GPU and CPU upgrade

[hawthorne]

I have:

 

Phenom II x6 1055

XFX 7950 (single fan) (hot and loud)

 

I want:

 

silence, power, parts worth water cooling in the future, and for my machine to be (very) future proof.

 

Thanks 

 

David

 

Edit: My mobo is an asus saber tooth 990fx

[Karumu]

R9 280x + FX-8350? what's you budget and what is your motherboard?

[hawthorne]

R9 280x + FX-8350? what's you budget and what is your motherboard?

I was looking at those both, i have a asus saber tooth 990fx

[dragosudeki]

Probably an 290(x)/780(ti) would be a better upgrade since the jump to 280x won't be worth it. CPU depends on you, Not too sure about what the upgrade for the socket of that AMD CPU is.

[hawthorne]

Probably an 290(x)/780(ti) would be a better upgrade since the jump to 280x won't be worth it. CPU depends on you, Not too sure about what the upgrade for the socket of that AMD CPU is.

Not planning on changing socket or mobo. 280x benchmarks looks good though and would be extremely good at 1080p where 780 ti would be complete overkill

[dragosudeki]

Not planning on changing socket or mobo. 280x benchmarks looks good though and would be extremely good at 1080p where 780 ti would be complete overkill

As I said, the jump from a 7950 to a 280x won't be a big jump and isn't the most smart thing to do with your money. You also asked for future proof.

EDIT: If you can get quite a bit of money from your 7950, then it may be worth it.

[hawthorne]

As I said, the jump from a 7950 to a 280x won't be a big jump and isn't the most smart thing to do with your money. You also asked for future proof.

EDIT: If you can get quite a bit of money from your 7950, then it may be worth it.

I could sell my current card, that is an option. I was also looking at the wind force r9 290 as well.

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

I could sell my current card, that is an option. I was also looking at the wind force r9 290 as well.

good idea ,a sapphire or a windforce R9-290 wood be a great choice as long as you avoid the reference

[hawthorne]

good idea ,a sapphire or a windforce R9-290 wood be a great choice as long as you avoid the reference

Thanks for the advice. would defiantly need to google the db rating before making my decision. 

[LawrenceBarnes2013]

Thanks for the advice. would defiantly need to google the db rating before making my decision. 

glad to help ,an Asus 290 with a DirectCU cooler would be great because they make some very quiet Cooler indeed ,an Msi Gaming Edition also has got a very quiet and efficient Twin Frozr IV Cooler ,( forgot about thees two in my original Post)

[VulsaviiK]

I want:

 

silence, power, parts worth water cooling in the future, and for my machine to be (very) future proof.

On the concept of futureproofing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4ip08auGg. Linus did this when it was still NCIX tech tips. Essentially if you're spending money, it should be for the experience you want now, today...

Things that are futureproof - Case, Power Supply (To a lesser extent, if you overspend you can re-use it later), and cooling. That's basically it.

 

Parts worth water-cooling, well that depends, why do you want to water-cool it. Silence, overclocking, both? If you want it to be silent, now, before you watercool it, are you prepared to pay the premium for an aftermarket cooler to give you that silence, today? MSI cards are great for silence, however, unless it's an R9 290X Lightning or GTX 780 Lightning, good luck finding a waterblock for it. Or, you buy an Asus card now, but limit yourself in terms of available waterblocks later.

 

CPU, well, that depends on what you perceive to be worth watercooling. Personally on a gaming oriented rig, I'd see no issue running a custom watercooling loop incorporating an Intel Core i5-4670K. Others, may not agree and would say for what it's worth, just get an AIO liquid cooler. So what do you define as "Worth watercooling".

 

Also, what budget do you have to work with, that's something else you need to factor in, because power, silence, and "water-cooling-worthiness", all come at a premium. What are your expectations for this machine, are you gaming or do you do more workstation oriented things.

 

So, recommendations - An AMD FX, something something, I don't keep up to date on AMD stuff because, well, screw the red team. GPU, I personally stand by the GTX 770 onwards, or an R9 280 onwards. Reference cards may not give you the performance and silence you want now, but will be easier to watercool to give you that later. I mean, you could buy an ASUS card and EK has waterblocks for most of their stuff around/beyond those cards.