Help me upgrade my PC?

[Boondoggle]

Hi guys and gals,

 

My PC is starting to show its age now and I wonder if others could help me advise on parts for upgrading my PC as I’m not savvy enough to attempt myself.

 

My PC currently,

 

Case: Coolermaster CM690 MkII Advanced Case

 

Processor: Intel Core i7-2600 Quad Core 3.40GHz 8mb Cache + HD Graphics

 

Motherboard: Asus P8z68-V/Gen3: PCI-E 3.0 Ready, SLI, CrossfireX

 

RAM: 8GB Samsung Dual-DDR3 1333MHz (2 x 4GB)

 

Graphics Card: Gigabyte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770

 

Hard Disk: 1TB WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX, SATA 6Gb/s, 64mb cache (7200rpm)

 

DVD Drive: 24x Dual Layer DVD Writer

 

Power Supply: Corsair 650W Enthusiast Series TX650, V2-80 Plus

 

Processor Cooling: Super Quiet 22dBA Triple a Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler

 

OS: Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

 

Many Thanks in advance!

[Svsmokey]

What is your output goal ? 1080p ? 1440 ? 4k ? VR ?

[tintifaxl]

Keep the case, power supply and DVD drive. Maybe the cooler fits the new cpu. Everything else should be replaced.

[MegOhm_SD]

SSDs!

[hansangb]

Yeah, I agree. Even if you're going to keep the current rig for a while, go get some SSDs. There is *ZERO* reason now to hang on to HDD. And you can take it with you when you upgrade.

[Boondoggle]

Thanks for replies all.

 

I’m not looking to go VR etc, just to run dcs modules smoothly and some FPS shooters.

 

Kind Regards

[Waxer]

If you don't know how to choose components and build yourself then get a premade PC from someone like Dell's Alienware or Overclockers. Particularly on lower-end gaming PCs all the assembly work they do doesn't actually cost you anything compared to the cost of buying and assembling yourself. (On top specification PCs, you can save more money by building yourself).

 

As your PC is old you could start afresh with something like this: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/desktops-and-all-in-ones/new-alienware-aurora/spd/alienware-aurora-r8-desktop/D00AWR801

 

Make sure you have an SSD in the system, even if you have HDDs as well.

 

Make sure - for DCS - you have a bare minimum of 16GB, and frankly it is better to upgrade immediately, if you can afford it, to 32GB.

 

I appreciate that you end up spending a lot of money... but hey, that is the nature of PC gaming / PC Master Race, compared with consoles.

[Delta59R]

If you want to keep the same Mobo, pick up a used 3770k cpu, a used additional 8gb ram (2x4), and a used gtx1070. Otherwise I would just do a complete new build.

[Mr_Burns]

Download a GPU monitor, I run a 2600k and there is still plenty of room in DCS but my GPU is 100%.

 

I too am upgrading, I do have a 250gb SSD but just bought a 1TB SSD for the new rig and as my 250 is now full.

 

I can now cross 1TB SSD off my new build and decide what to buy next, will be a GPU.

 

 

I wouldn’t update RAM on that old board, just buy things that can go in your new rig.

[Talonr]

@Boondoggle,

 

I tend to use https://pcpartpicker.com/ whenever I am speccing a new build. While I've been an Intel guy for some time, I'm seriously considering Ryzen for my next build. My son built a Ryzen 7 system a few months ago and it is smoking fast. I don't number crunch but it has smoked everything we've thrown at it.

 

I also agree SSDs are the way to go. I installed a 500GB SSD, dedicated to DCS and IL2, on my system and there was a noticeable decrease in load times. My future build will be SSDs for OS and sims and a hybrid for storage.

 

Good luck,

[MegOhm_SD]

Or go here and dream a little...

 

https://www.falcon-nw.com/index.php/mobile

[hansangb]

Or go here and dream a little...

 

https://www.falcon-nw.com/index.php/mobile

 

Dream a little is right!

[shafs64]

If you looking to go VR there are a few good ones around. I just moved up to the rift S form the old rift. And it was worth it.

[Mr_Burns]

Just to let you know @boondoggle I just put a RTX 2060 in mine and at 1080 with the 2700k overclocked to 4.3ghz it wont drop below 80 fps settings high.

 

 

That is an easy >50fps increase on a pretty old chip and old memory.

 

 

RTX 2060 was about $500 AUD.

[BitMaster]

@Boondoggle,

 

I tend to use https://pcpartpicker.com/ whenever I am speccing a new build. While I've been an Intel guy for some time, I'm seriously considering Ryzen for my next build. My son built a Ryzen 7 system a few months ago and it is smoking fast. I don't number crunch but it has smoked everything we've thrown at it.

 

I also agree SSDs are the way to go. I installed a 500GB SSD, dedicated to DCS and IL2, on my system and there was a noticeable decrease in load times. My future build will be SSDs for OS and sims and a hybrid for storage.

 

Good luck,

 

I would rather get a straight HDD and an Optane M2 module over a pre-made SSHD.

The ones I had failed pretty quick, btw,

[Waxer]

I would rather get a straight HDD and an Optane M2 module over a pre-made SSHD.

The ones I had failed pretty quick, btw,

In moving from 1 SSD to 1 HDD + 1 Optane You've just replaced one potential point of failure with two potential points of failure. Given that you'd better hope that the reliability for your HDD and the Optane are significantly better than the SSD. And the data on failure rates does not back your personal point of view / personal experience*.

 

* Caveat, SSDs run poorly if operated at >90% capacity utilisation. In which case you ARE asking from trouble.

Edited June 19, 2019 by Milou

[BitMaster]

In moving from 1 SSD to 1 HDD + 1 Optane You've just replaced one potential point of failure with two potential points of failure. Given that you'd better hope that the reliability for your HDD and the Optane are significantly better than the SSD. And the data on failure rates does not back your personal point of view / personal experience*.

 

* Caveat, SSDs run poorly if operated at >90% capacity utilisation. In which case you ARE asking from trouble.

 

Absolutely true, from the point of failure points. Any Hybrid drive is made out of more parts than an ordinary SSD or HDD, no doubt.

 

Personally, I would not do either. All my OS's and Apps and VM's are on multiple SSDs and HDD for Backups. I wouldnt even consider it in a Mac.

[Demon_]

The Corsair is warranty 5 years, how old is the Corsair? (You know what I mean?)

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Power-Supply-Units/Enthusiast-Series%E2%84%A2-TX650-V2-%E2%80%94-80-PLUS%C2%AE-Bronze-Certified-650-Watt-High-Performance-Power-Supply/p/CMPSU-650TXV2

Edited June 22, 2019 by Demon_

[Waxer]

The Corsair is warranty 5 years, how old is the Corsair? (You know what I mean?)

https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Power-Supply-Units/Enthusiast-Series%E2%84%A2-TX650-V2-%E2%80%94-80-PLUS%C2%AE-Bronze-Certified-650-Watt-High-Performance-Power-Supply/p/CMPSU-650TXV2

 

Hi Sorry, not 100% sure what you mean. If you are asking about Corsair PSU warranty I think that depends on which PSU. Low end PSUs have warranty of 3 years. Then mid end PSUs have warranties of 5 years, 7 year and the top of the range have 10 years warranty.

 

My RM1000i had a 10 year warranty and I got a replacement PSU from Corsair for the one that failed. By that time that had arrived (despite Advanced RMA) I'd already bought a replacement, so I just sold the new / replacement on eBay.

[Demon_]

Oups! My mistake. Hi Milou, i was referring to Boondoggle with his Corsair TX.

[Katj]

Just to let you know @boondoggle I just put a RTX 2060 in mine and at 1080 with the 2700k overclocked to 4.3ghz it wont drop below 80 fps settings high.

 

 

That is an easy >50fps increase on a pretty old chip and old memory.

 

 

RTX 2060 was about $500 AUD.

That's because single thread performance has improved little in recent years. I bought a second hand 6 GB 1060 for my old computer with a 4670k. Also got 16 GB extra RAM for a total of 24 GB.

 

I am very happy with the improvement for about 240 EUR spent. GPU is still the bottleneck. Will likely upgrade that one more time before I get new everything. Perhaps I will find VR mature at that point.

 

So my suggestion is buy 8-16 GB RAM, an SSD and spend the rest of your budget on a graphics card. 1070 or better is probably the way to go if your budget allows, mine didn't.

 

In fact, when I realized what a graphics card cost these days I bought the used card I mentioned before and got a few cards worth of Nvidia stock for good measure.

[Boondoggle]

So I've spent a bit of time trying to balance cost vs. power and came up with the folowing.

 

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/9ZzxLJ

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor

 

 

CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler

 

 

Motherboard: MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC ATX AM4 Motherboard

 

 

 

Memory: Team Vulcan 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory)

 

 

 

Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

 

 

Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Z Video Card

 

 

 

Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case

 

 

Total: £1080.09

 

 

What our members thoughts about the above?

 

 

Would this be a good build?

 

 

Kind Regards

[Waxer]

There is one thing - in particular - that you should check before committing. The Team Vulcan RAM that you found there is a very good price for 2x16GB of 3000 MHz CL 16 DDR4 memory. However both builds on_PCPartPicker_using that RAM were Intel systems. So far I have only build Intel systems (although if starting afresh today I would probably choose AMD) so what I am saying is that I have no direct experience of what I am about to say, but you should be aware / check it out:

 

From what I have read, Zen was particularly fussy about what OEM RAM modules where used on RAM DIMMs. (I am talking about the underlying lithography... Samsung, Hynix etc, not the retail brand... Corsair, Team Group etc). Some worked. Some didn't. This brought a whole new degree of complexity to selecting fast RAM to go into your system. What you need to do is check the support _section_of_MSI's_website_to_see_if_that_RAM_module_is_on_the_qualified_vendor_SKU_list._I_suspect_not.__In_case_you_are_wondering_my_Apple_keyboard_spacebar_has_just_given_up!!!__I_will_have_to_continue_on_another_computer.__Damn_Apple_and_their_stupid_keyboard_design.

[ebabil]

recently i have replaced my cpu from 2600k 4.2 to 9400f and i saw no improvement at all.

i suggest upgrade your gpu with a new card as best as you can buy. and add 8 gigs of ram for sure

[Boondoggle]

There is one thing - in particular - that you should check before committing. The Team Vulcan RAM that you found there is a very good price for 2x16GB of 3000 MHz CL 16 DDR4 memory. However both builds on_PCPartPicker_using that RAM were Intel systems. So far I have only build Intel systems (although if starting afresh today I would probably choose AMD) so what I am saying is that I have no direct experience of what I am about to say, but you should be aware / check it out:

 

From what I have read, Zen was particularly fussy about what OEM RAM modules where used on RAM DIMMs. (I am talking about the underlying lithography... Samsung, Hynix etc, not the retail brand... Corsair, Team Group etc). Some worked. Some didn't. This brought a whole new degree of complexity to selecting fast RAM to go into your system. What you need to do is check the support _section_of_MSI's_website_to_see_if_that_RAM_module_is_on_the_qualified_vendor_SKU_list._I_suspect_not.__In_case_you_are_wondering_my_Apple_keyboard_spacebar_has_just_given_up!!!__I_will_have_to_continue_on_another_computer.__Damn_Apple_and_their_stupid_keyboard_design.

 

So your saying I should go with a more established brand of RAM?

 

What do you think of the build? Will this enable me to play games of today?

 

Kind Regards