With this in mind. Since I will have to dissemble it anyways, Is the MB i use now good enough for my future needs? I plan on exchanging everything eventually over 1-2 years, I dont want to hold back on for example a CPU if my MB can't support the one I want.
I am not going to be buying the latest and most expensive parts. But i'd like to get the latest gen CPU if it's a big upgrade from the other option i'll have without getting a new MB
I am not very cash limited, but i'd rather get quality parts one by one instead of getting all at once if i have to lower the performance a bit.
Guidelines part: First time i'll be actually messing around in my case. I want to try to overclock. Settings on my games? max? I'll buy a new monitor in the future, one I can wallmount. I live in Norway so i'll be using www.komplett.no or www.dustinhome.no most of the time for warranty purposes.
And now for the question. Where is the logical place to start?
As a 2500k owner myself (as well on a P67 user), I'd say it's a tough call - the CPU doesn't need to be upgraded at all, it's still a top-tier gaming CPU, especially when overclocked. There is no point in upgrading to Ivy Bridge, as it was incremental. The only thing that makes me want to upgrade is the P67 chipset, but newer features hasn't been essential, and doing so would force an unecessary CPU upgrade; Haswell isn't much faster than IB. I also came from a 570, but the GPU went bad. I eventually upgraded to EVGA GTX 760 ACX Superclocked, and that thing is amazing.
If I were you, the only things I would upgrade (in addition to case) is the GPU, CPU cooler (moar overclocking!), and get a larger, faster SSD, as well as a storage mechanical drive.
The Define XL R2 is a fantastic case. My main rig is built in one and I love all the different options it gives you for cooling, cable management, hard drive placement, ect. Has been solid and it looks gorgeous. Just keep in mind that it is quite large and weighs nearly 40LBs empty. So if you plan on moving your computer around a fair bit (I don't think you would but who knows) keep that in mind.
If you want the latest generation CPU you're going to need a new motherboard. Different socket and chipset. The new Z87 and such motherboards are very nice and do offer a lot of nice features. Whether they are worth it is up to you. The CPU you have is perfectly adequate for gaming and will do a good job into the the future. Haswell parts don't overclock as well as IVB or SB parts do tho. Keep that in mind.
I'd grab a new GPU and a bigger SSD. Other than that you have a great build.
I guess I got too exited on getting new stuff in my rig, I just asumed that since it was a cheap'ish build 3 years ago, most components would be outdated. Glad to know that it was a good build then and still is.
I have a 128gb SSD laying around from my broken laptop that I am planning to use Kingston HyperX
Is this garbage? I just got the cheapest 128gb one i found from a brand I'd heard the name of when I upgraded the laptop.
Thanks for the great answers guys. So used to the Reddit comment section hospitality, talk about a culture shock
I'll go for a new GPU at the least and hope I can mend the crap I did to the MB when I was re installing the OS.
[edit] the 760 4gb and the 770 2gb are roughly the same price. Any clear winner there?
As for the 760, go with whichever one is cheapest. For 1440p+ you are gonna want more RAM but I'm pretty sure with the bus and bandwidth constraints on the 760 it can't even take advantage of that much RAM. So get the 2GB card but if they are the same price go for the 4GB model. I mean hell it is a bigger number after all lolol
770 is the clear winner - it's based on same GPU as the GTX 680 (higher clocked), while the 760 replaces the 660-Ti. Either will make quick work of most any 1080p game, but the 770 is a bit faster, and you won't need more than 2GB of vRAM at 1080p
The Kingston HyperX is a highly regarded drive, especially here on the Tek, which Logan openly endorses.
I was surpsised as well. I built mine as soon as Z68 came out, but I cheaped out and got a P67 board (big regret) - but still to this day, with my 760 I'm maxing out most of the games I play, and I even reverted to stock clocks from my 4.5GHz OC.
Again thanks for awesome and informative comments.
I have landed on the 770 2gb for now. But I am curious if there is an AMD option out there similar to this card that can be recommended, I have no preference when it comes to nVidia vs AMD. Just want the most bang for my buck
Ahh yes, the time of Sandy Bridge CPU's and GTX 500 series, good memories.
The AMD R9 280X would be the closest performer to the GTX 770. Performance is marginal really, but the AMD cards are usually more expensive right now because of cryptocurrency mining. GTX 770 will probably be the best bang for your buck, but do some searching to find the best price.
The 2 cards have less then 2$ in difference. Is there a reason why I should not get AMD?
I know there are a lot of fanboys running around, kinda like Playstation vs Xbox story.
Are there any manufacturers I should avoid? the cheapest 280 card is an XFX
and the cheapest 770 2gb version is Asus
I'll be playing Everquest Next (if it's any good) Titanfall, League of legends, and other games. Wont be playing BF or CoD games.
I aim to have 2 monitors in the future, but I have no idea if i want to use both when playing or just have one for surfing, music etc and the other for games
Probably 280x. Those Tahiti cards really stretch their legs at larger resolutions, especially with that extra GB of memory.
XFX is pretty good - they have a double lifetime warranty on their products.
The only reason not to get AMD cards is the intangibles - Nvidia has things such as PhysX, CUDA, GeForce Experience, G-Sync, etc. AMD usually has their own solutions, but not nearly as polished, with the exception of Eyefinity (multi-monitor management).