[SOLVED] Can i upgrade or should i rebuild from scratch?

[Fatal913443]

Hey guys so I'm wanting to upgrade my RAM and GPU - Ram will obviously be right, but wondering if any of my current specs will cause issues/bottle neck if i upgrade my GPU.

Current Setup:

CPU: Intel Core i7 7700 Kaby Lake - Socket 1151 LGA @ 3.60GHz -

MOBO: Predator G3-710 - Max x16 supported PCI

Memory: 16 GB (Going to upgrade to 32GB) -

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

PSU: I think it's 730 but would have to double check before purchasing anything to make sure i don't need to upgrade.

____

Q1: RAM - Can I run 1 stick of 32GB to upgrade at a later date to 64GB or would That be detrimental as I read having 1 stick of ram gives you only half of what it is, am i better off getting 2 sticks of 16GB?

Q2: Would upgrading to a 2080s or 2080ti work with the rest of my set up? Namely my MOBO/CPU? Could it bottle neck?

Q3: If Current tower can't fit the new GPU, and it fits with all my other gear, would it just be as simple as getting a bigger tower and replacing all the hardware in the newer, bigger rig?

Q3: Would I be better off with a 2080s or a 2070s?

 

[cryoburner]

I would not consider a 2080 Ti at this point. Nvidia recently discontinued the 2080 Ti, and are expected to announce their high-end 30-series cards tomorrow, which will likely be released sometime in the following weeks. The 3080 is expected to be faster than a 2080 Ti, while likely costing significantly less, while the 3090 will likely be significantly faster. So you will probably want to look at the new cards instead, rather than the existing models from 2 years ago.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd recommend waiting on a new card as well, however, aside from reference models it's unlikely there is going to be widespread availability of aftermarket board partner models initially, so if you want something now or soon, waiting on the 3080 might not be a great option. Pretty much every release cycle this happens, with a lot of people not able to get cards right away because, well, it's new, and what IS available gets bought up pretty quickly. Definitely a thing to consider though.

As for the monitor, hey man, it's your money, but I'm just unconvinced that the Samsung panel has anything to offer that the LG panels don't, at half the price. Both are 1440p. Both have 1ms response times. Both have 144hz refresh rates. Both are 32". Both have sync features. Both have good gaming and color reproduction performance. The Samsung is curved while the LG isn't, but I REALLY can't see paying double for a curved feature, that to me is more of a marketing gimmick anyhow. I've used both and to be honest I really don't see the appeal of a curved display on anything smaller than maybe around 40 inches. But I'm not "against" it particularly either, I just absolutely don't see it as a winning any comparisons strictly because of it.

 

[Fatal913443]

Yeah I see the point in waiting for the 3000 series, Which I am waiting for paper release to see prices and potential distribution dates but i somehow think we won't get our hands on these new GPU's until next year some time maybe middle of the year considering the whole COVID-19 situation and hold ups in processing/deliveries etc.

I'll keep looking around at screens before I actually spend my money on everything that's for sure but for now it's the place holder until i find something else i might like better. Other than the screen, and the fact that the 2080 series is discontinued - Is the build compatible and would it all likely fit in the case i've chosen?

Are we expecting the 3070's to be doing the same as a 2080ti? or just a 2080? or something along those lines? For me it could be still a viable option to get a 2080 Super or a 2080ti if it means it wil still be as good as a 3070 or 3080.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Truthfully? Nobody knows. Anybody who says they do is lying, because there are no reviews yet and therefore there is nothing to base an opinion on.

Your best bet, very much in YOUR self interests, would be to not get antsy. Be patient. Don't sell yourself short on a very expensive build just to save a month or so on something that you want to be right, and to last you for years. You can, and should, wait to see what happens over the next couple of weeks and then decide whether you will pull the trigger on an existing technology or wait for the physical release of the new gen stuff.

People who get in a hurry when it comes to buying hardware ALWAYS end up regretting it. I assure you. I've handled thousands of them here, so I am very much aware of the regret. Just look at my sig line, 'nuff said.

 

[Fatal913443]

Yeah, i'm probably going to end up just going with a 20 series tbh, who knows how long it will be before we really can get our hands on a 30series.

Think this setup will fit in the case?

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have no doubts that it all fits the case, but I seriously would consider something OTHER than a Cooler master case. Case brands that I think should be avoided include Cooler master, Thermaltake, DIY PC, Aerocool, NZXT, Antec and Raidmax, to name the better known but mostly best avoided brands. Certainly these all have a few decent case model through the years, but overall they are mostly making cheap junk that lacks quality and features or is simply not well designed. There are also OTHER reasons to avoid some case (And other hardware) brands that have nothing to do with features or quality, chiefly, using strong arm suppression tactics and bullying, which Cooler master is extremely guilty of, and for that reason alone ought to be boycotted or avoided to some degree.

In contrast to Cooler Master’s struggle with accepting that their product improved by way of criticism, we are happy to note that the H500P Mesh has been heavily improved over the original product. Oddly, no one would ever know that, as there’s presently (at time of writing) only one outlet with a review online -- Cooler Master didn’t sample many people for the H500P Mesh, and particularly seemed to cut-off critical reviewers.


Regardless of Cooler Master’s petty squabbles, we are happy to announce that the H500P Mesh has resolved all of our major, deal-breaking points of criticism. Case airflow has objectively improved (many times over -- from 137LPM to ~360LPM), thermal performance has significantly improved (mirroring our H500P Meshify mod), and acoustics aren’t much different for it. There are still minor grievances, but nothing that should stop anyone from buying the case. At least, nothing on a product level.


Cooler Master has done well to listen to criticism and respond with a product that is where the original should have landed. This case is now among the chart-toppers for CPU cooling performance, and airflow has improved markedly. Job well done, Cooler Master.


What concerns us, however, is the construction of an atmosphere where reviewers are intimidated to cast a critical eye upon a product. Although we see blacklisting as a challenge to work harder, other media operations aren’t in the same position to risk relationships. If a company behaves vindictively and cuts sampling, that company is building a sphere of reviewers it feels it has influence over. Cooler Master doesn’t want reviewers to work on its product, we think, it wants “influencers” to work on its products. Cooler Master’s product update has silenced its most critical reviewers -- us -- with improvements. That’s something the company should be proud of and want to share; instead, their actions have painted the company a portrait of either cowardice or pettiness, and the former doesn’t make much sense as the product is legitimately good.


We’ll leave this here for now, though. Although it is disturbing, toxic behavior to cut contact with critical reviewers, and bad for the consumer, we do want to focus on the product for today. On that front, Cooler Master has done a decent job with the Mesh. We can genuinely recommend it at its price-point, assuming you’re good with the more subjective elements (the looks -- which are up to you). We also have no quarrel with condemning Cooler Master’s behavior through this process.


To Cooler Master: Job well done on the product. We’ll buy your next ones and make sure you can keep the trend. Cases are cheap.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwrevie...0p-mesh-review-thermals-airflow-build-quality

All of which is aside from the fact that it seems pretty much everything CM sells these days is just cheap, flea market level garbage.

Case brands to consider models from include Fractal design, Corsair, Phanteks, Lian Li, Be Quiet, some Cougar, some Enermax.

Obviously, this is up to you in the end, but I wouldn't recommend giving Cooler master my business. They are much like the too-slick used car salesman of old.

 

[Fatal913443]

Ah right, thanks for that info.

I'm unsure on what the difference between the ASUS Prime Z490-A and the ASUS TUF GAMING Z490 Plus(wifi) is other than to obvious fact that the TUF mobo has built in wireless. From what i could tell the specs seemed pretty identical, am i missing something? Would this be a better purchase since it's quite a bit cheaper but does the same things? (Has like 1 less ssd m.2 drive and hdd drive slot i think.

 

[Darkbreeze]

"Specs" are misleading. Usually, it's the specs that are NOT listed that make a difference, such as how many ACTUAL power phases the motherboard has, the quality of the mosfets used in the VRMs, how good are the capacitors, etc.

Technically, the Z490-A is probably the better board, but I have not looked into reviews of motherboards on this platform yet because to be honest I think it's simply a last ditch, grasping effort to retain some amount of market share in this segment while continuing to use the 14nm process that should have been done with at least three years ago. The Z series A models are generally almost the same board in most generations as the Hero models from that year, but lacking the "ROG" features on the Hero models. That would mean they are generally the best of the mid tiered boards sold by ASUS while the TUF series are very much middle of the road mid tiered boards, but are pretty good usually for the price.

If plan to overclock the CPU at all, either now or down the road, I'd definitely recommend the Z490-A over the Gaming Plus even though they apparently have the same number of power phases. There are usually comparisons as well.

From what I can OBVIOUSLY see, which certainly doesn't include all differences under the hood, the A has 3 x16 PCIe slots while the Gaming has one. The A has a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot which is not present on the Gaming. The A has six USB 2.0 ports while the Gaming has three. The A has Supreme FX S1220A audio codec chipset while the Gaming has the more standard Realtek S1200A. The A has dual OP amps while the Gaming doesn't. The A has AI overclocking, cooling and networking support, but the Gaming does not.

Those are the primary differences aside from any possible differences in actual hardware level component selection between the two.

 

[Fatal913443]

So I have decided to wait for the 3080 haha. Hopefully i can snag one on 17th. If the 3090 was a little cheaper, i'd have gotten that but, it's not double the performance of the 3080 so can't justify the extra $$ (Even though i was about to drop $1900 odd on the 2080ti).

Now we know some info on these new cards - Do we think a i7-10700k would bottleneck a 3080? Would i be better off upgrading to a Z490-F (The one with a heat sink?) Or would the Z490-A Still be ok?

 

[Darkbreeze]

What do you mean by "the one with a heatsink"? The Z490-A has heatsinks on the VRMs and chipset controller.

 

[Fatal913443]

Unsure, all I've been reading is that the z490-A doesn't have a heat sink like the z490-f... I ended up getting the z490-a anyway as i figured I'd have to remove the heat sink to install the cpu cooler?

Will the i710700k bottle neck with the 3080?
Will the i710700k bottle neck with my old 1070? (using until i get 3080)

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, I have no idea what they are talking about. Is this a high end Z490 board? No. But this, next to the Hero which has always been a terrific choice, is the best of the ASUS mid tiered boards in every chipset family since they started using the Zxxx-A designation.

Once you go above the A or Hero, you are generally getting into high end boards with high end prices to go with them.

The 10700k isn't going to bottleneck anything. It's the same as a 9900k. There are no games, and no multitasking configurations that I know of, that are going to use more than 16 threads. Not yet anyhow. Maybe going forward. At least, not to any degree that would be considered to be holding back the game or being a chokepoint for graphics card performance.

Then again, I don't think there is ANYBODY who can tell you what will or will not, in REALITY, be a bottleneck for these new cards because we have not SEEN them used with a variety of different CPUs yet to be able to compare and know if something is holding them back or not. That is why waiting for reviews, and not just the initial ones, is paramount.

 

[Fatal913443]

Thanks for all the help man, really appreciate it - I've ordered everything but the GPU and although was skeptical about waiting for the 3x series, after watching the reveal and seeing how potentially can have the card much earlier than NOV (i thought it would be like next year, could still be the case but doesn't seem as likely now) - am happy to wait for the 3080 at this point.

Thanks for all the info you gave me, i feel a fair bit more confident in what i'm looking at with PC builds for the most part now, you've been very educating haha.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Anytime you have a question man, just start a thread and shoot me a PM and I'll be glad to offer whatever help I'm able to.