Looking to upgrade, suggestions please

[kmfa1988]

Currently have a GeForce 980 ti and 3770k ivy bridge cpu. Just ordered a new PSU (evga 850w g2). Looking to upgrade MOBO and ram I would like to stay away from upgrading my CPU bit open to options. Do not have the money for a new GPU. I think I can get another year or two out of my 980 that’s only two years old. Other parts are about 7 years old. I have a three monitor setup, one is a 27” acer predator 1440p 144hz that I play on. Also looking for suggestions on water cooling my CPU.

 

[kadec.a.mackinney]

i dont know why you would upgrade the motherboard and ram if you arnt going to upgrade the cpu? the cpu is fine if you are overclocking it. but if not then i can understated that it is definitely falling behind a bit now. i think maybe keep the everything and sli 980ti's if you want graphical power or upgrade to a 4790k or completely ditch ddr3 and go for a i5 8600k. but u said u didnt have alot of money so kind of a waste to upgrade ram and mobo without upgrading cpu

 

[Karadjgne]

Can't have one without the other. Lga1155 is a dead socket. The i7-3770K was the top of the line cpu. Lga1155 uses DDR3 ram. You can upgrade the mobo and ram, you'd have the exact same performance as before and spent a lot of money for no reason, still running 3rd gen Intel. If you opt to move to lga1150, that's 4th/5th gen Intel, that'll still use DDR3, but will require a new 4th/5th gen Intel cpu as lga1155 will not physically fit lga1150. If you want to upgrade the ram to DDR4, for Intel that's 6/7/8th gen lga1151, which again requires a matching cpu. Lga1155 cpus will not work on anything else but lga1155 mobo's.

So, you have the best lga1155 cpu. If you keep the cpu, there is no upgrade. If you wish to upgrade anything else, you need a new cpu too.

I'm still rocking a i7-3770k and gtx970, no issues with games and fps. But I'm at 60Hz not 1440p/144Hz.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - B450 AORUS PRO WIFI (rev. 1.0) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($117.09 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($155.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $493.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-12 23:12 EDT-0400

Something like this would be my recommendation, there are cheaper mobo's and ram, might shave $50 off the total. This'll pretty much eliminate everything but the gpu (you really could use a 1080/1080ti/2080 to get the most out of 1440p/144Hz) as any kind of holdup on getting close to 144fps minimums.

 

[kmfa1988]

i honestly did not know that the newer DDR4 and MOBO’s were not compatible with my CPU. I guess I will end up just doing a full upgrade on MOBO, RAM, and CPU. If I had a budget of 800, what would be a nice package to consider?

 

[kmfa1988]

I see you mentioned a Ryzen cpu, I have never owned one and have heard great things. Not exactly sure why I’m hesitant, I guess you could call me an intel fanboy but willing to teeter on both sides for this price. As mentioned my budget is a bit higher than 500 but if this recommendation will get me a good upgrade for the next couple of years or more I may consider it.

 

[Karadjgne]

The new Ryzens are just a little behind Intel as far as IPC goes, so Intel is still king in games, but with a decent OC (can be done on the stock Wraith cooler) there's very little difference. Intel is a little segregated though, they finally moved to 6core cpus which is a good break for gamers over the 4core cpus. For just everyday general gaming the i5-8400 is a very good bet. But, no HT, no OC, it's still the basic solid core cpu. For roughly the same price and equitable perhormance the 2600/X has double the threads. For many this means gaming and streaming or multitasking or tendeting/compiling and not being stuck at 6 threads. So for a middle ground gaming pc Ryzen is the word. The only way to match Ryzens possibilities is go big. I7-8700k, and you can add $300 to the price easily, if you want to OC ypu will need the biggest cooler you can fit in the case and chances are good you'll still need to de-lid and reapply some liquid metal Tim instead. But even stock, that i7 is pretty untouchable except for the really big Ryzens running 16threads and compiling.

And no, I'd not say Intel fanboy, I'd be more inclined to say biased since the 3rd Gen Intel competition from AMD was the FX and that was still pretty much a one horse race.

 

[kmfa1988]

The new Ryzens are just a little behind Intel as far as IPC goes, so Intel is still king in games, but with a decent OC (can be done on the stock Wraith cooler) there's very little difference. Intel is a little segregated though, they finally moved to 6core cpus which is a good break for gamers over the 4core cpus. For just everyday general gaming the i5-8400 is a very good bet. But, no HT, no OC, it's still the basic solid core cpu. For roughly the same price and equitable perhormance the 2600/X has double the threads. For many this means gaming and streaming or multitasking or tendeting/compiling and not being stuck at 6 threads. So for a middle ground gaming pc Ryzen is the word. The only way to match Ryzens possibilities is go big. I7-8700k, and you can add $300 to the price easily, if you want to OC ypu will need the biggest cooler you can fit in the case and chances are good you'll still need to de-lid and reapply some liquid metal Tim instead. But even stock, that i7 is pretty untouchable except for the really big Ryzens running 16threads and compiling.

And no, I'd not say Intel fanboy, I'd be more inclined to say biased since the 3rd Gen Intel competition from AMD was the FX and that was still pretty much a one horse race.

I love your suggestions and looking at bumping up to the Ryzen 7 2700k instead, would I be getting much more out of it than the one you mentioned. I am also adding a closed loop CPU cooler so I can get some OC involved. Also looking at the MSI B450 Gaming pro Carbon. The reasons I did some switching is Microcenter by my house is throwing an extra $30 off when pairing MOBO and compatible CPU.

 

[Karadjgne]

Pro carbon is nice.

As to cpu, that's going to highly depend on the usage. The R7 is a tad bit better then the R5, but it costs more. If you aren't using it though, it's kinda wasted. If you figure games are/can be optimized for 8 threads, the first 2-4 threads take the lions share of abuse, so a 6 core +2HT does very well, better than a quad +4HT, but not quite as good as full 8 core. But the 2700x has another 8 possible threads that do nothing but take up cpu bandwidth, power, heat. If streaming, that's different, then you can use all 16 threads, so that's viable justification. For most gaming, the R5 is plenty, if that's the main interest.

Cooling. Common thought is not accurate. Actually it's dead wrong for most cpus and OC. The bigger cpus are @100w and once you add a decent OC can reach close to 200w±. Aircoolers such as the big twins like a Noctua NH-D15/S are 250w+ rated. They can handle anything most consumer cpus can output. The only advantage the AIO's hold is a 350w+ limit, but otherwise, with a 200w OC output, aircooling = liquid cooling. ± a few °C depending on the cooler.

So you really don't need liquid or the expense to OC. Don't, get me wrong, I love my nzxt Kraken X61, but that's more for aesthetics reasons than performance. It was also $60 at the time I got it, so cheaper than aircooling. Wouldn't mind getting a fractal design Celsius s36, but I'd also need a new case and I can't justify tossing out my Define R5.

 

[kmfa1988]

Pro carbon is nice.

As to cpu, that's going to highly depend on the usage. The R7 is a tad bit better then the R5, but it costs more. If you aren't using it though, it's kinda wasted. If you figure games are/can be optimized for 8 threads, the first 2-4 threads take the lions share of abuse, so a 6 core +2HT does very well, better than a quad +4HT, but not quite as good as full 8 core. But the 2700x has another 8 possible threads that do nothing but take up cpu bandwidth, power, heat. If streaming, that's different, then you can use all 16 threads, so that's viable justification. For most gaming, the R5 is plenty, if that's the main interest.

Cooling. Common thought is not accurate. Actually it's dead wrong for most cpus and OC. The bigger cpus are @100w and once you add a decent OC can reach close to 200w±. Aircoolers such as the big twins like a Noctua NH-D15/S are 250w+ rated. They can handle anything most consumer cpus can output. The only advantage the AIO's hold is a 350w+ limit, but otherwise, with a 200w OC output, aircooling = liquid cooling. ± a few °C depending on the cooler.

So you really don't need liquid or the expense to OC. Don't, get me wrong, I love my nzxt Kraken X61, but that's more for aesthetics reasons than performance. It was also $60 at the time I got it, so cheaper than aircooling. Wouldn't mind getting a fractal design Celsius s36, but I'd also need a new case and I can't justify tossing out my Define R5.[/quote]

I do record gameplay and stream on occasions using OBS. So I could prolly make use of the extra threads.
I could really use a new case too, currently have a mid tower that I have been displeased with. Any cheap Recommendations?

 

[Karadjgne]

Define cheap?

Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.87 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.81 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P350X (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

If moving to a new platform, you could always go mATX instead, the only real difference being the 2nd pcie x16 slot for sli/crossfire, which probably isn't used anyways. This'll open up more case options, the micros often being cheaper versions of their larger ATX Brothers.

 

[kmfa1988]

Define cheap?

Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.87 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.81 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P350X (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

If moving to a new platform, you could always go mATX instead, the only real difference being the 2nd pcie x16 slot for sli/crossfire, which probably isn't used anyways. This'll open up more case options, the micros often being cheaper versions of their larger ATX Brothers.

I have been running a Maximus v gene for 7 years and I believe it is a mIcro MOBO. mAtx refers to it being smaller right. I have wished for a long time to have a full size MOBO and full tower case. I want to prepare myself for future upgrades and not have to buy so much stuff next time. However we are talking about an industry that never stops advancing and coming out with better and better products we all want lol.

I would say I could justify $100 on a new case. I really don’t care about rgb and all these fancy lighting products, but they do look nice, hah! I will mention I do not like a closed psu style case as I like to have my psu be an outtake and have it flipped in the case

 

[Karadjgne]

Mini-itx, micro ATX, ATX, E-ATX are pretty much your standard sizes when it comes to mobo's and cases. These range from small to large.

The Gene is actually a very good mobo, about one of the best possible there was at the time. You seem to be under the assumption that bigger is better? There's really no intrinsic difference. There's not much to add into a pc. Mobo, cpu, cooler drives gpu, psu. Maybe an add-on wifi card or something. There's no need for a full tower, nothing to put inside it that wouldn't fit in a mATX. Just takes up a ton more space. The full towers absolutely used to be king back in the day when ppl ran raid raptors, had 5 hdds, 3-4 gpus, full custom open loops etc. But now? 1 gpu, 1 hdd for storage, maybe 2 SSDs that'll disappear anywhere.

If you have limited airflow, yes a fan up psu is better. But with today's cases having much better airflow, fan down psu is better. It gets its own air + exhaust. Cool air comes into the front of the case, gets blown out the top/rear. Much more efficient than the psu trying to drag the gpu heat downwards when it's wanting to go up. But you can always orient the psu either way. The tunnels in many cases are there mostly to hide all the wiring. Don't even have to he used except in a few cases where they are built in.