i5 2500k Upgrading is it worth it

[Cribz]

Hey

Thanks for reading my post and offering me advice in advanced any help is much appreciated.

Okay first off iv'e recently resurrected my gaming PC from the wilderness and was wondering do i need to invest in a new rig completely or tweak it with some upgrades.


Here is the spec :

Intel i5 2500k quad core 3.5ghz overclocked to 4.4
Kingston Hyper x DDR3 1600mhz
MSI GTX 570 OC Twin Frozr III 1280mb
Mobo is a GIGABYTE Z68
Standard 500 gb HDD
In the past iv'e made the mistake of just upgrading without understanding what was actually needed, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction .

Cheers

 

[Burpo]

Not really, your system is still fast enough for most things.. Might want to upgrade the video, but even that isn't bad.. If you plan on using it for more serious work an i7 2600k maybe worthwhile..

 

[Chicken76]

First I'd get an SSD.

Then, depending on the resolution of your monitor(s), I'd upgrade the video card.

 

[showb1z]

Your GTX570 is going to be severely VRAM limited in any recent and upcoming game.
If I were in your situation I'd get a R9 290.

 

[Charlie98]

First I'd get an SSD.

Then, depending on the resolution of your monitor(s), I'd upgrade the video card.

^^^he beat me to it. Get a 256GB SSD, make sure you have at least 8GB RAM. Then see how it does.

Depending on what games you intend on playing (and at what resolution) you may consider upgrading the GPU.

FWIW, I had a leftover Z68 board... instead of getting a newer chipset (Haswell w/Z97 board) I just found a used 2500K... still a very capable chip.

 

[daveybrat]

I have to agree with most comments. SSD first for overall system speed and then a video card upgrade for today's gaming requirements.

 

[Cribz]

^^^he beat me to it. Get a 256GB SSD, make sure you have at least 8GB RAM. Then see how it does.

Depending on what games you intend on playing (and at what resolution) you may consider upgrading the GPU.

FWIW, I had a leftover Z68 board... instead of getting a newer chipset (Haswell w/Z97 board) I just found a used 2500K... still a very capable chip.

Sorry forgot to add i do have 8gb ram , thanks for the help so we saying SSD is first and foremost .

My monitor will do 1920 x 1080 which is what i use .

Basically all i want is to play games recent ones to an acceptable standard and the best way to do it.

Thanks again

 

[showb1z]

SSD won't improve your framerate at all. I agree everyone should have one, but if you want to play recent games at decent settings you need to upgrade your GPU.
Ideally get both though.

 

[Charlie98]

Sorry forgot to add i do have 8gb ram , thanks for the help so we saying SSD is first and foremost .

My monitor will do 1920 x 1080 which is what i use .

Basically all i want is to play games recent ones to an acceptable standard and the best way to do it.

Thanks again

Here's what I would do...

Load up that SSD, run the most demanding game you want to play and see if the quality is acceptable.

I can run Modern Warfare and Battlefield on my old 560Ti reasonably, but my 760 does a marginally better job but with less power and heat (granted, this was when I was at 1600x900, but the differences are still there.) Only you can decide if what you have is acceptable, and if the money spent would be worth it to upgrade.

SSD won't improve your framerate at all.

No, it doesn't, but it improves general PC navigation and game level loading, particularly on maybe a little older/slower machine. It improves your, uh... quality of PC life, if you will.

 

[AtenRa]

Get the GPU first and then the SSD, unless you can buy them both at the same time.

R9 290 is the sweet spot as of now, it will play almost every game at 1080p Ultra and you get Mantle as an added feature to help with your CPU in games that support it.

 

[Cribz]

Here's what I would do...

Load up that SSD, run the most demanding game you want to play and see if the quality is acceptable.

I can run Modern Warfare and Battlefield on my old 560Ti reasonably, but my 760 does a marginally better job but with less power and heat (granted, this was when I was at 1600x900, but the differences are still there.) Only you can decide if what you have is acceptable, and if the money spent would be worth it to upgrade.



No, it doesn't, but it improves general PC navigation and game level loading, particularly on maybe a little older/slower machine. It improves your, uh... quality of PC life, if you will.

Brilliant ill do just that i think , I also have a 700w power supply with regards to upgrading GPU would this cope well enough with a decent upgrade ?

 

[Cribz]

Get the GPU first and then the SSD, unless you can buy them both at the same time.

R9 290 is the sweet spot as of now, it will play almost every game at 1080p Ultra and you get Mantle as an added feature to help with your CPU in games that support it.

I have just been looking at some reviews seems to be spot on , with regards to the GPU and SSD i will probably to both once i pick the right ones , Only problem is there's too many choices ha.

 

[AtenRa]

700W PSU is fine

 

[Dribble]

That was my setup 6 months ago and it ran games at 1920p just fine - not maxed out, but everything still looked pretty good at decent fps. I would echo others comments and get as big an SSD as you can afford, that just makes the whole machine more pleasant to use. Don't know how much memory you've got, but if it's 4gb upgrade to 8 or 16. After that stick a new gpu in - personally I replaced my GTX 570 with a 970 and now everything runs maxed out at very high fps at 1920p.

 

[NTMBK]

CPU is still looking great. I have to echo everyone else, upgrade to an SSD and maybe a more modern GPU- though tbh I would wait a while longer with the GPU, a 570 will still play new games "acceptably" in my opinion.

 

[Cribz]

Cheers for the help everyone Im starting to get a grips with everything now, quick question regarding an SSD is it wise to get a say 250gb one primarily for the OS and a normal HDD for the rest or a larger SSD and mix it with the OS and applications etc.

 

[Zardnok]

It is best to put whatever programs you use the most on the SSD. This means your Operating System and Any Games you want to play. Use the standard HDD to store Music, Movies, and Documents.

My advice is to buy both an SSD and an R9 290 video card. The SSD will make your machine feel more snappy and the 290 will give you Ultra frame-rates in any game you may want to play. You can get an R9 290 with Rebate for $250ish new or around $200 if you want to buy used and a 240/256GB SSD for just over $100.

This would be the best $350 you could spend, but if you want an even larger upgrade, spend another $350ish for a 27" 1440p monitor and let that 290 stretch its legs!

 

[ArisVer]

A 250GB SSD will be fine and if your cash allows it you can get a larger one. As far as the GPU, since Windows 10 will be out before the end of the year and it will be a free upgrade to Win7 and Win8 users, you may want to hold back because newer GPUs with the new DirectX will be out...presumably. It's a long wait but I think if you are relatively happy with what you have, it will be worth waiting.

 

[Charlie98]

I got a Crucial M550 512GB SSD for less than $200... so I put everything on the SSD, but if you are budget-minded a 256GB SSD for most everything and a HDD for other stuff and backups. You will need to remember to leave at least 20% free space on an SSD, or it will significantly slow down, so keep that in mind.

Also, any current mainstream SSD will work for your application... no need to dump money on 'Pro' level drives. The current price leader is Crucial with it's MX100 series, although I have seen very good prices on their M500 and M550 SSD (previous generation) on closeout, to make way for the next MX- and BX-series SSDs. I like Crucial and Intel, but everyone has their favorites and that is just my opinion.

 

[Cribz]

Big thanks to everyone , ill take a look at prices for the SSD and GPU and report back with what i go for and take it from there.

 

[spat55]

Make sure your PSU is a decent model and not a cheap chinese bomb

Get a SSD and if you are mad about gaming upgrade the GPU, if happy at lower settings during games then the GTX 570 will be fine.

 

[Cribz]

Make sure your PSU is a decent model and not a cheap chinese bomb

Get a SSD and if you are mad about gaming upgrade the GPU, if happy at lower settings during games then the GTX 570 will be fine.

Good point through further investigation i don't think my PSU is the greatest around according to what i have just read.

OCZ StealthXStream 2 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

Saying that iv'e had it for just shy of 3 years and had no problems as yet ...

 

[Charlie98]

Good point through further investigation i don't think my PSU is the greatest around according to what i have just read.

OCZ StealthXStream 2 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

Saying that iv'e had it for just shy of 3 years and had no problems as yet ...

Yaa, that's not one that I would rely on. :|

Who made my PSU.