Build now? Or wait?

jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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So I am planning on building a new gaming rig, was planning on going micro atx. But I am not sure if I should wait or not?

I was planning on doing this in June, but I do not keep up with all the upcoming hardware and was wondering if it is worth building a new system in June or would it be better waiting a few more months if better things are coming our way?
 

njergens5

Member
May 5, 2014
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Depends on your budget, the new Haswell refresh CPUs are coming out soon, and the unlocked version is coming out June/July maybe, nothing officially announced yet. If you wait till the end of the year the new Broadwell CPUs are due to be released.

I'm in the same boat, I'm planning on waiting until at least june/july to build my new rig and I'm also not sure if I want to wait a while longer and grab a Broadwell, or upgrade now and see what happens, if nothing else the price might go down if you wait.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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If you don't have a gaming PC or it's badly outdated, and you want to start playing games, then you don't really have the option of waiting. If you aren't in a hurry, then sure, wait.

Generally, the best thing you can do is buy the best bang for buck available on your budget at the time you want to upgrade, and be happy with what you get. You just can't go wrong. Any potential improvement from "waiting just a bit longer" is going to be relatively marginal.
 

jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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If you don't have a gaming PC or it's badly outdated, and you want to start playing games, then you don't really have the option of waiting. If you aren't in a hurry, then sure, wait.

Generally, the best thing you can do is buy the best bang for buck available on your budget at the time you want to upgrade, and be happy with what you get. You just can't go wrong. Any potential improvement from "waiting just a bit longer" is going to be relatively marginal.

Currently I am looking at spending $1,200-$1,500 on the PC. I only use one monitor and its only 1920x1080 resolution.

I have a decent computer now with a i5 2500k, 8gb ram, and a gtx660 so I can play most games at decent settings so waiting would def be an option.
 

weez82

Senior member
Jan 6, 2011
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There is always going to be better stuff around the corner. The best time to build is when you can afford to. As lehtv put it, get what your budget allows and be happy with it.
 

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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I don't think you need to even upgrade your processor, 2500K is already in the top tier of gaming CPUs. What I'd recommend:

1) overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz - may require buying a new CPU cooler
2) upgrade the graphics card to R9 290 / GTX 780
3) make sure the PSU can handle 1 and 2
4) buy a 250-500GB SSD, unless you already have an SSD

This would run you half of what you're planning to spend. That $1200+ budget seems completely overkill considering what you already own, if it's just for the components. If you wanted to upgrade your monitor to 1440p, that would change things.
 

jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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I don't think you need to even upgrade your processor, 2500K is already in the top tier of gaming CPUs. What I'd recommend:

1) overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz - may require buying a new CPU cooler
2) upgrade the graphics card to R9 290 / GTX 780
3) make sure the PSU can handle 1 and 2
4) buy a 250-500GB SSD, unless you already have an SSD

This would run you half of what you're planning to spend. That $1200+ budget seems completely overkill considering what you already own, if it's just for the components. If you wanted to upgrade your monitor to 1440p, that would change things.

1)Well I have a Asus P8B75 so overclocking is a no go with my MOBO, so that would have to be upgraded as well. Any suggestions on that?

2)That's a great suggestion, I will probably get the R9 290.

3)The PSU is a Seasonic M12II 620W Modular PSU, should be enough for a slight overclock and the 290 correct?

4)No SSD but was def on my to do list.

The Monitor is fine, I use it for my PS4 as well so the 1080 is the highest I really plan on going.
 

DSF

Diamond Member
Oct 6, 2007
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What are you hoping to accomplish? Your current system is pretty nice, all things considered. Are you finding that with newer games you can't push the settings as high as you like?

If that's the case, lehtv's suggestions are solid.

If I were you I wouldn't do much other than buy an SSD, but I'm OK with medium graphics settings. Some people aren't.
 

mfenn

Elite Member
Jan 17, 2010
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It's not worth upgrading the mobo solely to get an overclock out of the CPU. IMHO it's still plenty fast at stock speeds.
 

jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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Thanks guys, I guess the SSD and waiting is the best route atm. I can always wait for broadwell to come out. As for the video card, would the R9 290 be pretty much upper tier for a while? Should be a good upgrade over my 660.
 
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lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
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Yeah, an R9 290 is a tremendous upgrade over a GTX 660. Could even settle for a 280X.

If you play games that can use more than 4 CPU threads, a possible upgrade path is a Xeon E3-1230 V2 (need to make sure BIOS version is compatible) which is basically an Ivy Bridge i7-3770 with the iGPU disabled. If you sold the 2500K, the net cost would be about $80-90
 

Charlie98

Diamond Member
Nov 6, 2011
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1)Well I have a Asus P8B75 so overclocking is a no go with my MOBO, so that would have to be upgraded as well. Any suggestions on that?

2)That's a great suggestion, I will probably get the R9 290.

3)The PSU is a Seasonic M12II 620W Modular PSU, should be enough for a slight overclock and the 290 correct?

4)No SSD but was def on my to do list.

The Monitor is fine, I use it for my PS4 as well so the 1080 is the highest I really plan on going.

I would tend to agree with Lehtv... the 2500K is a solid processor, I'm still running mine and don't really see any reason to upgrade. Another option is to dump the Asus board and find a Z68 or Z77 board on the FS/FT threads (or eBay, etc...) get an SSD and put a fresh OS install on it, drop in an upgraded GPU and roll. Your PSU is adequate.
 

monkeydelmagico

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2011
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If I were you I'd wait a month and watch the GPU prices. I'm betting prices continue to come down off the ridiculous highs that mining caused.
 

jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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Sorry it's been so long since I updated.

Decided I would go ahead and get 8gb more of ram(newegg still had my same ram on sale).

I am getting a R9 290, as well has a SSD.

Still debating a new motherboard. Trying to decide if it is worth it for my 1920x1080 resolution to overclock my cpu. Just not sure the extra $100 is worth it, any suggestions? I usually am not a big OCer but I have done it before.
 
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jberry0410

Junior Member
May 6, 2014
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SSD + new GPU = Buyer's remorse within weeks

How so? The R9 290 is a huge upgrade from my 660.

Now will the i5 2500K at stock speeds be ok with the card? Or is it advised to overclock(requiring a new motherboard). Which with a new motherboard I coud just make the move to the i5 4670k and a z97 board.

Ugh. decisions decisions. Kicking myself now for going cheap on the P8B75 board.
 

toughtrasher

Senior member
Mar 17, 2013
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How so? The R9 290 is a huge upgrade from my 660.

Now will the i5 2500K at stock speeds be ok with the card? Or is it advised to overclock(requiring a new motherboard). Which with a new motherboard I coud just make the move to the i5 4670k and a z97 board.

Ugh. decisions decisions. Kicking myself now for going cheap on the P8B75 board.

Lol that's why I prefer to just buy the more long-term solution in the rare cases that I do upgrade, because if I go with something cheaper and less productive it tends to run out much quicker than if I go high-end.

This is only for the main components of my build though