Got Enough Money To Upgrade Motherboard, CPU & RAM!

[TricksterMatt]

I have found out I have enough money to upgrade my motherboard, CPU & RAM. These are my choices as I won't be overclocking and I will be mainly gaming, light video editing and just using the computer on daily basis for things like browsing forums, youtube and work. Are these good choices?

Budget = £450

Motherboard = Asus Z87-K Socket 1150 HDMI DVI D-Sub 8-Channel HD...

CPU = Intel Core i7 4770K 3.50GHz Socket 1150 8MB Cache....

RAM = Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz Vengeance Pro Kit...

And also, when I get enough money for my GPU. Should I upgrade it from my 5870 to something like the GTX 770 SC? I'm gaming on a 1600x900 resolution. And how much of an improvement will I see from my current rig to this new haswel build? Specs on my profile! Thanks!

 

[EthanDW]

I'm not from your country, so I can't give you specific specs, but I can give you some guidelines.

Firstly, until you upgrade your monitor, gtx 770 is an overkill. Even gtx 660 is more than enough for your current resolution.

If I were you, I would upgrade this monitor.
You can change the i7 to i5 (most games currently don't benefit much from hyper threading) and use the saved money for a new monitor.

Additional money can be saved by giving up on overclocking (Do you even have a supported cooler for lga 1156/1155/1150?)

You can choose to upgrade your monitor now, and meanwhile settle on the graphics settings, or you can wait and change it along with the new gpu (760 or 860 would surely be the most bang for the buck for 1080p).

Good luck!

 

[TricksterMatt]

Well I don't really want to upgrade my monitor as it is fairly new and I really like it ^_^ so should I just get a 660? or just stick my 5870?

 

[Jetster]

Stick with your 5870 its a good card. Then buy a real monitor. With the jump in resolution you will think you have a new system

 

[IggSter]

What about this bundle?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-176-OE&groupid=43&catid=2512&subcat=2513

Not sure if you want to OC yourself?

 

[TricksterMatt]

looks like a good bundle, is the 4670K better than the 4770K for things like gaming and video editing? And also is my monitor really that bad? I brought it like a year and a half ago and love it to this day! If I get an upgraded monitor with the 19xx resolution is it day and night difference in terms of image quality?

 

[Frick]

K CPU's are for overclocking, and it extremely useless because you won't. They are sort of gimped in others ways (no hardware virtulization is one example).

If you are fine with the monitor, don't upgrade it.

As for games... Some might be faster, others won't. All in all it's solid upgrade though, if you take a non-K version. Or you scale back on CPU and get more memory instead. Dunno.

EDIT: YOUR MONITOR IS NOT BAD IF YOU LIKE IT. Seriously.

 

[Jetster]

is the 4670K better than the 4770K for things like gaming and video editing?

No

And yes 1080 looks better than 900. And if you get a nice panel it will look even better.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

for gaming, the 4670k is just as good as the 4770k. For video editing, it depends on the software you use and whether or not it can use more then 4 processing threads.

As for your resolution question, all I can say is go to your local computer store and compare the different monitors and make the decision for yourself.

 

[Frick]

No

And yes 1080 looks better than 900. And if you get a nice panel it will look even better.

Unless his current monitor really REALLY sucks and he gets a really really nice monitor it will not look better at all. It will be a higher resolution, but that has NOTHING to do with image quality. Stop being jackasses.

And for the love of god, why are you talking about K CPU's when he will not overclock?

 

[EthanDW]

for gaming, the 4670k is just as good as the 4770k. For video editing, it depends on the software you use and whether or not it can use more then 4 processing threads.

He mentions light video editing.
For this, the i7 doesn't worth the extra money.

 

[TricksterMatt]

My monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster P2070 ^^ and I use Sony Vegas Pro as my video editing software. I'd like to run all current games and future games like battlefield 4 on high setting with like 50+ FPS on my monitor, so I think my 5870 with a haswel CPU will do it well for now? It's just what CPU to get as I'm not familiar at all with intel CPUs as I've never had one in my system as this will be the first!

 

[vega22]

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...on=shoppingBasketAdd&productId=56168&context=

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...on=shoppingBasketAdd&productId=55561&context=

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...0C8+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=55442

thats how i would say you would be best doing it if you dont want to oc.

yes i know its an ocing mobo but its more for its other features.

8 threads, 16gb of ram and still £50 left to put towards your gpu kitty

 

[TricksterMatt]

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...on=shoppingBasketAdd&productId=56168&context=

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...on=shoppingBasketAdd&productId=55561&context=

https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Com...0C8+1600MHz+Dual+Channel+Kit+?productId=55442

thats how i would say you would be best doing it if you dont want to oc.

yes i know its an ocing mobo but its more for its other features.

8 threads, 16gb of ram and still £50 left to put towards your gpu kitty

Nice, exactly the CPU for me it looks like! Cause I don't want an in-built GPU on my CPU and won't be overclocking at all. So basically it's exactly the same as like a i7 4770K but with no overclocking ability and no in-built gpu with lower power consumption and lower temps? looks good. Will it have exact performance of the 4770K throughout with things like gaming and editing?

 

[EthanDW]

A b85 mobo with a non-k i5 cpu should be more than enough for gaming and light editing.
Since he seldom edits, I believe 8 gb should be sufficient, and if not, he can always add more.

Edit: An integrated gpu is vital for cases when your dedicated gpu fails and you need a temporary solution.
This allows you to continue your work and get the best deal for your new gpu, instead of making hasty decisions.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

It was starting to make sense, esp the part where you're going for fastest clock speed you can afford and would rather not OC, because the 4770 certainly fits that bill if you really insist on not OCIng. Then I read the part where you said "when I get enough money for my GPU", and I realized this is just yet another gotta a have a Haswell, even though the money would be better spent on something like a 3570k and a GPU. That however would involve very simple OCing, and I do mean very simple. I also think you could get better bang for buck with an AsRock MB. Thus I'll bow out of any further suggestions and hopefully minimize the Ivy vs Haswell and ASUS vs ASRock wars.

 

[TricksterMatt]

It was starting to make sense, esp the part where you're going for fastest clock speed you can afford and would rather not OC, because the 4770 certainly fits that bill if you really insist on not OCIng. Then I read the part where you said "when I get enough money for my GPU", and I realized this is just yet another gotta a have a Haswell, even though the money would be better spent on something like a 3570k and a GPU. That however would involve very simple OCing, and I do mean very simple. I also think you could get better bang for buck with an AsRock MB. Thus I'll bow out of any further suggestions and hopefully minimize the Ivy vs Haswell and ASUS vs ASRock wars.

I said I'm keeping my 5870 as my resolution is good, I just want to upgrade the rest as you can see how dated my system is >.< DDR2 and a phenom 2 is quite old brah

 

[EthanDW]

Frag Maniac, your suggestion does make sense-if he intends to oc or ask a friend to do it for him.
If no OC is planned, then I would go for the newer platform.

The main problem with ivy at the moment, aside from the lack of features compared to HW, is that should he need to RMA a Z77 mobo, for instance, it may take longer because of poor availability (It's not supposed to be made anymore).

Edit:

I said I'm keeping my 5870 as my resolution is good, I just want to upgrade the rest as you can see how dated my system is >.< DDR2 and a phenom 2 is quite old brah

DDR2 is not a very good example.
In 2015 skylake should come with DDR4-this never ends.. Lol

 

[Jetster]

Well if I was being a jackass it was not my intention. I apologize. It was just an opinion

 

[EthanDW]

Jetster, it was just your opinion.
No reason to apologize

I had also thought it would be best to sell the monitor and get a balanced rig with a larger monitor, until I found out how attached he is to it.

 

[brandonwh64]

I would just get what you listed in the OP cause later on you can always get a better monitor easier. The 660 will be obsolete quickly, I just came from 6950 unlocked Xfire and the higher end 7970 was a great choice for a single card solution and lower wattage usage.

I think the 770 would be a perfect card for that setup

 

[EthanDW]

Buying 770 is a mistake.
We're talking about a very small resolution here - 1600x900.
Gtx 770 is approximately 20% stronger than the gtx 760, while costing significantly more.
It is always preferable to buy one x60 and another one down the road, rather than buying one x70 for a slight performance increase.
Therefore, if you are on a budget, unless you need the extra juice - x60 is the better choice.

 

[brandonwh64]

Buying 770 is a mistake.
We're talking about a very small resolution here - 1600x900.
Gtx 770 is approximately 20% stronger than the gtx 760, while costing significantly more.
It is always preferable to buy one x60 and another one down the road, rather than buying one x70 for a slight performance increase.
Therefore, if you are on a budget, unless you need the extra juice - x60 is a better choice.

Naaa, You maybe the first person I have seen to turn down performace because a PC enthusiast would laugh and say fuck it and get a 780 LOL

 

[EthanDW]

But it's not our money - it is his.
We can't play with other people's money and offer them overkill parts, just because we like hardware and would have picked them in his place.
Mathematically, x60 is the wiser choice, unless you need more. At 1600x900 resolution - you don't.

 

[MT Alex]

Unless his current monitor really REALLY sucks and he gets a really really nice monitor it will not look better at all. It will be a higher resolution, but that has NOTHING to do with image quality. Stop being jackasses.

Says the guy using a 1680x1050 monitor