Upgrade Advice - Graphics + Monitor and Eventually Gaming

Associate
Joined
28 Feb 2019
Posts
9
Hi all,

My current build:

- ASRock S1155 Z68 Pro3-M DDR3 mATX
- Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, S1155 @ 3.30 GHz
- 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600MHz DIMM 240-pin CL9 LP
- PNY NVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti 850MHz 1GB PCI-Express
- 700W PSU, ThermalTake
- 22" ViewSonic VX2239WM 2ms Monitor

I'd like to upgrade my current system for everyday work use/video editing. The video editing is nothing major, just screen recordings via Camtasia. I have a 27" 5K iMac with FCPX for the majority of my video editing.

The main goal is to increase my screen real estate so I can view more at once on the monitor. 1080p on a 22" just isn't enough. I'm thinking 1440p @ 27" and 144Hz. Probably an IPS panel because of their superior viewing angles although backlight bleeding tends to worry me?? I'm considering G-Sync too. However, I don't know enough about monitors for this to be a final decision.

I've also been considering the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 as great value for money?

I should also add that I do not want to add a 2nd monitor to the mix.

Eventually, I'd like my setup to be good enough for casual gaming at a half decent performance too.

I'm thinking the best move is to buy a new monitor and graphics card. That graphics card can then be used in my system when I upgrade the remaining hardware.

I should state that I'm in no rush but the sooner I can increase my screen real estate, the better.

The budget for now is roughly £1k (for the monitor and GPU...IF that's the smart thing to do).

Thank you for all your help.

P.S. I'd like to stick with Intel and NVidia. I've had better experiences with these.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,399
well the 560ti requires 180w, 2080 requires 225w.
it's not a massive difference in power draw, but the voltage regulation in an older psu may be more unreliable and more fluctuating.
would i personally run a high-end gpu with an older psu? probably not though. but it's up to you i guess.

if you do decide to switch up the psu, then any of these would be my recommendations:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £535.54 (includes shipping: £12.60)

formula is the cheapest - 5 yr warranty, but non-modular
earthwatts gold pro is based on the seasonic focus (non-plus) platform. in essence the same internals as the focus plus, but semi-modular, 7 year warranty
whisper m - fully modular, 7 yr warranty
e650 is a rebranded focus plus with added DSP so you can use NZXT's CAM software to see what components are drawing from the psu - fully modular, 10 year warranty
hcg gold is also rebranded focus plus - fully modular, 10 year warranty
focus plus - the grand-daddy (as you can see lots of psu are based on it lol) - fully modular, 10 year warranty
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,399
might as well get the focus plus or antec hcg gold, since they're cheaper, fully modular, and have longer warranty.
rma base to send faulty unit is in the uk for seasonic, and ocuk can deal with antec rma. granted the replacement psu comes from eu, but it's not the end user that's paying for shipping costs for that.

how's their rma like?
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2015
Posts
18,514
might as well get the focus plus or antec hcg gold, since they're cheaper, fully modular, and have longer warranty.
rma base to send faulty unit is in the uk for seasonic, and ocuk can deal with antec rma. granted the replacement psu comes from eu, but it's not the end user that's paying for shipping costs for that.


how's their rma like?

Yep, Corsair might need to step it up in that department , like Asus they command branding power to do the work .

To be honest, go through distributor so swapped for brand new ! Haha but I've been told Seasonic still handle it but have a feeling g it goes off to Germany for repair . Though riotoro are ex Corsair staff they might of kept the same ideals... The unit was meant to come out with 7 year warranty to show cheapness a very the focus but they changed last mine to match focus unit. Why they or seasonic allowed this beats me ...
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Jun 2008
Posts
11,618
Location
Finland
To be honest, go through distributor so swapped for brand new ! Haha but I've been told Seasonic still handle it but have a feeling g it goes off to Germany for repair.
Repair which changes model to bigger when not having that particular one in stock.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/32499591

Never heard in Finnish forums that replaced Seasonics would look opened and repaired ones.
And really why would they even do that when cost of repair work would be likely often lot higher than cost of fresh unit from factory?

Though at least some of the faulty units might go to some kind failure analysis.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2019
Posts
9
Thanks guys.

Are there any new panels set to drop any time this year? I'm hoping for a new IPS panel that's less of a lottery or something better...
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2015
Posts
18,514
Repair which changes model to bigger when not having that particular one in stock.
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/32499591

Never heard in Finnish forums that replaced Seasonics would look opened and repaired ones.
And really why would they even do that when cost of repair work would be likely often lot higher than cost of fresh unit from factory?

Though at least some of the faulty units might go to some kind failure analysis.

depends on the agreement Riotoro has with Seasonic :(
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,399
So I'd be better off finding a 2080 that fits my board?
it's quite hard to recommend in piecemeal.
i'm assuming that you're going to use the new GPU with your current CPU (2500k) - if so, then the 2500k will bottleneck the 2070/2080.
ideally at minimum, one should aim for a 2600k - but with limited funds, the smart money should be getting the best GPU you can afford.
also do note that you may need a bios update for the new GPU to play nicely with an older board.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2019
Posts
9
Thanks again Tamzzy. I'm not too fussed about the card being bottlenecked for now as I'll be upgrading the rest of the hardware at a later date. Until I do that, gaming will have to wait.
I need a GPU that will run this monitor without issue in my current build for general productivity stuff. The new system will then be built around whatever GPU I buy now.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
26 May 2012
Posts
16,399
i'd get either of these two:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,340.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)​

2080 is cooler running and less power hungry; but there is issues with its gddr6 vram (in some batches). i'd suggest getting the evga so you can buy the extended warranty ($30 to extend to 5 years). comes with 1 free game.
radeon 7 has double the vram, and as far as we know, there isn't any reliability concerns currently. but it's hot and power hungry, and requires tweaking to get the best performance out of it. comes with 3 free games.

again, as previously mentioned, i'd probably suggest upgrading the power supply too...
 
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