New build/upgrade spec, expertise needed!

[Blinkz]

Hey folks,

My current machine is just over 6 years old and so I'm looking to replace it. It is based on a c2d E8500 with 4gb DDR2 ram, originally with a Radeon 4870 which died a very colourful death to be replaced by a Radeon 7850.

I've been out of the loops for 6 years so have lost track of what's good, but I assume there is much quicker stuff out now! Firstly I'm wondering if any of my current system is worth keeping, or even worth anything at all!

I'm then looking to buy something new, ideally pretty quick. I don't play as many games as I used too as I've an xbox one but it would nice to have the option. I'd just like to have great windows performance, as well as powerful enough to do the odd bit of video editing.

Any advice would be welcome!

 

[Blinkz]

Yea sorry that would be useful info! Between £1-1.5k. As I said everything is 6 years old so I would guess I probably need everything.

 

[Blinkz]

Thanks for the specs guys, appreciate it. It's impressive what is available now! How much faster can I expect it to be? Obviously the gfx will be much improved, better res, fps etc. but on a day to day basis?

I'm not a fan of all these gamer keyboards/mice. I've used the same intellimouse explorer for as long as I can remember and I've never found any other mouse as comfortable!

Also is win 8 really worth it? The pics I've seen make it look awful!

 

[Blinkz]

Well that's good to hear. Is anything in my old system worth keeping? Is it even worth anything to sell it? I've been thinking about making a htpc separate from my micro server so I suppose some of it could be used for that?

 

[Blinkz]

Look to pull the trigger on a new system in the next week or so and am trying to fine tune exactly what I want.

Some of the products mentioned before aren't available anymore so any recommended replacements would be great!

A few questions to fine tune the spec as well. Both the specs above include watercooling, is that needed? I won't be overclocked and so assume the CPU stock cooler would do the job? The watercooling seems to limit the type of case I could get?

For now I think I will stick with my current keyboard and mouse, as well as my current DVD-RW/BR/HD-ROM drive as it does everything I need it to do!

I currently have 3 WD Green drives in my N40L. I'm going to be updating them to WD Reds (mainly due to needing more space!) Will there be any issues running one of them in my new system? (still having the SSD as the main windows/programs drive of course) or is it better to just get a brand new drive?

Last question is regarding the monitor. There seems to be lots of options to choose from, 144hz, IPS, 4k, etc etc Are there any big differences between the options?

Sorry for all the noob questions! Thanks again for the help.