Gaming PC upgrade

SiNTAX

New member
Hi Guys!

My first post here so I hope I don't make a fool of myself.

Current system:

Intel i5 2500k @ 4.5ghz
ASUS P8P67
8gb Corsair XMS3 1600mhz
2x ADATA SP900 64gb RAID 0
ZOTAC GTX 760 AMP Gamer force (This isn't really an AMP edition as it's a special heavily OC'd edition only available in China, but the AMP is the closest available in the west)
Seasonic SS-620GM (Again Chinese model)

The situation:

2 days ago all the USB ports on the back of my motherboard have died and nothing I've done has resolved the issue. This system was due an upgrade soon, but due to recent events I'm forced to bring the time scale forward. To be honest the USB ports have always given me problems and nothing ASUS has done has really fixed the problem. Countless BIOS updates have proved useless for me.
What I'm looking for is some advice on upgrading the Motherboard, processor and possibly memory if I move to DDR4.
One of the things that’s most important to me is building a system that will last a few years. I built my current system more than 3 years ago and I’m hoping to upgrade to get another 3-4 years if possible?
This is one of three PCs I have built and this machine is primarily for gaming, a little music production and video compression, but gaming comes first and foremost.
When I started looking at upgrading I had my eye on the Intel i7 5820K and the MSi X99S SLI plus, but after reading the review on this website, it seems this processor isn’t really best suited to gaming and overclocking seems a pain in the ass, but the price is good and considering I want this to last a few years I’m thinking that moving to DDR4 and the motherboard having an M.2 PCIe slot is very appealing. I’ve come to a point where I’ve no idea where to go, the other processors that support DDR4 are way too pricey for my liking and I could really do with some advice please.
Many thanks in advance.
 
Got a budget for us to go off of? Also do you want an i5 or i7? Only asking because you said some music production and video compression.. do you need the hyperthreading 100%? Or will you just be fine with the i5?

Also the only sensible option i feel is an i5, midrange board, 2x8GB DDR3 sticks of memory(for the music/video software). You don't really need anything more unless you want the i7. Also don't need DDR4. It has little to no effect so far for gaming.
 
I'm with NBD on the DDR4, you don't really need it to be honest and 2x8GB DDR3 sticks of memory will be fine for you... unless you're like me, crazy and have massive amount of shit open AND can do some rendering at the same time, hence me having 32GB :p

Although, I'd go for an i7 to be honest here... yes, NBD is right, i5 is better suited for gaming and such, but if you're going to do some occassional rendering and such, why not just go for the i7 with Hyper-Threading?, as Hyper-Threading helps alot when it comes to rendering.
Besides, you also stated you wanted this rig to last a few years?, then I'd go for the more expensive option and have the "safety" with Hyper-Threading, hell... if you don't like/want it, you can always disable it in the BIOS. Then it's just like an i5.

But with an i7, you have the option of both worlds so to speak :)

Hope that helped some :)
 
Thank you for replying so quickly!

My bad for not posting budget! Not quite so straight forward, I based in China at the moment for work so my budget is a max of 6000 yuan (about 600 UK pounds)

I totally agree that an i5 is looking a more suitable option, it’s the reason I bought the 2500K. With regards to DDR4, again I agree with it not being necessary right now, but as I said I’m trying to predict where games are going to be in three years time. It’s the reason I was looking at the i7 as it’s the only one that supports DDR4 right now. I’m really keen to try M.2 PCIe as well, the speeds look awesome!
 
Thank you for replying so quickly!

My bad for not posting budget! Not quite so straight forward, I based in China at the moment for work so my budget is a max of 6000 yuan (about 600 UK pounds)

I totally agree that an i5 is looking a more suitable option, it’s the reason I bought the 2500K. With regards to DDR4, again I agree with it not being necessary right now, but as I said I’m trying to predict where games are going to be in three years time. It’s the reason I was looking at the i7 as it’s the only one that supports DDR4 right now. I’m really keen to try M.2 PCIe as well, the speeds look awesome!

Okaaay... I'm gonna let someone else do the component suggestion towards your budget, as that is not really my field (Feronix to the rescue!! :p).

But fair enough on the i5... but from you wrote in that post, me personally, I would still get an i7, just for that extra technology that might go a long way in the long run, in terms of editing/rendering work :)
 
Thank you for replying so quickly!

My bad for not posting budget! Not quite so straight forward, I based in China at the moment for work so my budget is a max of 6000 yuan (about 600 UK pounds)

I totally agree that an i5 is looking a more suitable option, it’s the reason I bought the 2500K. With regards to DDR4, again I agree with it not being necessary right now, but as I said I’m trying to predict where games are going to be in three years time. It’s the reason I was looking at the i7 as it’s the only one that supports DDR4 right now. I’m really keen to try M.2 PCIe as well, the speeds look awesome!

We can't predict where games will be in three years time in regards to memory, currently the problem is the CPU usage. DDR3 will be fine for a long while. If you really need DDR4 then currently the only option is the 2011-3 platform. I'd get 5820k, MSI X99 SLI Plus since it's probably the best board for the money, and then 16GB of DDR4 memory.

If not keen on that amount of money, I'd go for a 4790k, midrange board of your liking, then 16GB DDR3.
 
Curent prices in China for what I was looking at:

Intel i7 5820k - 2500 yuan/250 uk
MSi X99s (USB 3.1) - 2100 yuan/210 uk
Kingston Hyper x fury 8gb x2 - 1300 yuan/130 uk
 
We can't predict where games will be in three years time in regards to memory, currently the problem is the CPU usage. DDR3 will be fine for a long while. If you really need DDR4 then currently the only option is the 2011-3 platform. I'd get 5820k, MSI X99 SLI Plus since it's probably the best board for the money, and then 16GB of DDR4 memory.

If not keen on that amount of money, I'd go for a 4790k, midrange board of your liking, then 16GB DDR3.

Excatly the system I was looking at!
 
Curent prices in China for what I was looking at:

Intel i7 5820k - 2500 yuan/250 uk
MSi X99s (USB 3.1) - 2100 yuan/210 uk
Kingston Hyper x fury 8gb x2 - 1300 yuan/130 uk

Well that equates to 590UK. That's right in budget. Should be very happy with this upgrade most notably in rendering
 
We can't predict where games will be in three years time in regards to memory, currently the problem is the CPU usage. DDR3 will be fine for a long while. If you really need DDR4 then currently the only option is the 2011-3 platform. I'd get 5820k, MSI X99 SLI Plus since it's probably the best board for the money, and then 16GB of DDR4 memory.

If not keen on that amount of money, I'd go for a 4790k, midrange board of your liking, then 16GB DDR3.

^ +1 on this...

Well that equates to 590UK. That's right in budget. Should be very happy with this upgrade most notably in rendering

And I'm with NBD on that one as well, i7 will serve you better in aspect of rendering times, compared to an i5.

Regarding your PSU, I'm not sure... I'll have NBD answer that one, as he's more experienced than I am with systems :)
 
My other concern is my current power supply, will 620w be enough for the i7?

No that PSU will not work with Haswell systems. Yes it's enough, but Seasonic have rated it as "no support for haswell" which the 5820k is. You will need a new psu for that rig.
 
You guys are awesome, thank you so much for your advice. I'm still considering my options, just like the UK it's a public holiday here in China, so no shops will ship anything till Monday morning so I have some time.
 
No that PSU will not work with Haswell systems. Yes it's enough, but Seasonic have rated it as "no support for haswell" which the 5820k is. You will need a new psu for that rig.

Nice one on that NBD, I didn't realise that... nice catch dude! :)

You guys are awesome, thank you so much for your advice. I'm still considering my options, just like the UK it's a public holiday here in China, so no shops will ship anything till Monday morning so I have some time.

And no worries, we're glad to help and that's what this forum is all about! :)
Coolios, any further questions, thoughts or doubts that you may have... just post here again and we will try to help you further, to come to a decision! :)
When they say no support for haswell, does that mean they won't help if I have problems or it simply won't give the CPU the power it needs?

I'd believe as it's stated as "no support for haswell", that Haswell systems are newer and maybe unlike any other systems, so your PSU may be too old to support this new system, for example. I might be wrong though, just a theory.
 
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No that PSU will not work with Haswell systems. Yes it's enough, but Seasonic have rated it as "no support for haswell" which the 5820k is. You will need a new psu for that rig.

When they say no support for haswell, does that mean they won't help if I have problems or it simply won't give the CPU the power it needs?
 
When they say no support for haswell, does that mean they won't help if I have problems or it simply won't give the CPU the power it needs?

I believe it doesn't support the standards Intel has set for Haswell, such as ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92. Not using those PSUs that support it probably won't boot or if it does will cause issues with my guess a BSOD or stability/constant crashing. But i still suspect it won't boot. Not worth figuring it out though. Get the new PSU. No sense in risking destroying 600pounds of money.
 
I believe it doesn't support the standards Intel has set for Haswell, such as ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92. Not using those PSUs that support it probably won't boot or if it does will cause issues with my guess a BSOD or stability/constant crashing. But i still suspect it won't boot. Not worth figuring it out though. Get the new PSU. No sense in risking destroying 600pounds of money.

Damn! The PSU is quite new as my Corasir HX750 that I brought over here from the UK keept cutting out and had to replace it.
Now I'm really unsure what to do. A new power supply will be bloody expensive and blow my budget out the water.
 
^ This... but then your budget might need reconsidering, or am I wrong NBD?...

Nope.

Damn! The PSU is quite new as my Corasir HX750 that I brought over here from the UK keept cutting out and had to replace it.
Now I'm really unsure what to do. A new power supply will be bloody expensive and blow my budget out the water.

Sell your current one and get a new one. Or go for the 1150 socket and the 4790k.
 
Nope.



Sell your current one and get a new one. Or go for the 1150 socket and the 4790k.

My i5 2500K and memory were going to go into my second PC as a small upgrade. I think I might wait so I can add more money to the budget. Will start checking what power supplys will be compatable. Is 600W about the right area or should I go higher?
Failing that, I will go for the 4790K.
 
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