Time for an upgrade. Need help please!

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Hi all,

So, it's been a while since I've upgraded my computers CPU, Mobo and RAM and I feel it's time to give them some love. I've not upgraded these in at least 4 years so I have no idea what the latest and greatest parts are.

First up, my current specs are:

- i7 2600k
- Decent motherboard (Can't remember specs off the top of my head, I can update when I get home if people need)
- 8GB XMS3 RAM
- GTX 970
- 850W PSU

I use my PC primarily for games and I also like to stream every so often. I also do some pretty intensive game development tasks (3D, rendering etc...) so I need something suitable for these tasks.

I'm looking at spending around £600 but can go further if the extra money spent is worthwhile.

I take it Intel are still the best for CPU's? Which is the latest Intel? Haswell? Devil's Bridge? Or are the 2011 socket Intel's newer?

I'm thinking of getting some nice fast 16GB of memory (2x8GB sticks so I can upgrade to 32GB if needed in the future) and a good motherboard to go along with the CPU and RAM.

Any suggestions are very appreciated, I'm really lost at the moment! :D

Thanks all!
 
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Most recommendations here would be: Get a big cooler and OC the living daylights out of that chip, and you have about zero reason left to buy a Haswell... Not anything worth the money at least.

You could easily add memory for 16 or 24GB, assuming you're on 2 sticks right now.
 
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Ok, so I wouldn't see that much of a performance increase over an overclocked 2600k?

I have an Akasa Venom CPU cooler on the 2600k (This but with just the one fan: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-080-AK) and I have taken the CPU up to 4.3GHz if I remember correctly. Would water cooling allow me to go that much further? Something like the Corsair H1xx series of water coolers?

If a water cooling solution would give me a nice boost along with some more RAM then I might go that route, since it is much cheaper :)

Thanks for the input guys!
 
Soldato
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Water doesn't allow you to clock much higher than air but it's quieter which is nice. Was more of a suggestion to what you could spend your money on it you just want something new.

If that was my rig I would first get another fan and get the cpu clocked, then if your still not happy go sli.

What monitor do you have?
 
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My temps are pretty good at 4.3GHz with the air cooler to be honest. I have the Coolermaster HAF X case so the airflow is pretty good throughout the whole case. Never had a problem with the temps. I have tried pushing the CPU higher but if I remember it started to hang in games and such so I don't think it would actually go any higher :( Maybe if I play with the voltages it would help? Would faster RAM help at all?

Wouldn't another 970 be bottlenecked by this current set up? Is a single one bottlenecked?

I have a BenQ XL2720Z (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-098-BQ&groupid=17&catid=1851).
 
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What temps did you have? I have the haf 932 so I know they are decent for both air and water.

The gangs were more than likely from low volts so I would give it another go.

A single card wouldn't be a bottleneck and neither should 2 especially if you have it clocked

With that monitor you shouldn't really have a problem with your current setup.
 
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Pretty sure my CPU never goes above say 65 degrees and the 970 hovers around the 65 degrees mark too. I can run some tests though.

I've never really messed with the volts on my CPU, just gone into the bios and upped the multiplier etc to give me a nice and simple overclock. I shall read into the volts to ensure I do it properly and see if I can push my CPU further then.

I don't really have a problem with my build. I mainly play CS:GO and depending on the map I can get a stable 250+ fps. But some games like DayZ or ARMA 3 and some other CPU intensive games can get laggy at times. So I thought that maybe an upgrade would help.

But since you guys have said I wouldn't see much of a gain from upgrading my CPU I'm just thinking about getting faster + more RAM and maybe splash out on a good sized SSD for games which should help.

Depending how my MOT goes on my car I thought I'd treat myself to some PC parts, hence this thread!
 
Soldato
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A new cpu will help but it's not going to be a massive upgrade.

Atleast if you clock both the gpu and cpu first it's not costing you a penny extra.

250fps is great. It's when you drop to below 60 you need to start thinking about upgrading imo

I had the same cpu as you and most will do 4.8 easy. If you got to 4.3 without increasing the volts then you should be fine. But you have to remember more volts and clocks the more heat so I would get that extra cpu fan
 
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At 4.3 Ghz you're mighty close to a Stock 4790K:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/287?vs=1260

As those Haswells are bad clockers, you may gain 15% over your current setup... Just not worth your pennies. Not sure even spending £90 on an AIO is really worth it, as you can only gain a few more % realistically.

I'd grab SSD first, As you're doing more than games and may use it RAM (What spec is your current?), monitor depending on what you have a 1080p.
A second 970 GTX shouldn't be bottlenecked, especially if you are going for 1440p+
 
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I knew I'd be close to stock with an overclocked CPU, I just wasn't sure if the newer CPU's had any additional benefits or actually had much of a gain in power over the older ones. Thanks for clearing that up guys :)

I do have an SSD already, but that's for windows, a few select programs and maybe a game or two if I can squeeze it on. I think I may buy a additional one for some other games along with a new hard drive. Windows has been saying my games hard drive has been dying for a few years now which probably doesn't help the slow down in some of the bigger games haha.

My RAM is Corsair XMS3 (8GB - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-290-CS). I may bump it up to something faster though.
 
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