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Considering some upgrades

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  • 30-05-2015 6:26pm
    #1
    L
    Registered Users Posts: 655 ✭✭✭


    So, I realized most of the main components of my desktop are about to hit four years old and it's probably past time for an upgrade. I figured I'd ask here before I start into buying components.

    The current parts, budget and specific queries I have are below. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

    Specifics:
    • The current parts list is here.
    • My budget for upgrades is ~€500 to €700 though less is better (more cash for future upgrades).
    • By my own eye (and a bit of reading), the GPU is the biggest thing that needs to go. Considering replacing it with a GTX 970 for ~€350 but unsure if that's going to be overkill for a 1080p monitor or if it's worth waiting for newer cards to come out (either to get a better card, or to push down prices on an equivalent card).
    • Outside that, I probably should get a non-stock cooler and overclock the i5 2500k (should make a difference and mean I can put off replacing the CPU/motherboard for a while). Any recommendations on a cooler to buy? I'll probably stick to air cooled as I'd be worried about leaks with liquid.
    • My PSU is ~7 years old at this point. While it's still working fine (and should still have the capacity to handle the upgrades I'm considering), I'm wondering if I've missed any major PSU efficiency increases or the like.
    • I'm half-considering a second SSD (probably a BX100 500GB or 1TB) to replace my 750GB HD (I'll keep the smaller M4 as my OS/program files disk and use this for overflow and steam). I'm not sure I can justify spending the cash on this as the performance gain wouldn't be huge - but the price is down low enough now to be tempting.


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    #2
    Digital Solitude
    Registered Users Posts: 11,397 ✭✭✭✭Digital Solitude


    970 or 280x are best places to look for upgrade imo, CPU will be fine for a while if you OC, something like Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212 should be grand, its cheap

    Need in a 500gb SSD? A 250gb is only €90, with a 1tb HDD is still cheaper than a 500gb. Download games, backup to HDD and play them as you go along from the SSD is how I go, works fine


  • Options
    #3
    L
    Registered Users Posts: 655 ✭✭✭L


    Digital Solitude wrote: »
    970 or 280x are best places to look for upgrade imo, CPU will be fine for a while if you OC, something like Cooler Master Hyper Evo 212 should be grand, its cheap

    Thanks for that. Much appreciated. That cooler should take me up to ~€380 or so for the GTX 970 or ~€260 with the 280x. I'll have to do a little more digging to decide on graphics card so.
    Digital Solitude wrote: »
    Need in a 500gb SSD? A 250gb is only €90, with a 1tb HDD is still cheaper than a 500gb. Download games, backup to HDD and play them as you go along from the SSD is how I go, works fine

    Much what I've been doing so far. Very little need for another SSD - I've already got the 3TB drive for backup/storage and a 256gb SSD, so other than the cool factor (and maybe the option of moving my M4 256gb to my laptop), there's no real reason to get one.


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