Time for a good update (Help Please) - Updating My Hardware in a Corsair 900D for 4K Gaming at High FPS

kill8r

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Messages
172
Hi All,
The help of this forum was amazing in helping me build my watercooled rig. It was built in 2014 and never had a single issue. Now it is time with Ampere to go through a proper upgrade to accomodate high FPS 4K gaming on max settings.

Here is the equipment:
Case:
Corsair 900D

Motherboard:
Asus Rampage IV Black Edition

Processor:
i7 4930k

RAM:
Corsair Vengeance 2400 4x4gb

PSU:
Seasonic X-1250

HD:
Samsung 840 Series Pro 512GB SSD

GPU:
R9 290 x 2

Radiators:
2 x Alphacool Monsta 480 Rads

CPU Block:
Koolance CPU-380i

Fans:
Corsair Quiet Edition

Pump:
Swiftech MCP35x2 Dual Pump

So here are my initial questions please:
1) Is my setup so dated that I am better off starting from scratch?

2) If there is stuff worth retaining what would you keep? I know the GPUs are going to be ditched for sure. Is the processor outdated, etc?

3) Has there been any material change in cases?

I am tempted to try and go for a small footprint quiet WC setup but if there is a cost effective upgrade option then that would be great as I hate for all this equipment to go to waste.

Thank you
 
You are certainly upgrading your mobo, cpu, for the 4K target.
We don’t know right now what to buy yet.
High refresh is debatable, we have to see how Ampere scales as you load graphics quality @4k.
That’s highly up to the build of the games you play.

Depending on install size games you plan on playing in the future that ssd is going to be demoted to game storage but could be too small for more than 2 AAA titles.

You might be able to OC your ram, I don’t get too crazy when +/- ~ 5fps is at stake.
I’d rather just clock them up to min spec of your next cpu.
Frequency is gaming is king with respects to frame time.

Cases are trending towards higher airflow,I don’t see much advantage to an upgrade in your situation.
 
6 years later. Youve waited long enough. Wait for the ampere drop and build a brand new rig. Re-purpose the old one or pay it forward.
 
Your case is completely up to you.
Cpu,mb mem and gpus will have to be upgraded.
Your ssd is still solid. You may want to relegate it to a secondary drive and go with a 1tb nvme primary.
Cpu block will have to be updated.
Fans are reusable.
Your rads and pumps are golden. They will handle anything that you throw at them.
Your psu is still solid but i forget if it came with a 5 or 10yr warranty so that may be a factor.

Upgrading your core components especially your gpu to hit 4k is going to be expensive no matter what you do. Reusing your old loop and gear will save you a big ass chunk and allow you to continue to run quiet and chilly. You're in a good position to be in, have fun!
 
You are certainly upgrading your mobo, cpu, for the 4K target.
We don’t know right now what to buy yet.
High refresh is debatable, we have to see how Ampere scales as you load graphics quality @4k.
That’s highly up to the build of the games you play.

Depending on install size games you plan on playing in the future that ssd is going to be demoted to game storage but could be too small for more than 2 AAA titles.

You might be able to OC your ram, I don’t get too crazy when +/- ~ 5fps is at stake.
I’d rather just clock them up to min spec of your next cpu.
Frequency is gaming is king with respects to frame time.

Cases are trending towards higher airflow,I don’t see much advantage to an upgrade in your situation.
6 years later. Youve waited long enough. Wait for the ampere drop and build a brand new rig. Re-purpose the old one or pay it forward.
Your case is completely up to you.
Cpu,mb mem and gpus will have to be upgraded.
Your ssd is still solid. You may want to relegate it to a secondary drive and go with a 1tb nvme primary.
Cpu block will have to be updated.
Fans are reusable.
Your rads and pumps are golden. They will handle anything that you throw at them.
Your psu is still solid but i forget if it came with a 5 or 10yr warranty so that may be a factor.

Upgrading your core components especially your gpu to hit 4k is going to be expensive no matter what you do. Reusing your old loop and gear will save you a big ass chunk and allow you to continue to run quiet and chilly. You're in a good position to be in, have fun!
Thank you all for the help!

Ok hopefully keeping my:
rads
fans
pump
power supply
Ssd as a second drive

Ideally I would like my setup to be silent and a much smaller form factor. A corsair one type design would be amazing if I can replicate something like it.
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Systems/CORSAIR-ONE-AMD-Series/p/CS-9020012-NA

I will never go for more than 2 GPUs and even then one heavy hitter would be my preference. Something like a 3090.

Any advice on a very quiet case that can accomdate my rads or am I dreaming?
 
Think of how much $ you saved by not buying new blocks, much less builds, every gen chasing playable framerate from when that rig was new to now.

The problem with 4k is the same as when 1440p was new, panels took a long time to catch up and then price themselves somewhere attainable.

Game builds had to crawl to consistent frametime and frame pace according to target hardware of the day.

Arguably 4k 144hz is more attainable with your next build than a VR target that makes you want to ditch monitor play.
 
Your probably going to have a really hard time finding a case to accommodate both rads but going with a single 480 may be easier to find. Even a single monsta 480 will be more than enough capacity for any cpu/gpu loop. That may make finding a case easier.
 
Think of how much $ you saved by not buying new blocks, much less builds, every gen chasing playable framerate from when that rig was new to now.

The problem with 4k is the same as when 1440p was new, panels took a long time to catch up and then price themselves somewhere attainable.

Game builds had to crawl to consistent frametime and frame pace according to target hardware of the day.

Arguably 4k 144hz is more attainable with your next build than a VR target that makes you want to ditch monitor play.
You make a very good point about utilising my existing gear.

Your probably going to have a really hard time finding a case to accommodate both rads but going with a single 480 may be easier to find. Even a single monsta 480 will be more than enough capacity for any cpu/gpu loop. That may make finding a case easier.
Good advice.

If I can find a mini rtx case that can accomdate a singe 480 that would be great
 
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