upgrade Upgrade Planning

[Lito290]

Hello all, first time poster, long time viewer.

 

I built my first PC back in 2014 and it's been serving me ever since pretty darn well for what I originally paid for it (that, and the GPU/PSU bundle I got from a friend was a freakin' steal). That being said, lately I'm feeling as if my machine has started to lag behind in my use cases. I've done some upgrades over the years in order to compensate, but I feel like I'm just throwing money at the machine rather than actually helping. I'm about a month into my first job, so what better to use my new source of income than an upgrade? That being said, I started going round-robbin on the parts with which to upgrade and I just ended up confusing myself looking at all the different options while attempting to keep the cost down. So, I decided to create an account on here and pose a question: the heck do I do.

 

Current machine:

- intel i7 4770k (slight overclock to 4.0)

- CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo (stock fans)

- Asus Z97-A Mobo

- 16 GB DDR3-1333 memory 

- GTX 980 Founder's Edition

- Corsair TX650 PSU

- WD Blue HDD @5600 RPM

- Fastcude Hybrid Drive @7200 RPM

- Fractal Design Define R4 case with built-in 140mm intake and exhaust fans.

- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

 

Uses:

- Programming (Some ML and Video Games, mostly Java applications)

- Live Streaming to twitch (games both from the computer and via capture card)

- Music/Video editing

- Good ol' GAMING.

 

Budget: Around the $500 mark or cheaper if possible.

 

The first thing that comes to mind is to get a Mobo/CPU that supports DDR4 memory. But my hard drive makes windows start up extremely slow, so maybe getting an SSD or M.2 drive would help many of the issues. But then I look at my cable management and think that getting a modular PSU with a higher wattage and more efficient consumption would help to future-proof and keep costs down on a new build. But THEN I think of cooling, and how I can barely overclock the CPU I currently have and whether or not to get an AIO liquid cooler... You get the picture. That, and with all the different generations of RAM, CPUs, GPUs etc. coming out at different times, it's hard to tell what would be the best place to start.

 

I also realize that I'll eventually just have to break down and get a new build started, but I don't feel like this thing is past it's usefulness, especially when my use cases aren't extremely stressful. So I'll go ahead an leave it up to y'all. What is holding back my machine the most and what do you recommend to rectify it?

[mikedrewsmy]

You can still keep the CPU Cooler, GPU, PSU and the case. 
Get :
Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor

MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory

Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

 

Link : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jvDW9J

 

Sums up to $481.77 

And you can game and code on bro!

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xq4bCb
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xq4bCb/by_merchant/

Storage: TCSunBow - X3 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  ($429.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $474.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-05 21:34 EDT-0400

 

a 1070 Ti and a 240GB SSD for OS and favorite programs will be a BIG performance boost

 

[dizmo]

Hmmm. Honestly I wouldn't bother replacing the entire thing. Seems unnecessary. I mean, it's always nice to have new things, but I'd wait a year or two more; your system is still more than capable of playing today's titles, especially if we're talking about 1080p60 gaming. Judging by your post there are definitely some things I'd consider doing though, that would greatly increase the feel of the system and address some of the shortcomings:

• Add an SSD (500GB+), replace the 5400RPM drive with a 7200RPM drive.
• Get a modular PSU; a decent one will last you a few builds, so it's more of an investment.
• The cooler isn't that great anymore, I'd consider upgrading to something better.
• Get faster RAM (unless you can OC this set relatively well). It's generally known that the previous generations didn't see that much performance increases from faster RAM except when it was going from 1333mhz kits to faster stuff; it's really bottom of the barrel.

With those upgrades, it'll breathe new life into your machine. Then save up and get something newer later on. Intel will have a really solid line up next year, and it'll be interesting to see just how much better Zen 2 is than what's currently available. The GTX 980 is still a strong card for 1080p gaming. Plus, who knows, maybe we'll finally see a drop in RAM prices by then.

 

For around $250 you can get a much, much nicer feeling system.

 

Welcome to the forum! Don't forget to quote or tag people when replying.