Hi there, long time lurker first time poster, looking for some advice on upgrading my previous OCUK system or replacing the whole thing.
Tl;dr: Need upgrade, around £800, output to 4K screen would be nice as well as M.2 support.
I’ve had (since 2010!), a "Titan Xenomorph" Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz @ 4.20GHz Nvidia Edition DDR3 System, which is comprised of a i3 530 (Clarkdale socket 1156 LGA) CPU, over clocked from 2.9 to 4.20 by the lovely people at OCUK, a gigabyte H55M-UD2H motherboard and an nVidia GTX 460 GPU, topped out with a 600W OCZ PSU.
I’ve made a few tweaks over the years, like adding more ram (currently on 12GB of DDR3) and adding a SATA 6Gbps card and some more SSDs. All had been running fine until a few weeks ago when I’m now getting serious GPU over-heating which is causing regular crashes in games. I jumped on the ASUS Radeon R9 380 when it was on sale a few days ago, which will hopefully alleviate the crashing, but spending time on OCUK website has got me thinking that I’m actually well over-due an upgrade and I’d appreciate some guidance. I’m also aware that with the GPU upgrade, there is a risk that my bottleneck is now with the CPU.
Instead of start with budget, I thought I’d start with my requirements. I mainly play games (at 1600x1050) which aren’t too taxing on a GPU, World of Warcraft, League of Legends and a few others but I do like them to look pretty so if possible I would like to work my way up to a 4K screen (probably one of the ~24 inch ones like the Dell one). Am I right in thinking the 380 would output Windows at 4K no problem, but playing 3D games at 4k might be a step too far? Would a 4k panel still play games at 1440p?), is this the same if I added a second 380 and crossfire’d them?
Second requirement is I’d really like a DDR4 system with support for an M.2 SSD, as the performance jump looks significant between that and regular SATA.
Finally, I’m deciding between a brand new OCUK built system, or using my existing case and only replacing what is needed (mainboard, CPU, RAM) as this will probably be cheaper, and It would be nice to get some use out of the new 380 I’ve just bought. I thought perhaps the 8pack budget bundle https://www.overclockers.co.uk/detail/index/sarticle/59137) might be quite good, as it has ddr4 and m.2 support and upgradeable again in the future, perhaps by added a second 380?
budget is flexible(ish), although more i can save the sooner i can buy a nice new screen. as for complete builds, i’ve specced these ones out at the moment, grateful for your thoughts.
my basket at overclockers uk:
Total: £1,966.88
(includes shipping: £23.10)
Many thanks,
Sniss
Tl;dr: Need upgrade, around £800, output to 4K screen would be nice as well as M.2 support.
I’ve had (since 2010!), a "Titan Xenomorph" Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz @ 4.20GHz Nvidia Edition DDR3 System, which is comprised of a i3 530 (Clarkdale socket 1156 LGA) CPU, over clocked from 2.9 to 4.20 by the lovely people at OCUK, a gigabyte H55M-UD2H motherboard and an nVidia GTX 460 GPU, topped out with a 600W OCZ PSU.
I’ve made a few tweaks over the years, like adding more ram (currently on 12GB of DDR3) and adding a SATA 6Gbps card and some more SSDs. All had been running fine until a few weeks ago when I’m now getting serious GPU over-heating which is causing regular crashes in games. I jumped on the ASUS Radeon R9 380 when it was on sale a few days ago, which will hopefully alleviate the crashing, but spending time on OCUK website has got me thinking that I’m actually well over-due an upgrade and I’d appreciate some guidance. I’m also aware that with the GPU upgrade, there is a risk that my bottleneck is now with the CPU.
Instead of start with budget, I thought I’d start with my requirements. I mainly play games (at 1600x1050) which aren’t too taxing on a GPU, World of Warcraft, League of Legends and a few others but I do like them to look pretty so if possible I would like to work my way up to a 4K screen (probably one of the ~24 inch ones like the Dell one). Am I right in thinking the 380 would output Windows at 4K no problem, but playing 3D games at 4k might be a step too far? Would a 4k panel still play games at 1440p?), is this the same if I added a second 380 and crossfire’d them?
Second requirement is I’d really like a DDR4 system with support for an M.2 SSD, as the performance jump looks significant between that and regular SATA.
Finally, I’m deciding between a brand new OCUK built system, or using my existing case and only replacing what is needed (mainboard, CPU, RAM) as this will probably be cheaper, and It would be nice to get some use out of the new 380 I’ve just bought. I thought perhaps the 8pack budget bundle https://www.overclockers.co.uk/detail/index/sarticle/59137) might be quite good, as it has ddr4 and m.2 support and upgradeable again in the future, perhaps by added a second 380?
budget is flexible(ish), although more i can save the sooner i can buy a nice new screen. as for complete builds, i’ve specced these ones out at the moment, grateful for your thoughts.
my basket at overclockers uk:
- 1 x OcUK Tech Labs Skylake Z170 Midi Tower Gaming PC Configurator = £1,000.84
- Case:Aerocool V2X Blue Edition Midi-Tower - Black / Blue
- Motherboard:Asus Z170-K Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
- Processor:Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
- Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Red (CMK8GX4M2B3200C1
- CPU Cooler:Akasa AK-CC4009EP01 Venom Pico Compact CPU Cooler
- M.2 Solid State Drive **For Operating System If Selected**:Samsung SM951 512GB M.2 PCI-e Gen3 8Gbps x 4 AHCI Solid State Drive (MZHPV512HDGL-00000)
- Solid State Drive 1:Unwanted
- Solid State Drive 2:Unwanted
- Mechanical Hard Drive 1:Unwanted
- Mechanical Hard Drive 2:Unwanted
- Optical Drive **Please Check Chassis Support**:Unwanted
- Graphics Card:MSI GeForce GTX 950 OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Power Supply:be quiet! Pure Power L8 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in
- Sound Card:Unwanted
- Networking:Unwanted
- Case Lighting:Unwanted
- Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
- Security Software:Unwanted
- Keyboard:Unwanted
- Mouse:Unwanted
- Monitor:Unwanted
- Gaming Headset:Unwanted
- Speakers:Unwanted
- Gaming Chair:Unwanted
- 1 x "Titan Cutlass" Intel Core i3 6100 @ 4.5GHz Overclocked DDR4 Skylake Gaming PC = £942.95
- Case:In-Win 503 Midi Tower Case - Black/Red
- Memory:Kingston Fury Black 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK2/8)
- Primary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive:Samsung SM951 512GB M.2 PCI-e 3.0 x 4 NVMe Solid State Drive (MZVPV512HDGL-00000)
- Secondary Solid State Drive / Hard Drive:Unwanted
- Storage Mechanical Hard Drive:Unwanted
- Graphics Card:Asus Radeon R9 380 DirectCU II Strix OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Sound Card:Unwanted
- WIFI:Unwanted
- Optical Drive:Unwanted
- Lighting:Unwanted
- Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)
- Security Software:ESET Smart Security - Trial Key
- Build Time:Standard Build Systems - Dispatched within 7 working days
- Warranty:OcUK Standard System Warranty - 3 Year (24 Month C&R + 12 Month Labour)
Total: £1,966.88
(includes shipping: £23.10)
Sniss