Is it time to Upgrade, or get a new system?

JoeDin2056 · 28 Feb 2019 at 17:50

Hi everyone,

For the past year i have been thinking of either upgrading or buying a new system. But i cant make my mind up on what would be the best thing to do.

So let me tell you a bit about how i use my system at the moment. I current use it mainly for gaming, but i also do some video editing & converting. I have a 5.1 speaker setup used with my system and i have a 4K monitor.

My monitor i a good couple of years old now and im going to be replacing it, mainly because it cant be wall mounted and i really would like it off my desk and on to my wall. Plus i would like a monitor that supports HDR.

I have my eye already on a monitor that offers 4K HDR and FreeSync. So im going to be buying that im sure, and its wall mountable.

I am also some what of a graphics snob, i need to run my games at 4K maxed out. As long as my fps dont drop below 30 then im alright with it. At the moment maxing out my games at 4K depending on the game gives me about 28fps to 40fps. with a small amount giving me 60fps.

So my current system is...

CPU: Intel i7 7700K (4.20GHz, 4 cores, 8 threads, 8mb cache)
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080ti (11GB)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 2400MHz
MB: Asus Strix B250F Gaming (Socket 1151)
PSU: Corsair HX850 850w Full Modular (135mm fan)
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card
Case: Thermaltake With Window
SSD1: Samsung 250GB (OS, some minor software)
SSD2: Samsung 250GB (all other software)
HDD1: WD 4TB 72000rmp (games)
HDD2: WD 4TB 72000rmp (games)
Disk Drive: LG Bluray RW+- x16
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H80i
Fans: x2 120 fans top, x2 120 fans front & 1x 120 fans bottom

I dont know if im been a bit mad considering a full new system or not. But i would like to improve my performance so maybe id be better with an upgrade. But when i look at what id upgrade its not far off a new build, so that makes me think why not go all in?

If i where to upgrade i would change the CPU, i feel like its the oldest part of the system. When i run benchmarks on my computer from games or other software it always flags the CPU as falling behind the rest.

So looking at the new CPU's i see some still say they are an 1151 socket but it seems to be a new version as any of the newer gen CPU's are not supported on my MB. So that would mean a new CPU and Motherboard.

Then as im after better performance in my games i would be looking at getting RTX 2080 TI, that will give me the ray tracing and some extra FPS.

Also the case i have is a rather cheap one, looks nice but cheap. reason i would look at replacing it is that it is a fault. It has 2 USB 3 ports on the front of it but only one of them works. Nothing looks damaged and all the cables are securely in but only one of them works.

So that brings me to a new Case, GPU, CPU & MB. Im ok with keeping the RAM & SSD/HDD. Then i think of the sound card, it works but the software is really old and has not had any updates in years. Also any audio that would play from behind is really quite so quite i cant hear it. For example in game if im looking at someone talking in front of me, sounds well. If i turn my back to them i can no longer hear them they become so quite.

I dont think its the speakers as when watching media or if i do a sound check on each speaker the back ones are loud. So im guessing its the sound card not working well with games.

So what do you all suggest? build a new system or upgrade my current one? what parts would you suggest to help me get at least a sold 45fps to 50fps max out in 4K, in newer games.

tamzzy · 28 Feb 2019 at 17:55

JoeDin2056 said:
a bit mad

indeed.

Plec · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:00

tamzzy said:
indeed.

Not enough emphasis on the 'Indeed' @tammzy

@JoeDin2056 - if you really have the itch wait at least wait for the release of Ryzen 3000

tamzzy · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:02

Plec said:
Not enough emphasis on the 'Indeed' @tammzy

INDEED

better now?

Plec · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:04

tamzzy said:
INDEED

better now?

Perfect, upgrade.

BongoHunter · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:06

I would only do the monitor thing and add large capacity SSDs for the games. Am quite surprised at you memory speed but am not sure how much difference that makes on Intel for gaming - but it does make a reasonable difference on AMD.

If you were going to upgrade the GFX card the only way to go would be 2080ti really - but they're big bucks.

Do not replace your system - work with what you have for now

tamzzy · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:13

BongoHunter said:
am not sure how much difference that makes on Intel for gaming

not a lot on intel. avg fps doesn't change much. helps with the min fps though.
not worth the cost of changing.

BongoHunter · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:47

tamzzy said:
not a lot on intel. avg fps doesn't change much. helps with the min fps though.
not worth the cost of changing.

Op is only looking for a few FPS though to hit his minimum, plenty of stuff online suggests that faster ram might get him there. 32GB of DDR4 on OcUK is only £200 right now for the 3000mhz Team Group stuff so might be worth considering over a complete replacement of the machine.

tamzzy · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:53

@BongoHunter

JoeDin2056 said:
I have my eye already on a monitor that offers 4K HDR and FreeSync

JoeDin2056 said:
i need to run my games at 4K maxed out

JoeDin2056 said:
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1080ti (11GB)

i suspect it's not the ram that's the main worry. 1080ti is more than sufficient for anything that's not 4k maxed and not hdr.
if op wants to be a "graphics snob" then fine. but taking a large hit on the 1080ti, and then paying over-the-odds for a 2080ti with decent warranty (read: not 2 years). i can't help but ask: is it worth it? rather than just turning one or two settings down a wee bit...

also,

JoeDin2056 said:
MB: Asus Strix B250F Gaming (Socket 1151)

doesn't allow memory overclocking. so getting faster ram isn't going to be of any fat use.
no idea who designed the build, but getting a non-oc board for a -k processor is a bit silly...lol

JoeDin2056 · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:56

Thanks all for your comments, you're all correct. I would be mad to buy a full new system. Im more looking now to replace my CPU and my MB with it. The deepening on how things run i will look at getting faster RAM if needed. i already have £1000 set a side for an upgrade. What CPU and MB would you suggest to replace my current one?

pastymuncher · 28 Feb 2019 at 18:57

When the 7700k was launched it was found that in some games performance increased by up to 20% with memory of 3000mhz or more. At the moment that 7700k is being held back by slow memory and a board that cannot overclock it. Why on earth did you buy a high end gpu and cpu but cut corners with the motherboard?

tamzzy · 28 Feb 2019 at 19:01

JoeDin2056 said:
What CPU and MB would you suggest to replace my current one?

none.

tamzzy said:
1080ti is more than sufficient for anything that's not 4k maxed and not hdr.

you'd need to upgrade the GPU. CPU doesn't make a large difference for 4k gaming.

@pastymuncher pretty sure you've told OP before lol: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/my-new-upgrade.18783015/

pastymuncher · 28 Feb 2019 at 19:15

Oh right, thanks for refreshing my memory. Another poster that asks for advice and then does the opposite, makes poor choices and then complains about performance, again!! I'm off.

orbitalwalsh · 28 Feb 2019 at 19:52

Cant remember if B250 had MCE or it came after . If it does, should help a little can technically it's not an overclock , just tells all cores to run at max performance .