[SOLVED] Do you think an upgrade to my system is necessary yet?

[QwerkyPengwen]

So overall I would say I'm still perfectly fine and satisfied with my system and it's performance, but am starting to get a bit more curious about upgrades that may need to happen in the near future.

Not asking for parts and prices, just asking for opinions on whether any kind of upgrade is NECESSARY. (key word being that)

For sure I believe that the CPU would be the first thing that needs upgrading at some point, but for now with just gaming and normal desktop usage it seems to be holding up quite well, and I've only got it overclocked at 4.4GHz (it can go to 4.7 but I haven't bothered to really fine tune the OC on this board I replaced my original one with)

Anywho, just give me some opinions and be your enthusiast grade selves and totally over explain your reasoning for the upgrade (with the exception of the CPU since I know that is going to have to happen at some point)

Just some input for future planning of upgrades is all I'm really looking for to see if there's something I missed when thinking things over about my current hardware.

Another note: I am aware that my PSU is well known for being not so good, but it has fully and properly powered my hardware for years now without issue so I would like to think I got lucky on this one, but I have plans to replace it at some point as well with a higher wattage gold rated fully modular PSU when I get the money together for it. Will also be looking into cablemod custom cables to go with that upgrade when I get around to it.

So without further ado, here's my system via PCPP so you can get better info on the hardware.


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4 GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB SC Black Edition Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: Cooler Master MF120R ARGB 3in1 59 CFM 120 mm Fans (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-02 16:31 EDT-0400


My full build with peripherals can be seen using the link in my about me section.

 

[COLGeek]

This system should be capable of handling anything on the market today, quite well, I would think.

 

[vMax]

The fact that you are happy with the current performance is good with your current 6700K and 1080Ti as both are a great match especially on the gaming side.

For the future and I mean the near term, you will be looking at Ryzen in 3000 series especially the likes of the 3700X and Comet Lake from Intel should be releasing some time early 2020 which will bring up to 10 cores 20 threads CPU's to Intel though still at 14nm++ but longer out perhaps end of 2020 the Intel 10nm CPU's will hit...Bottom line and with prices dropping due to competition it should be good for you as both sides will be at it by the time you upgrade.

The PC environment has changed and you get a lot of CPU and GPU power for your money coupled that to better storage tech in NVMe SSD's and very, very cheap RAM we all should be fairly happy!!!

Even though I am a Intel user and very happy with my 8700K which happily overclocks to 5GHz, If you were looking buy now then I would have given serious consideration to (money no object) 3900X (mixed workloads) or 9900KS (pure gaming) though I would wait until 2020 as there will be far more choice....

 

[WildCard999]

There's no much I'd upgrade on the system itself but maybe a monitor upgrade is due? What resolution/refresh rate is your current one?

 

[geofelt]

Until you become dissatisfied, I see no NECESSARY upgrade is required.

Perhaps, you could consider a larger/higher resolution monitor.
Keeping your current monitor as a side monitor will be very useful for desktop work.

The corsair CX power supplies may not be rated highly, but they are not dangerous if they fail.

Another good option might be to abandon the hard drive in favor of a 1/2tb ssd.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

There's no much I'd upgrade on the system itself but maybe a monitor upgrade is due? What resolution/refresh rate is your current one?

I have a 27" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync monitor.

Until you become dissatisfied, I see no NECESSARY upgrade is required.

Perhaps, you could consider a larger/higher resolution monitor.
Keeping your current monitor as a side monitor will be very useful for desktop work.

The corsair CX power supplies may not be rated highly, but they are not dangerous if they fail.

Another good option might be to abandon the hard drive in favor of a 1/2tb ssd.

So you are saying to consider 4K on a 1080Ti? As it is, I get anywhere from 80-120fps depending on the game with high preset in recent AAA titles. I can't see going to 4K being all that friendly to my fps and graphic settings.
Care to elaborate on why you would have me consider going 4K and have an even larger sized monitor?

Btw, my monitor as is currently sits maybe 2 feet away from my face when at my desk.

I've thought about a large SSD for mass storage, but then look at the price and remember that the "extra performance" isn't necessary or worth it for mass storage and games. Maybe when I can get a 2TB SSD for $75 or less I will look into it.

And yeah, I definitely feel the same way about the PSU. I am just honestly gonna wait until the day comes when I shut down and then try to boot the next day and it just doesn't to buy a new PSU.

 

[Fate05]

I have a 27" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync monitor.



So you are saying to consider 4K on a 1080Ti? As it is, I get anywhere from 80-120fps depending on the game with high preset in recent AAA titles. I can't see going to 4K being all that friendly to my fps and graphic settings.
Care to elaborate on why you would have me consider going 4K and have an even larger sized monitor?

Btw, my monitor as is currently sits maybe 2 feet away from my face when at my desk.

I've thought about a large SSD for mass storage, but then look at the price and remember that the "extra performance" isn't necessary or worth it for mass storage and games. Maybe when I can get a 2TB SSD for $75 or less I will look into it.

And yeah, I definitely feel the same way about the PSU. I am just honestly gonna wait until the day comes when I shut down and then try to boot the next day and it just doesn't to buy a new PSU.

Looks

So overall I would say I'm still perfectly fine and satisfied with my system and it's performance, but am starting to get a bit more curious about upgrades that may need to happen in the near future.

Not asking for parts and prices, just asking for opinions on whether any kind of upgrade is NECESSARY. (key word being that)

For sure I believe that the CPU would be the first thing that needs upgrading at some point, but for now with just gaming and normal desktop usage it seems to be holding up quite well, and I've only got it overclocked at 4.4GHz (it can go to 4.7 but I haven't bothered to really fine tune the OC on this board I replaced my original one with)

Anywho, just give me some opinions and be your enthusiast grade selves and totally over explain your reasoning for the upgrade (with the exception of the CPU since I know that is going to have to happen at some point)

Just some input for future planning of upgrades is all I'm really looking for to see if there's something I missed when thinking things over about my current hardware.

Another note: I am aware that my PSU is well known for being not so good, but it has fully and properly powered my hardware for years now without issue so I would like to think I got lucky on this one, but I have plans to replace it at some point as well with a higher wattage gold rated fully modular PSU when I get the money together for it. Will also be looking into cablemod custom cables to go with that upgrade when I get around to it.

So without further ado, here's my system via PCPP so you can get better info on the hardware.


PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4 GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $0.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11 GB SC Black Edition Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Case Fan: Cooler Master MF120R ARGB 3in1 59 CFM 120 mm Fans (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-11-02 16:31 EDT-0400


My full build with peripherals can be seen using the link in my about me section.

Still looks very good. I would consider upgrading CPU, Motherboard, PSU and RAM soon as they will start to show age. As long as you get 144fps then your 1440p, 144hz monitor wasn't a waste of money

 

[falcon291]

Upgrade your monitor. Last March I upgraded my mobo and CPU to 9700K, and last July, I upgraded my monitor to QHD Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD. Let me say the upgrade from HD 60 Hz monitor to QHD 144 Hz Freesync enhanced my gaming experience a lot more than my 3820 to 9700K upgrade. For both scenarios the graphic card is GTX 1070.

And wait for 2021.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

Upgrade your monitor. Last March I upgraded my mobo and CPU to 9700K, and last July, I upgraded my monitor to QHD Gigabyte Aorus AD27QD. Let me say the upgrade from HD 60 Hz monitor to QHD 144 Hz Freesync enhanced my gaming experience a lot more than my 3820 to 9700K upgrade. For both scenarios the graphic card is GTX 1070.

And wait for 2021.

I appreciate the feedback.
Care to elaborate what aspect specifically about my monitor you feel should be upgraded and why?

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

Overall from your guys feedback it seems I am justified in my initial assessment of my setup being still plenty good enough for now. But quality improvements can obviously be made in the PSU department and when the time comes a definite CPU upgrade to Ryzen for more cores and threads with an upgrade to 32gb would help with when I start to get into video editing.

Perhaps when the 4000 series comes out and we hopefully see AMD CPU's overtake Intel in single threaded performance while maintaining their lead in multicore and multithread performance as well.

And then obviously an upgrade to the 2080 Ti in a few more years when I can get one much cheaper second hand.

 

[falcon291]

I don't know your gaming preferences but for FPS, G-Sync or Freesync, and also QHD is changing the experience a lot. No screen tearing, you are always aware wait is going on around. It is simply terrific.

Your monitors are almost 10 years old. They were good for their time, but not anymore. I also would like to recommend you to have a look at IPS monitors. QHD IPS monitors are a lot more expensive, but they are worth the money.

 

[geofelt]

What you get with a larger monitor is a more immersive experience.
My 4k monitor is a 40" unit.
I use a GTX1080ti and it drives the monitor to a steady 60fps at max settings for the games I play.
That is mostly civilization.
If you play fast action games and need more than 60 fps, then you are going to need to spend more.
Perhaps on graphics, and perhaps more on the monitor.
A top monitor will have a ips type panel which has a better quality image as well as a better 178/178 viewing angle.
If your games are fast action shooters, what you have is very good.
If you play more visually oriented games such as mmo, strategy and sims, then ips is good.

 

[WildCard999]

The 1440P/144hz/Gsync monitor is a good pairing so I really wouldn't bother upgrading that. PSU seems like the way to go for now.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

I don't know your gaming preferences but for FPS, G-Sync or Freesync, and also QHD is changing the experience a lot. No screen tearing, you are always aware wait is going on around. It is simply terrific.

Your monitors are almost 10 years old. They were good for their time, but not anymore. I also would like to recommend you to have a look at IPS monitors. QHD IPS monitors are a lot more expensive, but they are worth the money.

ah. I see. You must not have seen that I have a 27" 1440p 144Hz G-Sync monitor along with those two other monitors in both my CPU-Z link and the full setup link on PCPP.

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

What you get with a larger monitor is a more immersive experience.
My 4k monitor is a 40" unit.
I use a GTX1080ti and it drives the monitor to a steady 60fps at max settings for the games I play.
That is mostly civilization.
If you play fast action games and need more than 60 fps, then you are going to need to spend more.
Perhaps on graphics, and perhaps more on the monitor.
A top monitor will have a ips type panel which has a better quality image as well as a better 178/178 viewing angle.
If your games are fast action shooters, what you have is very good.
If you play more visually oriented games such as mmo, strategy and sims, then ips is good.

Yeah. I get that.
But naturally 4K would require me to get a 2080 Ti since I want the higher FPS without sacrificing graphics.

And also it would require me to get a completely new and different triple monitor mount than the one I have that could support a larger size while holding my two other monitors on the sides, and even my current main monitor above it if I really wanted to.

And for that I would need to get an new desk that would allow me to sit further away, since 27" at about 2 feet way fills my vision perfectly while not being so big I can still see the corners by just moving my eyes, and still also allows easy and light turning of my head to see my other two monitors for multi tasking.

Definitely something that would be more for a dream setup when I have a ton of cash to burn LOL.
Obviously not gonna bother with such things though for the foreseeable future, hence why my monitor wasn't included in the original post build since I was more or less already aware that my current monitor and GPU were well matched.

I only threw the GPU into the build because it was honestly just me taking the full setup build and clicking the X to remove things from it to trim it down for the post 😆

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

There is one part of my build that I really want to get working which is the RGB of my MF120-R fans.

Since they either need a controller, or a header to plug into for controlling the lights I currently have the lighting disabled.

And the only controller that I know of to be used with them is the LED Controller from Cooler Master themselves, but oddly enough I can only find it on Newegg, and for a weird price as well as the fact that it would come from China directly from a 3rd party seller that is on Newegg which would take forever for shipping and overall doesn't sit well with me so definitely something that'll have to happen when I eventually upgrade my CPU and can get a motherboard that has an addressable RGB header on it.