Upgrade or new build? Advice please

David Watt

David Watt

David Watt

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Joined
1 May 2018
Posts
9
Hi all, new here so be gentle.
Existing PC:
Use: General computing, some gaming (State of Decay, World of warships, Civ), some video and photo editing

CPU: Intel Core i7-870 2.93Ghz
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D
GPU: Radeon R9 290X 4Gb
RAM: 8Gb DDR3 (2x4Gb)
HDD: Crucial 500Gb SSD (throw most storage to a NAS)
Displays: Three x Dell 2709W (1920x1200)
OS Win 10 (64bit)

Worth upgrading or start from scratch? If Upgrade, what is the best bang/buck first element? CPU+MB?
 
The recommended requirements for State of Decay 2 are

  • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2 GHz or AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
  • RAM: 16 GB System Memory
  • GPU RAM: 4 GB Video Memory
  • GPU: GeForce GTX 960 or Radeon R9 380
  • HDD: 16 GB Available Hard Drive Space
  • API: DirectX 11
So you are several generations behind and need a new CPU / motherboard at the very least. I would suggest a whole new system apart from the SSD. Then you can repurpose the old system as a spare or whatever.

What is your budget?
 
Thanks that looks interesting. Agree the CPU and MB upgrades will make a big difference. Moving to DDR4 and more of it - smaller difference?
I sense that the R9 290X is OK but nothing special these days? With the 3 monitors will that make any difference with GPU upgrade choices?
Would I better off just throwing in a second r9 290X?
Budget not sure - £1200?
 
Faster ram speed, but key is getting good kit with tighter timings, should help with video editing and workloads for genetic CPU... With ryzen... Ram speed is key !! Lot more so then Intel
Personally would hold off, see how core upgrade fares.. new gen GPU with be out q3
 
David Watt said:
OK, CPU and MB then see how it runs, wait for Q3 to look at GPU - right?
Ryzen or i7-8700?
Click to expand...

Having said that, this would be a beast haha

Think it's views prices are still high post mining boom

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £956.02 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​

Depends, 8700k does straight up win for gaming, specially at 1080p then slight lead at 1440p

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,051.02 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​

You'll have to see with editing programs you use, if they favour ryzen or Intel or just thread count

Intel i5 version

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,081.01 (includes shipping: £11.10)​
​

b]My basket at Overclockers UK:[/b]
Total: £1,194.91 (includes shipping: £0.00)​
​
 
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David Watt said:
Gaming on one, the other 2 are just for general use.
Click to expand...

i think with a 1070ti you could game across two haha (3840x1200p = 4.6m pixels ) or 3 would be interesting (5760x1220p= 6.9m) .
1440p ( 2560x1440) = 3.6m and 1070ti handles that at 60hz ultra
1440p Ultrawide ( 3440x1440) = 4.9m, 1070ti should handle it but looks 60hz normal-high
4k ( 3840x2160) is 6.1m) so a 1070ti would struggle to power all 3 :(

though i have a feeling gtx 1060 or 1070 would do just fine with one screen and any cuda core enhancements when working .

might just want to grab the core upgrade and see how your current GPU gets along
 
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Just looking at benchmarks on the various CPUs, and while the i7 8700 looks great, for value I did notice on OcUK site the Ryzen 5 bundle for £545 for the 16Gb config:
Bundle Specification
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor
- Motherboard: Asus Prime B350-Plus AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
- RAM: up to 16GB 2400MHz Dual Channel DDR4 RAM
- CPU Cooler: Alpenfohn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler

Bang for buck gets me most of the way, and can look at GPU later in the year. At that bundle price, it leave me lots more cash for a better GPU at that time

What do you think?
 
David Watt said:
Just looking at benchmarks on the various CPUs, and while the i7 8700 looks great, for value I did notice on OcUK site the Ryzen 5 bundle for £545 for the 16Gb config:
Bundle Specification
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor
- Motherboard: Asus Prime B350-Plus AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
- RAM: up to 16GB 2400MHz Dual Channel DDR4 RAM
- CPU Cooler: Alpenfohn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler

Bang for buck gets me most of the way, and can look at GPU later in the year. At that bundle price, it leave me lots more cash for a better GPU at that time

What do you think?
Click to expand...

ram will cripple it ... and for the same price

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £526.97 (includes shipping: £0.00)


and cheaper with 2600x


B CODE
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £470.97 (includes shipping: £0.00)


remember in one of the first replies, i posted a link with Rzyen 1600 vs i7 1st gen. speed is needed to give ryzen a good edge over . 2nd gen ryzen does this as well as core count for workloads​
 
If you want a 6 core option then something like this is cheaper than that bundle. If the board doesn't have the latest bios then there is a Gigabyte rep on the forum who can help. You can also request a boot kit from AMD as another alternative.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £455.45 (includes shipping: £10.50)



**Go with the 3200MHz kit above in Orbitals list as it is cheaper and slightly faster**

The stock cooler is also fine if you are not overclocking much.​
 
Orbital if I went for the Ryzen 7 config, the x470 motherboard is preorder only and not in stock. Any other recommendations that suit both the cpu and memory you mention? The
GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370-GAMING 5 AMD X370 (SOCKET AM4) DDR4 ATX MOTHERBOARD
Is about the same price but seems to only support 3000mhz ram
 
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@David Watt
I believe they come in stock Friday. Might be a quick phone call to confirm though .

Board can support 3200 though x470 can support 3400+
Few have gone with the B350 Gaming 3 to save cash , though VRM count of the X370 board is nicer , but the cost for an older board gen is hard to swallow personally.
Lee's option is cracking for budget, can always slam in 1700 for longativity
 
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Quartz said:
4K is 8.3M pixels, not 6.1M, and a 1070 Ti should handle 4K just fine.

Gaming across three portrait-mode monitors at 3600x1920 should be awesome.
Click to expand...

Ah my bad, hit the wrong this in calculator

Had dual 1070ti and struggle with AAA recent games 4k , but RTS and indie games single one does do nicely ':D
 
Hi Guys, back again - can you let me know your thoughts on the pairing up of the following:

I don't need power gaming only light gaming , so the 8Gb Sapphire looks value, but for general PC / business use the Ryzen 7 looks strong. Thoughts?

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £771.10 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​
 
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