Plan on upgrading my first build

[bak_yn]

Hello all! I built my first rig in November of last year and since there are new gpu's out and prices have went down on various parts, I was thinking about upgrading. The first thing upgrade i was thinking about is going from a 390x to a 1070 or 1080. If i did end up doing that, I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade my cpu or get a newer motherboard with more features? Also i was considering water cooling but have more research to do on that, as i don't really know the ins and outs. Any help and wisdom is appreciated.

 

Currently my rig consists of: 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $232.98) 
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (Purchased For $112.99) 
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (Purchased For $46.69) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $86.00) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $65.98) 
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8GB Video Card  (Purchased For $394.99) 
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $122.97) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $99.99) 
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  (Purchased For $20.49) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (Purchased For $93.91) 
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Red 66.4 CFM  140mm Fan  (Purchased For $15.26) 
Monitor: HP 25xw 25.0" 60Hz Monitor  (Purchased For $159.99) 
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (Purchased For $113.16) 
Mouse: Logitech G502 Wired Optical Mouse  (Purchased For $76.00) 
Total: $1641.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-03 22:03 EDT-0400

[HKZeroFive]

You'd fine with upgrading just the GPU and not having the switch out the CPU + mobo. I'd also add in another 8GB of RAM if possible.

 

After that, the next thing you should be looking at is a monitor upgrade.

[bak_yn]

Just now, HKZeroFive said:

You'd fine with upgrading just the GPU and not having the switch out the CPU + mobo. I'd also add in another 8GB of RAM if possible.

 

After that, the next thing you should be looking at is a monitor upgrade.

I was definitely thinking about more RAM. Actually, i just recently purchased that monitor haha. I chose that one because of the ips screen and the relatively low gtg response time. I know 60hz kinda sucks but i use the same monitor for my ps4 and it only supports up to 60hz, unless i am wrong.

[Energycore]

Things you can upgrade:

 

GPU, 1070 for $400

8GB RAM so you can keep all the tabs open!

The stock cooler, for something more silent / bettter looking

 

Also you can max out 1080p with a 390X, why upgrade?

 

Might as well get a 1440p or 144Hz display

 

But really your rig is close to as good as it gets

[comicsansms]

Honestly everything is just fine. You don't need to upgrade now, maybe upgrade when the new GPUs come out in 2017.

[Pauleh]

Don't bother with water. Xeons do not support overclocking, so there is really no need.

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, Pauleh said:

Don't bother with water. Xeons do not support overclocking, so there is really no need.

I agree, for anyone who doesn't need the cooling performance, AIOs are just noisier and less reliable

[Pauleh]

Add more RAM. Don't bother with switching your GPU out yet. Wait for things to come from red team. Even if you are a green fan, more powerful stuff from team red may bring down pricing and such. Also wait for more custom coolers to come out for the 10 series.

[bak_yn]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

Things you can upgrade:

 

GPU, 1070 for $400

8GB RAM so you can keep all the tabs open!

The stock cooler, for something more silent / bettter looking

 

Also you can max out 1080p with a 390X, why upgrade?

 

Might as well get a 1440p or 144Hz display

 

But really your rig is close to as good as it gets

Thanks for the suggestions. My 390x is actually the LE (lite edition) and it doesn't overclock very good to my knowledge. Honestly I'm kinda wanting to see what Nvidia has to offer with their cards and if so, i was going to go with the 1070.

[Energycore]

1 minute ago, bak_yn said:

Thanks for the suggestions. My 390x is actually the LE (lite edition) and it doesn't overclock very good to my knowledge. Honestly I'm kinda wanting to see what Nvidia has to offer with their cards and if so, i was going to go with the 1070.

The thing is, the difference between 60 and 80 fps isn't noticeable on a 60Hz monitor. Porhaps you should return this one and get a 1440p? It's worth it

[bak_yn]

1 minute ago, Energycore said:

The thing is, the difference between 60 and 80 fps isn't noticeable on a 60Hz monitor. Porhaps you should return this one and get a 1440p? It's worth it

I probaly will keep my current one for my ps4 and get a 1440p when i do finally decide to upgrade my gpu. As far as the water goes, i was going to water cool the gpu with something from ekwb. But like i said, i'm not sure how to set it all up yet.

[Pauleh]

I don't see a point in watercooling anything! No point whatsoever. If you had a overclockable CPU then I would say yes, add a gpu to the loop and get a watercooler, but there is literally no point for you to watercool whatsoever. Spend the money saved on a 1080 instead of a 1070. + Get a new monitor with better response time and 144hz and / or 1440P. There is literally no point in upgrading a GPU if you don't see any of the benefits. Upgrading your system is 100% pointless at this point in time,unless you get a new monitor or a CPU that's worth watercooling, The gains you get from overclocking a GPU are very minimal at best, within a couple FPS of the non overclocked. IF you were on a budget, I would say yes, get a GPU that's a good overclocker for the best bang for your buck, but no, YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD GPU and obviously quite a bit of $ if you're willing to upgrade something that you won't benefit from,

[bak_yn]

1 minute ago, Pauleh said:

I don't see a point in watercooling anything! No point whatsoever. If you had a overclockable CPU then I would say yes, add a gpu to the loop and get a watercooler, but there is literally no point for you to watercool whatsoever. Spend the money saved on a 1080 instead of a 1070. + Get a new monitor with better response time and 144hz and / or 1440P. There is literally no point in upgrading a GPU if you don't see any of the benefits. Upgrading your system is 100% pointless at this point in time,unless you get a new monitor or a CPU that's worth watercooling, The gains you get from overclocking a GPU are very minimal at best, within a couple FPS of the non overclocked. IF you were on a budget, I would say yes, get a GPU that's a good overclocker for the best bang for your buck, but no, YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD GPU and obviously quite a bit of $ if you're willing to upgrade something that you won't benefit from,

okay deal  I'll just slap some more fans in my case then!