Upgrade System Time... Again

[misterlarry]

Hi all. Haven't been on the board much in the last couple of years but I wanted to reach out to the community again for your wide ranging expertise. My current rig is listed in my signature and essentially I would like to know if my plan to upgrade the CPU, GPU, & MB makes sense and whether or not my current PSU will adequately power it all. List of upgrade components as follows:

EVGA 02G-P4-2966-KR GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready SLI Support SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card - Newegg.com

ASUS Z97-A/USB 3.1 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Refresh Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I54690K - Newegg.com - Newegg.com

I'm also adding the following non-core components:

Western Digital WD Green WD20EZRX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

I might drop power consumption a bit by consolidating 1 or 2 of my current 500GB HDs to the new 2TB.

LG 24M45VQ Black 23.6" 2ms HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 1,000:1 - Newegg.com

I do have to check the dimensions in my P182 case because the GTX960 is 1.1" longer than the GTX560Ti. As an alternative, I could get the new 4GB version of this card (much smaller) for around $30 more but it does not have the advanced cooling features. Please see below:

EVGA 04G-P4-3962-KR GeForce GTX 960 4GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card - Newegg.com

As I mentioned, I've been out of the loop for quite a while and I do apologize for my lack of participation. That being said, I would really appreciate any insights that the HWC community might have for me.

Thanks for your help in advance everyone!

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Cptn Vortex]

PSU should be sufficient. The CPU and board upgrades will not be a huge noticeable difference, however I can vouch for the 4690K as being a very capable CPU for all the gaming needs I've thrown at mine. You will get a huge upgrade going to the GTX960 though over that 560ti. If you're on a budget, I'd say just get the GPU right now and maybe a larger SSD if you think your 120 is running low on space. That alone would probably keep you happy for another few years!

 

[MARSTG]

New games are larger and larger, for example GTA V installed is 60 GBs and Titanfall is 50GBs. If you have 2 500GB HDD I suggest you put them in RAID 0, and add the 2 TB for storage. I would opt for the new shorter card but with 4 GB of RAM.

 

[misterlarry]

As per the Capt's suggestion, I plan to add the following SSD also.

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR240GB-G2 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - Newegg.com

I will also likely go with the 4GB GTX960 listed previously, as suggested by MARSTG, as it is way smaller than the 2 GB version.

Again, any further suggestions are very welcome. Thanks.

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[dARqSyDE]

I'd skip the 240GB SSD and go straight for a 480-512GB. It'll serve you better in the long run.

 

[Dzzope]

+1 for gpu bump and if needed storage too.

If your going to get a new screen and you play fast paced games, I'd suggest going for 144hz with ULMB.. Will make a significant difference in game..
Or if you play RPG's or RTS etc and watch allot of movies / do any content creation, you may be better served by an IPS / PLS panel.
If you want to still spend the budget, you could bump up to a 970.

 

[Ravenor]

Looks good, kinda similar to my setup.

 

[MARSTG]

I don't think the transition from 2550k to 4690k will help you much, however, I heard that the transition from Haswell to Skylake will be comparable with the transition from Prescott to Conroe. Clock for clock, Sandy Bridge to Haswell refresh will gain you 20% performance, not worth the money. I would make a partial upgrade where it will count, more likely the GPU and the SSD, but I would go towards a 480-512GB SSD.

 

[Bond007]

I agree with just a GPU/ ssd upgrade. Wait atleast one more gen for a platform upgrade. Maybe make it a gtx 970 to really improve fps.

 

[misterlarry]

Just made a big noob mistake. Bought a 480GB M2 SATA 3 SSD and found out it is not compatible with the Asus Z97-A MB. Apparently the Z97-A supports PCI-E M2 only. That will be an expensive little brick. Any work-arounds?