2015 Gaming PC Upgrades

[Stillborn_Axe]

Hi there,

This is my first time post. I do however turn here for answers when I'm in need of anything regularly. 😀

I am probably not in a totally unique position, but I would however like to ask the community's advise on upgrading my PC so I get the best performance out of my machine.

Firstly, I do play games albeit not all the time, I am mostly using my PC during the working hours of the day to do Architectural work on CAD and BIM Software such as AutoCAD and Revit (Mainly Revit) and also some 3D Modelling and visualizing software.

Before you ask me to consider building a "Workstation" with a Quadro card, let me say, it's pointless spending that much cash on a machine, I have done the research and determined that a high end Gaming PC will handle all the Arch software and 3D Viz stuff perfectly fine. On a side note... I mean, seriously, how ridiculously are those cards priced... anyways.

So here goes:

This is what I have at the moment:

(My mobo got struck by lightning in August, so the one below was just to get me running again)
CPU i7 2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
Mobo Gigabyte Z77M-D3H ITX Board
RAM 4x 4GB Transcend DDR3-1333 Modules
PSU 750W Desktop type PSU
GPU NVidia GTX 670 OC
HDD Transcend 256GB SSD
OS Win 8.1 64bit

Case, DVD, and all HDD's, and GPU will remain...

Ideally, all I want to upgrade is:
Cpu, Ram, Mobo, PSU.

So my question would be, affordably speaking, is it worth upgrading to Socket 1150 i7 Haswell with 1600 Ram and perhaps Z97 Mobo and a powerful PSU? Or would it be more worth it, waiting for a while and upgrading to Socket 2011 with all the bells and whistles.

I don;t really know how to estimate my budget, I am situated in South Africa so estimating budget and converting currencies for you guys to understand my position is rather difficult, so let's just say: IF I had to upgrade to 2011 if it'd be more worth it and the performance increase would be much more, the highest CPU I would be able to afford in my upgrade would be the i7 5930k... hope that puts it into perspective a little??

Thanx in advance!

 

[i7Baby]

PSU make and model?
GTX670 make?

CPU - see - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html - I'd keep it unless you need the functionality of a newer motherboard. Also see http://www.anandtech.com/show/8426/the-intel-haswell-e-cpu-review-core-i7-5960x-i7-5930k-i7-5820k-tested/5 for comparison of current CPUs.

RAM - 16GB is OK. 1866 would be better for 3D stuff etc

Mobo - see CPU

PSU - see Qn above.

GPU - maybe some more CUDA cores. See http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

I ended up buying a 2nd 670. But my video editor can use SLI Hardware Acceleration. Or maybe a GTX970?

 

[20salmon]

Before we get stared, what case do you have? You are currently using an itx motherboard, so if you plan on building this in a mini itx case we should be aware of it before we start making recommendations.

Regardless, I think the i7-5930k is a good choice if this gives you any benefits over i5-4690k with your arcitectural work, and if you plan on overclocking. If you don't plan on overclocking, you can save money on getting a CPU without the K at the end, and a h97 motherboard instead of z97.

 

[Stillborn_Axe]

PSU make and model?
GTX670 make?

CPU - see - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html - I'd keep it unless you need the functionality of a newer motherboard. Also see http://www.anandtech.com/show/8426/the-intel-haswell-e-cpu-review-core-i7-5960x-i7-5930k-i7-5820k-tested/5 for comparison of current CPUs.

RAM - 16GB is OK. 1866 would be better for 3D stuff etc

Mobo - see CPU

PSU - see Qn above.

GPU - maybe some more CUDA cores. See http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

I ended up buying a 2nd 670. But my video editor can use SLI Hardware Acceleration. Or maybe a GTX970?

PSU Make I can't remember, but I'll need to replace it anyways - I replaced the factory fan with an old one I found in my collection somewhere so it's actually time to be decommissioned.
GPU Is Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Edition.

I think I'll consider running SLI in future, but for now just the one card will have to do, otherwise I'll have to compromise on the other components so that it doesn't become a financially crippling ordeal.

So what you are actually saying is to rather keep the CPU, Upgrade to 1866 Ram and a compatible Motherboard? If this is the case I can really look into buying a second 670 for SLI'ing.

 

[Stillborn_Axe]

Before we get stared, what case do you have? You are currently using an itx motherboard, so if you plan on building this in a mini itx case we should be aware of it before we start making recommendations.

Regardless, I think the i7-5930k is a good choice if this gives you any benefits over i5-4690k with your arcitectural work, and if you plan on overclocking. If you don't plan on overclocking, you can save money on getting a CPU without the K at the end, and a h97 motherboard instead of z97.

I have an Antec DF-85 Case, so it's massive - No GPU Size restrictions or anything. I bought this case a few years ago with any possible upgrades in mind. It's only downfall being the ambient noise created by exactly 10,000 Massive fans...

If I upgrade the CPU, you have a good point there, I'll drop the K's and the Z's. I don't OC, I see it as a potential downtime risk for work, which at this point I cannot afford.

 

[20salmon]

Go for an i7-4770 (or 4790) with h97 mobo and spend the savings on a GPU, like GTX 970 or greater, and 16gb 1866 RAM

If the noise is bothering you, you could always replace the case fans with some Noctua fans. An aftermarket cooler would also make it more quiet.

 

[Stillborn_Axe]

Go for an i7-4770 (or 4790) with h97 mobo and spend the savings on a GPU, like GTX 970 or greater, and 16gb 1866 RAM

If the noise is bothering you, you could always replace the case fans with some Noctua fans. An aftermarket cooler would also make it more quiet.

That sounds like a plan.

One more thing though, when the Mobo info says:
"4x Dual Channel DDR3 DIMM Slots (32GB Max / 1333MHz up to 3200MHz Supported, OC May be Required)"

does 1333MHz up to 3200MHz mean that 1600, 1866, 2400 and everything in between is supported by this motherboard? The "OC May be required worries me a little"

 

[20salmon]

Go for an i7-4770 (or 4790) with h97 mobo and spend the savings on a GPU, like GTX 970 or greater, and 16gb 1866 RAM

If the noise is bothering you, you could always replace the case fans with some Noctua fans. An aftermarket cooler would also make it more quiet.

That sounds like a plan.

One more thing though, when the Mobo info says:
"4x Dual Channel DDR3 DIMM Slots (32GB Max / 1333MHz up to 3200MHz Supported, OC May be Required)"

does 1333MHz up to 3200MHz mean that 1600, 1866, 2400 and everything in between is supported by this motherboard? The "OC May be required worries me a little"

Yeah it's all supported. Don't worry aobut the OC may be required bit. Which mobo are you looking at? I recommend ASUS, my personal favorite after trying both Gigabyte and MSI boards.

 

[Stillborn_Axe]

Yeah it's all supported. Don't worry aobut the OC may be required bit. Which mobo are you looking at? I recommend ASUS, my personal favorite after trying both Gigabyte and MSI boards.

Thank you for the help man, I really do appreciate it. I am going to investigate where I can get ASUS hardware and check what I can do and then I'll post a proposed upgrade with my current hardware and then if you could look at it and tell me yay or nay, it'd be much appreciated!