Time for an upgrade?

[PicodeGallo]

I've been a little out of the loop since I bought my last CPU/mobo/ram combo (see sig). I've been tossing around the possibility of upgrading, centered around the new Kaby Lake processor. My needs are pretty simple - nothing extravagant since I don't do any extreme overclocking. I don't really have a budget other than buying quality products for what I want to do, which is play games. I figure if it does that well, it will do everything else I need it to do well.

Eventually I will move into 4k, currently I have a 1440p Dell monitor, but that will be a little ways off. I'm mainly looking for motherboard, RAM, and PSU recommendations. I will do some overclocking, but nothing wild. Everything will be air cooled. I already found a good thread on new case fans (I want it quiet), so it looks like Noctura fans are the way to go there. I would appreciate your suggestions! Also, if it's not worth the expense to upgrade, I would appreciate that advice as well.

 

[trents]

Motherboard: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...Id=1&N=100007627 50001944 600567584 601292371

Ram: GSKill Ripjaws DDR4 3000

PSU: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2F84BD0571

If you will be staying with air cooling and want to overclock I would recommend the Kaby Lake 7600k i5. Make sure you buy a case that has enough clearance to the side panel to work with a tall aftermarket cooler. Most of those coolers are around 160mm tall.

 

[NewbieOneKenobi]

How's your gaming performance right now? The way it looks to me, that CPU should still be quite sufficient (replacing it with a 7600K should get you a 30% gain, and Skylakes and Kabies don't seem to offer a huge performance jump over previous generations, nor does DDR4 vs DDR3), and in terms of bang for the buck getting a used oldie (e.g. i7-2700K if your mobo will support it and if it's cheap enough) without changing your mobo and RAM should probably be better than replacing the entire platform. Otherwise I'd focus on the GPU, but yours is still strong (replacing it with a GTX 1070 should get you a 30% gain; it's still a hair stronger than GTX 1060 or R9 480). What about adding another 780ti in SLI? (Not sure if your PSU would suffice, though, it could be just barely below the mark for 100% loads, and that leads to Bad Stuff™ like freezes, artifacts etc.)

 

[Tír na nÓg]

I'd wait for Ryzen and Vega: your setup allows max settings@1080p still.

You could overclock the gpu to something like 1200MHz (it's a mild OC for the 780ti, was getting mine, reference to 1300+) and you're golden till may/june!

 

[Witchdoctor]

I would support a new platform, even know overclocking is not the focus it will be easy enough to get a significant clock advantage over Sandy

you could even opt for mITX with a 6700K and some 3K stix would be formidable.

Coupled with a GTX 1070 you would see and feel the difference IMO

For power look to an eVGA like trents linked

 

[PicodeGallo]

Thanks for the advice. I'm an idiot...my GPU is a 980ti, not 780

Gaming is great really, no real issues. I was thinking of going with the i7 Kaby simply because it's the latest platform. I can certainly wait until Ryzen/Vega, but I'm not sure if those would be better than the average 5% performance gain per tick/tock. Like I said, I'm a little out of the loop. I was also thinking about converting my existing system to a HTPC, but it's just something to tinker with & not necessary.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Piledriver->Ryzen, at least 40% IPC increase...

 

[Witchdoctor]

if everything is good, maybee hold out for a 10nm chip and a Volta based GPU

As far as AMD is concerned they have been out of the game so long I will need retail results to believe anything from them.

However wouldn't be nice to see them release something that could kick some a$$

 

[NewbieOneKenobi]

Thanks for the advice. I'm an idiot...my GPU is a 980ti, not 780

Don't want to contradict anybody who's actually used those cards (not my budget grade by far), but according to UserBenchmark's calcs out of currently available cards only 1080 and Titan would make any meaningful difference. And meaningful doesn't mean huge (for 1080). I would leave it alone until at least Pascal refresh in about a year from now, with better clocks and perhaps more VRAM.

Gaming is great really, no real issues. I was thinking of going with the i7 Kaby simply because it's the latest platform.

Ah, okay. Well, I don't really see that much value in getting the latest platform unless you're upgrading from something that's already ancient like the Core2Duo with DDR2 I still had early last year. Obviously, 2500K is no longer the king of the hill, but it's so strong that I personally would see (based on benchmarks, reviews etc.) no point replacing it with a more modern i5 at the cost of also having to replace the mobo and RAM. Possibly no point replacing the CPU even, so far. If at all, then perhaps just max the slot out, get the next platform after Kaby.

 

[PicodeGallo]

So after playing Fallout 4 with the Hi-Res texture pack, with its "super high end" requirements, I think I'll hold out for a bit. The game plays just fine with every setting maxed. Not that I was hinging my upgrade on it, but I consider it a bit of a measuring stick. All is well enough for me atm. Thank you all for your advice!