A couple final upgrades - Storage and Monitor

[Remeca]

I've upgraded about everything I can think of this year, but I'm still installing most games to a 2tb HDD, and booting from a sata3 ssd with a couple more demanding games installed on that. I think I'd benefit a lot from a 2tb nvme ssd, and I was considering a WD Black SN770 or XPG Gammix S70 Blade.

I'm also still gaming on an old Dell 1080p 60hz monitor. It's 24", which isn't bad, but I'd like to get a bit bigger, at least 27". But if I go bigger I wonder if I should go 1440p. I play mostly AAA from the last 20 years to present, and prefer image quality over higher fps. I've always been happy with 60fps vsync on. Don't know if I'd benefit from g-sync or freesync or whatever other features. Maybe a Samsung G5 27" 1440p 144hz, or a curved ViewSonic 32", it's bigger and has higher refresh rate for cheaper.

Budget is around $500 Canadian dollars before tax or shipping, but less is best, and I mostly use Amazon.ca and CanadaComputers.com. Thanks for any advice.

Specs

 

[Toothless]

With how cheap the Teamgroup NVME is, might as well go 4TB for more games. Don'tcha know more is gooder?

I also wouldn't be using any Gigabyte PSU.

 

[wNotyarD]

I also wouldn't be using any Gigabyte PSU.

The UD-GM series got reviewed by Aris (750W, 850W and 1000W), and there are no blatant issues with any of them other than their lies of being ATX 3.0 compliant (and being just a fix of the Gigabomb P-GM series). They're also listed as B-tier on Cultists Network, much due to the Aris' reviews I guess.
Knowing Gigabyte, though, the chance of varying quality of its components is way too high to take reviews to heart.

 

[P4-630]

Go with a i5 12600K/13600K.

 

[bonehead123]

Well, that seems to be a nice, moderately priced rig for most anything, but:

A) I would bump the ram as far as I could (64GB ?), and also go for a 4TB WD 850x, since the prices for both are at or near rock bottom right now (but won't stay there forever) for a drive that is one of the fastest & most reliable drives available If you value your sanity, please stay away from Kingston (nvme) drives...been there, done that, NEVA AGAIN !

B) Since you're upgrading everything else, you should probably consider either a 27" or 32" monitor. Yea they will cost a tad more than the 24", but trust me, once you get used to having more screen space, you won't wanna go back

C) I agree about the CPU, going with an 11th gen nowadays is not really ideal, as the newer ones are significantly faster for not that much more $$, especially if you can find a mobo/cpu bundle...

Good luck with your build

 

[wNotyarD]

I'm also still gaming on an old Dell 1080p 60hz monitor. It's 24", which isn't bad, but I'd like to get a bit bigger, at least 27". But if I go bigger I wonder if I should go 1440p. I play mostly AAA from the last 20 years to present, and prefer image quality over higher fps. I've always been happy with 60fps vsync on. Don't know if I'd benefit from g-sync or freesync or whatever other features. Maybe a Samsung G5 27" 1440p 144hz, or a curved ViewSonic 32", it's bigger and has higher refresh rate for cheaper.

DEFINITELY DO SO. From experience, the jump from 24" 1080p to 27" 1440p may not look much on terms of density on paper, but it's noticeable in practice. 32" 1440p has roughly the same pixel density as 24" 1080p. The extra screen estate is amazing, faster refresh is a bonus as long as you align your eye candy desire to what your card can output.
If you enable Freesync (G-Sync Compatible) you theoretically wouldn't need to enable V-Sync because the monitor would vary its refresh rate to what the card is putting out so you'd get no screen tearing and no latency penalty, however it doesn't always plays nice on unlisted screens which is the case for both units you mentioned.

 

[P4-630]

But if I go bigger I wonder if I should go 1440p.

Absolutely go with a 1440p high-refresh monitor, I have one , really nice extra desktop real estate as well, once you go 1440p you'll never look back to 1080p.

 

[Remeca]

With how cheap the Teamgroup NVME is, might as well go 4TB for more games. Don'tcha know more is gooder?

I wouldn't know what to do with 4tb. I'd rather have a fast 1or 2tb than a slower cheaper 4tb. I can always throw another one in later.

I also wouldn't be using any Gigabyte PSU.

People will say that about any PSU less than $200. Even if it were a P750GM, it'd probably be less of a fire hazard than my last 2.

The UD-GM series got reviewed by Aris (750W, 850W and 1000W), and there are no blatant issues with any of them other than their lies of being ATX 3.0 compliant (and being just a fix of the Gigabomb P-GM series). They're also listed as B-tier on Cultists Network, much due to the Aris' reviews I guess.
Knowing Gigabyte, though, the chance of varying quality of its components is way too high to take reviews to heart.

I was aware of the earlier issues with the Gigabyte PSUs but couldn't find anything bad about the UD really. Just residual Gigabyte distrust.

Go with a i5 12600K/13600K.

I've already upgraded CPU and motherboard from an Optiplex 9020 with a 4790k. 11th gen is just what I could afford this go around. I was going to get an i3-10100 but the shop talked me up to 11th gen i5.

Well, that seems to be a nice, moderately priced rig for most anything, but:

A) I would bump the ram as far as I could (64GB ?), and also go for a 4TB WD 850x, since the prices for both are at or near rock bottom right now (but won't stay there forever) for a drive that is one of the fastest & most reliable drives available If you value your sanity, please stay away from Kingston (nvme) drives...been there, done that, NEVA AGAIN !

Ram support is up to 128GB, but even 64 seems like it would be absolutely overkill. I considered upgrading to 32, but still it seems like diminishing returns for the money. And that 4tb drive is most of the $500 budget at $399. The 2tb version is doable though, if it's that much better than the ones I mentioned.

B) Since you're upgrading everything else, you should probably consider either a 27" or 32" monitor. Yea they will cost a tad more than the 24", but trust me, once you get used to having more screen space, you won't wanna go back

The goal is upgrading storage and monitor. 27" would probably be ideal for wants and budget.

C) I agree about the CPU, going with an 11th gen nowadays is not really ideal, as the newer ones are significantly faster for not that much more $$, especially if you can find a mobo/cpu bundle...

Good luck with your build

Thank you. As mentioned earlier, the CPU was already significantly upgraded this year and isn't the focus of current upgrades.

DEFINITELY DO SO. From experience, the jump from 24" 1080p to 27" 1440p may not look much on terms of density on paper, but it's noticeable in practice. 32" 1440p has roughly the same pixel density as 24" 1080p. The extra screen estate is amazing, faster refresh is a bonus as long as you align your eye candy desire to what your card can output.
If you enable Freesync (G-Sync Compatible) you theoretically wouldn't need to enable V-Sync because the monitor would vary its refresh rate to what the card is putting out so you'd get no screen tearing and no latency penalty, however it doesn't always plays nice on unlisted screens which is the case for both units you mentioned.

I'm open to other monitors. Those just seemed good in my price range. I'm also leaning towards 1440p now.

Absolutely go with a 1440p high-refresh monitor, I have one , really nice extra desktop real estate as well, once you go 1440p you'll never look back to 1080p.

Thanks. I'll probably go with something 1440p.

 

[Toothless]

Teamgroup 4TB is PCI 3.0. 3000MB/s is more than enough for games for a long time coming. I'm sure a 4.0 2TB will be nice at double speed but you're going to be limited by CPU anyway.

$160 is so worth it.

 

[OkieDan]

I'd go with 32" 1440p 144+ Hz monitor. A good monitor will keep you happy for years.

 

[Beginner Micro Device]

I'd go with 32" 1440p 144+ Hz monitor. A good monitor will keep you happy for years.

The OP's gone with Samsung Odyssey G5 27" 1440p 144hz already if their specs are correct.

 

[Remeca]

I'd go with 32" 1440p 144+ Hz monitor. A good monitor will keep you happy for years.

I'd like to have gone 32 but it's too big for my desk and a bit over budget. I went with a curved 27" Samsung G5 1440p 144hz.

The OP's gone with Samsung Odyssey G5 27" 1440p 144hz already if their specs are correct.

That's correct. And a 2tb SN770.

 

[Beginner Micro Device]

Your eye-to-display distance looks very short to me but congratulations.

How do you rate your gaming experience now?

 

[Remeca]

Your eye-to-display distance looks very short to me but congratulations.

How do you rate your gaming experience now?

Other than Starfield everything is running 100-144 fps at 1440p, so it looks big and sharp and much smoother.

 

[A Computer Guy]

Teamgroup 4TB is PCI 3.0. 3000MB/s is more than enough for games for a long time coming. I'm sure a 4.0 2TB will be nice at double speed but you're going to be limited by CPU anyway.

$160 is so worth it.

I went this route and I think it was the right choice of capacity over speed. (was using a Crucial P2 2TB for games prior which was pretty slow for NVMe)
The teamgroup 4TB performs well and for a fair price, I have no complaints. The specs say 3500/2900 read write. Just sharing an end user experience.

 

[Beginner Micro Device]

Your eye-to-display distance looks very short to me

Spoiler: This is how I roll (31.5" display, 76 cm = 30 inches)

Other than Starfield everything is running 100-144 fps at 1440p, so it looks big and sharp and much smoother.

Excellent!

 

[freeagent]

I dont miss spinners at all

Nice to see NVME has come down quite a bit in the past couple of years.

 

[Remeca]

Spoiler: This is how I roll (31.5" display, 76 cm = 30 inches)

View attachment 312758View attachment 312759

The desk is recent too and it's given me more room than my old one, but there's a bed behind the chair so it couldn't be bigger.

Excellent!

Thank you.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I dont miss spinners at all

Nice to see NVME has come down quite a bit in the past couple of years.

The thing I dislike about NVMe is I have corrupted OS way easier from blue screens (usually driver related problems) or power out (rare because I use UPS) than I've ever experienced with HDD's or SATA SSD.
Also it can be a pain to swap using external enclosure with imaging software. The best success I've had is to put the old OS drive in the external enclosure and the new drive in the PC then image from the enclosure to the PC but if you had NVMe specific drivers you must switch them to Microsoft Standard NVMe drivers first before you image the OS onto the new drive.

 

[freeagent]

The thing I dislike about NVMe is I have corrupted OS way easier from blue screens (usually driver related problems) or power out (rare because I use UPS) than I've ever experienced with HDD's or SATA SSD.
Also it can be a pain to swap using external enclosure with imaging software. The best success I've had is to put the old OS drive in the external enclosure and the new drive in the PC then image from the enclosure to the PC but if you had NVMe specific drivers you must switch them to Microsoft Standard NVMe drivers first before you image the OS onto the new drive.

Sounds like a memory problem, nothing like that has existed for me with NVMe..

I have run memory and CPUs really hard, BSOD for me is purely memory related these days..

 

[A Computer Guy]

Sounds like a memory problem, nothing like that has existed for me with NVMe..

I have run memory and CPUs really hard, BSOD for me is purely memory related these days..

Recently an Intel network driver update BSOD'd my gaming machine right after I completed a 980 Pro upgrade for the OS drive. Luckily I still had my original image so I just redid it and the 2nd time it was fine but I manually installed the drivers instead of using Intel's utility. Some kind of one off freak accident I suppose. I'm running off topic so I'll end it here.