

Are you getting the kind of performance you want? What kind of budget are you looking at for an upgrade or the new build?

Nope thats why i need to upgrade CPU and to do that i need to change mobo and to do that i need to change RAM...and while i am at it i could literally replace all stuff. I do not have really a budget set i just want it to be comfortably running games at high resolution. I can spend as much as needed but at the same time i do not want to "overspend" on something i won't need if that makes sense.

 

 

Updated the main thread with all necessary info.

[Slayer3032]

14 minutes ago, Velsu said:

 

No budget, looking to get best possible performance for money but at the same time do not want to "throw them away" on things that are overkill or not necessary. As i mentioned in the thread i want to go Intel. I mainly do gaming, sometimes coding or running a server in the background. Maybe a little streaming. No CAD or modelling. Adobe Photoshop rarely.

Nope thats why i need to upgrade CPU and to do that i need to change mobo and to do that i need to change RAM...and while i am at it i could literally replace all stuff. I do not have really a budget set i just want it to be comfortably running games at high resolution. I can spend as much as needed but at the same time i do not want to "overspend" on something i won't need if that makes sense.

Since you insist on Intel and you mention doing things other than playing games, I would not recommend a cpu without hyperthreading so that basically leaves the 9900k as your only choice. The Ryzen 3700x/3900x would really be better choice though.

 

Your NH-D14 is still an amazing cooler, I'd buy a couple new NF-P14r's to go on it if the fans are older and starting to make some noise. You're going to spend at least $100 for a noticeable improvement in cooling. Just be aware of ram clearance issues with the 140mm fans, I would probably mock up with your current fans and see if you can fit the 140mm in both positions with your new hardware before you buy.

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-P14r-redux-1500-PWM-Performance/dp/B00KF7QO2G/

 

As far as a new PSU, I would suggest something at least full modular and 80+ Gold. With brand new high end hardware I wouldn't risk it when you could either toss it in a drawer for a backup/spare/parts tester or sell it while it's still a decent working psu.

 

I'd also grab an NVMe drive, 512gb drives are pretty cost effective and they're a decent bit quicker than your older sata drives.

[Velsu]

12 minutes ago, Slayer3032 said:

The Ryzen 3700x/3900x would really be better choice though.

 

As far as a new PSU, I would suggest something at least full modular and 80+ Gold. With brand new high end hardware I wouldn't risk it when you could either toss it in a drawer for a backup/spare/parts tester or sell it while it's still a decent working psu.

 

I'd also grab an NVMe drive, 512gb drives are pretty cost effective and they're a decent bit quicker than your older sata drives.

I tried AMD in the past but i had compatibility issues with games. As i understand things have vastly changed so i could maybe try to go the Ryzen way, but would You give some arguments why Ryzen 3700x/3900x would be a better choice? Just looked at some benchmarks and it seems Ryzen is few fps behind compared to i9 but i am probably missing something crucial there.

 

Thank You for the suggestions regarding the DH-14. I might either keep it and go with some NZXT Case or wanted to go with Lian Li PC-O11 case which i heard is geared mostly towards water cooling so i would need to to dish out some cash for Corsair 150hi (and i never installed water cooling so i am a little scared lol).

 

That might be a valid point regarding PSU. I feel a little bad to ditch it as it is working flawlessly so far but i would prefer to avoid any surprises. Any recommendations for PSU on Your side? Which models are safe bet and instant buy?

 

As for NVMe i was thinking if i will even spot a difference. I could invest in Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD as it is currently on sale in my country but i am not convinced yet.

 

And thank You so much for Your inputs i appreciate it!

[Turtle Rig]

10 minutes ago, Velsu said:

I tried AMD in the past but i had compatibility issues with games. As i understand things have vastly changed so i could maybe try to go the Ryzen way, but would You give some arguments why Ryzen 3700x/3900x would be a better choice? Just looked at some benchmarks and it seems Ryzen is few fps behind compared to i9 but i am probably missing something crucial there.

 

Thank You for the suggestions regarding the DH-14. I might either keep it and go with some NZXT Case or wanted to go with Lian Li PC-O11 case which i heard is geared mostly towards water cooling so i would need to to dish out some cash for Corsair 150hi (and i never installed water cooling so i am a little scared lol).

 

That might be a valid point regarding PSU. I feel a little bad to ditch it as it is working flawlessly so far but i would prefer to avoid any surprises. Any recommendations for PSU on Your side? Which models are safe bet and instant buy?

 

As for NVMe i was thinking if i will even spot a difference. I could invest in Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD as it is currently on sale in my country but i am not convinced yet.

 

And thank You so much for Your inputs i appreciate it!

If it must be intel and you need HT then 9900k.  I would personally go for Ryzen 3700 and 3900x if you can afford the 500 bones.  The 12 core 3900x destroys the 9900k.  But once again if you insist on Intel and use rich apps then grab what I said above.

[Slayer3032]

1 hour ago, Velsu said:

I tried AMD in the past but i had compatibility issues with games. As i understand things have vastly changed so i could maybe try to go the Ryzen way, but would You give some arguments why Ryzen 3700x/3900x would be a better choice? Just looked at some benchmarks and it seems Ryzen is few fps behind compared to i9 but i am probably missing something crucial there.

 

Thank You for the suggestions regarding the DH-14. I might either keep it and go with some NZXT Case or wanted to go with Lian Li PC-O11 case which i heard is geared mostly towards water cooling so i would need to to dish out some cash for Corsair 150hi (and i never installed water cooling so i am a little scared lol).

 

That might be a valid point regarding PSU. I feel a little bad to ditch it as it is working flawlessly so far but i would prefer to avoid any surprises. Any recommendations for PSU on Your side? Which models are safe bet and instant buy?

 

As for NVMe i was thinking if i will even spot a difference. I could invest in Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB M.2 NVMe SSD as it is currently on sale in my country but i am not convinced yet.

 

And thank You so much for Your inputs i appreciate it!

If you're talking about AMD Bulldozer/FX, those were pretty mediocre and weren't really comparable to Intel as an 8/6/4 core due to their architecture. Phenom II actually had better single threaded performance when overclocked. Phenom II also left out some instruction sets and features which had been standard on Intel cpus for a while as well which is rough since they're completely capable of still playing most of those newer games. Ryzen was proven and had the kinks worked out by the time 2nd gen launched. While there's been a few small issues with 3rd gen which is common with any new hardware launches, they're getting fixed with bios/firmware updates and most already have been. AMD has also been manufacturing cpus for the Xbox and Playstation this "current" generation and the upcoming generation will almost assuredly be Ryzen based.

 

The big thing with AMD right now is that Intel's cpus are extremely expensive to make and their manufacturing process is not efficient at all compared to Zen 2's 7nm. AMD is currently capable of offering similar performance with more cores and "hyperthreading" along with supporting overclocking on anything under the Ryzen line up all at a significantly lower price. X570 is also the first chipset with PCI-e 4.0 which honestly isn't all that important unless you are looking for 4gbps+ through a 4x m.2 slot, in the future this might be more important though.

 

Intel also refuses to give you more than 16 pci-e lanes on a consumer chipset, while this isn't an issue for most people. When newer technologies come out such as USB, Sata or even something we could never imagine currently, you won't ever be able to use it without significantly cutting into your available lanes. If you add a couple cards you're likely looking at 4x slots up and down the board. I'm still using an X58 board from 2010, for under $40 I was able to get a 128gb NVMe, an adapter card and a USB3 card with a front panel connector on it. This allowed me to recently upgrade to a 1TB NVMe, turn off my Sata entirely and use a Corsair 450D with the front panel USB 3.0. While the full read/write speed of my NVMe is definitely limited by my PCI-e 2.0, latency, random read/write and what not is still well within it's capability. Whenever I upgrade from X58 I can simply just slap it into my new setup without having to continue using Sata drives. Not to mention, the Sata 3 on this board is an addon and is generally slower than the Sata 2 from the chipset. All I have to do is plug in a Sata card and I can have modern Sata 3 and without having lanes taken away from the cards which desperately need them. I'm even booting to my NVMe without a UEFI bios, although via USB first.

 

Overall though, it really all depends what you expect out of your hardware, and how long you would hope it to last you. I'll say though that I never ever imagined this board to last me even half this long and X58 is a very very special niche case. There's nothing wrong with the Intel platform, I just don't think I would ever buy it new and anywhere near MSRP as it doesn't provide what I've come to expect from my hardware.

 

As far as PSU's, I'm really happy with my Seasonic Focus+ Gold's that I have. There's a lot of information against them now which wasn't available when I bought my 850w but I think anything in the Prime line up would be great. Corsair has some great offerings such as the RMx/RMi line ups as well as the HX. EVGA makes an insane amount of different models that are near impossible to keep track of what exactly each of them are. They definitely make some good ones, just be sure to research what exactly the model is that you're buying before you do.

 

For the NVMe itself, you can't beat Samsung in performance and reliability really. They're great drives. Their prices through are not very competitive as there's a lot of other drives which frequently go on sale for less than 2/3rds the price and often perform within single digit percentages of the Samsung drives. Reddit has a massive collection of NVMe buying information, if you're interested in that I think NewMaxx is the guy who you should lookup. I'm really happy with my XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB, it was a massive upgrade over my old Intel 535 240gb SSD from like 3-4 years ago. PCI-e 4.0 drives are an entirely different ball game though and I know nothing about them other than they're faster than PCI-e 3.0 can handle which if I recall the Samsung drives were just reaching that limit.

[Velsu]

@Slayer3032 WOW! Thank You so much for this write up, You must have spent a lot of time. Now i am leaning more towards Ryzen because those are great arguments. I was looking at Ryzen 3900x but it seems if i mostly focus on gaming 3700x will be better bang for the buck as it is almost 30-40% cheaper. I will need to find proper motherboard for this and some RAM and maybe give it a go, thank You :)