Gaming rig upgrade

Stonga

Stonga

Stonga

Associate
Joined
20 Nov 2014
Posts
5
My sig rig is 4 years old now and I've been out of the loop when in comes to whats out on the market these days. Only upgrades I've done is a new GPU and PSU late last year.

The system doesn't seem to be bottlenecking the GPU as it's being utilized at 98-100% when playing games like AC Unity and Far Cry 4.

My concerns is that if upgrading the motherboard, CPU and Memory to a new chipset will give me noticeable performance gains in games or not.

Someone suggested to replace my CPU with a Xeon L5639 6core, upgrade to 12GB of memory and a new GPU and just keep my current system until Skylake is out.

I've been playing the waiting game for new chipsets and CPU architectures several times in the past and rarely have the next one been a big enough performance boost to justify the wait and premium pricing.

As my current rig is still going strong after 4 years with only a GPU upgrade, my thoughts is that if I buy a new system now, I should at least be able to keep it for another 2-3 years with perhaps another GPU upgrade down the line.

So I guess my question is this: Upgrade now or just wait it out for the "next big thing"?

There is 3 criteria to a potential upgrade:

1. A motherboard that has good overclocking potential and a CPU to go with it. (I will probably buy a closed loop cooler if it improves core temps and overclock potential *Suggestions for a good one is welcome*)

2. Intel CPU *Need suggestions*

3. Nvidia GPU

Thanks in advance and I hope you can help me with this dilemma of mine.
 
I'm going to reuse just about everything. Was thinking of replacing the "core" of the rig. Motherboard, CPU, memory and GPU. Perhaps a new SSD?

I don't really have a specific budget, but I don't need to go overboard with components. I mean, It's mostly going to be used for gaming and not breaking records with benchmarking and synthetic tests.

I was thinking about a i7-5920k. I will probably replace the Geforce 780 with a 980ti when It's out. I want to go with the fastest single GPU setup with the ability to go SLI further down the line when needed. Reason I don't purchase another 780 is that I don't want to be stuck on the 700 series. It's already starting to age in relative terms.

I'm still gaming @ 1080p with all graphical fidelity cranked up.

It's the motherboard and memory I'm confused about what to pick. There is so many choices and I want something that is stable and have good overclocking potential. I'm reaching for at least 4.5Ghz on the CPU. Not sure what is considered a good overclock with the Haswell-E chipset.
 
Forgot to add my current rig specifications. Here they are:
Zx4BgDx.jpg
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK - Devil's Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£20 Saving** £388.98
1 x Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Gold (HX21C11BGK2/8-OC) £67.99
1 x Raijintek Themis Black Heatpipe CPU Cooler PWM - 120mm £19.99
Total : £476.96 (includes shipping : ).



Motherboard lets you upgrade within 3 years to the next socket if it's released and comes with 5 years warranty.
No need for 16GB of RAM.

Decent little cooler for the price, all matched to the colour scheme.
 
dont rush into it, think very careful before you pull the trigger. i almost went Z97 and i7 4790K then i changed my mind because i was buying into a socket and would have had the best cpu it has to offer with no further upgrade path. i phoned overclockers and changed my order to Haswell-E for a difference of around £150.

i had the same decision 4 years ago and decided to pay the difference like above to go 1366 instead of the i5 socket. Anyone who made the same decision back then are being rewarded and are able to drop hexcore Xeon cpus into their rigs now for like £50. that extra they paid a few years ago has allowed them to stretch their rig now for who knows how long.

I say build a core on a socket with more potential. you wont need to change for atleast 5 years and thats being conservative. Haswell-E for me.

Only if you can afford it obviously, dont put yourself into debt :)
 
Last edited:
You know what? I'm gonna hold off for a little while longer. There is still life in my good ol' i7 930. :)

When I still can run Assassin's Creed Unity with everything on max settings except for shadows turned down to High and FXAA and still get 60 fps with dips down in the low 50's, I should be happy considering the performance issues it got.
 
Stonga said:
You know what? I'm gonna hold off for a little while longer. There is still life in my good ol' i7 930. :)

When I still can run Assassin's Creed Unity with everything on max settings except for shadows turned down to High and FXAA and still get 60 fps with dips down in the low 50's, I should be happy considering the performance issues it got.
Click to expand...

Well said. No need to upgrade :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom