Time for an GPU Upgrade

[Beeatch]

So, my little box of wonder and magic currently sounds like it has a lawnmower going around it, and the GPU is to blame. For one reason or other, even on the lowest settings, WoW is causing the thing to try and take off.

Here are my contents:

• pcpartpicker.com/p/jjpmMp
• -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
• CPU Cooler: Austek 570LXL 240M Liquid CPU Cooler
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
• Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
• Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
• Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card
• Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case
• Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
• Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm White 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan
• Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm White 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan
• Monitor: AOC aoc E2460SWHU 60Hz 23.6" Monitor

The GPU is the oldest parts, with most of the rest upgrade less than a year ago, so I can't complain at it's lifespan really. But it's time to up the ante.

I'm not looking for full on 4k gaming, but would like to be comfortable that my box isn't going to explode if i'm messing around on ultra setting for anything from WoW to Fallout 4.

Here's the question, mid to high level budget, what gpu should be going in here now?

[Deleted]

Dunno what mid to high lvl budget means for you but for 1080p i would say that your safest bet is a gtx 970 or R9 390. They have similar performance, one will be a little better in some titles the other on the rest. The difference are between say 1-5fps. At this moment if you are into gpu overclocking the nvidia wins as the R9 doesn't very little head room. From the other hand if you are looking for futureproof then the R9 390 is the way to go. It benefits from dx12 while the 970 very little. The 8gb of r9 is not something that you will find usefull at 1080p so i wouldn't take that much into consideration unless you do 3d rendering etc, not gaming only.

[Lathais]

Well, my first question is, how did you determine it's the GPU causing the noise? Is it only WoW that does it or other games as well? WoW is much harder on the CPU than the GPU, so if it is only WoW that does this, I would look at simply replacing the fans on your water cooler. Looking through the reviews on newegg, a few people did mention it had noisy fans. Not very familiar with that particular AIO, but I do know that some AIOs are notorious for having poor quality fans. I would look at that first before dropping a big load on a new GPU as fans are cheap.

[Beeatch]

The 8gb of r9 is not something that you will find usefull at 1080p so i wouldn't take that much into consideration unless you do 3d rendering etc, not gaming only.

Interesting, I wouldn't have looked at the R9 390. Thanks for that. Any particular manufacturer?

WoW is much harder on the CPU than the GPU, so if it is only WoW that does this, I would look at simply replacing the fans on your water cooler.

It turns out you were right! I tweaked a bit to get WoW using more than a single core, and it dropped the average temp by 20c.

I'm still keen to upgrade the GPU anyway, since I want to enjoy the newer games in the full wonder.

- - - Updated - - -

So, after mulling for a while, I'm working on this. (The priced items are upgrades)

• pcpartpicker.com/p/b2PGZL
• -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased)
• Cooler: Asetek 570LXL 240M Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased)
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (Purchased)
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased)
• Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased)
• Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£116.34 - Aria PC)
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased)
• Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card (£289.98 - Aria PC)
• Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased)
• Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased )
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) (Purchased)
• Monitor: Asus PB287Q 60Hz 28.0" Monitor (£380.34 - More Computers)
  
• Total: £786.66

am I missing anything obvious?

[Nakotsu]

So, my little box of wonder and magic currently sounds like it has a lawnmower going around it, and the GPU is to blame. For one reason or other, even on the lowest settings, WoW is causing the thing to try and take off.

Here are my contents:

• pcpartpicker.com/p/jjpmMp
• -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
• CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
• CPU Cooler: Austek 570LXL 240M Liquid CPU Cooler
• Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
• Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
• Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
• Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
• Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB Dual-X Video Card
• Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case
• Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
• Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm White 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan
• Case Fan: Aerocool Shark 120mm White 82.6 CFM 120mm Fan
• Monitor: AOC aoc E2460SWHU 60Hz 23.6" Monitor

The GPU is the oldest parts, with most of the rest upgrade less than a year ago, so I can't complain at it's lifespan really. But it's time to up the ante.

I'm not looking for full on 4k gaming, but would like to be comfortable that my box isn't going to explode if i'm messing around on ultra setting for anything from WoW to Fallout 4.

Here's the question, mid to high level budget, what gpu should be going in here now?

thats your gpu stock fan thats making the noise.... you could replace the video card personnally I recommend Nvidia cards as they out perform ATI by leaps and bounds but you could also just switch the current fan on the gpu u currently have.