Upgrade spec help

_syn_

_syn_

_syn_

Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2006
Posts
118
I started an upgrade earlier this year but was patiently waiting for z97 and the haswell cpu's. ive got around £650-£700 to spend on a new cpu, motherboard, ram, cooler and PSU and would be grateful for some input.

Whilst i do game, i also do some development (includes the occasional bit of rendering) so thinking ill opt for the i7 4790k and 16gb ram

I have narrowed the list of possible motherboards to one of the following:
Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 Intel Z97
Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H Intel Z97
Asus Maximus VII Hero Intel Z97

My current board has been rock solid so I'm leaning slightly towards one of huge gigabyte options

with regards to the cooler, i havent had much experience with the AIO liquid coolers are they worth the extra cash? are the noise levels higher than a heatsink with fan(s)? I'm guessing my case choice will be a big factor on the size of the rad.

Any suggestions for a PSU? Again I've been impressed with the dark power so may opt for a updated version. Listed my current rig below which includes some components I'll be reusing.

Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/LGA775)
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
Be Quiet! Dark Power Pro 650W ATX2.2 Modular SLi Compliant Power Supply

CORSAIR CMX12GX3M3A1600C9 12GB (3 x 4GB) (one stick failed so down to 8GB)
Asus GeForce GTX 780 Direct CU II OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Coolermaster Storm Scout 2 Advanced Gaming Case
Samsung 840 Series Pro 256GB SSD
Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache
 
_syn_ said:
with regards to the cooler, i havent had much experience with the AIO liquid coolers are they worth the extra cash? are the noise levels higher than a heatsink with fan(s)? I'm guessing my case choice will be a big factor on the size of the rad.
Click to expand...

This new one looks interesting:

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X31 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 120mm - Variable Speed Control £59.99
Total : £69.59 (includes shipping : £8.00).




But I have to say NZXT's support is woeful in Europe right now. If OcUK would support it, different story.

Noise levels on AIO's are usually higher (on load) than their air cooled equivalents (for a slightly lower price). This one allows you to control the pump RPM though, and you can control the fan RPM too, of course... therefore it has potential to be quiet.

There's a larger version too, which I'm guessing OcUK will stock at some point.
 
Last edited:
Do you really need to upgrade? Could you get almost the same speed boost by overclocking your 920? 4 GHz is achievable. You've got a decent CPU cooler already.

Or are you going to be re-purposing your current box as purely a development box?
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £361.98
1 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/16-OC) £125.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 1220 Series 4 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £81.60
Total : £679.12 (includes shipping : £8.00).



PSU comes with 10 years of warranty and is the exact same model as the SuperFlower expect the LEDS.
 
Quartz said:
Do you really need to upgrade? Could you get almost the same speed boost by overclocking your 920? 4 GHz is achievable. You've got a decent CPU cooler already.

Or are you going to be re-purposing your current box as purely a development box?
Click to expand...

It is going to be repurposed, I've got a few components that I can make a second pc with.
 
Appreciate the replies all, just still not sure on the cooling options. Has anyone used a heat sink based cooler on the devils canyon?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom