Looking at my next upgrade... Direction needed.

Kavalree · 28 Mar 2015 at 11:45

I'll list my current specs first.

i5-4690K @ 4.8Ghz
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
8GB (2x4GB) Patriot (Intel Extreme Masters) 1600 Mhz
Corsair RM1000
Kingston V300 240GB SSD
2TB HDD
1.5TB HDD
1TB HDD
1TB SSHD
2x R9 290X in Crossfire.
Corsair 300R Case.

I am looking at another upgrade but unsure on direction. I am debating upgrading RAM to 16GB (Looking at Avexir Raiden) or upgrading my SSD to a decent brand with decent speed, something like a Samsung 850 Evo Pro?

Budget is neither here nor there really.

So, given my spec, what would you upgrade?

Minstadave · 28 Mar 2015 at 11:50

Unless you actually use more than 8GB of RAM the upgrade will make no difference. You need to have a look at your memory usage when you're using the system. If you can get by on 8GB then I'd save the money. I occasionally use over 8GB but not often.

Upgrading the SSD will make little noticeable difference unless you need more space.

Sounds like upgrade-itis to me.

Kavalree · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:21

Minstadave said:
Unless you actually use more than 8GB of RAM the upgrade will make no difference. You need to have a look at your memory usage when you're using the system. If you can get by on 8GB then I'd save the money. I occasionally use over 8GB but not often.

Upgrading the SSD will make little noticeable difference unless you need more space.

Sounds like upgrade-itis to me.

It is a bit of upgrade-itis indeed. My machine as is, uses about 5.6GB of RAM before playing games. Mainly all my internet tabs researching stuff for work...

I will admit, it's bloody hard to work for a company that builds PC's without wanting to constantly upgrade... my work mate has just traded in his 3 980's for 2x 295X2's :eek:

stulid · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:25

Do you have a nice keyboard+mouse or monitor?

Kavalree · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:32

I do indeed Stulid.

Keyboard - Roccat Ryos MK Glow
Mouse - Roccat Kone Pure

Monitors - 2x Hanns-G HW246 (Might swap them at work for the ASUS 24" we stock)

Speakers - Fostex PM04 MKII
Headset - FUNC Headset (awesome comfy)

Deus Ex · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:35

2nd screen, makes work so much easier and productive.

Minstadave · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:41

He's got 2 screens.

Voicon · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:47

Minstadave said:
He's got 2 screens.

3?

Quartz · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:50

3x 4K Gsync monitors
3x Titan X cards
RAM upgrade to 16 GB.
Silverstone FT02 or FT05 case.

Should cost around £5K.

stulid · 28 Mar 2015 at 12:54

The V300 SSD is not the best on the market (the review samples are different to the retail samples which use inferior/slower NAND).

m.2 SSDs or the ones such as Kingston Predator half height/half length ones,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe x 4 SSD HHHL Form Factor Solid State Drive (SHPM2280P2H/480G) £429.98
Total : £439.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Are not held back by SATAIII, Intel are also releasing a 750 series of the same type.

http://i57.tinypic.com/ve6wdx.jpg

Kavalree · 28 Mar 2015 at 13:10

Voicon said:
3?

Not enough desk space for 3

stulid said:
The V300 SSD is not the best on the market (the review samples are different to the retail samples which use inferior/slower NAND).

m.2 SSDs or the ones such as Kingston Predator half height/half length ones,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe x 4 SSD HHHL Form Factor Solid State Drive (SHPM2280P2H/480G) £429.98
Total : £439.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Are not held back by SATAIII, Intel are also releasing a 750 series of the same type.

http://i57.tinypic.com/ve6wdx.jpg

Excuse my ignorance, are m.2 drives bootable and able to be used for windows? It's one thing I don't know anything about as we don't sell any at work

stulid · 28 Mar 2015 at 13:13

Yes they are bootable but that also depends on the board, if its an NVMe drive (which the intel 750 is) then you need Win8.1 or newer as it has the drivers built-in for it.

Edit,

F7g BIOS says it support NVMe - http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4978#bios

MrMD · 28 Mar 2015 at 13:25

Custom water loop?Maybe your already under water tho
Possible upgrade to an 8pack Binned 4770k?
Maybe even a quality soundcard or DAC?

Minstadave · 28 Mar 2015 at 13:54

stulid said:
The V300 SSD is not the best on the market (the review samples are different to the retail samples which use inferior/slower NAND).

m.2 SSDs or the ones such as Kingston Predator half height/half length ones,

YOUR BASKET
1 x Kingston HyperX Predator 480GB PCIe x 4 SSD HHHL Form Factor Solid State Drive (SHPM2280P2H/480G) £429.98
Total : £439.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Are not held back by SATAIII, Intel are also releasing a 750 series of the same type.

http://i57.tinypic.com/ve6wdx.jpg

3-4x the price of a normal SATA SSD and I bet it makes minimal real world difference unless you're shifting big video files for editing.

Kavalree · 2 Apr 2015 at 02:47

Thanks for the advice guys. I have settled on cosmetic upgrades. Probably worthless, but hey.

What I am doing is:

Kraken kit thingy + 240mm Rad for the R9-290X (sold one)
16GB Avexir Red Ram, unsure of speed yet.
RED LED cable thing
Cable-Mods Red/Black cables for the RM1000

And I will also, finally, fit my H80i that has been here since I bought it off the boss for a stupid £20...

stulid · 2 Apr 2015 at 09:33

Get 2400MHz or better RAM.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Avexir Blitz 1.1 Original 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001008G-2BZ1) £139.99
1 x Avexir Golden Blitz 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001008G-2BZ1SE) £139.99
1 x Avexir Core Red Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001108G-2CIR) - Red Light £119.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD316G2400HC10QDC01) £119.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-21300C11 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit (TXD316G2666HC11CDC01) £113.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11T3K2/16) £109.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan GOLD 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLYED316G2133HC11ADC01) £95.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G2400HC11CDC01) £89.99
1 x Avexir Golden Blitz 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U24001004G-2BZ1SE) £73.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED38G2400HC11CDC01) £44.99
Total : £1,048.90 (includes shipping : ).

The Kingston will be a good colour match and a nice price.

Kavalree · 2 Apr 2015 at 11:10

The Kingston is a good price. I had my eyes on the Avexir Core Red to theme the inside of my rig red and black.

Is there noticeable difference between, say, 1866 RAM and 2400 RAM? Also, what is more beneficial, tighter timings or faster speed?

stulid · 2 Apr 2015 at 11:13

2400Mhz is best.

Tighter timings = better performance .

2400CAS11 is average, the CAS10 Avexir are a little more exciting.

I almost forgot these too - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-082-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=2424

Also remember the tall RAM may not fit all heatsinks.

Kavalree · 2 Apr 2015 at 11:22

The tall heatsinks will be no issue as my H80i will be installed, bought it around September for £20 unused and just never got round to fitting it even though I've upgrade mobo and changed case twice. lol.

I think I will probably go for this ram - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-093-AR

stulid · 2 Apr 2015 at 11:24

All good