Looking to treat my 2011 system to a few upgrades (requesting recommendations)

[triman247]

Looking for ideas on how my system can be upgraded.

Approximate Purchase Date: Aug 2011, replaced graphics card Sep 2012. See below for list of components.

Budget Range: $500-750 all-in. I always cash in rebates.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming > Watching movies/tv through HDMI to TV > Excel > cruising the internet.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: RAM, Motherboard, CPU, Graphics Card, Gaming mouse. Ensure 2011 650W power supply is sufficient for any upgrades.

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Amazon

Location: San Francisco USA

Parts Preferences: Had good luck with Intel CPU, Corsair power supply, G Skill RAM, and Asus Mobo over the years. Had semi-bad luck with EVGA graphics cards.

Overclocking: Not currently but would be interested in learning more

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Was having an issue playing steam games, which resulted in a BSOD code 116 after about 15 mins of play. It seems that a whole graphics driver wipe fixed the issue but admittedly I haven't spent as much time playing steam games after trying the fix.

Case is pretty beaten in and filled with dust at this point (though I have blasted it with air a few times over the years) - is there much point to replacing the case at the same time or is that mostly just disruptive to the components?

I try to reformat once a year or so.

Software/games - I'd like to keep playing most new games at max (or close to) graphics especially battlefield. Been playing SWTOR mostly recently which isn't very tolling on the system. Would like to be able to run Eve online at max.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I have some money to spend and use this computer almost every day. Would like to treat my computer to an upgrade to keep it near the top of performance in the market.

Include a list of any parts you have already selected with descriptively labeled links for parts.
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131730

EVGA GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) DirectX 11 015-P3-1480-KR 1536MB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

Intel Core i7-2600 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231468

COOLER MASTER Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Intel Core i7 compatible
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057

Peripherals
COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel +Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197&Tpk=11-119-197&nm_mc=EMC-GD042312&cm_mmc=EMC-GD042312-_-index-_-Item-_-11-119-197

Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired Laser Gaming Mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318

Hard Drives
OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
I usually have my "main" game installed on here. Right now it has BF4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227542

OCZ Vector Series 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC VTR1-25SAT3-256G
I have Windows installed on here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227916

WD Red 3TB NAS Desktop Hard Disk Drive - Intellipower SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD30EFRX
I save movies and music and files here.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
I have other games installed on here.

Thank you very much for reading. Happy to entertain any suggestions or recommendations you might have.

 

[hiyabusared]

I would try this all out mind you the i5 is the k series so you can mess with the OCing. Yes you do need a better cpu cooler for the OCing. I know its a bit different but as for a good upgrade get ahead right now as ddr4 is becoming more affordable and ddr3 will start to become more expensive. Right now this is just a build i would do and the rest of your parts keep. You should have no issues with any of these. Also the ddr4 ram do not go above the 2133mhz there is no benefits to higher mhz as of now.

CPU i5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117561&cm_re=i5_6600k-_-19-117-561-_-Product
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128837
CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099&cm_re=212_evo-_-35-103-099-_-Product
Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127833
Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231882

 

[DSzymborski]

Honestly, the i7-2600 is still a very solid CPU and I don't see a real compelling reason to upgrade it - your improvements would be incremental, not revolutionary. You chose good parts in 2011. The PSU is still fine, 8 GB is still standard for gaming, so you could literally just throw in a higher-end GPU and call it a day. That's what I would probably do in your position, either drop in a 980ti and not have to worry about a GPU for a long while or get something like a 290/290x and some quality-of-life accessories.

 

[hiyabusared]

Honestly, the i7-2600 is still a very solid CPU and I don't see a real compelling reason to upgrade it - your improvements would be incremental, not revolutionary. You chose good parts in 2011. The PSU is still fine, 8 GB is still standard for gaming, so you could literally just throw in a higher-end GPU and call it a day. That's what I would probably do in your position, either drop in a 980ti and not have to worry about a GPU for a long while or get something like a 290/290x and some quality-of-life accessories.

I will say I do agree with this. I myself was a bit confused why the push. But I didn't think about just updating the gpu in the long run.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'd wait another generation for the CPU and video card for an upgrade with your system if it was me. If you are just bored and want to get higher settings or smoother play at high settings, i7 3770 CPU and a GTX 970 would be a decent upgrade. A GTX 960 is also an upgrade, but it's maybe 30% faster than the GTX 460 you have so not quite as worth it as the 970 if you can afford that. But you would still be able to go from say 45 frames to 60 frames in games, or from Medium to High or Ultra with the 960 and still have the same framerates.

Passmark 3D scores, 460 - 970 - 960

G3D Mark 4342 - 8664 - 5969

 

[triman247]

I'd wait another generation for the CPU and video card for an upgrade with your system if it was me.

Thank you for the insight. What time of the year do new generations tend to come out and what is the timeline on new generations (6-months, 12-months?). Is it an industry standard release quarter or does every company seem to come out with new generations whenever?

 

[triman247]

Honestly, the i7-2600 is still a very solid CPU and I don't see a real compelling reason to upgrade it - your improvements would be incremental, not revolutionary. You chose good parts in 2011. The PSU is still fine, 8 GB is still standard for gaming, so you could literally just throw in a higher-end GPU and call it a day. That's what I would probably do in your position, either drop in a 980ti and not have to worry about a GPU for a long while or get something like a 290/290x and some quality-of-life accessories.

Do the RAM sticks get "stale" over time? Given how cheap RAM is, is there any incremental benefit for throwing 2 new sticks in and/or jumping up to 16gb+? For a game like Eve online where you find yourself in a several thousand person fight, would additional RAM improve performance or is most/all of the lag caused by server-side processing power?

 

[triman247]

I would try this all out mind you the i5 is the k series so you can mess with the OCing. Yes you do need a better cpu cooler for the OCing. I know its a bit different but as for a good upgrade get ahead right now as ddr4 is becoming more affordable and ddr3 will start to become more expensive. Right now this is just a build i would do and the rest of your parts keep. You should have no issues with any of these. Also the ddr4 ram do not go above the 2133mhz there is no benefits to higher mhz as of now.

Do I have the ability to Overclock with the i7 I have now or would overclocking cause too much strain on the system? From a pure performance perspective, where can I expect to find benefits in overclocking?

 

[hiyabusared]

I would try this all out mind you the i5 is the k series so you can mess with the OCing. Yes you do need a better cpu cooler for the OCing. I know its a bit different but as for a good upgrade get ahead right now as ddr4 is becoming more affordable and ddr3 will start to become more expensive. Right now this is just a build i would do and the rest of your parts keep. You should have no issues with any of these. Also the ddr4 ram do not go above the 2133mhz there is no benefits to higher mhz as of now.

Do I have the ability to Overclock with the i7 I have now or would overclocking cause too much strain on the system? From a pure performance perspective, where can I expect to find benefits in overclocking?

As of now you can't OC that cpu it is not a k series so its a locked processor. If it was a unlocked cpu you would have no issues OCing.

 

[hang-the-9]

I'd wait another generation for the CPU and video card for an upgrade with your system if it was me.

Thank you for the insight. What time of the year do new generations tend to come out and what is the timeline on new generations (6-months, 12-months?). Is it an industry standard release quarter or does every company seem to come out with new generations whenever?

I don't follow new product releases closely so can't really say how the refresh cycles work.

If you are itching for an upgrade, for a decent budget, I think a video card upgrade to a 970 may be a good idea even now. It should still be a good card for several years, is quite a bit cheaper than the 980 or the 980 Ti and by the time it feels slow, the cards out at the time would give you 980 speeds at a 950 or 960 price.

As another poster said, you have picked a good system that is still good today, and how much of a boost you get in games will vary from game to game, but I think the video card would be a better single upgrade than the CPU.

If you have the budget for a 980, great, but I tend to suggest things that are based on price/performance and what I think is "good enough" vs "hey look at my fast system" speeds LOL Modern games at Medium running smooth look great, IMHO spending extra to get to High or over is getting to extra spending that is not very needed.

But really up to you. 980 will last longer without replacing (assuming that it does not simply fail) and will allow for higher quality, 970 is a better deal for mid-range quality in modern games for a few years. If you can afford a 980 without thinking too much about spending the money, you may want that just to get peace of mind and not wonder all the time if you made the right choice. I have to say I did that with speakers 10 years ago when I spent $300 on a great set of speakers instead of $100 for just a good set, I have never once wished I had different speakers LOL, that was probably easily worth and extra $200 vs having an itch to upgrade every week.