Best upgrade for $200-$250 on an already decent rig?

BigC847 · Dec 5, 2014

Here's what I got: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/zNVZrH

I started this build a little over a year ago on a serious budget with left overs from old builds. Now that I have pieced it together into a respectable rig I'm looking to upgrade it a bit to squeeze some more performance out of it. I have around $200 bucks to spend and I don't want to get a new processor. (gonna start a new intel build after the new year).

Here's what I was thinking would be the best upgrade to do at this point with my funds.

So I can start overclocking into the 4ghz's
Corsair h100i: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181032&cm_re=corsair_h100i-_-35-181-032-_-Product

Power for said overclocking of my cpu and gpu
EVGA Supernova 750w gold: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438017

If any of you can think of a better investment of my funds or different brands/types of cooler and psu please let me know, I love advice!

Thanks!

Lmah · Dec 5, 2014

Looks like you're thinking in the right direction, personally I would get a NH-D15 and that PSU, but if you want a AIO water cooler then get it. I would also consider getting a new case, but that's just my opinion.

After that go for performance again (motherboard, cpu, gpu, etc) then work on something like higher quality fans, more storage (if needed), new monitor. I usually do my upgrades in cycles like this.

I prefer going for a silent PC setup that is fairly high performance.

capt_taco · Dec 5, 2014

A better investment would be to wait about 12 months and replace the CPU and motherboard at once with something of the Intel Skylake variety, maybe some DDR4 while you're at it.

That water cooler is not necessary for overclocking and in fact will not do any better than a decent air cooler. The best air coolers will actually BEAT it. Personally, I'd just see how far you can get with a moderate overclock on what you've got now.

In any case, do you really think it's worth spending more than double the original cost of the CPU on a cooler and PSU to coax an extra 10-20% performance out of it? (hint: NO.)

Also, you do not need a BIGGER power supply to do overclocking on that setup, just that the Corsair Builder series is cheap junk and I would not trust it to be stable if you do a significant OC. But a 600W quality unit would be more than enough. I would recommend getting a new PSU for your eventual upgraded system anyway.

In summary: Your system ought to be fine as-is for gaming for at least another year, and there is not a significant upgrade right now worth the money IMO. Your funds will be much better spent then, when they will make a more meaningful difference.

BigC847 · Dec 5, 2014

Lmah :

Wow, thanks for the info...it seems that the NH-D15 actually slightly out performs the h100i. Now if it didn't look so friggin ugly lol!

BigC847 · Dec 5, 2014

capt_taco :

A better investment would be to wait about 12 months and replace the CPU and motherboard at once with something of the Intel Skylake variety, maybe some DDR4 while you're at it.

That water cooler is not necessary for overclocking and in fact will not do any better than a decent air cooler. The best air coolers will actually BEAT it. Personally, I'd just see how far you can get with a moderate overclock on what you've got now.

In any case, do you really think it's worth spending more than double the original cost of the CPU on a cooler and PSU to coax an extra 10-20% performance out of it? (hint: NO.)

Also, you do not need a BIGGER power supply to do overclocking on that setup, just that the Corsair Builder series is cheap junk and I would not trust it to be stable if you do a significant OC. But a 600W quality unit would be more than enough. I would recommend getting a new PSU for your eventual upgraded system anyway.

In summary: Your system ought to be fine as-is for gaming for at least another year, and there is not a significant upgrade right now worth the money IMO. Your funds will be much better spent then, when they will make a more meaningful difference.

You, sir, are wise and I think I will hold on to my cash to put towards the new build. I think I'll just put the cash in an empty HDD slot in my case so I don't spend it.

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