Upgrading after 3 years

xriccix

xriccix

xriccix

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26 Feb 2014
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Brighton
As the title suggest i need/want to upgrade some bits after 3 years.

I need a new motherboard, CPU, GPU and 16gb ram. I'm using my existing case, PSU and hard drives.

I use my PC for gaming and streaming. I don't want to overclock anything ideally. my budget is about £600. Any ides or advice would be great.

Although I can build a PC and do the basics I don't keep up to date with whats coming out soon or price drops for older gear.

Thanks!!
 
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In all honesty mate, I would keep what you have and make some small changed. The 2500k is still a beast of a CPU and will keep its own against Haswell, you're most likely see no improvement between them unless testing/benching.

Recommendations would be to get a new GPU (780/290/290x), SSD (Samsung Evo/Kingston HyperX) and maybe a new PSU, depending on the age/make/model of the one you currently have.

You could also find a cheap Z77 motherboard which will give you the option to upgrade to a 3770k later on. I would highly recommend overclocking that 2500k too, it will keep you going for a very long time.

How does that sound? Budget?
 
Agreed with snips above.

2500k was born to overclock. Honestly it can make a difference, especially if you're streaming as well. Grab an aftermarket cooler and give it a go. If you're still not happy with the performance after that, you can still reuse the cooler in a new build. Not much to lose.

Having said that, if you're going to be streaming modern CPU hungry games like Battlefield 4 at 720p or higher then yeah maybe consider an i7 :D
 
Thanks for all the great advice guys.

I have an SSD and my PSU is a solid corsair ATX.

I think i will stick to upgrading the GPU and the RAM. I will also look into overclocking as i have no idea what im doing!!!
 
I would just get a GPU and a cooler depending on what cooler you have? Why do you need to upgrade your RAM? What speed is it? 8gb is fine for most stuff, you can check your usage and see how much is actually being used before buying anymore.
 
xriccix said:
Thanks for all the great advice guys.

I have an SSD and my PSU is a solid corsair ATX.

I think i will stick to upgrading the GPU and the RAM. I will also look into overclocking as i have no idea what im doing!!!
Click to expand...

What budget are you looking at for this?
 
xriccix said:
between 300-400 for both bits fella.
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Sweet!

I would recommend this and overclock your 2500k to 4.5ghz. It's an easy target and the CPU & Cooler won't even break a sweet. Don't change your RAM, you'll be wasting money for no performance boost. Wait for DDR4 to be released or for the prices to drop.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCUII OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H100i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060009-WW) £88
Total : £337.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

 
Cool! i have a CM storm full tower case, i presume that cooler will fit in just fine?!

Time to get the credit card out!

Can you point me in the direction of a good overclocking guide?
 
xriccix said:
Cool! i have a CM storm full tower case, i presume that cooler will fit in just fine?!

Time to get the credit card out!

Can you point me in the direction of a good overclocking guide?
Click to expand...

If your case has space for 2x120mm fans next to each other and there is sufficient space between the motherboard and the radiator, you'll be fine.

For overclocking, post your spec & intended overclock target in a new thread in the Overclocking section. There are loads of helpful people here, Wazza will most likely be the first one in, he's full of knowledge!
 
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