Upgrades for University

toby843

toby843

toby843

Associate
Joined
2 Aug 2016
Posts
29
Hi everyone,

So my current specs are:

System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: Z170X-Ultra Gaming
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6600K CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit
MSI GeForce GTX 1070 AERO 8G OC 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Acer B276HK Monitor
Phanteks Enthoo luxe case
Corsair Builder Series CX 600w Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive
WD Blue 1TB 7200rpm SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD

I'm 40 and not hugely experienced although I did manage to build the above myself a couple of years back. I'm making a career change and I'm going to do a degree in Computing and Information Systems and I'm looking to upgrade my desktop a bit (I do play games and VR as well and it does ok) to let me work better as I don't have much memory and I like to have new stuff, I'm just like that.

I also want a laptop so I can study on the move but again, I want it to be a good one and capable.

Anyone got any suggestions on what I should upgrade above or good laptops that fit the bill?

Thanks
 
Graphics card isn't bad at all and would be sensible to upgrade it only after next-gen cards are out and hopefully there's more CPU like competition also in GPUs.

While good for old Intel stagnation era games quad core CPU again is really low end by todays standards.
And will be curb stomped by next-gen consoles with like twice the CPU power.

8GB memory is definitely also too little.
16GB has been norm for years, though guess you bought that during highest RAM prices.

Also that PSU is just branded basic PSU with likely outdated and low end already decade ago design.
So if it has seen lots of use would start planning replacing it.


What kind budget you had in mind?
 
EsaT said:
Graphics card isn't bad at all and would be sensible to upgrade it only after next-gen cards are out and hopefully there's more CPU like competition also in GPUs.

While good for old Intel stagnation era games quad core CPU again is really low end by todays standards.
And will be curb stomped by next-gen consoles with like twice the CPU power.

8GB memory is definitely also too little.
16GB has been norm for years, though guess you bought that during highest RAM prices.

Also that PSU is just branded basic PSU with likely outdated and low end already decade ago design.
So if it has seen lots of use would start planning replacing it.


What kind budget you had in mind?
Click to expand...

That's really interesting and helpful advice, lots to think about.

With regards to budget I'd be looking to spend around £1-1.5k on upgrades and around the £2k mark for a laptop.

I'd also be interested in seeing if I could make it all work together in a home office with maybe a laptop docking station etc.
 
 
If intending doing lots of heavy workloads 3900X would certainly perform in those, besides having plenty of cores for next-gen games.
(next-gen consoles will have clock speed capped variant of 3700X)
Though 3700X is bang per buck choise and there's improved Zen3 architecture CPUs coming for AM4 socket giving possible upgrade path.

In motherboards MSI B450 Tomahawk would be starting level and perfect for 3700X.
With good case cooling it would do decently well also with 12/16 cores.
Though proper X570 boards have VRMs to handle those with ease and without conditions.

In X570 would change Asus board to Gigabyte Aorus Elite to give chipset fan chance for semi passive operation.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...4-x570-chipset-atx-motherboard-mb-57w-gi.html
All X570 boards have active chipset cooling and HSF of Asus was designed by metroids who dropped it under graphics card to be bathed in its heat.
 
Grimley said:
This is what I'd buy:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £889.05 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​

I'd reuse your GFX card, Case, SSD & HDD at a pinch.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely in the mindset to reuse where possible so I like your thinking on that.
 
EsaT said:
If intending doing lots of heavy workloads 3900X would certainly perform in those, besides having plenty of cores for next-gen games.
(next-gen consoles will have clock speed capped variant of 3700X)
Though 3700X is bang per buck choise and there's improved Zen3 architecture CPUs coming for AM4 socket giving possible upgrade path.

In motherboards MSI B450 Tomahawk would be starting level and perfect for 3700X.
With good case cooling it would do decently well also with 12/16 cores.
Though proper X570 boards have VRMs to handle those with ease and without conditions.

In X570 would change Asus board to Gigabyte Aorus Elite to give chipset fan chance for semi passive operation.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...4-x570-chipset-atx-motherboard-mb-57w-gi.html
All X570 boards have active chipset cooling and HSF of Asus was designed by metroids who dropped it under graphics card to be bathed in its heat.
Click to expand...

I think my main thinking behind all of this is to ensure I have something that I can build on through my study and into (hopefully) a career so going with the gen 3 and x570 boards is definitely the way to go.
 
toby843 said:
So it's really not worth getting something like a 2070?
Click to expand...
Radeon 5700 XT (faster than basic 2070) is pretty much the most expensive any sense making card right now.
Nvidia has been focusing into pumping user butts... err prices for years and performance per price goes fast to bad and super bad and there's no future proofness especially considering prices.
New Xbox brings pretty much 2080 Super level GPU into mainstream before Christmas.

That should give some indication about next-gen graphics cards coming out later this year.
Though pretty sure Nvidia continues buttrape&robbery prices, because Stockholm syndrome infected sheeples keep asking more of that.
 
Hey everyone,
So ref the above post. I've been accepted onto my uni course so I need to get started on this. I won't have access to my desktop regularly until August as I'm staying with my girlfriend. I would like to start getting online study done so will be using a laptop to start with.
Key point to note is my girlfriend can get the VAT back so I can take off 20% of the cost. The minimum spend for this is £2000 to qualify.
I'd like to spend £2400 which means I actually have £3000 to spend.
I'm going to re-use my case, storage and GPU of my current build and focus on a Ryzen 9 3900x build with 32gb RAM and think I could do that for around £1000-1200.
I'm now left trying to work out what laptop to get. Most of my study will be done on the desk top but I will need the laptop so I can work anywhere. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't game a little on the laptop too.
My course is a distance learning BSC in Computing and Information Systems. I'm not attending lectures physically and will be in full time employment throughout.
I'm currently thinking@

Asus G15 with the 4800hs and 1660ti
MSI P65 creator with the i7 9750h and the rtx 2060

I don't want to wait until mid June for the new 4000 series to become more available either really. I need to get going now. The Asus is way better for my budget as although I have the budget if I can save I'd be happy although I'm bothered by the lack of webcam for meetings, conferences, zoom etc. and the lack of thunderbolt 3, how important do you think that is? I'd be thinking of getting a laptop docking station anyway so I could use both the desktop and the laptop at home.

Could I do all this with a much higher end laptop and bin the desktop? Will a laptop become outdated quickly and is the desktop much safer for future proofing?

Any advice welcome........

Thanks,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom