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Upgrade or Overclock? Suggestions?

Tags:
  • Overclocking
  • Water Cooling
  • Intel i5
  • Gaming
  • Computers
  • Build
  • Systems
Last response: in Systems
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June 17, 2014 10:18:34 PM

Hello, All! First time posting (<-- what a n00b)

I built my first computer about a year and half ago which I use for gaming (anything and everything), Illustrator/Photoshop/Flash, and school work (CS major, programming). Now that I am more familiar with things, I want to tweak/improve my build. The way I see it, I have three options:

1. Get a good but reasonably priced air cooler and do some mild OCing. Then, in ~1.5-2 years get a new CPU/GPU and build a liquid cooling loop.

2. Spend on the liquid cooling and OC my current hardware (keeping in mind that I can probably get some parts that can be reused on a future upgrade/build.

3. Forget the OCing and get a new graphics card (crossfire now or get an 800 series when they come out)

TL;DR: Is spending the money to liquid cool my current hardware worth it? Any other suggestions?

System Specifications:

CPU: Intel i5-3570k
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 Gaming
GPU: MSI R7870-2GD5T/OC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB DDR3 1600
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB (OS)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM (Storage)
Power Supply: Rosewill CAPSTONE 550W (modular)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit
Case: Corsair Obsidian 550D

More about : upgrade overclock suggestions

a b K Overclocking
a b 4 Gaming
June 17, 2014 10:23:39 PM

It comes down to this.
If you need performance now get a new graphics card or processor. Medium term OC, it will get you through for a while. Long term water cooling can be carried build to build.

I would say OC with a decent cooler, something like the 212 EVO. Not too expensive but a great performer and see where that takes you. Then you can decide on a new card or no.
a b K Overclocking
a b 4 Gaming
June 17, 2014 10:25:02 PM

Combine options 1 and 3. Moderate OCing with a mid-range cooler, and possibly look at either a second 7870 and new PSU or a new GPU.

Most of your stuff looks fairly CPU heavy.
!