Should i upgrade or buy new system??? PLS HLP

[Mugadishu]

Hello,

I've come to a need for a upgrade or perhaps a new system, within near future, eg 1 month. Currently my system runs, but with too low graphics and abit too much noise.
I will be using 2 (soon 3) 23" monitors to do photo editing(photoshop), sketching, reading & writing along with very casual gaming. (World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, low setting BF3-4, Poker)

My current build is as follows

Monitors 2x Acer G237HLAbid IPS 6ms
Chassis Antec P182
PSU Corsair VS650W
HDD Old spinpoint 500GB
SSD Samsung EVO 850 250GB
MB Asus p5q-Pro
CPU Core2Duo 8500 3,2GHz
CPU-fan NorthQ 3317 Aluminium UFO
RAM 4gb ram
GFX Radeon 4870 0.5GB

PSU is half a year old, and SSD Is a week old.

Question: Will a CPU-fan and a GFX upgrade suffice to fit my needs? with the likes of a Radeon R9 270X 2GB or perhaps a GTX760?

In case a GFX upgrade doesnt fix the need, I've suggested a mix of old and new

Parts to transfer
Monitors 3x Acer G237HLAbid IPS 6ms
Chassis Antec P182
PSU Corsair VS650W / Might need upgrade ??
HDD Old spinpoint 500GB
SSD Samsung EVO 850 250GB

Parts to upgrade
Motherboard Asus Z97-P (98€) / ?
CPU Core i5 I5-4460 (180€) / I5 4690K (250€) / i7 4790K (350€) / ??
RAM Kingston HyperX Predator Beast 2 x 8 GB (150€) / 1 x 8 GB (80€) / ??
GFX 970GTX 4GB (360€) / Radeon R9 270X 2GB (180€) / GTX760 2GB (215€) / ??


I'm located in Denmark so will be searching for parts through www.edbpriser.dk. Prices are comparable to those of amazon.co.uk

I have no preference in brand. More important is silence & low energy consumption, as far possible.

Overclock or SLI will not be relevant. OC maybe for old CPU.

Budget about 950€ / 1050$ / 7000dkkr - I however don't expect to spend near that amount.

What would you suggest? An upgrade, or a new build?

Thanks in advance,
Mugadishu

 

[DonkeyOatie]

I would be planning (but not fully executing) a complete re-build. I would be buying the parts I needed that would help me now.

Noise. If the source of the noise is your CPU cooler, then replace it with something quieter. I would make sure that any replacement could handle up to 100 W of CPU to cover later upgrade possibilities. You could go completely or semi-passive at a price.

Power. If you plan a GPU upgrade, then the four newer NVidia Maxwell boards, GTX 750ti, 960, 970, and 980, are all very power frugal for the performance they deliver. A GTX750ti would seem to do all you need (I use one for my RPGs and it works fine) The most powerful of theses cards is about the same energy needs as your current card, and the lowest, less than half. I have recently gone from a GTX 9600 to a GTX 750ti and it was a huge improvement. I also went from a slightly worse CPU than yours to a mid-range i5 and it is also excellent.

The 0.5 GB memory on the GPU will limit the resolution that you can use (and the effects too), but your CPU won't be able to process the pixels either.

A GPU upgrade may not get you much. does your system perform adequately with low graphics settings (if no, your CPU is the problem)

Before we can give exact advice, we need to know the limiting factor of your system, whether GPU or CPU.

 

[Mugadishu]

Thank you very much for your response DonkeyOatie

For the CPU cooler, can you explain further what it means for a FAN to cover 100W of CPU? What i would be looking for is one that can vary its RPMs so it isnt static 2000RPM causing unnessacry noise during zero load usage.

Until what level of GPU do you deem my CPU to be able to follow? I mean, a 970GTX will probably be a waste with a C2D E8500.

Overall, as it seems at the moment, using two screens, my computer performs roughly adequate, however not entirely with videos as 1080p or with games.

My own guess, would be that the GPU is the limiting factor. I'm doubting how much better GPU performance i can get, due to perhaps limiting CPU.

 

[LucoTF]

Parts to upgrade
Motherboard Asus Z97-P (98€) / ?
CPU Core i5 I5-4460 (180€) / I5 4690K (250€) / i7 4790K (350€) / ??
RAM Kingston HyperX Predator Beast 2 x 8 GB (150€) / 1 x 8 GB (80€) / ??
GFX 970GTX 4GB (360€) / Radeon R9 270X 2GB (180€) / GTX760 2GB (215€) / ??

Looks good. I would get either the i5-4460 or i5-4590 with a cheap H97 board like the Asus Pro 4, 8gb ram is great, and for the very light gaming that you are doing a GTX 750ti or R9 270 would be plenty

 

[Mugadishu]

Thank you for your comment LucoTF

Does your reply indeed support the idea of using triple monitors, eg. eyefinity or the nvidia equivalent for light gaming? I believe WoW is light, however i am not familiar with triple monitor demands.

I will look into your motherboard and CPU suggestions. Afaik the main difference is OC, which i have no experience or immediate intention to work with. True? I lean towards product quality and "lifespan", so would like some input on this

Thanks,

 

[LucoTF]

Thank you for your comment LucoTF

Does your reply indeed support the idea of using triple monitors, eg. eyefinity or the nvidia equivalent for light gaming? I believe WoW is light, however i am not familiar with triple monitor demands.

I will look into your motherboard and CPU suggestions. Afaik the main difference is OC, which i have no experience or immediate intention to work with. True? I lean towards product quality and "lifespan", so would like some input on this

Thanks,

Yes the 4590 is non overclockable, but it is still a very strong gaming CPU.

I didn't notice that you wanted to play games on three monitors. I suggest you get a gtx 970 and an i5-4590 then

(Really for triple monitor gaming with the latest games, you'd need an SLI setup. But for you a single gtx 970 should be ok, just make sure that the model you buy supports nvidia surround)

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Thank you very much for your response DonkeyOatie

For the CPU cooler, can you explain further what it means for a FAN to cover 100W of CPU? What i would be looking for is one that can vary its RPMs so it isnt static 2000RPM causing unnessacry noise during zero load usage.

Until what level of GPU do you deem my CPU to be able to follow? I mean, a 970GTX will probably be a waste with a C2D E8500.

Overall, as it seems at the moment, using two screens, my computer performs roughly adequate, however not entirely with videos as 1080p or with games.

My own guess, would be that the GPU is the limiting factor. I'm doubting how much better GPU performance i can get, due to perhaps limiting CPU.

The 100W refers to the TDP of the CPU being cooled. Your old Wolfdale LGA775 is a 65W CPU. The newer i5s run closer to 100w.