Spec me - i7 9th gen bundle!

Emjay86

Emjay86

Emjay86

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Joined
2 Apr 2011
Posts
1,075
Location
Wales
Hi guys. I desperately need to upgrade my PC and now is the time to do it!

I would like to get an Intel 9th gen (coffee lake) CPU and compatible mobo and RAM. I'm not interested in the graphics as I've got a gtx970 (for now).

This rig is used only for gaming!

I've got a cpu on a Waterloop currently that I plan to use for my new CPU and was looking at using the corsair rgb block for it (add this to the list if possible).

I've got a 750w PSU so that should be fine.

I'm bit of a corsair fanboy and I'm wanting to utilise the icue software as and where I can. I've got pretty much every peripheral already running on it!!

Huge thanks in advance for any help!
 
Hey guys, I've done a little shopping and I've picked out a few items:

Intel i7-9700KF
Corsair Hydro X series XC7 RGB black CPU water block
Ccorsair vengeance RGB pro 32GB (3x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHZ Dual/Quad channel kit - black
Gigabyte Z390 aorus master Intel Z390 (socket 1151) DDR4 ATX motherboard.

Sorry for typing it all out and not just linking it all, I'm on my mobile and I'm not sure how to link from here!

Anyway, can any of you see any issues with that?

Many thanks in advance
 
Emjay86 said:
I'm not interested in the graphics as I've got a gtx970 (for now).
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Seems utterly pointless buying anything CPU/Motherboard/RAM unless what you have now is dead or dying. The GTX 970 is sloooooow these days, and you can push it with the lowest of the low end. When are you planning to upgrade the graphics card?
 
Journey said:
Seems utterly pointless buying anything CPU/Motherboard/RAM unless what you have now is dead or dying. The GTX 970 is sloooooow these days, and you can push it with the lowest of the low end. When are you planning to upgrade the graphics card?
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Probably this time next year?

I've had conflicting guidance here and I'm well confused now lol. Some people have said just to overclock my CPU and get more ram plus the gpu and others are saying to get a new cpu/mobo/ram and keep the gpu...

I'm worried that getting the RTX 2070s won't be a sound investment, especially when the performance drop from ray tracing is apparently severe.

As for the CPU, I like to stick with what I know and Intel has done fine for me so far. My current cpu has worked fine for the past 10 years and all my other machines prior have also been Intel. I guess I'm worried the longevity of AMD isn't the same, making a less valuable component.
 
Emjay86 said:
Probably this time next year?
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So you are (for the most part) if just playing games going to get pretty much no increase in FPS etc. No matter what anyone tells you, the GTX 970 will be the thing that will hold you back, think what will happen in another 12 months while you'v paid for a nothing upgrade? You worry about the value of the AMD component, but in the next 12-14 months Intel are planning to have two further generations of CPU's, the new 10th Gen 14nm+++ versions of the coffee lake in a couple of months, and then early 2021 a desktop 10nm part, all of which will make your upgrade worth a heck of a lot less than it is now, and on a dead socket that has no upgrade path, and will age very, very badly.

What is your current CPU/Motherboard/RAM configuration?

EDIT: Just saw, 2600K/8GB RAM.

Add 8GB more cheap RAM, and if you are not using an SSD get something of a suitable size, and do a clean fresh install of Windows. Overclock the CPU and then look at changing the graphics card.

Interesting video here with a comparison using a 2080Ti
 
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Emjay86 said:
As for the CPU, I like to stick with what I know and Intel has done fine for me so far. My current cpu has worked fine for the past 10 years and all my other machines prior have also been Intel. I guess I'm worried the longevity of AMD isn't the same, making a less valuable component.
Click to expand...

Whilst understandable, this is misguided.
 
Journey said:
So you are (for the most part) if just playing games going to get pretty much no increase in FPS etc. No matter what anyone tells you, the GTX 970 will be the thing that will hold you back, think what will happen in another 12 months while you'v paid for a nothing upgrade? You worry about the value of the AMD component, but in the next 12-14 months Intel are planning to have two further generations of CPU's, the new 10th Gen 14nm+++ versions of the coffee lake in a couple of months, and then early 2021 a desktop 10nm part, all of which will make your upgrade worth a heck of a lot less than it is now, and on a dead socket that has no upgrade path, and will age very, very badly.

What is your current CPU/Motherboard/RAM configuration?

EDIT: Just saw, 2600K/8GB RAM.

Add 8GB more cheap RAM, and if you are not using an SSD get something of a suitable size, and do a clean fresh install of Windows. Overclock the CPU and then look at changing the graphics card.

Interesting video here with a comparison using a 2080Ti
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pointers. I've currently got 2 SSD, one for booting/Windows and the other for some of my games, the rest are on a large HDD.

I mostly play strategy/management games such as total war and recently planet zoo. I do also dabble in BFV and red dead 2/GTAV. I'm only planning on getting 2 titles in the foreseeable future, being evil genius 2 and bloodlines 2.

The only game that I'm not getting 100% satisfaction from is red dead which isn't at great graphics. It's seeing my card as 3gb!!

Based on that, would I just be better getting the 2070s?

I really appreciate the feedback guys!
 
Utter waste of time to upgrade to a 9700 and leave the 970 in. I’d also go AMD anyway.

If you want better gaming performance now then buy a 2070 super (I don’t know about AMD as I have a 450w SFF PSU).

If you have any money left buy some more RAM.
 
Emjay86 said:
Based on that, would I just be better getting the 2070s?
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I would say that you could easily buy a card, and return it within the 14-day window if you find it didn't offer what you were expecting, although OCUK might not be as flexible with regards to this as some other very, very large international companies.

I have a buddy/guy/friend who is on a 3770(non-K) and was going through the same dilemma as you, I loaned him a GTX 1080 Ti to replace the aged R9 290X he had, and that was it. I struggled to convince him to give it back to me :p
He finally settled on the AMD RX 5700 XT due to getting the free game(s) and it was £100 less than the 2070S, he is now 100% satisfied with his system and is saving for a Ryzen 4xxx system next year, which no doubt I'll be building!

You really need to add at least another 8GB of RAM however.
 
Ok sorted! I'll get a 2070s and some RAM.

Could you guys point out a good one? I'm using a KFA2 970 and it's been brilliant. Am I safe going with them too?

As for RAM, do i need to buy identicle sticks?

You guys are great, thanks a lot!
 
Emjay86 said:
Ok sorted! I'll get a 2070s and some RAM.

Could you guys point out a good one? I'm using a KFA2 970 and it's been brilliant. Am I safe going with them too?

As for RAM, do i need to buy identicle sticks?

You guys are great, thanks a lot!
Click to expand...


What is the current RAM configuration you have, I hope it is 2x4GB modules.

Get the 2070S they have on offer with a good warranty.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1b3-gi.html

That would be my choice, and you get a free game also.
 
Journey said:
What is the current RAM configuration you have, I hope it is 2x4GB modules.

Get the 2070S they have on offer with a good warranty.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1b3-gi.html

That would be my choice, and you get a free game also.
Click to expand...

Ok cool, thanks for that.

Yea my RAM is 2x4 sticks so I've got 2 slots free. My current RAM are kingston hyper X if that makes any difference.

Just pre ordered the card, although I won't be using the modern warfare. Perhaps I'll post the code I get on these forums for someone.
 
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Emjay86 said:
Ok cool, thanks for that.

Yea my RAM is 2x4 sticks so I've got 2 slots free. My current RAM are kingston hyper X if that makes any difference.

Just pre ordered the card, although I won't be using the modern warfare. Perhaps I'll post the code I get on these forums for someone.
Click to expand...

Whack the code in the MM for £20, or whatever the going rate is.

For the RAM have a look in the MM for 2x4GB someone is selling, or put a wanted thread in there, should get 8GB for less than £15 really.
 
Journey said:
Whack the code in the MM for £20, or whatever the going rate is.

For the RAM have a look in the MM for 2x4GB someone is selling, or put a wanted thread in there, should get 8GB for less than £15 really.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. I've got a couple more posts to go before I can get on the MM... better get posting!!
 
triggerthat said:
970 slow? What games do you play and what CPU do you have at the moment?
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The only game it's restricted anything on is red dead 2 where the game thinks it's 3gb and not 4gb. Suffice to say I saw this as the first warning shot for an upgrade as 4gb wasn't quite enough either.

My CPU is i7-2500K Sandy bridge which I know will bottleneck my new GPU but I'll upgrade all that stuff next year sometime.

I guess another point is I've saved more on the GPU over the black Friday than I would have on the other bits.
 
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