Requesting Upgrade Advice - Please :)

[Mallee]

I'm noticing that I'm holding off playing games due to frame rate issues.

So I'm upgrading in march,

 

Current PC.  (some parts survive from previous builds)

 

CASE:    Coolermaster ATCS840

PSU:      Antec Signature 850W

MB:        ASUS Maximus VII Formula (socket 1150)

CPU:      Intel Core i7 4790K

Ram:     Mushkin Redline DDR3 16GB kit 4x4GB (994083F)

GPUx2: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X OC 4GB

HD:        OCZ RevoDrive 350 960GB SSD

Monitor: Samsung S34E790C 34in Ultrawide  (I'll probably get a 4k screen in the next 12 months.)

 

The CPU and GPU are custom water cooled, I'll do this to any new parts I buy too.  

CPU Cooler:      EK Supremacy CPU Waterblock Acetal Nickel)

GPU Coolers:    Aquacomputer - kryographics Hawaii for Radeon R9 290X

Radiator:           360x120

Pump:                Swiftech MCP35x

 

The case and psu are the oldest components. The PSU is still working fine, (though I'm having issues OCing further due to total power draw of my components, and a modular cable config would be nice) but it's time to lose the case.

I'm looking to upgrade around Mid March, when I should be in the US, 

My primary use is gaming, and WiFi is a must have.

Budget is ~1.5-2k USD,  (self imposed)

I want a single card, rather than 2 (or more) in SLI/crossfire. 

I'm looking at the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX for the new case currently, and I'll be moving from soft to hard tubing in my cooling solution.

 

I think I'm going to need a new MB/CPU/RAM combo, with a new GPU, however I'll be happy to just upgrade the GPU if it was going to get me significant gains.

 

So..

Any advice on how to proceed from here?

Should I hold off and wait for later in the year? 

Are the AMD GPU/CPU upgrades likely to be on the market by March? 

Is it likely that a 1080ti will be available around then?  

Yeah I know... how long is a piece of string?... best guesses are fine...

 

Thanks for reading this far

 

[Droidbot]

I'd say: 

Evolv ATX is a good case.

GTX 1080 / TI. TI is coming soon, so hold your horses if you want more HP. (Get an EVGA or MSI Gaming X, they're IMO the best cards. Strix is just crap.)

Do not go for a new CPU/RAM. Devil's Canyon performs nearly at Skylake/Kaby Lake level so you won't see any significant gains.

PSU Recommendations: EVGA G2, GS, etc, but not the B/G1, and Seasonic PSUs kick total ass. 

 

 

[HeavyFtw]

38 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

I'd say: 

Evolv ATX is a good case.

GTX 1080 / TI. TI is coming soon, so hold your horses if you want more HP. (Get an EVGA or MSI Gaming X, they're IMO the best cards. Strix is just crap.)

Do not go for a new CPU/RAM. Devil's Canyon performs nearly at Skylake/Kaby Lake level so you won't see any significant gains.

PSU Recommendations: EVGA G2, GS, etc, but not the B/G1, and Seasonic PSUs kick total ass. 

 

 

strix crap? pls explain

[brob]

The charts in http://www.babeltechreviews.com/sad-state-crossfire-sli-today/ should let you arrive at a decent idea of the performance improvement offered by a single GTX 1080. 

 

Moving to a GTX 1080 (or, when it appears a GTX 1080 Ti), is going to relieve some of the stress on the psu. Which may give you a little more OC headroom.

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, HeavyFtw said:

strix crap? pls explain

Cooler is ungodly loud. 

Software is shite.

Fans on outside run seperately to the middle fan, and the middle fan is not user-controllable. 

The fucking lighting on the side and top of the card don't match up, even when set to the same colours.

 

It's like the No Man's Sky of GTX 1080s.

[HeavyFtw]

2 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

Cooler is ungodly loud. 

Software is shite.

Fans on outside run seperately to the middle fan, and the middle fan is not user-controllable. 

The fucking lighting on the side and top of the card don't match up, even when set to the same colours.

 

It's like the No Man's Sky of GTX 1080s.

fair enough what about the 1070 is it the same?

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, HeavyFtw said:

fair enough what about the 1070 is it the same?

I've got no idea, but it seems so, yeah. 

[Mallee]

Thanks all for the quick replies!

22 hours ago, rrubberr said:

I would wait, the 4790k and 290x combo is still very capable, but with that being said, I might be interested in buying the 290x when you do upgrade.

Alas they are the 290's... not the 290x,   I'm in Australia, postage is not going to be worth it I think.. 

If the 1080ti is available, in march I guess I could bring them to San Fran with me.

 

22 hours ago, Droidbot said:

I'd say: 

Evolv ATX is a good case.

GTX 1080 / TI. TI is coming soon, so hold your horses if you want more HP. (Get an EVGA or MSI Gaming X, they're IMO the best cards. Strix is just crap.)

Do not go for a new CPU/RAM. Devil's Canyon performs nearly at Skylake/Kaby Lake level so you won't see any significant gains.

PSU Recommendations: EVGA G2, GS, etc, but not the B/G1, and Seasonic PSUs kick total ass. 

 

 

Thanks, I think I'll take that advice and hold out till march, in the hope that the 1080ti is available or that AMD have something cheap and competitive on the market, my PSU wont push the config I've got currently, but the gains from going to a single NVIDIA card should resolve that.  however I'll take a look at the PSU's you've mentioned as an alternative, so I can get the OC going in earnest. 

 

I'll take a look at that case, as the case I mentioned seems to throw out the option of a DVD drive, but I did like the pump mounting as standard.

21 hours ago, brob said:

The charts in http://www.babeltechreviews.com/sad-state-crossfire-sli-today/ should let you arrive at a decent idea of the performance improvement offered by a single GTX 1080. 

 

Moving to a GTX 1080 (or, when it appears a GTX 1080 Ti), is going to relieve some of the stress on the psu. Which may give you a little more OC headroom.

That was my thought on my power issues too, thanks for the confirmation.

 

21 hours ago, Droidbot said:

Cooler is ungodly loud. 

Software is shite.

Fans on outside run seperately to the middle fan, and the middle fan is not user-controllable. 

The fucking lighting on the side and top of the card don't match up, even when set to the same colours.

 

It's like the No Man's Sky of GTX 1080s.

Thanks for the info! Aside from the software most of that is not an issue as the standard cooler will be coming off.. how bad is the software?

[Droidbot]

56 minutes ago, Mallee said:

Thanks all for the quick replies!

Alas they are the 290's... not the 290x,   I'm in Australia, postage is not going to be worth it I think.. 

If the 1080ti is available, in march I guess I could bring them to San Fran with me.

 

Thanks, I think I'll take that advice and hold out till march, in the hope that the 1080ti is available or that AMD have something cheap and competitive on the market, my PSU wont push the config I've got currently, but the gains from going to a single NVIDIA card should resolve that.  however I'll take a look at the PSU's you've mentioned as an alternative, so I can get the OC going in earnest. 

 

I'll take a look at that case, as the case I mentioned seems to throw out the option of a DVD drive, but I did like the pump mounting as standard.

That was my thought on my power issues too, thanks for the confirmation.

 

Thanks for the info! Aside from the software most of that is not an issue as the standard cooler will be coming off.. how bad is the software?

Software is just for RGB, you should be fine. I'd say get an Founders Ed. since the board is reference and works better with watercooling setup.