Tips upgrading PC

KaneMac

Enthusiast
I got my PC from PC specialist about 6 years ago I reckon.

Case - Coolermaster Storm Trooper
Motherboard - Asus sabertooth motherboard (cannot remember the model)
i5-3570 processor overclocked
Graphics - GTX TITAN
8GB RAM
Corsair h100i liquid cooling


I reckon a new processor and motherboard might be best, but am not great at knowing what will go together, any recommendations will be appreciated?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The full spec of your system will be in your main PC Specialist account. Or possibly even in your posting history :)

What do you use the PC for? Just gaming? Other demanding uses like photo/video editing? Streaming gameplay to twitch etc?

Why do you want to upgrade? i.e. what do you want the PC to do that it currently does not do?

If gaming, what monitor do you use?

And what sort of budget do you have for upgrades?
 

KaneMac

Enthusiast
The full spec of your system will be in your main PC Specialist account. Or possibly even in your posting history :)

What do you use the PC for? Just gaming? Other demanding uses like photo/video editing? Streaming gameplay to twitch etc?

Why do you want to upgrade? i.e. what do you want the PC to do that it currently does not do?

If gaming, what monitor do you use?

And what sort of budget do you have for upgrades?

Monitor is the BenQ XL2420T

Main use is gaming, the processor is a focus and am looking at potentially upping the motherboard as well.

Do not worry about budget, what ever is a great solid improvement
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Well if you want to upgrade the CPU, you will need a new motherboard, new RAM, and possibly a new Windows licence depending.

I can tell the processor is a focus as you asked for opinions on a CPU upgrade, but I was asking why you wanted to upgrade it to try to determine whether upgrading it will actually net you any meaningful benefit... and indeed if so to establish what CPU would fit your needs best.

DIY upgrading the CPU, mobo, etc usually counts as a self-build project which we can't advise on. Though people can always suggest a fresh spec and you can decide whether to get that or DIY.
 

KaneMac

Enthusiast
Well if you want to upgrade the CPU, you will need a new motherboard, new RAM, and possibly a new Windows licence depending.

I can tell the processor is a focus as you asked for opinions on a CPU upgrade, but I was asking why you wanted to upgrade it to try to determine whether upgrading it will actually net you any meaningful benefit... and indeed if so to establish what CPU would fit your needs best.

DIY upgrading the CPU, mobo, etc usually counts as a self-build project which we can't advise on. Though people can always suggest a fresh spec and you can decide whether to get that or DIY.

After some looking and thinking a new system altogether might be the way forward. Am looking this spec potentially -

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
Get Battlefield V -AND- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 3.5" SSHD
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i PRO Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The Hero motherboard's a waste - AORUS Pro is more than fine and has decent VRMs and VRM cooling
the 9700k is a bit better for gaming and pinching pennies on an i7 is self-contradictory
the 2080 ti is only really appropriate for a 4k monitor
VS series is budget; you should be looking at TXm at least
The storage is poor. 500gb-1TB SSD, ideally 970 Evo or WD Black. Or at least 860 Evo.
 

KaneMac

Enthusiast
The Hero motherboard's a waste - AORUS Pro is more than fine and has decent VRMs and VRM cooling
the 9700k is a bit better for gaming and pinching pennies on an i7 is self-contradictory
the 2080 ti is only really appropriate for a 4k monitor
VS series is budget; you should be looking at TXm at least
The storage is poor. 500gb-1TB SSD, ideally 970 Evo or WD Black. Or at least 860 Evo.

Thanks for the reply, so replace 2080 ti with the HDMi (correct if wrong haha), 9700K i7, AORUS Pro, CORSAIR 650W TXM SERIES, 2TB WD Blue™ 3D NAND SSD

Would you say this is a better suited bunch of components?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I think a mix of SSD and HDD storage can be best. Especially as 2TB SSDs are often disproportionately expensive.

So for a similar price to the 2TB WD Blue you could get a 1TB 970 Evo and a 3TB HDD. Which gives you more space in total, and your SSD storage is faster. 1TB should be plenty of space for your currently played games, and it's very easy to swap games between drives (in steam it's a few button clicks) for instance if you have other games archived into HDD. Or if you have lots of music and movies. Music and movies don't benefit from being on an SSD.

The RTX 2080 ti would be a good match for a 4k gsync monitor or a 3440x1440 ultrawide ~100hz monitor. It might be a bit overkill for 1440p high refresh, but if your pockets are deep you could go with that. It's way overkill for 1080p gaming.

The RTX 2080 is good for 4k gsync, 3440x1440, or 1440p high refresh. And overkill / a waste for 1080p gaming.

You might want to consider a monitor upgrade. You could afford a 1440p 144hz gsync monitor for the price difference of an RTX 2080 ti and RTX 2080 (~£400).

So you could get an RTX 2080 and a Dell S2716DG for ~£430.

If spending this much on a system, you might as well get a monitor that really unlocks what it's capable of.

Drop the wifi card if you don't need it as that's less junk in the case.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
---Get Battlefield V -AND- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i PRO Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £2,375.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/n4n2ScEgVJ/
 

KaneMac

Enthusiast
I think a mix of SSD and HDD storage can be best. Especially as 2TB SSDs are often disproportionately expensive.

So for a similar price to the 2TB WD Blue you could get a 1TB 970 Evo and a 3TB HDD. Which gives you more space in total, and your SSD storage is faster. 1TB should be plenty of space for your currently played games, and it's very easy to swap games between drives (in steam it's a few button clicks) for instance if you have other games archived into HDD. Or if you have lots of music and movies. Music and movies don't benefit from being on an SSD.

The RTX 2080 ti would be a good match for a 4k gsync monitor or a 3440x1440 ultrawide ~100hz monitor. It might be a bit overkill for 1440p high refresh, but if your pockets are deep you could go with that. It's way overkill for 1080p gaming.

The RTX 2080 is good for 4k gsync, 3440x1440, or 1440p high refresh. And overkill / a waste for 1080p gaming.

You might want to consider a monitor upgrade. You could afford a 1440p 144hz gsync monitor for the price difference of an RTX 2080 ti and RTX 2080 (~£400).

So you could get an RTX 2080 and a Dell S2716DG for ~£430.

If spending this much on a system, you might as well get a monitor that really unlocks what it's capable of.

Drop the wifi card if you don't need it as that's less junk in the case.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
---Get Battlefield V -AND- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i PRO Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £2,375.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/n4n2ScEgVJ/

Nice one much appreciated, ur knowledge is a big help. I i go with a GPU that wont be overkill, what GPU would you recommend that is as good or better than my current card?(using titan atm)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
For your current monitor you mean? RTX 2060 is a good fit.

What Titan is it you have? If it's the Titan as in the original one that's probably a bit lower than an RX 570 / GTX 1060 3gb.

Depending on the kinds of games you play:
far-cry-5_1920-1080.png the-witcher-3_1920-1080.png
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_RTX_2060_Founders_Edition/28.html

But tbh you could get an RTX 2080 and a 1440p 144hz monitor and get a very nice detail / fidelity upgrade from the higher resolution. That's what I'd do in your place (and is in fact exactly what I'm planning to do - get a new high end GPU with a higher res monitor!)
 

KaneMac

Enthusiast
For your current monitor you mean? RTX 2060 is a good fit.

What Titan is it you have? If it's the Titan as in the original one that's probably a bit lower than an RX 570 / GTX 1060 3gb.

Depending on the kinds of games you play:
View attachment 12594 View attachment 12595
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_RTX_2060_Founders_Edition/28.html

But tbh you could get an RTX 2080 and a 1440p 144hz monitor and get a very nice detail / fidelity upgrade from the higher resolution. That's what I'd do in your place (and is in fact exactly what I'm planning to do - get a new high end GPU with a higher res monitor!)

Yeah the original Titan, which i reckon is on its last legs sadly haha. Yeah RTX280 is very tempting with a new monitor. Thanks for the help again dude
 
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