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Assistance with Upgrades

209 views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  chessmyantidrug 
#1 ·
Hello OCN

I've decided to do some upgrades to my PC for several reasons:
  1. I'm no longer a broke college student!
    smile.gif
  2. I believe I'm a few generations behind, and I'd like to upgrade just because why not! :^)
  3. My PC has been acting up lately, and has been in the past. It's just now showing up again (Crashes, Blue Screens, Black screen flickering, etc).
You will find my current build under my signature. So for this upgrade, I'd like to go Mini-ITX just because I like smaller form factor. If there's any limitation to using a Mini-ITXother than ports/slots, please let me know. I'd like to reuse some of the components I have, but if you recommend something else that could use an upgrade I will definitely consider it.

I have not been up to date with computer, which is why I created this thread. So far I have these components in mind:

My maximum is $1500, but I'd like to keep it within $1000

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($184.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - Manta (Black/Red) Mini ITX Desktop Case ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $844.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-01 14:05 EDT-0400

Thanks for stopping by and helping me out.
 
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#2 ·
As far as itx concern's it's really only that your cpu cooler will fit in your case. In the super small cases blower cards are usually preferred since they expel air from the case much more efficiently If your pc is acting up you might want to confirm that it's not your gpu or PSU otherwise that might add some significant cost to your build. Other then that your components look solid.

What's your monitor situation? Sticking with the 1080p 60hz monitors or thinking of upgrading that with this pc? Might mean some differences in components if you go ultra wide, 1440p 144hz, 4k, etc. I will say I don't think you have the gpu power to do 4k and have great experience with a 980.
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PurdueBoy View Post

As far as itx concern's it's really only that your cpu cooler will fit in your case. In the super small cases blower cards are usually preferred since they expel air from the case much more efficiently If your pc is acting up you might want to confirm that it's not your gpu or PSU otherwise that might add some significant cost to your build. Other then that your components look solid.

What's your monitor situation? Sticking with the 1080p 60hz monitors or thinking of upgrading that with this pc? Might mean some differences in components if you go ultra wide, 1440p 144hz, 4k, etc. I will say I don't think you have the gpu power to do 4k and have great experience with a 980.
I have been thinking about upgrading my monitor as well, but I'm not too familiar with things over 1080p. I'm fine with 1080p though.
 
#5 ·
Something like the Asus PG248Q or the newer PG258Q are still 1080P but have much higher refresh rates then your old Dell S2415H with its 60 hz refresh rate
You also get Nvidia G Sync on both of them which is really nice to have if you play a lot of fast paced games

On the other hand those Asus monitors are not cheap and both of them us a TN panel where you Dell S2415H uses an IPS panel
If you want IPS AND high refresh rates as well as Nvidia G Sync you are looking at something like the Asus PG279Q or the Acer Predator XB271HU
 
#6 ·
Your build isn't that far behind. There's been one new architecture released since you built that PC. Generally you want to wait every other new architecture as upgrading sooner doesn't really net much of a performance increase. It sounds like your current system is merely experiencing some instability that can probably be fixed with a little bit more voltage.

If you want to pursue with a completely new build, it's probably worth waiting until Z390 boards are released. If your system was older and the benefits were more tangible, I would say go ahead and spend extra for the upgrade you want. If you wait, the worst thing that can happen is you pay the same money for everything a little bit later. Best-case scenario, retailers stop price gouging Coffee Lake CPUs and you save a little bit of money. With any luck, RAM prices will drop a little bit as well. Volta should be released Q1 2018 as well.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by G2O415 View Post

I have been thinking about upgrading my monitor as well, but I'm not too familiar with things over 1080p. I'm fine with 1080p though.
Well the thing is at 1080p 60hz I kinda feel like you'd be spending $1000 and not really improving your gaming experience all that much, save for possibly solving your computers reliability issues. Very little bang for your buck from what I can tell.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by shilka View Post

Something like the Asus PG248Q or the newer PG258Q are still 1080P but have much higher refresh rates then your old Dell S2415H with its 60 hz refresh rate
You also get Nvidia G Sync on both of them which is really nice to have if you play a lot of fast paced games

On the other hand those Asus monitors are not cheap and both of them us a TN panel where you Dell S2415H uses an IPS panel
If you want IPS AND high refresh rates as well as Nvidia G Sync you are looking at something like the Asus PG279Q or the Acer Predator XB271HU
Quote:
Originally Posted by PurdueBoy View Post

Well the thing is at 1080p 60hz I kinda feel like you'd be spending $1000 and not really improving your gaming experience all that much, save for possibly solving your computers reliability issues. Very little bang for your buck from what I can tell.
I am starting to get into shooter games, so I understand what you mean. I'll look more into Monitors, as it's also something I been debating about upgrading.

Quote:
Originally Posted by KaffieneKing View Post

Its you're build, but I'd check to see if the NZXT manta's case size is what you were after, its huge!
Oh you're right... I would like to go custom water cooling loop down the road. It's been something I've always wanted to do. So the extra space may be helpful in the future.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

Your build isn't that far behind. There's been one new architecture released since you built that PC. Generally you want to wait every other new architecture as upgrading sooner doesn't really net much of a performance increase. It sounds like your current system is merely experiencing some instability that can probably be fixed with a little bit more voltage.

If you want to pursue with a completely new build, it's probably worth waiting until Z390 boards are released. If your system was older and the benefits were more tangible, I would say go ahead and spend extra for the upgrade you want. If you wait, the worst thing that can happen is you pay the same money for everything a little bit later. Best-case scenario, retailers stop price gouging Coffee Lake CPUs and you save a little bit of money. With any luck, RAM prices will drop a little bit as well. Volta should be released Q1 2018 as well.
If I'm reading it correctly, these new boards are compatible with the current Coffee Lake CPUs?
 
#9 ·
I'm not sure to which new boards you are referring. All 300-series motherboards will be compatible with Coffee Lake, but Z390 is supposed to have features omitted from Z370. It's unclear what features those are, but a common theory is Z390 motherboards will overclock better than Z370 and possibly have support for 8-core processors.
 
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