Upgrade help to an i7-4770k

[fjfreitas]

Currently my system is as follows:

Corsair 300R case (2x140mm top exaust, 1x 120mm rear exaust, 2x140mm front intake fans all with PWM controlled with speedfan)
i7-4770k (little to no overclock stability on my particular unit sadly)
Coller master Hyper 212 cooler
Gigabyte z87x-ud3h
16GB DDR3-2400 (2x8GB) Corsair vengeance
GTX-1070 superclocked EVGA (grabbed just before the mining craze started skyrocketing prices)
240gb Kingston SSD (first model, slow but still alot faster than a HD)
1TB seagate 7200 HD
3TB seagate 7200 HD
2x Philips 1080p 60hz monitors

Well, while for the moment my rig is doing fine, its reaching close to its limits on some situations for example: processor reaching 80% on some games like wildlands, and GTA V using almost all 16gb of RAM.

I tried my hand in overclocking and reached 3.8ghz stable overclock but with too much heat for my cooler to consider during the summer months (as there is no AC here, and temps vary up to 10-15º between summer and winter), and too little performance gains to make it worth to upgrade cooling (to me at least).

With high speed DDR3 growing scarce (read very expensive) due to DDR4 rise, its getting dificult to find similar memory to upgrade what I believe the last possible thing I can do to my current rig.

My problem is the choices:

1- Upgrade memory while possible to 32GB, and keep the rig for the next 2-4 years so that i can upgrade to better hardware later down the road.
2x8GB DDR3-2400 (same brand / model I currently have)
cost: $240 (maybe ditch the upgrade and keep rig as is, risking not finding DDR3-2400 later when needed)

2- Upgrade Motherboard / Processor / Memory to a new Coffe lake or Ryzen rig (im thinking of a i7-8700 or Ryzen 1700).
Processor + 16gb DDR4-2400 + Motherboard
cost: about $ 1.110 (using z370 and x370 chipsets, with the AMD build being about 35$ cheaper)


My main use for the PC is games, (ex: OpenTTD, Tom Clancy's Wildlands, PUBG, GTA V,Minecraft, Forza horizon 3, Sea of thieves, and some older ones as well)

As i live in Brazil, component availability / price might not be equivalent to where you live.

I would apreciate any insight in the matter anyone may have.

 

[The Paladin]

I am not understanding why you want to upgrade, 80% usage of cpu while gaming is not uncommon on all cpus may it be a 2600 to the 8600.
are you getting poor frames per seconds while gaming ? are you getting choppiness ?

but if your interested in upgrading upwards, I would suggest I7-8700 with Asus Z370 Motherboard and 16GB of ram.
32GB is not needed to be honest, and if a game is using 16GB of ram, it has issues memory bleeding/coding

I chose a NON K CPU for 2 reasons, heat and price. and the cyorig H7 CPu cooler, to help you keep it nice and ventilated during your summer months.

I know these are not Brazilian prices, but gives you a good idea on the parts.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF Z370 Plus Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial - Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($168.44 @ Adorama)
Total: $633.31

 

[diellur]

There's a lot of things you can do before upgrading. What frames are you getting and how heavily utilised is your GPU? If your GPU is being pushed, try dropping some quality settings as there's a lot you can do there with a barely/if any noticeable difference in visual quality. An overclocked CPU does help, but not significantly. You could consider upgrading your air cooler to an AIO to give you some headroom there. 16GB of RAM should be fine for a gaming rig, so unless you're running into swapfile issues (doubtful) then I think that's OK, also.

The most obvious upgrade in your future is the GPU, but if and only if your gaming experience is below what you'd like. Your system as it is should be fine for 1080p gaming, to be honest.

 

[fjfreitas]

I am not understanding why you want to upgrade, 80% usage of cpu while gaming is not uncommon on all cpus may it be a 2600 to the 8600.
are you getting poor frames per seconds while gaming ? are you getting choppiness ?

but if your interested in upgrading upwards, I would suggest I7-8700 with Asus Z370 Motherboard and 16GB of ram.
32GB is not needed to be honest, and if a game is using 16GB of ram, it has issues memory bleeding/coding

I chose a NON K CPU for 2 reasons, heat and price. and the cyorig H7 CPu cooler, to help you keep it nice and ventilated during your summer months.

I know these are not Brazilian prices, but gives you a good idea on the parts.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF Z370 Plus Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial - Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($168.44 @ Adorama)
Total: $633.31

The Paladin, at the moment I have no choppiness or framerate issues (since upgrading from a 760 to a 1070), but as I said my rig is near its limits upgrade wise, and I can either upgrade now or never as parts will no longer be available pretty soon.

my fear would be that with the CPU and memory at its limit, it would bottleneck my GPU eventualy getting to the point of choppiness or framerate issues,

If such high usage of CPU is comonplace, and memory usage is a specific software problem as you said, then I'm somewhat releived and can wait and upgrade later down the road.

 

[fjfreitas]

There's a lot of things you can do before upgrading. What frames are you getting and how heavily utilised is your GPU? If your GPU is being pushed, try dropping some quality settings as there's a lot you can do there with a barely/if any noticeable difference in visual quality. An overclocked CPU does help, but not significantly. You could consider upgrading your air cooler to an AIO to give you some headroom there. 16GB of RAM should be fine for a gaming rig, so unless you're running into swapfile issues (doubtful) then I think that's OK, also.

The most obvious upgrade in your future is the GPU, but if and only if your gaming experience is below what you'd like. Your system as it is should be fine for 1080p gaming, to be honest.

diellur, framerate-wise it is fine, games are running at max settings, and with framerates close or above 60fps, and GPU usage on latter games reaching 90-95%

For me, reaching the limit to framerate / quality due to the GPU itself is not much of an issue, however i would like to avoid its limit being forced due to insuficient CPU or memory, which is why I'm asking those more experienced than I am to have a better Idea on what to do upgrade-wise.

Just as @The Paladin said it seems more memory is somewhat useless in my situation.

I'm a bit reluctant on the AIO water coolers, as the low priced ones seems to be little better cooling-wise that the equivalent air cooler, Any particular one you would recomend? (preferably one that I would be able to carry to the next build)

 

[The Paladin]

@fjfreitas
I understand your dilemma,.. I runs an I7-4790K oc 4.7Ghz, Z87 Asus Gryphon, 32GB Ram 1866mhz, and a GTX 970 SC.
and as you the next step will be a 8700 series, z370/16GB as upgrading, but I game (including games like PUBG @ 115FPS ) without issues , mind you I am running 1080P on my system where you seem to be running a higher resolution.

but I run HWINFO on my second monitor and I was doing the same thing you are, looking at CPU max usage and GPU Max usage, the truth this will vary from game to game some are more cpu intensive than other and vice versa. but your 1070 is not being bottle necked by the 4790K CPU.

Now the games you play could be more cpu intensive, and temperature will cause issues. The 4790K is 88W DTP and the Hyper 212 Evo, I get various TDP ratings depending on the web site you look at from 95W to 150W, and that makes me suspicious a little, but in theory and considering the amount of people using them over the world in this combination this should be sufficient,if your not overclocking your cpu.

Now the 4790K can easily do 4.7Ghz @ 1.3v and run little over 75'c while gaming. Now this is based on a 240mm watercooled AIO cooler.
my point is you can get more juice out of your CPU if you want. The 4790K can get really hot if you overclock it, especially if you raise your voltage over 1.3v.

but I agree, there is no upwards in Haswell systems, but the current system is far from bad. the only way up is cpu/mobo/ram upgrade...

 

[diellur]

diellur, framerate-wise it is fine, games are running at max settings, and with framerates close or above 60fps, and GPU usage on latter games reaching 90-95%

For me, reaching the limit to framerate / quality due to the GPU itself is not much of an issue, however i would like to avoid its limit being forced due to insuficient CPU or memory, which is why I'm asking those more experienced than I am to have a better Idea on what to do upgrade-wise.

Just as @The Paladin said it seems more memory is somewhat useless in my situation.

I'm a bit reluctant on the AIO water coolers, as the low priced ones seems to be little better cooling-wise that the equivalent air cooler, Any particular one you would recomend? (preferably one that I would be able to carry to the next build)

An H110i would do the job, and should fit in your case.

 

[fjfreitas]

@fjfreitas
I understand your dilemma,.. I runs an I7-4790K oc 4.7Ghz, Z87 Asus Gryphon, 32GB Ram 1866mhz, and a GTX 970 SC.
and as you the next step will be a 8700 series, z370/16GB as upgrading, but I game (including games like PUBG @ 115FPS ) without issues , mind you I am running 1080P on my system where you seem to be running a higher resolution.

but I run HWINFO on my second monitor and I was doing the same thing you are, looking at CPU max usage and GPU Max usage, the truth this will vary from game to game some are more cpu intensive than other and vice versa. but your 1070 is not being bottle necked by the 4790K CPU.

Now the games you play could be more cpu intensive, and temperature will cause issues. The 4790K is 88W DTP and the Hyper 212 Evo, I get various TDP ratings depending on the web site you look at from 95W to 150W, and that makes me suspicious a little, but in theory and considering the amount of people using them over the world in this combination this should be sufficient,if your not overclocking your cpu.

Now the 4790K can easily do 4.7Ghz @ 1.3v and run little over 75'c while gaming. Now this is based on a 240mm watercooled AIO cooler.
my point is you can get more juice out of your CPU if you want. The 4790K can get really hot if you overclock it, especially if you raise your voltage over 1.3v.

but I agree, there is no upwards in Haswell systems, but the current system is far from bad. the only way up is cpu/mobo/ram upgrade...

Grandmaster, in my case I dont believe temps were the main factor in overclocking, if I remeber well (this is a couple of years back mind you), I managed to boot mine in 3.9ghz, but when stressed I got BSOD after a couple of minutes, the temps I was monitoring were probably around 80-82ºC, and that was below what I considered dangerous at the time (85º). Sadly I do not remember the voltage I used.

I remember trying Gygabytes auto OC function, and it simply brought voltages sky high and temperatures close to 85-90º (not comfortable at all).

The sucessful OCs from the 4770k at the time had reached 4.2ghz (some even getting to 4.3), and I was hoping to have at least a 4ghz unit, but it seems I was unlucky (either with the CPU or with the CPU/MOBO/PSU combination).

Maybe i'll atempt again after some more research.

Any tips on an AIO water cooler you would recomend?

 

[aquielisunari]

In your position I would first upgrade my monitors and keep them identical. Drivers love twins. My recommendation is for a 1440p monitor with a 75Hz refresh rate. There will be a minor boost in that smoothness that is sorta hard to articulate. Action scenes, eSports and other high speed sequences will benefit from the higher refresh rate. Go out and find a flipbook. It has a drawing on each page and you flip through it quickly and the pictures come alive. Games also use static images. We however are seeing them played very quickly. The more pages there are to a flip-book the smoother the animation will be.

Next up would be your GFX card. Nothing less than a 1080Ti. Now that your monitor is asking for more frames and your pixel count(real estate) has grown considerably you need some extra juice. The odd this that will happen is that your CPU usage will go down even though the workload has increased. The GFX card picks up the slot. Short of that I would try 1440p through Nvidia's DSR feature. The 4770 is still very much alive in the gaming world. I had a 4690K and had a $2000 budget to upgrade. I made some upgrades including a 1080 Ti and the 4690K is still there. I saved for over 9 months so I had plenty of time to figure out if I needed a new board, CPU and GFX card or what.


The problem with that is your 16GB of RAM usage. 1080p and 60Hz is what I usually play at. Apart from GTA V what is your RAM usage like. 16GB suggests a higher resolution or something.

 

[aquielisunari]

In your position I would first upgrade my monitors and keep them identical. Drivers love twins. My recommendation is for a 1440p monitor with a 75Hz refresh rate. There will be a minor boost in that smoothness that is sorta hard to articulate. Action scenes, eSports and other high speed sequences will benefit from the higher refresh rate. Regular TV also benefits. Sports(except for tiddlywinks and curling) such as football/ soccer, fast paced action scenes in movies and the like will see an improvement. Go out and find a flipbook. It has a drawing on each page and you flip through it quickly and the pictures come alive. Games also use static images. We however are seeing them played very quickly. The more pages there are to a flip-book the smoother the animation will be.

Next up would be your GFX card. Nothing less than a 1080Ti. Now that your monitor is asking for more frames and your pixel count(real estate) has grown considerably you need some extra juice. The odd thing that will happen is that your CPU usage will go down even though the workload has increased. The GFX card picks up the slack. Short of that I would try 1440p through Nvidia's DSR feature. The 4770 is still very much alive in the gaming world. I had a 4690K and had a $2000 budget to upgrade. I made some upgrades including a 1080 Ti and the 4690K is still there. I saved for over 9 months so I had plenty of time to figure out if I needed a new board, CPU and GFX card or what.


The problem with that is your 16GB of RAM usage. 1080p and 60Hz is what I usually play at. Apart from GTA V what is your RAM usage like. 16GB suggests a higher resolution or something.

 

[fjfreitas]

In your position I would first upgrade my monitors and keep them identical. Drivers love twins. My recommendation is for a 1440p monitor with a 75Hz refresh rate. There will be a minor boost in that smoothness that is sorta hard to articulate. Action scenes, eSports and other high speed sequences will benefit from the higher refresh rate. Go out and find a flipbook. It has a drawing on each page and you flip through it quickly and the pictures come alive. Games also use static images. We however are seeing them played very quickly. The more pages there are to a flip-book the smoother the animation will be.

Next up would be your GFX card. Nothing less than a 1080Ti. Now that your monitor is asking for more frames and your pixel count(real estate) has grown considerably you need some extra juice. The odd this that will happen is that your CPU usage will go down even though the workload has increased. The GFX card picks up the slot. Short of that I would try 1440p through Nvidia's DSR feature. The 4770 is still very much alive in the gaming world. I had a 4690K and had a $2000 budget to upgrade. I made some upgrades including a 1080 Ti and the 4690K is still there. I saved for over 9 months so I had plenty of time to figure out if I needed a new board, CPU and GFX card or what.


The problem with that is your 16GB of RAM usage. 1080p and 60Hz is what I usually play at. Apart from GTA V what is your RAM usage like. 16GB suggests a higher resolution or something.

Aquielisumari, Monitor wise I had considered upgrading, but price was, and still is too expensive.
an 27" 1440p60 monitor is about $600 here, while an 144hz one is about $1078. (I have not found any 75hz for sale)
and those are without G-sync.

The idea of a 1080 ti upgrade is also quite expensive, ranging for over $1200 for a card.

I never experienced a true 75 or 144hz monitor running at full speed, so I dont know if the difference would be worth it to me, I even considered having a 55" 4k tv with 4/4/4 chroma subsampling over HDMI, with low-ish (15-25ms) response times to use as a secondary monitor (while on the couch of course) to replace my old 42" LCD tv.

Once the 144hz monitor prices reduces to more reasonable levels, I would grab one without a second glance.