New build? Should I upgrade from what I have?

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Apr 28, 2012
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Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this weekend (with all the deals and all)

Budget Range: $700-$1000ish

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: No. Already have 2 - 1440P 27" monitors


Parts to Buy: Everything in the case besides the GPU. Already have an R9 Fury

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg/Amazon (prime member) or whoever is cheapest

Location: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel I guess?

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 2560x1440

Additional Comments: What I have now is an i5-3570K, AsRock Z77 mobo, 16gb DDR3-1600 ram, 650W PSU and an R9 Fury GPU. I was thinking of building something new and re-using the R9 Fury and giving this PC to my wife to use for day to day stuff. Right now my SSD is small so I game off my WD 1tb standard hdd and just have windows and programs on the SSD.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I am wondering if it's worth it to upgrade to something newer and if I could get something if I spend in the neighborhood of $800. Only thing I for sure want to get is an 1TB ssd drive, thinking like this one: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147691 or this one maybe: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6ZP6XA4503

Appreciate any feedback or build ideas.
 


This is what I would suggest (you might be able to keep your current PSU depending on what it is):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3466 Memory ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $787.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-24 14:26 EST-0500

You said everything in the case so I'm assuming you're keeping your current case right?

Also, if this rig is just for gaming, you can just buy a Windows 10 Pro OEM License Key on Ebay for 10$. 100% Legit, I did this myself.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Killer SLI/ac ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($114.99 @ Newegg Business)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB FTW DT GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ Walmart)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1007.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-24 14:47 EST-0500

Get you a new GPU also. Use Windows 10 inactivated until you get some more money. Completely free to download from Microsoft to USB and there's no performance difference
 
First thing I would do is check to see if there is a Micro Center any where near your location. They normally have amazing bundle deals on their already cheaper than most places component prices. With the sales going now they will be even lower!
 


Sadly, there is not. The closest one is about 6 hours away.
 
Why is Micro Center always suggested? They only have 25 locations across the US, so chances are that the vast majority of people don't have one nearby, and if you need to drive a significant distance to get to one, suddenly the pricing doesn't look so good. : P

I agree with the general suggestion that you would probably be fine with just a SATA SSD. NVMe drives might technically be faster, but you generally won't notice that extra performance outside of less-common tasks like copying large files. The extra performance tends to not have that big of an effect on things like game load times, since the system needs to process that data that its loading, generally limiting how fast the game files can be read.

As for the RAM, you are unlikely to notice any performance difference between DDR4-3200 and DDR4-3466, so paying an extra $50 for the faster RAM would be a bit of a waste. DDR4-3000 to 3200 currently seems to be the sweet spot for faster memory right now, before you hit the point where prices skyrocket for negligible performance gains.

I also wouldn't bother with upgrading the graphics card unless you were moving up to something with at least the performance of a GTX 1080, RTX 2070 or Vega 64.
 
Yeah, that would probably make for a pretty decent and relatively inexpensive upgrade, and an SSD can also help improve general system responsiveness if you install Windows and your applications on there. Your existing system is still reasonably good, and nearly all games still get along fine on a quad-core i5. If you don't feel the need to upgrade the rest of the system now, maybe wait until later next year and see what the 7/10nm CPUs and GPUs have to offer once those start releasing.
 
I think Micro Center is highly suggested because they have good deals and also excellent customer service which creates really good customer loyalty. The nearest to me is over 3 hours and I still went there for several of my parts.

I agree that a good SSD might make your system last a little longer.
 
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