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GrubbsGrady
Member UncommonPosts: 371
Hey everyone, looking to upgrade or build a new computer for myself and see what you all think for my wife- she may not need anything new.
What is your intended use for this build? The more details the better.
Primarily playing video games and streaming on twitch. I play all types of games, some examples currently would be: PUBG, Rainbow Six Siege, Black Desert, LoL, Dota 2, Overwatch.
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, framerate, game settings)
My monitor is 1440p and 144hz, so my goal is to be able to utilize its potential. I'd like to be player on high settings.
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
I know this doesn't help, but its really up in the air. I could spend another thousand, but would prefer to keep it less. (Already purchased some parts).
Provide any additional details you wish below.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PdtxTH/by_merchant/
The parts listed are the ones already purchased new. I'll list what I currently have in case anything could be re-used. My PC also is the same as my wife's who is also looking to upgrade; however she will be keeping with 1080p/60hz. Anyone willing to give me an idea of where to start for her would be much appreciated.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2vcQ9W/by_merchant/
So that is what we both currently have in our computers. I don't even know if my wife needs to upgrade yet with hers if she is keeping 1080p/60hz? Maybe just buy her a new case to make her happy- she plays Overwatch and LoL.
For my new upgrades (posted up top) I am debating between getting a 1080 or a 1080ti, don't know what RAM to get, and don't know what power supply I need. Do I need a new case? Can anything be used from my current computer?
Thanks for any help you all can provide us!
Comments
My wife is still using my 1080p/60hz monitors, but since switching to two 1440/144hz I'm just not getting the performance I would like...and I used most of my work bonus on responsible things and kinda want to treat myself.
Depending on how much of a hurry you're in, you could wait to see what AMD Vega offers. Just yesterday, AMD confirmed that Vega is going to launch this quarter, which means by the end of June.
I know the 1080 Ti will get me the frames I am looking for; however I didn't know if that will help my streaming at all.
Appreciate the tips here. I've been coming to these forums since I was in high school 04-08 and still look forward to a few of you guys giving me help!
The only real way your CPU is likely to be a problem is if four cores just aren't enough. And if that's the case, then replacing a quad core processor by another quad core processor doesn't fix the problem.
Are you happy with the performance while just playing games, and only when streaming does it become a problem? Or is it a problem when gaming without streaming, too?
Streaming performance: I think a lot of it will depend on how your trying to stream. There are a lot of factors there, and not all of them are CPU-related.
Not sure that Vega is going to be much of a difference maker, AMD priced the Ryzen chips competitively and we have seen nary a move on Intel's part. I expect that Nvidia won't even blink when Vega hits. Even if AMD puts a Vega board out that competes with the 1080ti it will be priced similarly.
Its a problem while streaming, and while just playing. I mean, keeping settings up high/very high I still have issues keeping higher framerates that I am looking for. I'll still get random dips/drops fairly low even when I can get a game to keep 100+ fps.
I was looking at different RAM for DDR4, how big of a performance difference is it getting the DDR4 2400 vs DDR4 3000? I'm not sure I understand the impact that RAM has, or what those speed differences really mean in actual usage.
However if you can get faster memory for around the same price as slower memory then why not.
If you have already bought the CPU, Mobo and cpu cooler then grab some reasonable RAM and whatever GPU you choose.
The 1080ti is a beast, but comes at a premium price. A 1080 would probably be just fine, but still at a premium price. It all comes down to what you want to spend I suppose.
Thanks! I know the 1080/1080Ti are pretty expensive, but I think I'm going to get the Ti. It should be strong for the next few years right? I've been reading reviews on Newegg for the different models and a lot of people keep talking about coil whining- is that something I want to steer away from? I heard EVGA is supposed to be reputable.
Do you have any suggestions for specific RAM I should be looking at? Any brands or lines that are considered better for the price than others?
I already purchased the i7 and motherboard a couple weeks ago and have just been sitting on them deciding where I am going with everything. I'll likely order the Ti next week once I can get some suggestions on which ones are good to look at and see if there is anything else I should think about getting outside of the DDR4 RAM mentioned above.
----
I had stopped on reddit to see what others are building and it seems like 90% of the builds are all using liquid cooling instead of air. Am I behind the times/missing out by using fans?
Appreciate all of the information you guys provide here!
No. Liquid cooling is for those who either want a large overclock, or just like to tinker with their computer for fun.
A computer specialized reddit would have a lot of those kinds of builds, but in reality builds with liquid cooling are rare.
Great. I honestly don't know if that is something I'd ever want to do. It seems complicated and even if it is safe...I'd be worried about having liquid shooting through the inside of my computer!
Most of the time you can find a deal on higher clocked modules that cost just a few bucks more:
2133MHz - $52
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAA443S23194
2400MHz - $53
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAA443ZG0040
2800MHz - $55
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232305
3000MHz - $56
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232419
Imo, there isn't much difference in performance but given the pricing, why not buying faster modules?
As for GPU upgrade, I would avoid 1080. Either get 1070 that has better price/performance ratio or get 1080Ti for top performance.
Those are the ones I have used the past 6 or 7 years and have no problems.
My asus 7850 is still kicking in my 2nd computer and it had years of heavy use and was overclocked.
There are other good brands of gpu. But my experience is with those two most recently.
Will the 1080Ti get me double the performance? I'm 90% sure thats the card I want, just picking which one...there is a decent amount of price difference between them all on Newegg and I'm not sure I understand why.
a) Factory Overclocks
b) AIB Cooling
Good AIB cooling is good to pay extra for, factory overclocks are kinda meh, depending on how much you believe in OCing your video card.
Yes, a GTX 1080 Ti will be more than double the performance of a Radeon R9 290X.
Above, when I said to just upgrade the video card and leave the rest of the system alone, I meant to try that before upgrading the CPU, even. If you can cancel the CPU order, I would. You might also need a CPU upgrade to get the performance you want, or it might not be possible to get the performance you want. But if a video card upgrade alone gets the performance you're after, then there's no need to also throw a bunch of money at replacing the CPU, motherboard, and memory.
Thanks for clarifying, I actually have a motherboard and the CPU sitting next to me. They aren't opened though so I could look into Newegg's return policy if just the video card was the increase I was looking for. I may just build new and see if I can get anything for my current build on craigslist though.
For the 1080Ti I was looking at these:
EVGA
Gigabyte
Gigabyte2
Can anyone comment on those or if I should be looking at something else? I saw some cheaper ones that I can only exlpain as looking metal plated with a single fan instead of the multiples? I'm assuming those aren't that good?
A little off topic of the video card discussion, but I've been thinking about trying to make my PC a little neater on the inside. Some of the pictures I see people have put together look so tidy! Some of them seem to have colored/braided cables inside...the only thing I have found through google is power supply cables by Corsair that are $100.00. Is this how much people are paying to make their stuff look nice?!
I don't see any need to pay extra for a factory overclock.
The single fan models tend to be external exhaust. That's good if your case is rather lacking in airflow, but probably not the best idea if you've got ample case airflow. That said, they'll still work--provided that that one fan doesn't run into problems.
The difference between internal and external exhaust video cards is that the former just tries to get heat away from the card and is content to spray it off in all directions. If you've got good case airflow, the case fans do their job and get the hot air out of the case and it's fine. If you don't have much case airflow, then spraying hot air off in all directions means the interior of the case gets rather hot and that's bad for everything. Blowing hot air at a video card isn't as effective at cooling it as blowing cool air at it.
The external exhaust video card tries to solve this by funneling air so that the hot air coming off of the video card goes straight out the back of the case. That's less effective for just getting hot air off of the card, but does prevent the interior of the case getting too hot. If you've got a reasonably nice gaming case, a good internal exhaust card will tend to result in lower GPU temperatures than a comparably good external exhaust card. But if you buy some cheap piece of junk and try to upgrade the video card (and power supply), an internal exhaust card is far more likely to cause serious overheating problems than an external exhaust card, as the case used for a $300 desktop probably isn't going to have very much airflow.
If it's unopened and could still be returned, I'd leave them unopened until you try a new video card and see if that gets you the performance you want.
Read the return policy carefully, as some things can only be returned for replacement by an identical product. That it's unopened may work in your favor if that allows them to still sell an item as new rather than open box. I'm not sure of the details, but you should look into it.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/04/intel_i77700_heat_spike_problems/