Updating Old i7-920 Rig - 1366 MoBo Options?

[JayMiller8080]

Hello,

I put together the rig in my signature about 5-6 years ago as a gaming machine that could also handle audio editing. Since then I have moved all of my audio work over to a Mac and I only need the PC for gaming at this point. The PC was used very rarely after the first year due to school, but lately I've been able to get back into my gaming.

The PC is having a lot of problems and I am almost positive it is a motherboard issue (will return with a different thread if I need diagnostic help), so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction so that I could bring this up to date as a dedicated gaming machine.

My immediate desire is to smoothly run Battlefield 4 on Ultra (willing to mix in high settings). I'm hoping that if I can play BF4 at these settings, then anything else I want to play (Borderlands, Blizzard games, CoH, Bioshock, Watchdogs) shouldn't be a problem even for the next couple of years. If I have to start going to High or Mid-High settings with future releases that would be okay too (and expected..).

So, my question is this: If I am in fact having MoBo failure, would it be worth it to replace the MoBo, expand my RAM, and purchase a high end graphics card? Will this last me into the next couple years' releases on high settings? If this is a viable option where can I find an affordable/dependable motherboard that supports the LGA 1366? I can't seem to find any.

OR

Should I just look into building a new rig from the ground up on an i5-4690k? I feel like this approach will give me a budget around $1000. Would it be safe to use the PSU I have from 5 years ago (as this would save me money)? The HDD can also save me some money. Other than that I would have to buy all new stuff (including a case because I need more airflow).

Sorry if this is all over the place. I'll answer anything I've left out as quickly as possible. Thank you so much for any advice!


-Jay

EDIT: I should also add, that I'm willing to wait a month or two to make these purchases.. so if there are any new developments or major price drops expected in the near future that can also be taken into account. I simply want a somewhat "future proof" (I know there's no such thing..) for gaming. It doesn't need to do ANYTHING else. My music production is on another machine, and I have a laptop for any general day to day use and browsing.

 

[PP Mguire]

Watch Dogs is actually more demanding than BF4 as BF4 isn't the most demanding.

If you're positive it's the motherboard IMO it wouldn't be that worth it to buy a new one unless you could find a good one for cheap. Like less than 100 bucks cheap. A friend of mine has a 930 and I've been looking for used ones cheap for him and come up with overpriced junk really.

If you can't find one then a new rig would definitely be the way to go. The PSU, case, RAM, cooler, and HDD can be reused. I say RAM because you can simply get another 2GB stick to make 8GB and it'll save you some cash you can use elsewhere, like getting a much needed SSD.

4690k, ASRock Z97 Anniversary, add a Samsung EVO, 2GB 1600MHz RAM, and your budget should be good enough for a 770. Price drops on the 770 will occur rather soon or if you want to wait the new 900 series is coming.

 

[JayMiller8080]

Watch Dogs is actually more demanding than BF4.

Thanks for the clarification!

4690k, ASRock Z97 Anniversary, add a Samsung EVO, 2GB 1600MHz RAM, and your budget should be good enough for a 770. Price drops on the 770 will occur rather soon or if you want to wait the new 900 series is coming.

Mixing and matching the RAM will be okay? Would it be worth the extra money to just get 2x4gb?

So, is the 770 is powerful enough to run the next year or two of releases?

Put this together based off your recommendations and re-using the Corsair 750:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.48 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($264.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1355.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-09 03:43 EDT-0400

 

[Dauntae]

For watch dogs I got the 4 gig 770 with and it maxes it out pretty well, Watch dogs is graphics intensive but not too bad BUT it is a serious video ram hog, Even SLI 780TI will studder with the 3 gigs of ram but with the 4 gigs it runs smooth, Never had any studder.

Dauntae

 

[PP Mguire]

Thanks for the clarification!



Mixing and matching the RAM will be okay? Would it be worth the extra money to just get 2x4gb?

So, is the 770 is powerful enough to run the next year or two of releases?

Put this together based off your recommendations and re-using the Corsair 750:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 430 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.48 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($264.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1355.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-09 03:43 EDT-0400

Yes mixing and matching is fine. It'll save you cash to get better alternatives for other pieces.

Get yourself a Corsair AIO cooler instead. I'd look at the H80i to start with.

Since you already have 6GB I don't see the need for purchasing 8GB more. Can get a 2GB stick and simply run what you have, or you could even run the 6GB by itself. If money isn't an issue then by all means but you did say 1000.

Get the Samsung EVO instead. You're spending 100 more on an SSD than you should.

To answer your previous question, I would sure hope so since I'm running the same thing and don't have an upgrade planned. Duante here also has the 4GB 770 (680 and 770 same card).

That case is worse than what you have.

Make sure you get Windows 8.1.

For watch dogs I got the 4 gig 770 with and it maxes it out pretty well, Watch dogs is graphics intensive but not too bad BUT it is a serious video ram hog, Even SLI 780TI will studder with the 3 gigs of ram but with the 4 gigs it runs smooth, Never had any studder.

Dauntae

Not really anymore. They've fixed it up.

 

[JayMiller8080]

The $1000 limit before I realized I may need a new monitor. Is the 770 capable of a better display than my Samsung-P2350 can handle? If so, is the gap big enough to need a a new monitor? (Specs: Samsung P2350-1)

Also, still can't decide if I should do 120gb or 250gb..

Is there anything besides the OS that would need to go on the SSD?
Do I need a better CPU Cooler like you suggested if I don't plan on trying to OC?
Does the timing on the RAM have to be the same? I believe my OCZ is 9-9-9-20.

New list:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($91.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair 2GB (1 x 2GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($86.95 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Superclocked ACX Video Card ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($102.98 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($264.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1224.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-09 15:34 EDT-0400

 

[PP Mguire]

Is the 770 capable of a better display than my Samsung-P2350 can handle?

This sentence.....I'm not really sure....what. lol.

I think I get what you're asking. Here's the deal, the 144Hz panel will have way better response than the monitor you currently have. I use my TV instead of my NEC monitor now because I found out I can "OC" it to run at 120Hz which produces a much more responsive experience than playing on my regular monitor, while having a lower picture quality. Something I'm ok with playing FPS games for sure. If you run Vsync on higher graphical games it could stutter if the card can't produce 120-144fps (120Hz or 144Hz selected) but shouldn't really be needed since you shouldn't see screen tearing having the higher refresh.

Simple answer, keep the monitor bro. You'll thank me later lol.

I've been running 120GB just fine and I have a ton of productivity programs I'm using including 1 or 2 games. Only a select few games actually take advantage of being on the SSD where you get a clear noticeable difference in loading times, specifically speaking Battlefield or Skyrim with mods. Other games it's kind of a waste. So that all depends on what you plan to load on your SSD besides your OS. Browser and OS 100% need to be on that SSD though.

Not necessarily, but there are also smaller options like the H60 which would still be overall better than the EVO. In one regard, AIO always wins in the fact that you push the heat out of your case instantly. Regardless of OC or not, you always want the heat out of the case. Cooler Master always makes some cheaper units comparable to the H55.

If you bought a 2GB 1600/1333MHz 9-9-9-24 kit the OCZ would be set to run the same timings.