I have an upgrade itch!... thoughts please (advice)...

Monkeyspaz5000

Monkeyspaz5000

Monkeyspaz5000

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Ok guys...

Currently I'm sitting with this -

i5 2500K @ 4.5Ghz
R9 290
Asus Maximus Gene V
Corsair 760w PSU
8GB Ram
2x SSD (128/256gb)
2x Mechanical Drives (both 2tb)
Corsair 650D
BenQ 120Hz 24" monitor (1080p) - (forget the model)
Corsair 650D Case

The GPU/CPU are both watercooled.


I've been contemplating upgrading the CPU for a while to a i5 4690K. I mostly game, along with some video rendering. From what I can see, there's not really much of a performance increase over the 2500k. Or am I wrong?

My thoughts are this - (tell me if I'm being stupid here)....

Upgrade to a i5 4690K
Change out the R9 290 to a GTX 970 (I know there's barely any difference here performace wise)
New motherboard to suit
Corsair H105
Either a 144hz Gysnc 24" monitor (1080p)
OR
144hz 27" monitor (1080p)
OR
27" 1440p monitor

I'm thinking of ditching the customer watercooling as everytime I would want a new card, I would need a new block etc. Thinking of going for the quietest card(s) available at the point of upgrade as I hate noise!

I've also been looking at monitors as well. There's the new gsync 144hz 1080p monitors. Is gysnc worthwhile? Or just a fancy gimmick?

I've been looking at both 24" and 27" monitors in general, but wondering if a 27" would be too big. There's then the option of 1440p.

So!...... I then think would the GTX 970 run everything comfortably at 1440p or would I end up going SLI due to it struggling a little or me not being happy with performance? Also - my brain asks me is 1440p really such a big improvement over 1080p?


Wooooooooooh!! I know that was a long blurb etc, but any thoughts or advice on this would be appreciated!!
 
Somehow, every single upgrade seems completely pointless? :p

2500K to 4690K - Why? The 2500K can keep up with the 4690K when overclocked.
R9 290 to GTX 970 - Why? There isn't a great deal of a performance difference. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1355?vs=1068
H105 - Why? What cooling do you currently have to keep the 2500K at 4.5GHz?
120Hz to 144Hz - Why? I'm not convinced you will notice the difference.

What you have is a side-grade itch ;)
 
I'm with Acme, it seems like a pointless endeavour.

Though one thing, if you get a universal GPU block, you won't have the issue of waterblocks becoming obsolete when you want a new GPU.
 
spoffle said:
I'm with Acme, it seems like a pointless endeavour.

Though one thing, if you get a universal GPU block, you won't have the issue of waterblocks becoming obsolete when you want a new GPU.
Click to expand...

Universal water blocks are pretty rubbish though.

I agree with these two, no need to throw the money at it...
 
Not much of that is worth it to be honest.

The h105 is a good option, you should be able to get 4.7-5Ghz out of your 2500k with that.

Also changing to 1440p IPS/PLS is a great option if you value picture quality (instead of super fast response).
 
Doomedspeed said:
Universal water blocks are pretty rubbish though.

I agree with these two, no need to throw the money at it...
Click to expand...


What a load of tripe. I have always used universal blocks on my cards as it saves having to spend £70-80 every time I change cards and losing money when the old one gets sold. I don't even have to drain my loop down to change cards. Argueably, a universal block gives lower core temps too due to the block usually being very similar to the cpu version and being a impingement design.

The biggest drawback is the vrm's need additional cooling. Some cards already have a seperate heatsink for the vrm's under the main heatsink. In this case there is no problem at all. For cards that don't have a seperate heatsink it is easy enough to come up with a workable solution. My current card has a large copper heatsink that I made out of a copper 1U heatsink. It cost me a fiver off the bay and does the job extremely well. Memory chips are cooled by ramsinks which can be used over and over again as long as you replace the thermal tape. I use Akasa's excellent tape and have never had a heatsink fall off. The memory hardly gets warm these days anyway.


OP, your "upgrade" idea is completely and utterly pointless apart from maybe the AIO.
 
OP, I have a very similar system to you and got the itch given how long I've had my 2500k.

The only real path I saw as an upgrade was to swap to X99, hopefully my 5820k bits will arrive today, I'll probably do the upgrade over the weekend and give you some feedback as to how much I think it was worth it.

It should be noted I probably wouldn't have bothered upgrading if A, my missus wasn't using my PC for video editing more frequently, and B, her younger brother wasn't having a new PC for xmas to replace his ancient athlon X3 system. Hence he will be having my 2500k/H70/board/RAM as part of that new machine I have been tasked with building.
 
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