Upgrading Advice please !!!!

Vinny1511

Vinny1511

Vinny1511

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Joined
9 Jul 2005
Posts
451
Hello Everyone !　


Firstly, I am a long time forum lurker and am returning from the darkside of console gaming back to the PC in light of Destiny 2 and some other potential titles on the horizon. 　

I was looking for some advice regards my upgrade path from Sandybridge - Which I have to say, has been an incredible platform.

My current spec is as follows;　

I7-2600K @ 4.2ghz - Under custom watercooling cooling. 　

12 gb of G.Skill ram 　

850Watt Corsair PSU 　

AMD 290 GPU - With Rajintek Morpheus 　

The system still feels reasonably capable and I am gaming only in 1080 at this present time. However, I plan to move to 1440 gaming in the next month or so, and would like Destiny to be running at 1440 with all the bells and whistles switched on......In light of this, I was considering an 'upgrade' to a Nvidia 1070 GPU, which I was hoping would be capable at 1440 and would give me a reasonable upgrade on the 290 I have - Would you all agree that this is a logical upgrade, or is my expectation of this card too high !? Would my CPU be a huge bottleneck for this card also ? is it sensible to hang on, and just utilise the 290 until the next release of cards ? I'm really undecided, and was hoping some of you may have an opinion that will sway my decision.....

Secondly, if justified, I would be looking to upgrade my system too - But I am genuinely not sure where to go with it; I've been away from PC for such a longtime and the landscape changes so frequently that unless you are on the pulse, you loose track of what is consider 'Bang for Buck' or good value - I listen to music, and play games as a general rule.... 　

I have seen the benchmarks that relate to the Ryzen Systems and am aware of the impending release CoffeeLake too - But could any offer me any sound advice regards to an upgrade on the rest of the system that will be Notable, and offer some longevity ?　

Would really appreciate some input, and sorry for another 'Spec me' thread !!　

Thanks,　

Vinny
 
@Vinny1511 morning, it is worth the upgrade of CPU, mobo and ram. I went from i7 860 @4Ghz to i5 6700k @5.1 and got 15 fps min on a 980ti/1070 . Your Gen Two i7 was a better leap then my first gen but gen 3/4 still offeres a better improvement then your current one.

personally, the Stand alone Vega 56 with a freesync monitor is so hard not to look at! cheaper then gtx 1070 and monitors by up to 100% while performance is just under a 1080 and can be flashed with the Vega 64 Bios for instant performance increase and saving the £££

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two monitors, one being 75hz max and the other 144hz @ 1440p

but in theory £700 or the price of a Ti for a potential GTX 1080 heel nipping card with Freesync 1440p monitor!!!

since you had a i7 and thinking of cheap AMD upgrade

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would suggest Ryzen 5, buts its that mentality of once you go top chip group (i7) you want to stay that way and not go to an i5 lol
 
@orbitalwalsh - Thank you for your advice !

My only concern with the Vega 56, was the noise and temperature of the reference blower style cards - My 290 was a reference design and the noise was horrendous ! Is the Vega any better - I'm now really dubious about reference design cards.....Especially so from the Red camp !

I would probably look to do the upgrade in two parts, with the GPU coming first - Even if only for a month or two, would the CPU be a major bottleneck, or do you think in terms of performance I will see an increase over the 290 immediately ?

I do like the idea of going to a Ryzen based system, as I do think it will give me the longevity I am looking for; My custom water-cooling kit compromises of a EK Supreme HF (Its an older water block) - Is this mountable to the AM4 platform with a bracket, or would I need to swap CPU cooler over for something specifically suited to the AM4 platform ?

Thanks again for your help - I really appreciate it !

Vinny
 
Vinny1511 said:
@orbitalwalsh - Thank you for your advice !

My only concern with the Vega 56, was the noise and temperature of the reference blower style cards - My 290 was a reference design and the noise was horrendous ! Is the Vega any better - I'm now really dubious about reference design cards.....Especially so from the Red camp !

I would probably look to do the upgrade in two parts, with the GPU coming first - Even if only for a month or two, would the CPU be a major bottleneck, or do you think in terms of performance I will see an increase over the 290 immediately ?

I do like the idea of going to a Ryzen based system, as I do think it will give me the longevity I am looking for; My custom water-cooling kit compromises of a EK Supreme HF (Its an older water block) - Is this mountable to the AM4 platform with a bracket, or would I need to swap CPU cooler over for something specifically suited to the AM4 platform ?

Thanks again for your help - I really appreciate it !

Vinny
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On my tests I was running Ashes of Sing at both 1080p and 1440p, did notice the i7 860 was holding both cards back but as always the case the higher the res the less the workload on the CPU. doing to parts you may mind you'r happy with what your 2nd gen is giving you- bare in mind yours did have a lot of benefits over mine and also with the 3rd Gen then intel just fizzed lol .

Might have to ask some 56 owners, but from the get go , its already cooler and less noise and with a slight undervolt temps again start to drop. 56 really has Dropped the 64 in a hole haha. to be honest think aftermarket 56 will be even harder to get as they'll be the go to chip ! and guessing will be more in price with the 1070, and it can, as it beats it specially with 1440p-4k .

ways of getting the Heat down , thermal Grizzlie paste for a start. could even stick an AIO on there. No in the owners thread someone used the Kraken G10 mount with a little modding , im guessing the new G12 would fare better.
but as EK have shown- Vega/reference cards shine underwater! saving your making over 64 could go to a small water kit just for it


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same price of cheaper then the Liquid AIO Vega 64 cards but you get to cool the CPU to!!!!!

might be part 3 of your build, or if you find our CPU is doing fine...part 2!!!!
 
The i7 2600K is still a very capable cpu. If you are looking at 1440p then I would go with a new gpu first off.

I personally wouldn't buy VEGA until they release the aftermarket cooler variants. Obviously you can water cool as above, but that is putting a lot more cost into the build. For under £700 you can get a GTX 1080 ti and that will beat out VEGA 56/64.

Also for the monitor I would go with an IPS panel over TN.
 
Thanks Lee/Orbital.

I'm really greatful for the pointers - My intention was to upgrade my GPU first, see how Destiny runs (Played the beta and the 290 performed well enough at 1080), and then make a decision regards the rest of the upgrade after I've seen how the new GPU and CPU perform.

I'm now trying to tie down the GPU - The Morpheus on my 290 yields almost silent operation and it runs very reasonable temps. I don't have the patience really to install another loop, or try and fit the Morpheus onto a Vega56 - I've seen a few reviews and the 56 does seem to run cooler and quieter than the 290, so I guess I need to see if I can put up with a refer nice card or wait for an AIB........

Thanks again for all your help. Appreciate it.

Vinny.
 
Vinny1511 said:
Thanks Lee/Orbital.

I'm really greatful for the pointers - My intention was to upgrade my GPU first, see how Destiny runs (Played the beta and the 290 performed well enough at 1080), and then make a decision regards the rest of the upgrade after I've seen how the new GPU and CPU perform.

I'm now trying to tie down the GPU - The Morpheus on my 290 yields almost silent operation and it runs very reasonable temps. I don't have the patience really to install another loop, or try and fit the Morpheus onto a Vega56 - I've seen a few reviews and the 56 does seem to run cooler and quieter than the 290, so I guess I need to see if I can put up with a refer nice card or wait for an AIB........

Thanks again for all your help. Appreciate it.

Vinny.
Click to expand...

No secret amd asked Vendors to take a hit profit wise with the reference cards, which is why you dont see Asus cards and them releasing Strix images before the ref cards hit the stores- just smart play on Asus side. Not sure if Vendors will be able to save cash making their own PCB- should be able to- as well as their coolers as most would be retro fitted from other models . May end up cheaper in some cases or more expensive - can see this on nvidia cards .

seems a lot undervolt the 56, load the 64 bios and overclock the Ram and boom! 64 beating specs , cash saved and less heat/power

might be worth a shot seeing if your GPU cooler would fit the Vega

it is hard not to knock the fact you can get a 56 and a 1440p freesync monitor for the price of a Ti card and gain the performance of a 64/gtx 1080 for free with a bios flash
 
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