Looking to do some upgrades have questions

[Zoldor]

Currently running a i5-4670k asus Z87-Plus, 8 gigs G. Skill Ripjaws, Radeon 7870 series.

Holding off on an SSD for a minute, I don't mind the load times. I mostly play WoW, Overwatch, Heroes, Doom, Civ 6, CS:Go on my PC. Have a PS4 to play things like Batman and such on. I do NO video editing, coding, or streaming. I game, and word process, excel and do research mostly.

Current thoughts are of course moving to 16 gigs of ram at a high DDR3 speed. But I'm wondering about video cards. Was thinking a 1070 and a new monitor looking for something in the 24" range, but below say 500$ prefer below 400$. But I'm now debating maybe just going with a 1060 6 gig, new monitor, and maybe bumping up my CPU/Mobo. Question is, do I really need to mess with upping my CPU? I usually buy some new parts every year or 2. This coming fall going to do a big SSD jump probably 1TB or 2 500s and was thinking about waiting until then to do the CPU upgrade.

Basically am I hurting myself in anyway adding the 1070 to this CPU/Mobo combo? Suggestions on a monitor would be amazing, as that is where I am the most uninformed. Anyone have any concerns or qualms with the 1070 over a 1060? Is it better to save the money and go 1060 or is the 1070 really worth it, I've seen mixed reviews from people?

Thanks for any help.

[Evildeffy]

Well truthfully for the games you mention a GTX 1060 is enough and a 1070 would be cool but not a requirement.

However that said you're not going to get a GTX 1060, 16GB of RAM AND a decent monitor for 500 USD together, unless I somehow understood that wrongly.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.62 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($276.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell U2417H 24.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor ($214.99 @ B&H)
Total: $580.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 17:52 EST-0500

This is the closest I could get with the components that would fit you.
Also, not knowing what cooler you have, it might be a good idea to get a good cooler and overclock your CPU a bit more.
That way you can coax more performance out of it as no mobo/cpu upgrade needs to be done.

Perhaps money can be slightly saved if we find a supplementary kit to what you already have as RAM because you didn't give us any information on the model, amount of sticks etc.

[Zoldor]

Well truthfully for the games you mention a GTX 1060 is enough and a 1070 would be cool but not a requirement.

However that said you're not going to get a GTX 1060, 16GB of RAM AND a decent monitor for 500 USD together, unless I somehow understood that wrongly.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.62 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($276.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell U2417H 24.0" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor ($214.99 @ B&H)
Total: $580.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 17:52 EST-0500

This is the closest I could get with the components that would fit you.
Also, not knowing what cooler you have, it might be a good idea to get a good cooler and overclock your CPU a bit more.

I have a Noctua NH-D14 cooling.
That way you can coax more performance out of it as no mobo/cpu upgrade needs to be done.

Perhaps money can be slightly saved if we find a supplementary kit to what you already have as RAM because you didn't give us any information on the model, amount of sticks etc.

Only the monitor needed to be sub $500. With a preference for a monitor sub $400. Sorry, probably worded that poorly. That is just the monitor budget I'm shooting for. Card and Ram are outside that budget.

- - - Updated - - -

I have a Noctua NH-D14 as well. I can't remember the exact ram, I'm not at home currently to check, but it is two 4 gig sticks I know that, but I'm getting some RAM errors recently, so fearing I have one on the fritz anyways and was just going to replace it totally. Since RAM is basically $100 bucks I can easily justify that expenditure to myself.

[Evildeffy]

Only the monitor needed to be sub $500. With a preference for a monitor sub $400. Sorry, probably worded that poorly. That is just the monitor budget I'm shooting for. Card and Ram are outside that budget.

- - - Updated - - -

I have a Noctua NH-D14 as well.

And the RAM? What exact model of RAM do you have and how many sticks?
We could simply fill this up to 16GB or we could get you a new kit, cheaper option is to see if we can fill it out.

That said the Noctua D14 isn't gracious in regards to RAM heatsinks and G.Skill tends to use annoyingly large ones.

[Zoldor]

And the RAM? What exact model of RAM do you have and how many sticks?
We could simply fill this up to 16GB or we could get you a new kit, cheaper option is to see if we can fill it out.

That said the Noctua D14 isn't gracious in regards to RAM heatsinks and G.Skill tends to use annoyingly large ones.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

I believe that is the RAM I have, can't remember if that is mine or my wifes. Digging through my Newegg history. But as I put in the edit, I've been getting Memory errors, so I'm worried I have a failing stick.

[Evildeffy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231314

I believe that is the RAM I have, can't remember if that is mine or my wifes. Digging through my Newegg history. But as I put in the edit, I've been getting Memory errors, so I'm worried I have a failing stick.

Well ... since RAM in general has a lifetime warranty you could run a memtest and see if it is indeed busted and RMA it.

Other than that we can also simply entirely replace it with a different kit, call is yours.

Tell me though, what are you looking for in a monitor?

[Zoldor]

Well ... since RAM in general has a lifetime warranty you could run a memtest and see if it is indeed busted and RMA it.

Other than that we can also simply entirely replace it with a different kit, call is yours.

Tell me though, what are you looking for in a monitor?

Monitor wise, a gaming monitor. I've got an IPS panel LED currently, that I can use for Word Processing, Excel, and researching on, but I'd like something gaming focused. Going to run a two monitor setup. min 60hz, but I'd like to step that up if possible. If for that price budge I could get a Gsync that'd be great as well. 24" is big enough with my desk space. 4k isn't a priority at all, would be great, but I'm not willing to jump into that price bracket. Good refresh rate etc. Was looking at Dell, BenQ, and ASUS. Think this was the last one I looked at:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A3GRU8YP8FS2QJ

I'll probably just do a full replace on the ram, as I'd like to push my DDR3 to the max.

Is there any serious reason to move from Haswell to Skylake at this point or better to wait a year for new Arch to hit the markets? Financially I'd rather wait.

[Evildeffy]

Monitor wise, a gaming monitor. I've got an IPS panel LED currently, that I can use for Word Processing, Excel, and researching on, but I'd like something gaming focused. Going to run a two monitor setup. min 60hz, but I'd like to step that up if possible. If for that price budge I could get a Gsync that'd be great as well. 24" is big enough with my desk space. 4k isn't a priority at all, would be great, but I'm not willing to jump into that price bracket. Good refresh rate etc. Was looking at Dell, BenQ, and ASUS. Think this was the last one I looked at:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...A3GRU8YP8FS2QJ

I'll probably just do a full replace on the ram, as I'd like to push my DDR3 to the max.

Is there any serious reason to move from Haswell to Skylake at this point or better to wait a year for new Arch to hit the markets? Financially I'd rather wait.

Here's option 1:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($276.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($450.40 @ Amazon)
Total: $807.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 19:19 EST-0500

And here's option 2 if you just want more "Oomph".
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($450.40 @ Amazon)
Total: $950.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 19:20 EST-0500

Regarding CPU/Motherboard upgrades:
Stick with it till Coffee Lake or Zen+
It's not worth switching at all right now.
I specifically picked 2133MHz where if you had a 4690K I would likely have selected 2400MHz.
This due to the 4670K (and 4770K for that matter) are rather horrid with heat transfer as well as generic IMC instabilities I've read/had happen.
So I played it safe in this regard for you.

[Zoldor]

Here's option 1:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card ($276.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Dell S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($450.40 @ Amazon)
Total: $807.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 19:19 EST-0500

And here's option 2 if you just want more "Oomph".
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card ($419.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Dell S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($450.40 @ Amazon)
Total: $950.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-03 19:20 EST-0500

Regarding CPU/Motherboard upgrades:
Stick with it till Coffee Lake or Zen+
It's not worth switching at all right now.
I specifically picked 2133MHz where if you had a 4690K I would likely have selected 2400MHz.
This due to the 4670K (and 4770K for that matter) are rather horrid with heat transfer as well as generic IMC instabilities I've read/had happen.
So I played it safe in this regard for you.

Nice! Thanks so much for all your help!

[Evildeffy]

Nice! Thanks so much for all your help!

Forgot to mention actually..

The monitor I picked is 2560x1440 (yes it is a TN panel though, IPS at that level with 144Hz is just out of budget by about 200 USD).
So if you wish to play future AAA-titles on the PC etc. apart from the ones you play already then the 1070 is probably the better choice.

I can however also link you a monitor for the same price which is 1920x1080 (still TN) if you wish to be cheaper with the graphical horsepower. (GTX 1060)

[Zoldor]

Forgot to mention actually..

The monitor I picked is 2560x1440 (yes it is a TN panel though, IPS at that level with 144Hz is just out of budget by about 200 USD).
So if you wish to play future AAA-titles on the PC etc. apart from the ones you play already then the 1070 is probably the better choice.

I can however also link you a monitor for the same price which is 1920x1080 (still TN) if you wish to be cheaper with the graphical horsepower. (GTX 1060)

Well I'll let ya know how it turns out. Placed the order for the 1070, ram and monitor today. Got lucky and had points on a credit card and saved 320 on the monitor because of it. So came out ahead in the long haul. Don't need an IPS for gaming, just like it for my daily and my current IPS I'll use for that. Thanks again, and I'll tap ya for a resource when I do my big Mobo/CPU/SSD move end of next year.

Also, don't mind the TN panel after reading reviews. I'll do a calibration and tweak the settings, but I think for FPS I'm going to love this monitor.

[Evildeffy]

Well I'll let ya know how it turns out. Placed the order for the 1070, ram and monitor today. Got lucky and had points on a credit card and saved 320 on the monitor because of it. So came out ahead in the long haul. Don't need an ISP for gaming, just like it for my daily and my current ISP I'll use for that. Thanks again, and I'll tap ya for a resource when I do my big Mobo/CPU/SSD move end of next year.

Also, don't mind the TN panel after reading reviews. I'll do a calibration and tweak the settings, but I think for FPS I'm going to love this monitor.

Enjoy I'd say... you know where to find me.

[Zoldor]

Enjoy I'd say... you know where to find me.

All parts in and running, and thank you. So much noticeable difference, I think only an SSD could bring more. My wife is so jealous of my monitor/card combo that I think I'm about to have to order another monitor, thankfully she already has a Nvidia card. Monitor is fantastic for TN panel and the response time is out of this world coming from where I was at.

[Evildeffy]

All parts in and running, and thank you. So much noticeable difference, I think only an SSD could bring more. My wife is so jealous of my monitor/card combo that I think I'm about to have to order another monitor, thankfully she already has a Nvidia card. Monitor is fantastic for TN panel and the response time is out of this world coming from where I was at.

Cool beans, have fun with the kit.