Upgrade My System!

Mole

Member
Hi guys, bought this back in 2016 and now i'm dual monitored with 2xSamsung 27" CF591.... I really think it's time to make an upgrade to my tower. I know the graphics card would need a bump up to something but budget is definitely not unlimited.

But i'm not a techy guy, would i need a new motherboard or anything else?

Also, need some more hard drive space, tips on USB3.0 external VS Sata?

Case
SHARKOON BD28 GAMING CASE (Green LED)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4790k (4.0GHz) 8MB (Special!!)
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS VII RANGER: PCI-e 3.0, SATA 3.0, USB3.0
Memory (RAM)
32GB HyperX BEAST DUAL-DDR3 2133MHz X.M.P (4 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 970 - 2 x DVI, HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
120GB KINGSTON V300 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling
Corsair H55 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Fan Controller
NZXT GRID+ V2 Fan Controller with upto 5 Fitted Case Fans
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Apache Black Quiet Fan (fitted to extract from rear/roof)

Thanks for info in advance!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Your motherboard and PSU should support most GPUs in the kind of range you'll probably be shopping in.

Frankly next to the graphics card, and any additional storage you want to buy, the best upgrade you can give yourself is a new monitor. Something with adaptive sync and a high refresh rate, and ideally a higher resolution.

What's the ballpark budget for all upgrades?

Also, what do you use the PC for? Just gaming? Anything other than gaming?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Also, need some more hard drive space, tips on USB3.0 external VS Sata?
If you need more general storage - then internal storage.

If you need to backup data to another device, USB / NAS storage. If you want to host a giant movie and music collection to share around your home network, potentially a NAS.
 

Mole

Member
Honestly, the two monitors together are great for my usage. it's like 90% gaming but nothing high end graphically. examples are that WoW is a big thing right now and other than that it's games more like Cities Skylines and Planet Zoo coming out that i'm just wanting to run really smoothly more than look amazing.

ball park budget is 0 honestly haha. I have very little income but i'm always better at planning money ahead if theres a target to have in my pocket. I'm a carer and can't work fulltime. realistically, the far lower than another £1000 the better. in my pocket right now is Zero.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Then tbh you don't need a new GPU. :) Keep the existing one, and only decide on whether to replace it when the new game comes out. The GPU should be able to run modern games well, especially if you're not pushing max settings.
 

Mole

Member
So the plan now is to knock the monitor up to a 4k Monitor. Advice?

In an ideal world it would have 2HDMI inputs as will probably be used for PS4 Pro too, up to 32" and I am partial to a curved screen.

Around £600 top end of budget. Baring in mind I have a gtx 970 and black friday coming up!

And hey, if there's a GPU thats you think is screaming out to me, feel free to shout one!
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
So for PC gaming at 4k, the GPU is going to cost you most of that £600 if not all of it.

You can run the games at 1080p with your GTX 970 of course, but that rather defeats the point of having a nice monitor and will likely look worse than 1080p at native res, especially stretched across a 32" screen.

A decent 4k monitor will cost you most of the £600.

So you can buy a 4k monitor and not make good use of it (except for the PS4 Pro) or you can buy a GPU that is overkill for your current screens and will presumably be obsolete by the time you roll around to having another £600 for the monitor.

You could buy a cheap, cheap 4k monitor for ~£200-£250, and a 1440p gaming GPU like an RTX 2060 Super for £600. And game at 1440p on the monitor, maybe 4k for the odd low-demand title. But that feels like giving you the worst of all worlds.

If you want to buy a 4k monitor primarily for the PS4 Pro, which you can also use in the future with your PC once you have an appropriate graphics card, that's a sound plan. Anything else sounds like a waste of cash tbh and you'd be better keeping your powder dry.

I'd strongly recommend resisting the upgrade itch and buying for the sake of.
 

Mole

Member
"If you want to buy a 4k monitor primarily for the PS4 Pro, which you can also use in the future with your PC once you have an appropriate graphics card, that's a sound plan. Anything else sounds like a waste of cash tbh and you'd be better keeping your powder dry."

This sounds like the plan then! haha. so a 4K monitor, 27-32", gsync ???as i have a gtx???, 2hdmi ports, doesn't need speakers as i have a desk set, ideally curved.

If anyone could point me at a target GPU that matches the rest of my hardware that would do well with this new monitor, I would start saving haha. Potentially even grab some cheap finance.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
"If you want to buy a 4k monitor primarily for the PS4 Pro, which you can also use in the future with your PC once you have an appropriate graphics card, that's a sound plan. Anything else sounds like a waste of cash tbh and you'd be better keeping your powder dry."

This sounds like the plan then! haha. so a 4K monitor, 27-32", gsync ???as i have a gtx???, 2hdmi ports, doesn't need speakers as i have a desk set, ideally curved.

If anyone could point me at a target GPU that matches the rest of my hardware that would do well with this new monitor, I would start saving haha. Potentially even grab some cheap finance.
A GPU to power 4K gaming would set you back around £1000 that’s the point. You won’t be able to PC game at 4K until you have a much higher budget or 4K is more mainstream in 5 years or so.

He’s saying, if you wanted a 4K screen now to use with your Xbox, and then IN THE FUTURE when you’ve got a 4K compatible PC you could use it then.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
If you want to game at 4k in demanding titles (which includes World of Warcraft) then you'd want a RTX 2080 Super (~£600+) or maybe, maybe, a 2070 Super (~£470+) For 4k gaming in AAA titles, ideally a, RTX 2080 ti (£1000).

So as above, upgrading to a decent GPU for 4k gaming for you is likely to be a longer term goal. Unless you're got £1200 for upgrades or are willing to get a ~£600-£1000 GPU on finance?

4K monitor, 27-32", gsync ???a
Probably NOT gsync. :)

If you get a gsync monitor, which is Nvidia GPU exclusive, you won't be able to use adaptive sync with your console(s). Or with AMD GPUs should that be what you end up buying.

You would want the monitor to have freesync or what's called 'gsync compatible'. But not 'pure' gsync most likely, if it's for both console and PC.
 

Mole

Member
I'd go just for a monitor atm, then look at 2080ti prices in the new year, with the hope of slightly better price :)

Just to edit my motherboard is actually a Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3: ATX, LG1150, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, XFIRE/SLI It got changed during assembly and never noticed I didn't adjust on original post. I have no idea how that affects how i buy, as you can tell, my knowledge is what I would call "patchy"
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Mobo won't affect what you buy at all :)

You need to check

1) if the case fits the GPU
Width is pretty standard and you should be fine.
Height will usually be fine, unless you have something in a PCIe slot immediately below the GPU, and your new GPU is a 3 slotter rather than a 2 slotter (some of them have beefier cooling solutions)
Length is the key one. The case apparently fits "Max. Length Graphics Cards: 32.5 - or 41.5 cm** with middle HDD cage removed"

So if you have a particularly long GPU (some high end ones with beefy coolers can be 330mm I think) you'll need to remove the middle HDD case

2) if the PSU is sufficient
For most GPUs you're likely to find, it will be

Where are the fans and the CPU cooler placed in the case? If there's an empty fan mount at the front, it could be worth moving an existing fan to it / adding an extra fan, so as to feed a new GPU fresh air.

I had a quick look at 4k, curved, freesync monitors and the pickings looked a bit slim. Your options are much wider without the curve.
 

Mole

Member
This sounds like a job for tomorrow! Will come back with photos and measurements. :D Thanks again for assistance.
 

Mole

Member
So.. I had to attend to some family issues but, there has been a development.

Not ideal but an acer predator xb271hk was offered to me exceptionally cheap so i took it.

doesn't even run 4K from the Ps4 pro as it only has hdmi 1.4 but it's certainly an improvement anyway! Will still get photos and measurements :)
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
So.. I had to attend to some family issues but, there has been a development.

Not ideal but an acer predator xb271hk was offered to me exceptionally cheap so i took it.

doesn't even run 4K from the Ps4 pro as it only has hdmi 1.4 but it's certainly an improvement anyway! Will still get photos and measurements :)
I have the bigger brother, the xb28hk and although they're definitely budget panels, I find it perfectly good for 4k gaming. The GSync implementation is absolutely top notch, I've had mine down to around 40fps and it's still buttery smooth to the point I would have sworn it was at least 60fps.

Don't be put off by the fact it's budget.

There's a really good review here:


If it was a really good price, I'd say absolute steal and am sure you'll be very happy with it!
 

Mole

Member
I'm definitely impressed with it thus far, literally, the difference of colours alone is beautiful!

£600 when reviewed, i got it for less than a third of that cost! :D

Again, it wont last forever, we will get that GPU upgraded sooner rather than later and then hopefully find a well rounded monitor to do 4k from the console and the PC :D
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I'm definitely impressed with it thus far, literally, the difference of colours alone is beautiful!

£600 when reviewed, i got it for less than a third of that cost! :D

Again, it wont last forever, we will get that GPU upgraded sooner rather than later and then hopefully find a well rounded monitor to do 4k from the console and the PC :D
If it's that cheap then definitely no brainer. Well worth it for now. A 2080ti would do it justice for a while to come.
 
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