Upgrade after four years

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Chidoro
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Upgrade after four years

Post by Chidoro »

It was finally time to get a new pc. There were no real problems with it doing what I needed it to do save for hard drive frustrations. Unfortunately, that can make everything you do feel slow.

It was an i5 4460, 12 GB of ram, 1050 gtx, with a 1 tb hard drive. Offloaded pictures and stuff to an external.

Ended up with
8th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 6-Core Processor (12M Cache, up to 4.6 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
32GB Quad Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz (4x8GB)
XPS 8930, Special Edition Chassis (460W)
1TB PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200RPM HDD
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)

Was debating the hard drive thing for awhile and was seriously considering their 2 TB M.2 NVMe drive but decided on the 1TB PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB HDD combo. Batted them back and forth for awhile. Cost wasn't really an issue as I like to keep things for awhile so I usually don't skimp on original purchases. Came out to $1900 with tax. Hope I don't regret the SSD choice, seems really good but i'll find out in a couple of weeks.
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Winnow
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Winnow »

Chidoro wrote:It was finally time to get a new pc. There were no real problems with it doing what I needed it to do save for hard drive frustrations. Unfortunately, that can make everything you do feel slow.

It was an i5 4460, 12 GB of ram, 1050 gtx, with a 1 tb hard drive. Offloaded pictures and stuff to an external.

Ended up with
8th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 6-Core Processor (12M Cache, up to 4.6 GHz)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
32GB Quad Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz (4x8GB)
XPS 8930, Special Edition Chassis (460W)
1TB PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB 7200RPM HDD
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Memory
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)

Was debating the hard drive thing for awhile and was seriously considering their 2 TB M.2 NVMe drive but decided on the 1TB PCIe x4 SSD + 2TB HDD combo. Batted them back and forth for awhile. Cost wasn't really an issue as I like to keep things for awhile so I usually don't skimp on original purchases. Came out to $1900 with tax. Hope I don't regret the SSD choice, seems really good but i'll find out in a couple of weeks.
Looks good. Only thing slightly lower on the power scale is the GTX 1070. If you're still using a 1920x1080 monitor, that will be fine. If you step up to a higher res monitor it might be borderline for gaming but otherwise fine for non gaming/4K videos, etc. I'm still gaming on a 4K monitor with a GTX 980 Ti so I wouldn't worry about it that much.

I went NVMe but PCIe is also faster than standard SATA SSDs. 1TB is plenty. I have a 2TB SSD I use for most games. They are dropping in price fast now. Just your 1TB PCIe will last you a long time since you'd be putting your media files that take up the most space on your spinning drive anyway.
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Chidoro
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Chidoro »

Thanks. I picked up a new monitor as well and I think it's 1440p and 24", but I doubt I will change it from 1080p. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-24-le ... Id=5655614
was only $319 last week so it looks like a great deal.
I always get concerned about taxing the power supply as Dell's tend to be on the smaller side. The 1070 GTX seemed more than enough compared to what I was using and I never had any complaints on that 750ti 4 GB card (not even a 1050 as originally stated).

Yeah, I was thinking of staying away from spinners except for external backups but decided to do that as well as put any media/pictures on the internal spinner. I am done with spinners for anything else, such a bottleneck.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Winnow »

Chidoro wrote:Thanks. I picked up a new monitor as well and I think it's 1440p and 24", but I doubt I will change it from 1080p. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-24-le ... Id=5655614
was only $319 last week so it looks like a great deal.
I always get concerned about taxing the power supply as Dell's tend to be on the smaller side. The 1070 GTX seemed more than enough compared to what I was using and I never had any complaints on that 750ti 4 GB card (not even a 1050 as originally stated).

Yeah, I was thinking of staying away from spinners except for external backups but decided to do that as well as put any media/pictures on the internal spinner. I am done with spinners for anything else, such a bottleneck.
You should be fine at 1440p. I run my 55" main monitor at 4K (3840x2160) but the text is minuscule at that res (Windows has option to increase text scale but I don't like to mess with that) so I tend to do my web browsing on the two 1080p 46" monitors on either side and leave the main one for gaming/movies, etc. All of that is being run off a GTX 980 Ti so the GTX 1070 should be more than enough for 1440p.

For me, I can operate without reading/computer glasses using large monitors since they aren't close enough for old man presbyopia to kick in. On a "normal" smaller PC monitor, I have to wear computer glasses to see without straining. I have 20/20 (lasik surgery) distance vision, but I can't see shit anymore close up. My phone has to be at max arm length for me to see the screen.

Enjoy the new PC!
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Kluden
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Kluden »

my 1070 has yet to hit a wall at 2560x1440 in gaming. The only thing was the hair effects in witcher 3...but I think that got patched to working status,...haven't played that one in a long time.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Chidoro »

I picked up a few games (steam and gog summer sales) I never played after picking up a XB one controller (corded) to use.

I can run them all in 1440 without issue but I don't like when the fans really start to wind up so the ones I keep at 1080 are Kingdom Come and AC Origins. In 1440 are Witcher 3, Borderlands 2 & Sequel/Prequel, Shadow of War and all my older games that can use it.

Aside, Shadow of War was a bit over 100 GB so I put it on the 2TB spinner. Seems to run fine. Everything not pictures/backup/music is on the SSD which is nice. Still around 450 GB left on it too.
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Aslanna
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Aslanna »

B&H has an EVGA 1070 Ti for $350 at the moment. I think I may pick that up. I know with the 1080, 2070, and 2080 out it's not super speedy anymore but eh.. $350 and no tax. I'm not a big PC gamer so it should be fine. I plan on putting together a new PC next year sometime so I'll need a video card anyway to throw in there. My last one was bought back in Feb 2013 so seems like it's due for an upgrade.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote:B&H has an EVGA 1070 Ti for $350 at the moment. I think I may pick that up. I know with the 1080, 2070, and 2080 out it's not super speedy anymore but eh.. $350 and no tax. I'm not a big PC gamer so it should be fine. I plan on putting together a new PC next year sometime so I'll need a video card anyway to throw in there. My last one was bought back in Feb 2013 so seems like it's due for an upgrade.

I do 4K gaming on my 980ti and I think the 1070ti is similar in power if not more powerful so except for the crazy high settings, it should be fine if you have a 4K TV. I might get the 2080ti at some point but I'm doing fine with the 980ti with three screens 1 4K and 2 1080.

Only small thing that the 2080 has is the USB-C all in one port which will be nice for the next generation of VR headsets that support it. All the USB ports and Displayport/HDMI etc required now for VR is messy. Real time ray tracing I'm sure will be cool as well somewhere down the road.

Hard to say what's going on with the high end VR stuff though. Facebook/Oculus cancelled the Rift 2. The wireless Oculus Quest will barely handle Rift level gaming but really nice being wireless. Vive hasn't announced anything besides offering the wireless adapter for the existing Vive. Sony's VR is the worst of them all but maybe they'll have something cool for the PS5 that will have wireless/full tracking etc.

Magic Leap/Hololens are probably the future (AR/VR mix) but they aren't ready for prime time with their small field of view.

Not a bad idea to get the 1070ti as no cool new device is imminent for at least a year or more. Spend the money you save buying the 1070ti on an Oculus Quest!
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Aslanna »

I don't have a 4K display, and no plans in the near future to get one, so it should be fine. From the specs I read it draws less power than my existing card so that is good. My only concern will be noise. As I don't game all that much hopefully it will be on the silent end of things when not under a heavy load. B&H has a 30 day return policy so I don't have much to lose in giving it a go other than having to pay to ship it back if needed.

Obviously a 20xx would be nice and the 2070 can be had by me spending ~$200 more, but for my uses I think $350 is a good deal but I may reconsider if I come across anything good during the sales around Black Friday time. Luckily that would be within the 30 day return period.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote:As I don't game all that much hopefully it will be on the silent end of things when not under a heavy load.
It should be very quiet, especially if only using it for 1080p. Even my 980ti only cranks up the fans for FPS type games in 4K. I still have my old Antec 180 (I think is the model) I got assloads of years ago in one of my first PC upgrade threads here. All the case fans are dead and have been removed and my CPU/GPU fans still don't really don't go into high mode save for what I already mentioned. I really do need a new PC case. This one's been through at least 4 motherboards.

4K TVs are cheap these days. I forget most people don't use TVs as monitors but 55" 4K PC computing/gaming is really nice. One note though. I can't see shit for text in 4K even though it's super crisp and clean. It's just too small even on a 55 inch screen. Another note (age related) I can't see shit in general close up. That's part of the reason I use 3 TVs as monitors because presbyopia doesn't come into play so I don't need to use glasses while using my PC. There are windows settings for making the UI text larger etc but my solution is to browse the web, manage files, etc on the two 1080P screens and using the 4K for gaming, media etc. It's becoming more often these days for me to download the best movies in 4K. 4K movies using x265 codec run on average 15-22 GB so not really that bad anymore and look fantastic. The file size compared with gigabit connection don't make download time much of a consideration anymore.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Aslanna »

Sad thing about computer cases these days is, at least the last time I looked, it's hard to find just a 'basic' case without see through sides and crazy lights and shit. I have an Antec P280 and it's fine. Here's from my upgrade thread:
I haven't really spent a lot of time with it since putting everything together but I'm fairly happy with the case at this point. It does what it's supposed to. Other than the front door feels a bit flimsy compared to the P18x models. And the top fans seem to have a slight rattle when turned to the high position. I use low and it seems to keep things just as cool.

Also if you're wanting to stick a large radiator along with two fans to the top area it probably wont fit.
I think if I had to buy another case I'd go full tower. I did end up replacing the top fans. 300,000 hours! Not a fan of the orange though but what can you do.

Anyway, as far as 4k goes, I'm in no hurry regardless of what the prices are. I seldom even use my TV these days and most of the times I'm using the PS4 via Remote Play so 4k would do me no good.

Oh and when I locate 'programs' online I usually seek out x265 versions as they are much smaller.

The 1070 Ti is still back-ordered :( so I can't give any opinions.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Aslanna »

Still waiting on the 1070Ti to ship!

I am thinking about getting a new monitor though. I'm still using a Dell 2405 (from 2005) and a Dell 2408 (from 2008) so I've definitely gotten my moneys worth from those.

MSI Optix AG32CQ Black / Red 31.5" 144Hz Curved 2K Gaming Monitor, 2560 x 1440 is on sale today at NewEgg for $330 after coupon. A bit cheaper than the ~$800 I paid for the 2405 13 years ago. I'd be using an Nvidia card so couldn't take advantage of the FreeSync but it should be fine. I'm not really a fan of the curved monitor thing as I think it's mostly just a gimmick. I also don't need a 4k monitor at this point.
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Aslanna »

I decided against getting the monitor although from the reviews I found it seemed like a decent display.

But the video card did finally end up shipping. No issues with the uninstall of the AMD drivers and switching over to Nvidia. I haven't really done much with it although it has given me the upgrade itch as my current configuration was mostly put together in Feb 2012 so it will almost be 7 years old soon.

For the CPU I too will be going with the i7-8700K. Intel has recently released the 9xxx series but they are way overpriced compared to the MSRP. That and from the reviews I read they apparently run very hot and aren't all that much faster than an 8700K. From the (maybe legit) roadmap leak it doesn't look like their next line will release until 2020 and I do not want to wait that long. I'm sure AMD may be a better deal but I'll be sticking with Intel for now.

8700k vs 9700k

It will probably will be a few months though as I'm hoping Asus will release an LGA1151 motherboard with onboard Thunderbolt 3. Something along these lines would be nice!
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Re: Upgrade after four years

Post by Winnow »

I've never found a compelling reason to switch from Intel CPUs and Nvidia GPUs. If I go for best valueperformance, it comes from within those brands. So good move on that!

I reviewed my PC setup and seem to be ok on all fronts for now, GPU/CPU/Storage/Display so it looks like no holiday PC project for me this year.
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