Upgrade Time - It's been a while...

CeePeeBee · 23 Oct 2017 at 14:37

Hi all,

What seems like a lifetime ago, I purchased an I5-3570K syustem and built it to run for gaming and productivity. Since then I have upgraded the cooling (Corsair H100) and the chip itself to an I7-3770K and got a little more out of it via OC'ing.

I'm looking at a brand new build (albeit with some second hand parts depending on how I go) but I need some help as I've been out of the game for some time.

My use case is genuinely a mix of Gaming, Productivity and Video Editing. If I had to split, I'd say 30%//60%//10% respectively.

I did look at Ryzen 1600X as a nice multiple core beast to cover most of what I'm after but I'm worried that it will end up letting the gaming side down.

Budget wise, I'm trying to get as close to the £1000 mark as possible (not including a monitor as I've got dual Dell S2415H's which I could carry on with, but I might look for an Ultrawide...hence why exluding from budget).

I'm really just after some ideas. If bang for buck says I need to spend a little more then so be it. Any suggestions.

Here's what I'm rocking currently:

I7-3770K @ 4.2Ghz
Asus P8Z77-V LX2 motherboard
16GB Patriot Viper DDR3
Corsair H100 AIO
Few SSDs and 4TB HDD - storage isn't a concern in this build.
GTX 970 4GB VRAM
Corsair Carbide 300R
Dual Dell S2415H monitors

orbitalwalsh · 23 Oct 2017 at 14:59

if your video editing , Ryzen 1700- it performance then same as 1600 when gaming pretty much but 4k editing will pull through - and is cheaper then Intel coffeelake options- specially the i7 8700k at the moment - but seeing the amount of percentage you spending editing - could get away with 1600.... but if you've got an i7 3770k already - no real point, but you've listed i5 3570k as well so a bit confused

if you've got an i7 ... would just get a wide screen and new GPU

Aneskimo · 23 Oct 2017 at 15:12

You can get a new GPU and monitor for now and keep your I7 until the chips refresh next year when both intel and Ryzen have new products out

CeePeeBee · 23 Oct 2017 at 16:05

orbitalwalsh said:
if your video editing , Ryzen 1700- it performance then same as 1600 when gaming pretty much but 4k editing will pull through - and is cheaper then Intel coffeelake options- specially the i7 8700k at the moment - but seeing the amount of percentage you spending editing - could get away with 1600.... but if you've got an i7 3770k already - no real point, but you've listed i5 3570k as well so a bit confused

if you've got an i7 ... would just get a wide screen and new GPU

Hey, sorry for the confusion - I've updated my original post. I mentioned originally I had upgraded from 3570K to 3770K but then added I still had 3570K in my rig, which I obviously don't

I seem to be process constrained is all though with stutters on one monitor when I'm running things on another. I'm wondering whether it's my OC not being stable now though.

I dunno, I just thought a new rig would be required.

southernorth · 23 Oct 2017 at 16:59

There are many AMD cpus on offer at the moment:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/amd-ryzen-ripper-discounts-upto-100-saving.18797456/

For your budget I would recommend an 8-core AMD CPU for productivity, so like a 1700/1700x. The AM4 platform will also allow you to upgrade for the next ~2 years, should you want a performance upgrade later on.

For a GPU, the 1070ti is meant to release on October 26th, which could affect pricing of all 1070s, 1080s and perhaps even VEGA. It might be wise to wait until then to decide on GPU.

For a more gaming focused CPU, the i5-8400/8600k would be a good option for price/performance but it performs worse in productivity. It depends on if you want to get ~10% better gaming performance, at the cost of waiting a few minutes extra for a render to finish, or worse gaming performance but quicker render times. Unfortunately the i5-8400/8600k are either OOS, or price-gouged at the moment so you would need to wait a month if you went this route.

Also, what's your PSU?

CeePeeBee · 23 Oct 2017 at 17:12

southernorth said:
There are many AMD cpus on offer at the moment:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/amd-ryzen-ripper-discounts-upto-100-saving.18797456/

For your budget I would recommend an 8-core AMD CPU for productivity, so like a 1700/1700x. The AM4 platform will also allow you to upgrade for the next ~2 years, should you want a performance upgrade later on.

For a GPU, the 1070ti is meant to release on October 26th, which could affect pricing of all 1070s, 1080s and perhaps even VEGA. It might be wise to wait until then to decide on GPU.

For a more gaming focused CPU, the i5-8400/8600k would be a good option for price/performance but it performs worse in productivity. It depends on if you want to get ~10% better gaming performance, at the cost of waiting a few minutes extra for a render to finish, or worse gaming performance but quicker render times. Unfortunately the i5-8400/8600k are either OOS, or price-gouged at the moment so you would need to wait a month if you went this route.

Also, what's your PSU?

PSU is find - 80+ Gold Seasonic 650 if I recall correctly (not looked in about 6 months)

However, I was thinking about a brand new build with EVERYTHING included so I can flog this one, but I can always break it down piecemeal perhaps.

southernorth · 23 Oct 2017 at 17:18

CeePeeBee said:
PSU is find - 80+ Gold Seasonic 650 if I recall correctly (not looked in about 6 months)

However, I was thinking about a brand new build with EVERYTHING included so I can flog this one, but I can always break it down piecemeal perhaps.

Ok, so if we assume that you get ~£400 for your old CPU, motherboard, RAM and GPU does that mean your budget is effectively £1400?

This extra budget would allow for something like a GTX 1080 instead of a 1070/ti

CeePeeBee · 23 Oct 2017 at 22:00

Still thinking 1700x...it'#s what I wanted to grab when I first saw Ryzen rumours and I still want to build one.

mistersprinkles · 24 Oct 2017 at 01:49

If you were just a gamer I'd tell you to overclock your CPU and stick with it for a couple years more. Since you do intensive work I'd suggest the Ryzen 1700 as the right choice for you

Danny75 · 24 Oct 2017 at 03:27

CeePeeBee said:
My use case is genuinely a mix of Gaming, Productivity and Video Editing. If I had to split, I'd say 30%//60%//10% respectively.

I did look at Ryzen 1600X as a nice multiple core beast to cover most of what I'm after but I'm worried that it will end up letting the gaming side down.

If you're reticent about losing the gaming advantage that Intel offers (especially in games that use less than six cores) but still want something good for productivity and editing, and don't want to pay Coffee Lake prices, check this out:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

2 x Team Group Dark Pro 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TDPGD48G320= £89.99
1 x Intel i7-6800K 3.40GHz (Broadwell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail= £269.99
1 x Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion Intel X99 (Socket 2011) DDR4 EATX Motherboard= £139.99
1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £84.95

Total: £686.01
(includes shipping: £11.10)

Rare to see prices on slightly older Intel platform (May 2016) come down so much (thanks to competition and a flood of platforms within the past few years). Plus I would guess those prices mean OcUK must be clearing some stock. Offer on CPU and motherboard ends Wednesday.

If you needed 40 PCIe lanes instead of 28 for some reason, the 6850K is also reduced:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel i7-6850K 3.60GHz (Broadwell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor - Retail= £299.99

I'm thinking you could keep the H100 cooler, and buy a cheaper cooler for the old system, stick your smallest or slowest SSD in the old system too, and sell it.

No GPU because I'd wait to see what GTX 1070Ti offers/does to the market, any day now.

You'd need a case that supports EATX motherboards. According to Corsair George, the 300R will fit EATX boards that aren't 330mm wide. The SOC board is 305mm so might fit if you'd prefer keeping your case and getting a cheaper one for the old system. I think it will, if George is right, because the Gigabyte Sniper mentioned in the following thread is 305mm wide as well. http://www.overclock.net/t/1422568/...rt-e-atx-motherboards-like-this#post_20714566

orbitalwalsh · 24 Oct 2017 at 06:48

Make the above quad channel and video editing will be quicker and should effect productivity

SOC boards as well were Gigabytes best ... Now they restrict numbers on new generations only to Pro Overclockers

Danny75 · 24 Oct 2017 at 06:49

orbitalwalsh said:
Make the above quad channel and video editing will be quicker and should effect productivity

SOC boards as well were Gigabytes best ... Now they restrict numbers on new generations only to Pro Overclockers

There are 2 kits of 2 x 4GB.

orbitalwalsh · 24 Oct 2017 at 06:53

Danny75 said:
There are 2 kits of 2 x 4GB.

Kids have woken me to early in the morning pmsl

Ram kit should be able to hit 3466hz as well, specially on that board !!!

Danny75 · 24 Oct 2017 at 07:24

orbitalwalsh said:
Ram kit should be able to hit 3466hz as well, specially on that board !!!

Super board, crazy money. Only issue was finding a CPU that was value for money to accompany it but the present offer takes care of that.

Pocah · 24 Oct 2017 at 09:26

Honestly right now I would replace the 970 and wait a bit to replace the CPU. The 1070 for example is a massive leap in processing power, and especially if you are in the market for a new monitor you could make a really significant difference to the visuals of the system, which I think you would appreciate. Perhaps even get a lovely big gsync monitor. Sure, it is getting time to replace that CPU, but I am just thinking that right now the CPU you have can last a few more months. I admit, it's a close call though.

orbitalwalsh · 24 Oct 2017 at 10:34

Pocah said:
Honestly right now I would replace the 970 and wait a bit to replace the CPU. The 1070 for example is a massive leap in processing power, and especially if you are in the market for a new monitor you could make a really significant difference to the visuals of the system, which I think you would appreciate. Perhaps even get a lovely big gsync monitor. Sure, it is getting time to replace that CPU, but I am just thinking that right now the CPU you have can last a few more months. I admit, it's a close call though.

Problem with hardware at the moment, all rising on the strength of the pound since everything is traded in dollars :/
Think it'll drop down again soon enough and back up and down

CeePeeBee · 24 Oct 2017 at 17:06

You've all given me some serious food for thought here. I suppose I could upgrade the GPU now and see how we go, but my Ivybridge is ageing...a lot.

Mutli-tasking processor intensive tasks and streaming videos on the other monitor causes stutter and the like currently and I can't upgrade my chip anymore on this board.

So, I think I've narrowed down my options to:

Buy a new GPU right now and see how it increases performance and tinker with settings on current rig before upgrading the entire thing
Upgrade entire rig and buy a Ryzen 1700 and OC it
Just crawl back into my cave and ignore the world a bit longer

orbitalwalsh · 24 Oct 2017 at 17:13

See how the 2nd holds for you

southernorth · 24 Oct 2017 at 17:14

CeePeeBee said:
You've all given me some serious food for thought here. I suppose I could upgrade the GPU now and see how we go, but my Ivybridge is ageing...a lot.

Mutli-tasking processor intensive tasks and streaming videos on the other monitor causes stutter and the like currently and I can't upgrade my chip anymore on this board.

So, I think I've narrowed down my options to:

Buy a new GPU right now and see how it increases performance and tinker with settings on current rig before upgrading the entire thing

Upgrade entire rig and buy a Ryzen 1700 and OC it

Just crawl back into my cave and ignore the world a bit longer

I would see where 1070ti affects pricing then go from there. Black friday/cyber monday is coming up aswell, so there could be so great deals in the coming days.

orbitalwalsh · 24 Oct 2017 at 17:17

southernorth said:
I would see where 1070ti affects pricing then go from there. Black friday/cyber monday is coming up aswell, so there could be so great deals in the coming days.

I fear the same as last year with Gibbo stating nothing on the cards , specially with amd just patching their cards to be better miners then amd - latest one right before launch of the ti...