[SOLVED] Suggestions To Upgrade Existing System For Best bang For Buck

Chris N

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Mar 24, 2014
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I would appreciate some advice on how I can improve my existing System performance without breaking the bank. I don't want a completely new rebuild. Maybe I could change a component or two to get the best bang for my buck. I don't use the computer for gaming. My heaviest tasks are for Lightroom and Photoshop. Due to the high ram usage sometimes they work very slow. I already have the maximum allowed ram of 16 Gbt for this Motherboard. I am thinking of swapping the standard box cooler for a water cooler and overclocking. Would I be better off changing the processor or doing something else?

Your advice would be appreciated

Kind regards
Chris

UserBenchmarks: Game 32%, Desk 81%, Work 27%
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 - 75.5%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 960 - 36.4%
SSD: Spcc Solid State Disk 480GB - 84%
HDD: Seagate Desktop SSHD 4TB - 65.9%
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 C11 2x8GB - 56%
MBD: Asus H81-GAMER
 
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I recommend getting a new MBD and Ram because you are currently using DDR3 Ram And there is a huge speed difference between a DDR3 1600 Mhz and a DDR4 3200Mhz rams.
Now i won't recommend you to get a new gpu or cpu because of your budget ,upgrading them is not gonna make a huge difference. (Grab a new ssd if you want more space if you get some left off money after upgrading maybe)
DDR3 -> DDR4 ALSO means a new CPU.

So...
Motherboard/CPU/RAM
Then, that is paired with a 6 year old medium level GPU.
Unknown PSU

NoMercyBeAst

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Oct 18, 2017
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I recommend getting a new MBD and Ram because you are currently using DDR3 Ram And there is a huge speed difference between a DDR3 1600 Mhz and a DDR4 3200Mhz rams.
Now i won't recommend you to get a new gpu because of your budget ,upgrading them is not gonna make a huge difference. (Grab a new ssd if you want more space if you get some left off money after upgrading maybe)
 
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USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
I recommend getting a new MBD and Ram because you are currently using DDR3 Ram And there is a huge speed difference between a DDR3 1600 Mhz and a DDR4 3200Mhz rams.
Now i won't recommend you to get a new gpu or cpu because of your budget ,upgrading them is not gonna make a huge difference. (Grab a new ssd if you want more space if you get some left off money after upgrading maybe)
DDR3 -> DDR4 ALSO means a new CPU.

So...
Motherboard/CPU/RAM
Then, that is paired with a 6 year old medium level GPU.
Unknown PSU
 
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Solution

USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
I would appreciate some advice on how I can improve my existing System performance without breaking the bank. I don't want a completely new rebuild. Maybe I could change a component or two to get the best bang for my buck. I don't use the computer for gaming. My heaviest tasks are for Lightroom and Photoshop. Due to the high ram usage sometimes they work very slow. I already have the maximum allowed ram of 16 Gbt for this Motherboard. I am thinking of swapping the standard box cooler for a water cooler and overclocking. Would I be better off changing the processor or doing something else?

Your advice would be appreciated

Kind regards
Chris

UserBenchmarks: Game 32%, Desk 81%, Work 27%
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 - 75.5%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 960 - 36.4%
SSD: Spcc Solid State Disk 480GB - 84%
HDD: Seagate Desktop SSHD 4TB - 65.9%
RAM: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1600 C11 2x8GB - 56%
MBD: Asus H81-GAMER
I also do a lot of LR/Paintshop Pro/Photoshop, in a system not a lot different than yours.
Specs in my sig below, but the 32GB RAM vs your 16GB is probably the main difference.

You can't OC with that locked CPU.
If you're going to change the motherboard and/or CPU, don't stay on this same platform.
Build a whole new system.
 

NoMercyBeAst

Reputable
Oct 18, 2017
102
16
4,615
DDR3 -> DDR4 ALSO means a new CPU.

So...
Motherboard/CPU/RAM
Then, that is paired with a 6 year old medium level GPU.
Unknown PSU
Oh yeah my bad sorry, then getting a new motherboard is not a good idea if you don't have budget to change cpu aswell.
Or you can get a mobo with more sockets for ddr3 ram and get total ram to 32gb ddr3
 

Chris N

Distinguished
Mar 24, 2014
28
1
18,545
Thank you all for your advice. Unless I have major hardware failure, I usually like to change my whole system every 8 or so years. My budget does not allow me to change MoBo/Ram/CPU right now or upgrade to a completely new system. So, I will probably have to get by for now with a few OS/Software tweaks and upgrade later. In the meantime, I am tempted to swap my standard box cooler for a water cooler and overclock to the max. I don't know how much performance increase I will get, but maybe it will help the cpu to cope better during the hot summer.

Thanks again you all for your help.

Kind regards
Chris