How long should my Current Build Last?

[Blue03si]

Hi Everyone. New member here! 1st post!

 

I was recently forced to downsize my PC as I lost my desk and office space thanks the the arrival of our first child. Love the kid to pieces, but hate my new little desk in the corner of the dining room. My old case was too big to fit into the desk (Original Antec Performance One) so I needed to down size. Had a mis-step where I transferred my PC guts into a Thermaltake Urban S31 which fit in the desk.... but didn't allow adequate ventilation because it juts barely fit. Transfered the guts again to a new much smaller case, Cooler Master N400. Was able to transfer everything except the my 5.25" fan controller... did a few upgrades at the same time. New fans and a new GPU.

 

How do you think I can get by with my current system gaming at 1080p? I forgot how much I loved building PCs and moving the guts around to new cases kinda gave me the itch for a new build. I'm trying to talk my self out of it though until I need it.

 

Current System:

CPU: AMD FX-8350 @ 4Ghz

CPU Cooler: Antec Kuhler H20 620 w/ 2 Corsair SP120 Performance PWM fans in Push/Pull Config mounted in case as exhaust

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth 990FX (rev 1)

Ram: 16GB ( 4x4gb) Corsair Vengance DDR3 1600

Video: XFX R9 390X (previously had 2x Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 in crossfire)

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D THX PCIE Fatal1ty Champion

Power Supply: Corsair HX750

SSD: Samsung 850 Evo - 500gb

HDs: WD Black 4TB, WD Black 2TB, WD Black 1TB

Optical: LG Bluray Burner

Case: Cooler Master N400

Case Fans: Front Intake - 1 SP120 Performance and 1 SP120 Quiet. Top Exhaust - 1 SP120 Performance

 

 

[Braegnok]

Welcome to OCC,.. your hardware looks fine for gaming @ 1080p. I'm not familiar with your cpu cooler, how are your temps on all your hardware while gaming ?

Edited May 20, 2016 by Braegnok

[ccokeman]

For 1080 that build will be fine. You will give up some FPS with the AMD chip but other than that you should be good. The Kuhler 620 did well when we tested it but just about any cooling other than a hardcore water setup is going to struggle when cooling an FX chip.  

[Fight Game]

Hello and welcome.  As always, the answer is, it depends on what you're doing.  And even then, it's hard for us to say.  If it's gaming, it depends on several factors like how the game is programmed, and very personal decisions that we can't make like what you feel is smooth enough.  Some people can play their games at 40fps and be fine while others think they need 100+.

[Blue03si]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm hoping I can get by with another two years... sounds like it should be doable and 1080p. I don't have room for a monitor bigger than the 24" screen I have now, so that's where we will cap it. Sorry for the late replies also, restricted to 1 post a day until i make it to 10 approved posts it looks like.

 

Hello and welcome.  As always, the answer is, it depends on what you're doing.  And even then, it's hard for us to say.  If it's gaming, it depends on several factors like how the game is programmed, and very personal decisions that we can't make like what you feel is smooth enough.  Some people can play their games at 40fps and be fine while others think they need 100+.

I'm fine with anything above 30fps with the graphics cranked to 11. That's what I consider playable.

 

For 1080 that build will be fine. You will give up some FPS with the AMD chip but other than that you should be good. The Kuhler 620 did well when we tested it but just about any cooling other than a hardcore water setup is going to struggle when cooling an FX chip.  

I knew that the AMD chips tend to run hot but didn't quite realize it was that bad. My main reason for upgrading from the Crossfire HD 6950 setup was partially driven by how much heat the damn things put off. I had the CPU auto overclocked to about 4.4 using the auto function in the bios and was having a lot of stability issues. Dropped it down to the stock clock speed and the CPU heat dropped, but the graphics cards were still cooking and I was still having stability issues. Changed the case, updated the fans, and got the R9 390X. Part of the reason for the new GPU was to hopefully bring down the over all case temps. Upgraded fans in hope to do this as well. I was hoping to start learning how to over clock the FX manually instead of the auto option... but not sure what that will do for temps.

 

Welcome to OCC,.. your hardware looks fine for gaming @ 1080p. I'm not familiar with your cpu cooler, how are your temps on all your hardware while gaming ?

Those are great questions... 

 

- Here is a link to the product page for the cooler... http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=2768&pid=17&lan=usit's pretty old, probably one of the first few AIO water coolers, but i've been using it for years and have seen no reason to change it out thus far.

 

- So far I am still pretty new at over clocking and haven't got everything figured out as far as temp monitoring. Is there a good program that can data log temperatures? So far I've only been peeking at the Asus AI Suite II which tells me the temps at various points on the MOBO as we as the CPU. But not sure what its doing when I'm gaming.

[SpikeSoprano]

I find >open hardware monitor< goof for amd chips, it's free and will show voltages as well as temps for most mb's.

[RHKCommander959]

You should be able to pump the 8350 up to at least 4.6ghz for more performance. 5 if you really try, that sabertooth is a decent motherboard. That antec is decent, but a single 120mm rad will be pretty warm and limit your overclocking. Might want to look into a double AIO or build your own. I've done some pretty cheap water cooling in my past

 

everything else is looking good. I'm still rocking LGA 1366 since about 2009 so longevity is possible with the right platform. Not that manufacturers are pushing for that anymore. And of course I chose to upgrade parts here and there. Generally it is the graphics card you will have to upgrade down the line

[IVIYTH0S]

Really all you need for games is a good graphics card, which you have. The rest can be ridden out far longer, and at 1080P, that 390X should be easily capable of driving 30FPS or more for some time! My friend still can play games over 30FPS with a Core 2 Duo and a 660Ti on a 1080P monitor.

[Blue03si]

I find >open hardware monitor< goof for amd chips, it's free and will show voltages as well as temps for most mb's.

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I took a look at it over the weekend and will give it a more in depth try when i get a chance.

 

You should be able to pump the 8350 up to at least 4.6ghz for more performance. 5 if you really try, that sabertooth is a decent motherboard. That antec is decent, but a single 120mm rad will be pretty warm and limit your overclocking. Might want to look into a double AIO or build your own. I've done some pretty cheap water cooling in my past

 

everything else is looking good. I'm still rocking LGA 1366 since about 2009 so longevity is possible with the right platform. Not that manufacturers are pushing for that anymore. And of course I chose to upgrade parts here and there. Generally it is the graphics card you will have to upgrade down the line

 

Same here, little upgrades over the years. I've been very happy with the platform so far. I've been rocking the sabertooth motherboard since probably 2012, i had to get it because when I bought my first HD 6950 card it covered all the sata ports on my old motherboard. I probably had the PII X4 965 from 2010 and swapped it out in 2014 for the FX chip. I honestly didn't really see as much as a performance boost in the FX chip as I was hoping for, but if I can make it last for another 2+ years I'll be happy. If i can get it up to 4.5 and stable on the Antec Kuhler I'll be thrilled. Supposedly my N400 case can fit a 240mm radiator on the side, but half of the radiator would be right against the hard drive cage, so it would have restricted airflow. But its defiantly an option in the future.

 

Really all you need for games is a good graphics card, which you have. The rest can be ridden out far longer, and at 1080P, that 390X should be easily capable of driving 30FPS or more for some time! My friend still can play games over 30FPS with a Core 2 Duo and a 660Ti on a 1080P monitor.

 

Good to hear. I agree with you the limiter now seems to be more GPU than CPU. Hopefully the 390X can hack it... and if needed in two years I can re-evaluate and either pick up a second card cheap for cross fire or see what the latest and greatest tech is.

[Blue03si]

Welcome to OCC,.. your hardware looks fine for gaming @ 1080p. I'm not familiar with your cpu cooler, how are your temps on all your hardware while gaming ?

 

So I was running open hardware monitor last night while playing Starwars Battlefront. I saw max cpu core temps got to 59.4. Does this mean my cooler is working as its supposed to or should I be worried that my cooler might be on its last legs. I've had this cooler for about 4 or 5 years now... so not sure how long its life span is. I keep coming across 60C as the max OK temp for this CPU.

[Sizzor]

Your build is fine for 1080p gaming , it will last a 2 years or so.

[SpikeSoprano]

Your temp is fine for that cpu when gaming, if you were to run prime or another stability program it would most likely go over the max with your cooler but if it stays under 60 while gaming I wouldn't worry about it.