Necessary upgrade?

[Grimgak]

Howdy. So my PSU shorted out last week, and while shopping for a replacement I stumbled across the recent "Narwhal/Unicorn" parts list. I built my PC about three years ago using an online guide, but my actual computer knowledge is seriously lacking. I use my PC primarily for gaming (WoW, Battlefield, far too many Steam games...), and I'm wondering how big of an improvement I could expect from my current build to the prospective build. Maybe it's smarter to blend my current build with some of the prospective parts, but would there be any compatibility issues?

I currently run most games on a blend of high/ultra, but the fans really kick in and it's quite loud (temps are fine). I'm hoping to have a nice, quiet PC with high FPS and no lag that runs most games on ultra. Let me know if you need more info, and thank you for your help!

** Long time lurker, first time poster... so I'm unable to link to the equipment. Sorry.


Current Build

Case: COOLER MASTER CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
PSU: Corsair 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX650
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155
Heatsink: Whatever came with the i5
MOBO: ASRock Z77 Pro4-M LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory: CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600
GPU: MSI Twin Frozr II 6950 (unlocked to 6970)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 120 GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s
OS: Win 7 Home Premium 64bit


Prospective Build

Case: Corsair CC-9011048-WW Carbide Series Air 540 (Special Layout) - $120
PSU: Rosewill 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply ATX12V / EPS12V 650 - $104 ($94 on Newegg)
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K Processor 3.5 GHz LGA 1150 - $230
Heatsink: Noctua 6 Dual Heatpipe NH-D14 - $71
MOBO: ASUS Z97-A ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 - $140
GPU: XFX R9 270X - $160
Memory: n/a, not replacing (unless I have to?)
HDD: n/a, not replacing
SSD: n/a, not replacing
DVD: n/a, not replacing
OS: n/a, not replacing

[Arbiter]

Honestly, you would benefit more from keeping your Mobo and CPU and just buying that NH-D14 to overclock it a bit for increased performance. You'd see a gain in games like WoW with the 4690k, but I doubt you could justify the ~$375 for the very slight increase compared to a better GPU.

My recommendation:

If you want a new case that is you're preference.

Grab the NH-D14 and overclock the 3570k

Grab a better quality PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151094 would be fine if you don't care for modular. (This is semi http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151119)

Grab a GTX 970 when you can find one in stock. Best price per performance with insane power efficiency. Will run any game with at least 60FPS on Ultra settings for 1080p. That 270X doesn't even come close. It's barely enough for WoW on Ultra and won't play BF4 on Ultra with over 60fps. 270X only plays BF4 with about 40fps while the 970 will play it with around 75-80fps. A lot more VRAM too.

[Vermicious]

I'd say your current system is fine, and all you may want to upgrade would be the GPU, and maybe a larger SSD (those 120GB are a pain to manage available space).

Getting a better heatsink for the CPU would let you overclock it a bit to maybe 4.2 or 4.4

Otherwise the improvement you'd see would be marginal.

Edit: looks like Arbiter beat me to it.

[Warrax]

Current cpu is fine, all you have to do is to overclock it. What you suggest (R9 270x) is not much of an upgrade over the 6970, you'll have to wait for next generation cards for the 150-200$ price range or pay 300$+ for something that will give you much more.

[Biernot]

In terms of performance, you do not need to upgrade. The only thing might be graphics card, but more on that later.

If you want a quiet pc, there is not much you need to do:

1. After market heat sink.
If you are only aiming for a slight overclock or none at all, a mid-range cooler is all you need ($30 range, e.g. Cooler Master Hyper 212). Such a thing will stay quiet even under full load. If you really want whisper quiet with moderate or higher overclock, i would recommend a high-end air cooler (like the Noctua NH-D14).
One thing to look out for: High-end air coolers with their big heatsinks can obstruct ram slots, especially with ram modules that have their own (tall) heat spreaders.

2. Quiet case fans or new case all together
If your current case fans are not very quiet, you can either change them or get a complete new case. While there are definitely better cases on the market, your CM 690 is not that awful. It has (imho) somewhat decent looks and ventilation is also ok. If you want a really quiet case, there are some options: Fractal Design Define series, Nanoxia Deep Silence series, and others. These are cases with sound dampening and help to further reduce the noise. But keep in mind, that your first priority should be to address the noise at the source (i.e. the fans) and regard such a case as an additional step and not as a single solution against noise.

3. Quiet graphics card
Unlike a cpu cooler, the cooler on a graphics card is not that easily switched. It can be done, but is usually a bit more cumbersome. And as your card, while not that bad, is a bit older, this is a good point to invest in something new. My current recommendation would be the GTX 970. It is fairly high-end for an acceptable price, and best of all, does draw fairly low power (which translates to less heat and thus less loise). My recommended brands would be MSI TwinFrozr, Asus Strix or Gigabyte Windforce.

4. Anti-Vibration hdd mounts
This is kind of a last step, but when the rest of your computer is very quiet, the sound of a 7200rpm hdd can get fairly annoying. Most decent cases ($80+) should already have anti-vibration mounts for hard drives, so additional effort is only needed if your case doesn't provide that (and you are not ok with the hdd noise).


Things you should not worry too much about:
- CPU+MB: Do not upgrade. You would get a performance boost of maybe 10% with the i5-4690k. Your i5-3570k is still fine.
- PSU: Any PSU worth buying should be whisper quiet under normal use.


TL/DR: My recommendation
If you already have a new psu, just remove it from the list.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 113.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($98.71 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $583.68

The case is the µATX version. You could also get the normal midi tower (Define R4).


As a reference, look at my signature:
Same cpu, decent upper mid-range cooler (would be in the $40-50 range), GTX 770 version of the above card, Define R4 case.
My computer sits under the desk, about one meter away from my head. When my room is very quiet, i need to concentrate to be able to hear it during idle. Even under full load, it is still fairly quiet (In fact so quiet, that even when not wearing headphones and having my speakers turned low-ish, it's not really noticeable). And that is with a worse cpu cooler than the one i suggested and a graphics card that draws a bit more power (and thus produces more heat).

[Sicarius87]

WoW believe it or not is transitioning more into being GPU dependant finally. So the better GPU will benefit you more than a new CPU would. As someone suggested earlier, keep yoru motherboard and CPU, get a good aftermarket cooler on it with some new thermal paste, and overclock the CPU a bit and youre g2g.

[Biernot]

WoW believe it or not is transitioning more into being GPU dependant finally. So the better GPU will benefit you more than a new CPU would. As someone suggested earlier, keep yoru motherboard and CPU, get a good aftermarket cooler on it with some new thermal paste, and overclock the CPU a bit and youre g2g.

While the conclusion is correct (keep cpu+motherboard, upgrade gpu), the reasoning is flawed. With patch 6.0 WoW might use a bit more graphics power, but it is still bottlenecked by the cpu. And i really doubt that this will change during its remaining lifetime due to the nature of the game (massive multiplayer).

The true reasons behind the upgrades:
CPU: only marginal performance boost but fairly high cost.
GPU: decent performance boost in most other games, less noise.

[Grimgak]

Thank you so much for the feedback! Y'all saved me from wasting a lot of money

I've never overclocked anything before, but I figured I would get there someday. Might as well jump in now.

[Grimgak]

Follow up question...


I ended up purchasing the Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 case, which I love. I also got the be quiet! CPU Cooler suggested by Biernot, and it's great. My friend had an extra PSU lying around, so I snagged a brand new SeaSonic G Series 550W 80 PLUS GOLD Semi-Modular unit for just $50. Might be a bit more power than I need, but it was a good deal.

My issue is regarding the graphics in WoW. When I first fired up the new build I accidentally plugged my monitor straight into my mobo, so the graphics were obviously terrible. I powered down, grabbed a DVI/HDMI adapter and plugged into my GPU. There was an obvious upgrade in graphics, but something seemed off. The characters looked sharp enough on the character selection screen, but once I entered the world it looked awful and I lagged a bit.

It turns out that my system had auto-detected a "low" graphics setting, when it normally detects high or ultra for most games. I updated my drivers, but there was no improvement. Then I decided to move my GPU from the new PCI/E slot I had placed it in (3, since I needed space for the new heatsink) back to it's original spot (1). There was an immediate improvement in graphics, and it seems like everything is back to normal.

However, the system is still auto-detecting at "low" settings. When I manually change to high or ultra it performs just fine... any idea why this might be happening? Thanks.

[Arbiter]

Follow up question...


I ended up purchasing the Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 case, which I love. I also got the be quiet! CPU Cooler suggested by Biernot, and it's great. My friend had an extra PSU lying around, so I snagged a brand new SeaSonic G Series 550W 80 PLUS GOLD Semi-Modular unit for just $50. Might be a bit more power than I need, but it was a good deal.

My issue is regarding the graphics in WoW. When I first fired up the new build I accidentally plugged my monitor straight into my mobo, so the graphics were obviously terrible. I powered down, grabbed a DVI/HDMI adapter and plugged into my GPU. There was an obvious upgrade in graphics, but something seemed off. The characters looked sharp enough on the character selection screen, but once I entered the world it looked awful and I lagged a bit.

It turns out that my system had auto-detected a "low" graphics setting, when it normally detects high or ultra for most games. I updated my drivers, but there was no improvement. Then I decided to move my GPU from the new PCI/E slot I had placed it in (3, since I needed space for the new heatsink) back to it's original spot (1). There was an immediate improvement in graphics, and it seems like everything is back to normal.

However, the system is still auto-detecting at "low" settings. When I manually change to high or ultra it performs just fine... any idea why this might be happening? Thanks.

When you say auto detecting...do you mean NVIDIA GeForce Experience or the game just started with low settings?

Also not sure with what card you ended up going with.

[Grimgak]

Bah, sorry. I didn't upgrade my GPU. I just stuck with the MSI Twin Frozr II 6950 (unlocked to 6970).

As for the auto-detect graphic settings, I mean the games themselves. The "recommended" settings after scanning my pc would always come back as ultra or high, but now they detect at low... it doesn't make much sense since I just bump up the settings to high or ultra anyways and it runs as smoothly as ever.

[Biernot]

Yeah, that is one thing i forgot to mention: Big heatsinks can get in the way with the top most PCIe slot on the motherboard. But normally they should still fit.

I would recommend to check the Bios settings of the PCIe slots. While both slots look the same, the internal connection is often a bit different. The slot that you have plugged your graphics card in, should be configured as PCIe 16x. It might be, that because of your slot switching, the motherboard automatically changed that configuration and now your graphics card sits in a 8x slot (or even 4x). The difference between 8x and 16x should be barely noticeable (even though your graphics card only uses PCIE 2.1 and not 3.0), but the step down to 4x would be a definite bottleneck.

Also, grats on the $50 deal on the Seasonic psu.