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To upgrade or not to upgrade, that is the question

Tags:
  • Intel
  • fx 8350
  • GTX 780
  • AMD
  • i7 4770k
  • Components
  • Nvidia
Last response: in Components
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April 5, 2014 3:49:24 PM

ok guys, here is my system:

FX 8350 @4.5 ghz
Antec Kuhler closed loop liquid cooler
MSI Twin Frozr iii 7950
16 GB gskill RAM @ 1600
AsRock Fatal1ty 990fx Professional
Kingston Hyper X 3k 90 GB SSD
x2 Kingston 120GB SSD
Seagate 500 GB
850w Bronze Modular power supply
NZXT Phantom 410

I have been extremely satisfied so far (especially after disabling core parking), this computer has exceeded my expectations for it when I built it.

Now, onto the content.

This build is a year and a half going on two. I have been kicking the tires the last few days on updating the PC (for two reasons. A) my daughter was just born :D  but, my money is going to be on lock down soon and B) my B-day is on the horizon and my pc was really the only thing I could think of putting bday money into). I have two paths for upgrading:

1) Upgrade the GPU

2) Go for an intel i7 4770k and new mobo

Both of these routes present unique issues. For the GPU, I would most likely either get an R9 290 or the GTX 780. Logic would tell me to go for the 780 as it is built better and has a little bit better performance (currently) and the R9 290 is over priced at the moment. BUT, Mantle could REALLY become a thing, and I am a bit of an underdog type of person, so I would like to support AMD, but within reason.

For the CPU, I would have replace the mobo and processor, then re OC everything blah blah blah just to net me a minimal FPS increase in the games that I play (GW2, BF4, Titanfall, D3 RoS, and really any other modern game to be honest because as games become more multithreaded the 8350 matures better and any single core game out there which I have played, I have been able to achieve 60+ with the 8350, and games where I get slow down, even i7 4930x users see slow down as well in those games). The only thing this upgrade would do for me, in my eyes, would be knowing that I simply have a more powerful CPU overall in my PC.

So, what do you guys think?? my mind is telling me to go with a GPU upgrade in the form of a gtx 780, but I just wanted to discuss it a little bit.

More about : upgrade upgrade question

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April 5, 2014 4:12:53 PM

I'd go for the GPU and the 780 is a great choice, (had a 280X CU prior to getting my 780s (in sig), that will improve things greatly and then when you do decide to upgrade CPU and mobo, you've got the 780 already, next step in the upgrade path from there could be to add a second 780 (and by then prices will more than likely be lower also ;) 
April 5, 2014 4:37:05 PM

What version of the 780 do you think would be good? as im sure you can imagine, the majority of my system is red and black.
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a c 267 å Intel
a c 299 À AMD
a b Î Nvidia
April 5, 2014 5:10:27 PM

Sounds like mine, I went Asus, have the bulk of it in my sig
April 5, 2014 5:21:03 PM

I think that's what im going to do. Im prob going to get the asus direct cu ii version, then revisit my bios and maybe push the 8350 to 4.7 or so. 4.5 ghz has been stable for a year and a half now. It may just be time to touch the vcore lol
a c 267 å Intel
a c 299 À AMD
a b Î Nvidia
April 5, 2014 5:23:43 PM

There you go, good approach ;)  Have fun and let me know how it goes :) 
April 8, 2014 11:09:20 PM

got the asus direct cuii gtx 780 this morning. I had an issue where the rgb wasn't correct on my monitor. That was remedied by modifying the registry with one of those nifty rgb full tools. Now the thing is a beast!! its more power, quitter, and more sexy than my msi tfiii 7950. Im very satisfied. BF4 looks amazing in all its maxed out glory now.
a c 267 å Intel
a c 299 À AMD
a b Î Nvidia
April 9, 2014 7:51:01 AM

Great! Love the 780 CU!
!