PC Upgrade Opinions/Advice needed! - CPU vs. Platform upgrade

Dajathwi

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Sep 26, 2014
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I'm planning on upgrading my rig, and had everything specced out and priced, but like I normally do, I held off on getting it in case I started having doubts. Unsurprisingly, I'm beginning to reconsider the original plan.

I had been looking at getting:
MSI X99S SLI Plus Motherboard
Intel Core i7-5820K (overclocked somewhere around 4.5-4.9 GHz, hopefully)
Corsair H100i
Intel 530 Series 120GB SSD
16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 2666 MHz DDR4 RAM


However, due to the expense and considering getting a new camera, I'm wondering if it's worth it.
I do a mixture of Audio work, 3D Modeling & Texturing, Gaming, Browsing, and the occasional bit of video work, so I believe I would see the benefits of such a system (though it might still be overkill).

I'm now wondering if instead, I should just get an i7-3770K, and consider upgrading my monitor and/or GPU. If I was to go for GPU, I'd probably get a GTX 970, and possibly get a 1440p monitor (not sure which monitor yet, haven't really looked into it).
I'm intending to get the Corsair H100i and the SSD regardless of how the decision goes, so there's no need to try and convince me on those.

I just wanted to see what people thought, and how they might advise. Is an overclocked Ivy Bridge i7 worth getting to save money versus going for a full platform upgrade?

One more thing - I'd like to upgrade sooner, rather than later (i.e. by the end of November), so I don't think that waiting for Broadwell or Skylake is something I'd be interested in doing.
 
Solution
In my humble opinion your system does not need any upgrade but if you still want to spend your bucks then that is another story. 970 is competing against 780 so performance benefits would come from GPU upgrade. But please note that 770 is not a weaker GPU by any means.

Just upgrade the GPU and let this system work for you for some more time.

Pr3di

Honorable
I would say that this also deppends on your current GPU, if you have one.
Based on the work that you do, the initial build looks great, but I don`t know if you have a GPU or not, and if yes, which one.

The initial build should serve you well for a longer time, but if it`s too pricey, you could go for an LGA1150 CPU and mobo, including DDR3 RAM to cut the costs.
 

Dajathwi

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Sep 26, 2014
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My current specs are on my profile already, but I'll put them here for easier reference:

MSI Z77A-G43
Intel Core i5 3450 @ 3.5 GHz
8GB Crucial Ballistix RAM
Gigabyte GTX 770 Windforce
Corsair CX500 PSU
Cooler Master CM690II Case
Seagate 1TB SSHD
Samsung BD-ROM Drive

At this point, I'm either going to go the whole hog and do the big upgrade, or go the bare minimum and just get the CPU (SSD and cooler excluded), then possibly do a big upgrade in the future. I can afford either option, but the question is whether I focus on the upgrade now and let other purchases take a back seat, or go for a cheaper upgrade for now. I just wanted to get some other informed opinions before I go ahead with it
 

FinalDrive

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Aug 7, 2007
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Not sure how much of an improvement you would see going from a 3450 to a 3770, definately not worth it for gaming but you might see a small improvement in 3D modeling, but probably not $300 worth. The 970 will net you about a 25% performance gain at 1080p (more on 1440p) on your current setup (for gaming, I assume rendering will be faster too though, I used to use TrueSpace 3 back in the day), much better use of $300 IMO.

I would say wait and go for the full core upgrade later. If you do GPU only now when you build the new core system you have a 770 to throw on the old MB and have most of a backup machine.
 

Dajathwi

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Sep 26, 2014
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I have a birthday approaching imminently, so I'm considering just going ahead with the X99 upgrade, and hopefully the camera as well. I also came across overclockers.co.uk selling 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM for about £70 cheaper than the Corsair sticks I was looking at before, so I'm further tempted.

I wold really love a 970 and monitor upgrade, but I'm feeling like the rest of my system should be more of a priority. I am however wondering how viable it might be to buy a 970 after I upgrade and sell my 770, as I already have a spare 650 Ti. Any thoughts?
 
In my humble opinion your system does not need any upgrade but if you still want to spend your bucks then that is another story. 970 is competing against 780 so performance benefits would come from GPU upgrade. But please note that 770 is not a weaker GPU by any means.

Just upgrade the GPU and let this system work for you for some more time.
 
Solution