upgrade help

[thatguyjerry]

Hey guys,

 

I've got $150 USD, don't really know what to do with it because I have a lot of small things I could upgrade. I'm not really sure if I should just save it for an i5-4790k because we'll most likely see a new form fairly soon, and the g3258 gets me through most of what I need right now. I'm also not too worried about upgrading my GPU because my birthday is in april, and I don't have a problem with waiting until then. I don't think an AIO CPU cooler is really necessary for my needs because the hyper 212 evo kicks ass. Also, this isn't in my signature where my build is yet, but I got a Kingston 240 GB SSD so no need for that.

 

1. So, I could pick up another 24" 1080p IPS monitor to match the one I currently have; right now I have an old Phillips TV as my second monitor, and it's not the same size making it a bit of a nuisance.

 

2. Picking up another 8 GB stick of ram would certainly help, but then I'm not exactly sure where to spend the rest of the money (probably go to goodwill and pick up an office chair for something like $30).

 

3. Some Noctua fans would be fantastic, and now I have some cash to fully stock up my case with them. They seem amazing, but I dont know if the premium price is worth it.

 

4. Maybe some custom keycaps?

 

5. Could start working on some audio. I could probably find a nice 2.1 ch setup, or some nice AKG headphones then save the rest for a FiiO E10.

 

6. A better HDD? WD blue's a solid for a first time build, but not very optimal for RAID or anything else, so a WD black or red could improve my build for the future.

 

As you can see, I'm all over the place and don't really know what to do. Suggestions, comments, whatever you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of you on LTT!

 

 

[thekeemo]

3 monitors ftw

[AverageHardware]

^Right. It's SO NICE having more than one monitor so you can play games on one, and have all your other stuff open on the other.

RAM: If you REALLY need it, go for it.

Fans: Meh. If you're build is running fine temp wise now, don't waste your money.

Keycaps: Keycaps are cool if you want them. You could probably pick up the RAM + these for <150.

Sound: Up to you.

HDD: If you're mobo supports Sata 3, you could see a slight increase in performance if you went with a black.

[thatguyjerry]

3 monitors ftw

^Right. It's SO NICE having more than one monitor so you can play games on one, and have all your other stuff open on the other.

Just to be clear I wouldn't be running three monitors. I would take the TV out of my setup and try and repurpose it for something else.

 

 

RAM: If you REALLY need it, go for it.

Fans: Meh. If you're build is running fine temp wise now, don't waste your money.

Keycaps: Keycaps are cool if you want them. You could probably pick up the RAM + these for <150.

Sound: Up to you.

RAM wise I push my PC pretty hard, running upwards of 8-10 programs all the time, including Photoshop, Chrome with a ridiculous number of tabs, and some heavier programs like Premiere and AE. I've pretty much used 8 GB of ram my whole life, so I don't know what 16 GB feels like, need some help from LTT on that one.

 

My temps are fine for the most part, but when I fold overnight it can get up there. Under 80, but still pretty high. I feel like if I buy some nice Noctuas, say I got another 8 GB of ram and 4 Noctua fans (all I need for my pc), I wouldn't need to buy new fans for a very very very long time. Am I right in that assumption?

 

So, a revised list now (in no particular order):

 

1. 8 more gb of ram

2. 4 Noctua fans

3. Custom keycaps

4. AKG K240 headphones

 

I get to pick two of these, please help me out guys 

[Scarymonkeys]

Key caps and fans.

[AverageHardware]

Okay, based on what you run, you would definitely benefit from 8GB more RAM. Photoshop uses a lot alone, and I cant imagine what Premiere and AE use.

Open up Task Manager(Ctrl+Shift+Esc), and go to the performance tab and see how you're ram usage is during your normal use. If its always almost full, 16gb would help you.

Yes, you're right about the fans. Noctua fans will last forever. They have great build quality and reliability.

[thatguyjerry]

Okay, based on what you run, you would definitely benefit from 8GB more RAM. Photoshop uses a lot alone, and I cant imagine what Premiere and AE use.

Open up Task Manager(Ctrl+Shift+Esc), and go to the performance tab and see how you're ram usage is during your normal use. If its always almost full, 16gb would help you.

Yes, you're right about the fans. Noctua fans will last forever. They have great build quality and reliability.

Yeah I keep an eye on my processes most of the time on my second monitor, I'm pretty obsessive about knowing what my computer is doing all the time, making sure its running at max efficiency 24/7.

 

Thank you everyone for the responses!

[AverageHardware]

Yeah I keep an eye on my processes most of the time on my second monitor, I'm pretty obsessive about knowing what my computer is doing all the time, making sure its running at max efficiency 24/7.

 

Thank you everyone for the responses!

Haha, me too. I usually have Task Manger, Afterburner, and OpenHWMonitor open on my second screen!

I hope whatever you decide to do benefits you!