Gearing up! [Suggestions, Help]

YuriCastilho · August 7, 2016

Hello guys,

My uncle gave me his desktop after a (ultra) upgrade and it made me very interested in all topics, so I`m kinda new to all this stuff but I`ve been studying for over two months about computer specs in all ways.

I'm a geology student, almost finishing the course here in Brazil. My goal is to work with modelling process (FEM, and other algorithms), but I'm also a gamer.

So, I'm saving money for gearing up this desktop and I'd like so much if you guys could help me deciding what to buy.

My current status are:

Motherboard: Asus z87 Deluxe

Processor: Intel i5-4400

RAM: 2x 4GB DDR3 1333

GPU: none

Monitor: Samsung UHD 28"

Storage: 1TB hard drive

Power Supply: can't remember and I'm not home right now =(

I'm thinking of upgrading the following in a shor time:

RAM: 2x 8GB DDR3 1866 HyperX
GPU: Zotac GTX 1070 AMP Extreme

Storage: 240GB SSD uv400

The programs I (for now) are:
-GIS programs (ArcGIS, QGIS);

-CorelDraw/Photoshop/Lightroom

-Other modelling/imagery programs

The main game I play is WoW, and soon want to play others like Crysis, BattleField, etc.

What you think of those specs? What to change, and why?

In one year from now I think of upgrading motherboard / processor and of course RAM.

Could I build one desktop that matches the necessities that I have (and want), like 4k gaming and geoprocessing and geomodeling of data?

Just for saying, I'm a huge fan of LinusTechTips and would like to thank for the knowledge you guys pass over the years and for everyone that helps making it better.

Thank you so much,

Yuri Castilho.

Bananasplit_00 · August 7, 2016

not sure about that CPU for 4K gaming but it might be fine, other then that everything is good here, you chose good parts to upgrade to, i would also take a look at upgrading that PSU if you are putting a GPU in it, maby something like a 550W one would do you nicely

Quaker · August 7, 2016

Since you are into GIS, modelling, etc, you're going to want an i7 quad-core, or even a 6 or 8-core processor at some point. So, in a year from now you'll want to look into the latest Skylake CPUs, or their successors, or perhaps an Intel socket 2011 "E" processor, or possibly an AMD Zen. That would be decided later.

Meanwhile, those new CPUs will require DDR4 RAM, so don't invest too much in DDR3 RAM now.

Since your current motherboard has 4 RAM slots, I'd suggest you just add 2x4Gigs of DDR3-1333. The money saved could be used to get a 500Gig SSD instead of a 250Gig (not that there's anything wrong with 250Gig).

Perhaps, without waiting a year, you could try to find a used i7-4770 or 4790 (K, or not) to use with your current motherboard. The extra threads would help with the GIS, modelling, etc.

Other than that, things look good. But check to see that the PSU is a good 80+ rated unit around 500watts or more. (You'll want that for use with a GTX-1070)