Upgrade time, looking for suggestions.

L

lcpiper

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
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Time to upgrade but I am out of touch.

Guys, I want to upgrade an old gaming machine, the case is an older Lian-Li, the cube server one so more then enough room. I have drives, etc. I am looking at a Mobo, CPU, RAM, and Video Card upgrade suggestion that is relatively cheap.

I have a unique build philosophy, I start from the monitor and work my way back. I mean it's the monitor and software you run that determines all the other requirements.

The software part is easy, gaming in all it's glory. I play World of Tanks and Mechwarrior online, and lately H1Z1.

The monitor is below;

SAMSUNG S29E790C, 2560X1080 4ms (GTG) 2K, 1X Display Port, 2XHDMI connections.

So I need a video card solution that will handle this resolution well and a solid CPU, Mobo, and RAM solution. just the generic info, no need for detailed individual make and model for everything. I just need a solid CPU option, Intel or AMD, a solid mobo chipset, and actually, I can figure out the RAM myself from there.

As for the budget, they video card solution is what it is, but I usually prefer to stick with single card solutions over multiple cards and larger PSUs although a dual-gpu board is certainly a strong possible if it fits the need.
 
Read the "asking for build help" sticky, cut and paste the questions, and answer them in your OP. Makes life easier for everyone. Thanks.
 
Based on the information you're giving us, I recommend you buy an iMac ;).
 
Logan321 said:
Read the "asking for build help" sticky, cut and paste the questions, and answer them in your OP. Makes life easier for everyone. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'd rather do it my way, much easier, start with the monitor, what cards will handle that resolution without going SLI or Crossfire?
 
Its not just about the display but what you use it for.
If I played the specific games you mentioned I would be able to assist better.
I tried to get the ball rolling for you after you didnt post your budget.

I can tell you about the high end of the current market.
My high clocked 980 isnt enough to play The Witcher 3 on max at 1080p (on a 2500K @ 4.4GHz).
I can get close to max settings at 60fps, but with 1440p not a hope.

Maybe thats some form of guide, I dont know.
Your list of games is very restricted.
 
Thanx Nenu. I know all about this stuff, it's just that I am a little out of date so I have stopped keeping up with the flow of hardware development and the current systems and their capabilities. For my purposes it would be best to ignore more demanding games. I have money, I just don't like to waste money, furthermore I have this specific Monitor in mind, I want that curved panoramic display. That being said, I know some cards will handle 2560x1080 very well and others will not. Ram is cheap right now so I'll probably drop 16GB in the motherboard and which make and model will come straight from the mobo manufacturer's website for compatible memory. That leaves the mobo and the proc. I know some games are more demanding of the processor and some don't care so much. Right now I have a Razer Blade laptop with a GTX 765M card in it. It does just fine for all my gaming running it's own Monitor and exporting primary display for the games to my 24" external monitor at 1920x1080 or less resolutions. I don't know yet if this card will support the monitor at 2K but I am doubting it. That is why I am looking at upgrading the old desktop gaming rig.

So, some cards will support gaming at 2560-1080 and some really won't, I need to know what will do it and do it without struggling. Will any old R9 card do it?

If I were to just throw money at it I would go buy an I7, the one I have at 2.2Ghz is decent but the Intel chips are pricey and perhaps the AMD chips will work just as well but I know little about them other then they are cheaper usually and I'll want to cool it well. But I need to know which series is a solid performer for gaming. Once those things are worked out a little help with the mobo chipset and I'll be set. Every CPU has a motherboard chipset that just works well with it and that's really all there is too it. At least that's all I am asking for.
 
I generally prefer the route that Logan321 mentioned (especially since I came up with those questions) since it's extremely quick and easy but I'll bite. I'm in a teaching mood at the moment:

With the games you're talking, the GTX 970, R9 290, R9 290X, and GTX 980 cards are your main choices. If you're looking for more than 60FPS+ with more higher-end games, the SLI or CFX route of the cards I mentioned above are your best bet for those.

As for CPUs, AMD can provide acceptable levels of gaming performance. However, Intel will generally provide more gaming performance and usually for not much more money. Hence why Intel is generally recommended for gaming PCs. So that's where we'll start. Now there's two Intel sockets out now: LGA 2011V3 and LGA 1150. Since you have not mentioned any sort of usage that would require the LGA 2011V3 route (any usage that requires more than 4 cores + 4 threads and 32GB of RAM), that leaves you with just the LGA 1150 route. Now you need to ask yourself one critical question: Will you be overclocking? Your answer to that radically changes what CPU and mobo you should get.

If overclocking, your CPU choices are limited to the Core i7 4790K, Core i5 4690K, and Pentium G3258. Since we're playing at such a high resolution and the fact that it appears that you're not on a strict budget, that leaves out the G3258. As for the remaining two, it depends on your budget and your current/future gaming plans. With the games you mentioned now, the 4690K is more than enough for the foreseeable future. However, there are already higher-end games that do take advantage of the HT features of the Core i7 4790K. It looks like future higher-end games will take advantage of that HT feature as well. But if you can't afford it then you can't afford it.

If not overclocking, your CPU choices are now wider. Now you have the Core i7 4790, Core i5 4590, Core i3 4130, and Pentium G3220. Again, since you're not on a strict budget, that leaves the latter two. With that said, on a strict budget, the Core i3 4130 should be enough for that games you've mentioned. As for the remaining two, basically what I said above still applies. Just switch out the 4790K for the 4790 and 4690K for the 4590 and it's basically the same reasoning.

Also, if you overclock, that basically limits you to just one Intel chipset: The Intel Z97 chipset. If you're not overclocking, then you can use either the Z97 or H97 chipsets, whichever motherboard fits your needs/requirements.

Now if you plan on doing the upgrade in more than a month from now, congratulations, I just wasted my time as many of the hardware recommendations made above may not be same parts I'm going to recommend in more than a month from now. Hardware pricing and availability rapidly changes what we recommend.

Now do you see why we prefer that you just answer the sticky?:D

Oh for the PSU: Ask for advice on any PSU before you buy. This is where I see people make the most mistakes.
 
Dangman, let me first thank you for the effort you put into this for me. Let me explain some problems I have with your sticky;

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I amswered, gaming, I even listed examples.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I meant to answer in the first post and corrected that as soon as it was brought to my attention.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Completely immaterial as it doesn't effect hardware choices and I didn't ask for hardware choices, I asked for capabilities.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
I supplied this, CPU, Mobo, RAM, and a Video Card with a clear requirement that it drive a 2560x1080 display at acceptable frame rates for the games I play.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No I will not reuse the power supply, I am more then capable of determining what I need in that realm.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Doubtful, there is little need anymore, it's not like I am trying to run Quake on a Celeron 300 any more :)
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Specified by exact make and model.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as I get a clear understanding of what components I will select.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Immaterial, I'll select all those myself, all I wanted was info on a solid stable chipset that supports the recommended CPU.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Again, immaterial to my query.

So this is why I refused to use your sticky. It's because my questions are not the average questions and they are not being asked by your average new computer builder. I've been doing this since 386s and when I used to cut and solder motherboard traces on Amigas back in the late 80s. As I said, I am just out of date with the latest hardware capabilities and chipsets.

Now do you see why I didn't care to use your sticky?

Again, thank you. You did supply much of the info that I should need and it will be helpful.
 
I see why you don't want to use the sticky. However, I don't necessarily agree with your reasons: The whole point of the stickied questions is to save time while helping people get the PC build they want within reason. In addition, it ensure that the OP actually is getting a good system.

In half the time it took me to write my earlier post, I could have set up an entire PC build list including case, CPU, mobo, RAM, GPU, PSU, SSD, HDD, and HSF. That saves you time since you now have a significantly stronger starting point to do any additional research and that saves me time since it's just a matter of me double checking prices and copying and pasting links into NotePad++ for editing.

For questions 1 and 7, you are absolutely correct that you answered them already in the OP. However, a lot of computer builders don't actually provide that information when asking for PC help.

For question 3, actually where you live does affect hardware choices. We do get a lot of non-American forum members in this subforum asking for advice on hardware. I think we've had members from the Phillipines, India, Japan, Estonia, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, the UK, Germany, Netherlands, etc. Not every recommended computer part here in the U.S is available in other countries. As such, that affects any discussion about capabilities: Why talk about a certain capability when that person won't ever have access to that capability? Before you say anything, the question still applies to people in the U.S due to the computer store known as Microcenter. See what I wrote in my first post? All of CPU portion is effectively useless since being near a Microcenter limits you to three fantastic CPU choices for the best bang for the buck possible regardless of whether or not one is overclocking.

For question 4 and 5, a lot of people will try to reuse shitty and/or old parts unsuitable for modern PCs. Might as well nip a potential issue in the bud for that person. In addition, even among forum members who've been on this forum for 10 years plus and do at least 2 PC builds a year, I still see people who make really poor PSU purchases. The PSU is the #1 most important part in a PC. As such, it deserves a lot more scrutiny and advice from others.

This has a personal aspect for me actually: If I had asked online before I bought the PSU for my first PC, I would not have had multiple dead hard drives, a defective motherboard, and defective RAM. I would have found out that the sales person at the store was selling me a very shitty PSU. That's the main drive for why I ask about what PSU a person is using.

For question 6, this relates to what I wrote in my first post. Answering yes or no to this question determines which of the 7 CPUs I listed you should be looking at. That saves time and narrows down the field.

For question 8, unfortunately, we get a lot of computer builders, experienced or not, trying to plan builds multiple months in advance when that's just a waste of time and effort. Again this helps us save time since it determines whether we spend the time and effort now helping a person plan out their PC or just writing a simple sentence explaining that they should come back later and ask for advice then.

For question 9, we're just trying to save you some time by coming with motherboard recommendations off the bat. Motherboards are some of the hardest parts of a PC to decide on (after the PSU IMO) even if you've limited yourself to one or two particular chipsets.

For question 10, it is relevant since it determines whether or not we need to factor in the cost of an OS into the overall cost of the PC. In addition, it also tells us whether or not we should bother spending the time helping someone who may or may not be deliberately using pirated software. In other words, for those who use pirated OSes, no point in spending time helping them since those are the people who don't value other people's time and effort. Again, we see a lot of people like that in this forum.

I understand that you're highly experienced. But that doesn't mean you won't make mistakes. I've been helping people here in General Hardware with their computer builds for almost ten years now. I still make some mistakes now and then with my recommendations. I've seen people with the same level of experience as you creating build lists that are absolutely horrible.

In other words, I think I could have supplied you with a lot more information though a build list from your complete answers to the questions then via your method in a far shorter time.
 
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