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So... I'm updating my rig...

Discussion in 'Star Citizen Public Discussion' started by Asmodeus, 26 Dec 2013.


  1. All right guys,

    Over the next year to ramp up for Star Citizen, as well as whatever else comes my way in the mean time, I'm planning on doing some heavy heavy overhauling on my system.

    What I need are some suggestions and some pointers in the right direction.

    Right now what I'm running on:
    i3 dual core LGA1155 with an Asus P8Z77-V motherboard
    2x 4gig sticks of ram (don't remember the clock on them, but it was the highest the board could support)
    Sapphire AMD 6870 HD graphics
    128 gb samsung 840 ssd as main boot
    256, 500 and 1tb HDD
    Antec one mid-tower
    "Top-power" psu for 700w.

    Now, my future upgrade starts off with the reusing of the hard drives until I get some cash flow to upgrade those.

    Proposed:
    CM Storm Stryker Full tower (On the way shortly)
    Asus ROG Maximus VI Formula (LGA 1150)
    i5 or i7 with K multiplier -- Haven't decided yet.
    4x4gb Corsair Ram (either Dominator or Vengeance)
    2x Geforce or AMD video cards... again haven't decided fully yet. Love my 6870.. but this is one of the final purchases
    Also will have a custom water cooling setup to help keep noise to a minimum.

    Unknown 1200-1300w PSU - Will narrow that one down later.

    I'm also carrying over my two monitors, keyboard mouse etc.

    So, suggestions everyone?
     
  2. My thoughts:

    You have the bones of a very solid system. A ground up rebuild is totally unnecessary. That being said, you could get greatly improved performance with a couple select upgrades.

    -get a 3570k with a Corsair H75 and slot it into your existing motherboard.

    -grab yourself one of the new proprietary cooler R9 290s coming out in the next couple months.

    -get a solid 650w-850w psu. Most units from Corsair, Seasonic, PC power and cooling, XFX, and silverstone are solid.

    Those 3 things will net you an enormous performamce gain for around $800.

    1200+ watts of psu is way overkill unless you're doing quad sli/xfire.

    The Samsung 840 is one of the best ssds you can buy.

    I have 16GB of ram and regret wasting the money. Stick with the 8 you have until there's a compelling reason for more.
     
  3. Q2 and end of 2014 will be a Haswell refresh and release of z97 chipset and Broadwell processors. Broadwell will stay socket 1150 but won't be backwards compatible to older chipsets likely. It looks like it will be a pretty small performance increase though vs current models, maybe 5%. Skylake is set for 2015 and will likely be a bigger performance boost. Nothing huge in z97 chipset either to really push performance so I'll likely be skipping that gen and staying with the i7-4770k/z87 sabertooth combo for a while.

    You can wait for the new stuff to hit, but prices on it will be at the usual mainstream price levels. Where the good i5/i7's currently are starting to drop and will continue to drop a little more but once new cpu's are released old ones stop dropping and supply just slowly disappears as they focus on pushing new stuff.

    Not sure if dual gpu is ever a good idea for a new system these days unless your gonna try and run 4k or something and getting 2 top of the line boards. Even top of the line cards like a 780 GTX TI is wasted on 1080p max settings. Though something like 2x7970's you could find pretty cheap and get some nuts performance, which I might try just for fun pretty soon.

    You do need a good mb if you try something like that though. I would think a $200 mb and single 2nd tier board would overall be better though. Ram has gone up over the last year, got these for $63 in July and there excellent.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231666

    Not sure how impressive mantle will really end up being since most of the dev systems from the last video seemed to be running NV. Performance will likely be solid on either platform. If a 27-29" 1440p monitor with gsync comes out I will be using NV in a heartbeat.
     
    Last edited: 26 Dec 2013
  4. I forgot to mention - I'm running a CM 212 EVO as my CPU cooler for right now. Not sure how it would handle an OC'd i5. I have thrown around the idea of upgrading the cpu to an i5 with the unlocked modifier too.

    The only reason I'm looking to upgrade the MB and CPU is because currently my MB only has slots for 2x 6gb SATA, and even though it's an asus board, it's still limited in it's capacity to OC and to do mods.

    Not necessarily looking to future-proof myself, just looking to make sure that my system can handle an eventual 3 monitor setup with minimal upgrading of the core items (MB and CPU)


    The r9 290 is definitely something I'm considering...
     
  5. I run a CM 212 EVO on my overclocked i5 and it keeps it nice and cool.
     
  6. -Yeah, the 212s are good coolers. The only reason I suggested a cooler was for some -reason I thought you were just running stock currently.

    -I generally agree with Daleon about SLI/Xfire. Unless you're going super high end I think most of multi GPUs utility comes from adding a second board later and extending the life/performance of your current setup.
     
  7. Sentrosi

    Sentrosi Protocol Officer Officer

    Officer
    Same guide I used when I did my hardware refresh last year.
    Definitely don't need 16gb ram. Stick with 8.
     
  8. Awesome. Thanks Gents.

    So I picked up the CM Storm Stryker. Case is absolutely a brute of a case.

    Its a solid case, lots of abilities to adjust things, but be prepared for a little bit of frustration because not all the cables will fit because of the length.

    The lights are cool though!
     
  9. When you get to the PSU, go with something 80+ Platinum. I run a Seasonic myself, and really dig it.
     
  10. Beware about the sysprep thing... Microsoft has made it so OEM versions of their OSs cannot be moved to a new system.

    I also use the CM 212 on my OC'ed 3570K. Its stock 3.4 GHz is jumped to about 4.64 GHz and the temperature stays well below 60 degrees Celsius. Highly recommended.
     
  11. Eporter

    Eporter DragonWolf

    I agree with almost everything Korn said here, with one exception.

    The R9 290 is not a very good card. It comes in at the same $500 pp as the 780 but does not perform nearly as well. Prior to overclocking the 290 is close (even better in a couple benchmarks) but the 290 comes out of the box almost completely maxed while the 780 still has a lot of headroom to overclock. This is especially important if you do end up watercooling because of the way that these cards change their performance based on temps. The better your cooling solution, the more marked the difference between the two cards will become. the 290x is REALLY bad and the reference cooler on the new amd stuff gives me nightmares, though korn suggested avoiding those too. Lastly Nvidia gives you access to Vsinc monitors (SWEET), Shadowplay (built in capture), and shield (if your into that kind of thing).
    Relevant video. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqaHh-y51us"]Water Cooled R9 290 vs GTX 780 Showdown - YouTube[/ame]

    I don't see why you would need to upgrade your drives at all right now. the 840 is a pretty sweet little drive.
     
  12. Sweet, thanks. Appreciated.

    I do have to say about that dude - he's very... animated. Dude got a haircut half-way through the video. haha

    I have no intention really to upgrade my drives anytime soon, and that video was something I was hoping to come across in my leisurely stroll through youtube. lol
     
  13. I watch most if not all of Linus' videos as well as The Tek Syndicate.
     
  14. Says the price is still 144 + tax after the rebates...

    I actually found out today that I can order almost all my new parts through the Canadian PX for the same price as a local shop, and I can "credit plan" it direct off my paycheque. Dangerous.

    Sooo, I have them looking into an i7 and an i5, and trying to find me an asus ROG Maximus iv formula...

    We'll wait and find out.
     
  15. Yes it is $145 after rebate but there is a promo code worth $45 youuse at checkout to bring it down to $100
     
  16. Use code EMCXWXT44 for $45 off.

    Go with the 4670K. An I7 will get you almost nothing in improved gaming performance. It's just more expensive. But if you're looking at $300 mobos you probably aren't value shopping. lol

    Also, where do you live that you have to pay tax to Newegg? That really sucks. :(
     
  17. I live in Canada. :p
     

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