Upgrading from 2011 build

TheBandicoot

Hi all, I had good experiences on this forum a few years back, many thanks. I currently have a system with an i5-2500 and a Sapphire Radeon 6950 which I feel is showing its age at this point and isn't letting me play at the quality I would like. Considering an upgrade. My current setup:

Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
Sapphire HD 6950, 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express GPU
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Motherboard
Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower case
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W PSU

1. What is your budget? €900

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming - most of my time is spent on FFXIV to be honest. On my current machine I only get a consistently solid framerate on its 'Standard(Desktop)' preset. I would want to move to Maximum or close.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? I'd intend on using the RAM(8gb G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U), the three hard disks(SSD + two 1 TB spinning plates) and the BluRay drive(an LG thing) at least.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? it's 1080p, don't really plan on upgrading.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Nope

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Nope

8. How can you pay? Any way

9. When are you purchasing? Within the next two months I guess.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin, but will prob be using HWVS's build option.


My current kind of plan were to get a new case + PSU + motherboard + CPU + GPU built from HWVS, and then move my RAM, disks and drives into it from the old PC. Thoughts?

Lu Tze

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Hi all, I had good experiences on this forum a few years back, many thanks. I currently have a system with an i5-2500 and a Sapphire Radeon 6950 which I feel is showing its age at this point and isn't letting me play at the quality I would like. Considering an upgrade. My current setup:

Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
Sapphire HD 6950, 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express GPU
ASRock Z68 Pro3 Motherboard
Xigmatek Asgard II Midi Tower case
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 650W PSU

1. What is your budget? €900

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? Gaming - most of my time is spent on FFXIV to be honest. On my current machine I only get a consistently solid framerate on its 'Standard(Desktop)' preset. I would want to move to Maximum or close.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No.

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? I'd intend on using the RAM(8gb G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U), the three hard disks(SSD + two 1 TB spinning plates) and the BluRay drive(an LG thing) at least.

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? it's 1080p, don't really plan on upgrading.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? Nope

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Nope

8. How can you pay? Any way

9. When are you purchasing? Within the next two months I guess.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Dublin, but will prob be using HWVS's build option.


My current kind of plan were to get a new case + PSU + motherboard + CPU + GPU built from HWVS, and then move my RAM, disks and drives into it from the old PC. Thoughts?

Just upgrade your gpu and put the 500 left over into a holiday or something!

TheBandicoot

Lu Tze wrote: »

Just upgrade your gpu and put the 500 left over into a holiday or something!

Yes, to an extent this is what I thought as well to be honest! Wasn't sure what GPU to get, thought maybe an R9 290?

Part of the reason I wanted a new case is I'm not too happy with the airflow in this one- my idle temps(see attached) aren't stellar, and last night in the heat the GPU was hitting 70C.

In the last couple of days I am getting BSODs from having certain USB slots in use, so if it's not a software problem I am worried the MB might be going bad.

EoinHef

Jist buy a few extra case fans with the gpu as well. How many have you in your current case?

TheBandicoot

Just the one.

EoinHef

The case has mountings for 4,id at least throw one more in. Front intake most likely being the best option imo. Also if you decided to keep the case throwing one on one of the side mounts also would be a good idea,good airflow is the most important thing for temps and 1 fan is usually not gonna cut it in a gaming rig

frozenfrozen

New gpu, few new fans and a new cpu cooler so you can overclock the socks off your 2500k? What oc do you have on it at the moment?

TheBandicoot

No OC, think I tried it once and it didn't really translate into anything but making my fans louder so didn't see the point. I've considered getting that 212 Evo cooler, not sure if it will fit in the case- can anyone with a similar setup confirm?

I will probably try a front fan, but I don't see mountings for anything else, especially on the side.

And can I get a recommendation on which new GPU to try for?

Bepolite

The R9-290 hits 90C with a hurricane blowing through the case - it's designed to do that. The PC you have is really nice, I'd leave it alone personally.

MMO (Which I assume FFXIV is) is going to be CPU and server bound in addition to probably being a pretty crappy engine to begin with. You can throw as much money as you like at that but it will make very little difference. OC your current CPU if you want better performance.

When was the last time you did an OS reinstall?

Moon54

That i5 2500k is not showing it's age at all, lol. Still a great CPU and very overclockable too.

From a quick Google search it looks like that Asgard II case will take a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo Cooler;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-120mm/dp/B0068OI7T8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403121950&sr=8-1&keywords=evo+212
and with some good thermal paste like the MX-4;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arctic-Cooling-MX-4-Thermal-Compound/dp/B0045JCFLY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403122214&sr=8-1&keywords=mx4+thermal+paste
...that would be a real nice upgrade for €50.
Lower temps straight away.

GPU-wise, yes the AMD R9 290 is great GPU, so if want to future proof your build then that's a good option if the card will fit the case.

Btw, I'm running an i5 2500k with 16GB RAM and a Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Tri-X 4GB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
The GPU is a monster, it's BIG, but it just fits within my CoolerMaster CM 690 II case,
the GPU is generally very quiet in normal operation.

Bepolite

Moon54 wrote: »

That i5 2500k is not showing it's age at all, lol. Still a great CPU and very overclockable too.

For an older gen MMO it's probably the best CPU currently available given it will hit the highest raw clock speed.

jabberwock

Bepolite wrote: »

The R9-290 hits 90C with a hurricane blowing through the case - it's designed to do that. The PC you have is really nice, I'd leave it alone personally.

MMO (Which I assume FFXIV is) is going to be CPU and server bound in addition to probably being a pretty crappy engine to begin with. You can throw as much money as you like at that but it will make very little difference. OC your current CPU if you want better performance.

When was the last time you did an OS reinstall?

Really depends on the 290 that you get.
The Sapphire Tri-X as an example

GPU is probably the single upgrade. If you go cpu you have to go mb as well.
I've a 2500k+7870 atm myself.

Edit : Image - That's running 3 WoWs at the time

Bepolite

All the after-market coolers do is ramp up before it hits 90/95C and are quieter than the 'lets make more noise than the word of God' blowers AMD fit. To clarify I was more alluding to the fact the OP doesn't like his card hitting 70C. 70C is absolutely fine on a 6950.

+1 on not going for reference though, unless you'll eventually water-cool.

/stares lovingly at the EXC-800 he bought of Bladesofglory... waiting for a transformer so I can play with it.

EoinHef

Noise levels should not be much higher than any other after market cards
If noise was a concern could go with the MSI Gaming R9 290. By all accounts a good cooler and quieter than average at load due to 2 large fans rather than 3 smaller fans running at higher rpm

Good after market coolers are getting temps of about 70-75C on gaming load(demanding game like crysis 3). Add decent airflow to that and i doubt the card be hitting 90C. Vapor X 290 cooler looks particularly good. Great reviews ive seen anywhere.

God them reference cards are shocking....considering how good the Nvidia ones are now,AMD need to do a bit of catching up

Bepolite

EoinHef wrote: »

Noise levels should not be much higher than any other after market cards
If noise was a concern could go with the MSI Gaming R9 290. By all accounts a good cooler and quieter than average at load due to 2 large fans rather than 3 smaller fans running at higher rpm

Good after market coolers are getting temps of about 70-75C on gaming load(demanding game like crysis 3). Add decent airflow to that and i doubt the card be hitting 90C. Vapor X 290 cooler looks particularly good. Great reviews ive seen anywhere.

God them reference cards are shocking....considering how good the Nvidia ones are now,AMD need to do a bit of catching up

The reference design lets the card get to 95C and holds it there. It's a design choice by AMD. One which I and obviously the aftermarket resellers disagree with.

The issue with the r9-290(x) is that it will clockdown to what ever temp you want. So if people want to have them at 35C they can - albeit the card will be running at 400Mhz. The reference nvidia coolers are better but TBH who buys a reference card for overclocking?

EoinHef

Bepolite wrote: »

The reference design lets the card get to 95C and holds it there. It's a design choice by AMD. One which I and obviously the aftermarket resellers disagree with.

The issue with the r9-290(x) is that it will clockdown to what ever temp you want. So if people want to have them at 35C they can - albeit the card will be running at 400Mhz. The reference nvidia coolers are better but TBH who buys a reference card for overclocking?

Yeah it makes no sense imo either to run the card at the thermal edge all the time either,especially with thermal throttling like you say. Also when non reference coolers are knocking 25C+ of that at load,it looks like AMD just were not arsed. Which surprised me considering how long it took for aftermarket cards to reach retail.

With a decent aftermarket cooler should be getting an overclock on the 290(x),probably not much but even 5-10% is free performance.
Personally id have no problem using the Nvidia reference cooler. Decent airflow in the case and the blower style cooler they have now wouldnt be much of an issue imo. Ive seen plenty of reviews where its not an issue. AMD piece of **** cooler would be a different story though

TheBandicoot

Ok, thinking I would get a cooler, couple of fans and a new GPU, but after doing some checking, I'm not sure that theR9 290 will fit at all, it is 40mm longer than my 6950, seems like it could be a tight squeeze, but might be manageable if I do some better cable management with the unused PSU connectors.

Perhaps the better option would be to get a new case instead and transplant into that? Bit of a PITA I would imagine though.

uberpixie

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Ok, thinking I would get a cooler, couple of fans and a new GPU, but after doing some checking, I'm not sure that theR9 290 will fit at all, it is 40mm longer than my 6950, seems like it could be a tight squeeze, but might be manageable if I do some better cable management with the unused PSU connectors.

Perhaps the better option would be to get a new case instead and transplant into that? Bit of a PITA I would imagine though.

If you are not very happy with your case: buy a new one.
Its not really a huge deal to transplant, you just need to take your time.

If your budget is tight: stick with what you have.

Do you have your eye on a particular case?

TheBandicoot

Thought I would follow up on this- rare enough to see pictures of 'completed' stuff on this board so wanted to contribute.

In the end, I got a new PSU, graphics card and CPU cooler, and rearranged my drives a little- moved them into the CD bays using adaptors. Pictures attached. As I discussed in another thread, I had to cut the case to fit the graphics card- I used a pair of snips and it came off fairly easily with some force.

I'm quite happy with the upgrade. I can now run FFXIV at Max at a solid 60fps, and other games also seem much better. Tower is significantly quieter now without the Intel stock cooler. The modular PSU is so much better than the non-modular one I had. Speccy screenshot also attached, for using at load in FFXIV.

Specs now would be:

AsRock Z68 Pro3 MB
Intel i5-2500k CPU
CM Hyper 212 Evo Cooler
Skill RipJaws 8GB DDR3 RAM
Sapphire Radeon 290 Tri-X 4GB Graphics card
Corsair RM850 modular PSU
Xigmatek Asgard II case
+ 1 Crucial SSD and two Samsung Spinpoint HDDs

Bepolite

Many thanks for the update and grats on your rig! Some points though.

That cable management is making me weep, Air flow is very important to the performance, to say nothing of the longevity of your rig. Secondly it badly needs a hoover out!

Is that rear 120mm fan set to intake? Is there a front mounted fan on intake with a dust cover on it?

TheBandicoot

I can admit my cable management is not the best, will probably revisit it soon. Fair point on the dust, I did a full dusting in May but will do another soon- none of the fans are clogged, it's just surfaces in the case.

The rear fan is exhaust. I don't have a front fan- I have one, just not installed, I can't see how it is meant to mount to be honest, the holes don't line up. I have seen pictures online of 120mm fans on the front, so I'm not sure what is going on there. I used to have two exhaust fans in the side panel, but they don't fit now with the 212 there.

TheBandicoot

Just checked the front. There are mounting points for a 120mm fan, but the holes are too small for the screws..

I googled around for this kind of thing and didn't have much luck. I ordered these rubber pins, under the assumption they are thinner and will fit. I really really need a front fan.

frozenfrozen

You should still overclock the 2500k! Good to see an update on it all the same

TerrorFirmer

As long as you have an exhaust you're not too bad. Ideally you'd have intake/outtake but your machine isn't going to burst into flames without an intake so I wouldn't worry too much. If there aren't mounts, you can just be inventive. I've used cable ties and velcro tape in the past to mount fans. My current mitx case only has a 120mm intake, there's no outtake or space for one even. I have a very similar spec to you, and it's all crammed into a case probably a third the size of yours, and it's fine.

Bepolite

With the dust on that rear 120mm it does look like it's set to intake, I'd sort that.

+1 on the overclock once you've got airflow and cables sorted.

Dowl88

I have a gaming PC where I used to have an overclocked 4670K to 4.5 Ghz. To be honest overclocking is just a hobby and the gains are minimal. All you get is extra heat and noise. Next rig I get I won't be getting an overclocking board or overclocking chip and save myself money. I even took the overclock off the chip after few months with exactly the same performance.

I should have bought myself a Xeon and save a few euro on the motherboard as well.

TheBandicoot

Checked, it is definitely exhaust.

Bepolite

Dowl88 wrote: »

I have a gaming PC where I used to have an overclocked 4670K to 4.5 Ghz. To be honest overclocking is just a hobby and the gains are minimal. All you get is extra heat and noise. Next rig I get I won't be getting an overclocking board or overclocking chip and save myself money. I even took the overclock off the chip after few months with exactly the same performance.

I should have bought myself a Xeon and save a few euro on the motherboard as well.

I have to say I disagree entirely. I see significant FPS gains from boosting my 3550K to 4.5Ghz and OCing my GPU. If you've pushed things too far you will start to see a performance hit as the system starts to run into errors it recovers from.

It is game dependent. You're going to get more out of MMOs in terms of CPU fort example.