Need help upgrading an older PC

[Virsago]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker first time poster. I am looking to upgrading my pc and I am not sure what would be a good upgrade. It is mostly a gaming pc, with some CAD work on the side. The main games I play are D3, FFXIV and DA:I all in 1080p. D3 and FFXIV are fine now (although I need to turn down some graphics on FFXIV), DA:I seems to give my PC a workout though.

My current setup:
Windows 7 Pro
Intel i7 2600K @ 3.4 (I have a stable overclock setting at 4.4 but I haven't used it.)
Asus P8P67 Pro Motherboard
MSi Radeon R 6950
8 gb G-skill 2x4gb DDR3 1600Mhz
120gb SSD
1TB samsung mechanical drive
Corsair 850W PSU (Gift from a friend)

My thought was to keep the CPU the same and maybe upgrade the GPU and maybe get a bigger SSD or upgrade the ram, but I am not sure what would be a useful upgrade.

Thanks in advance

 

[Insert_Nickname]

My thought was to keep the CPU the same and maybe upgrade the GPU and maybe get a bigger SSD or upgrade the ram, but I am not sure what would be a useful upgrade.

Spot-on. Replace the HD6950 with a 970 or 285 4GB and you should be good to go for a few more years. Or perhaps a 290(X) or 980, if you want something faster.

Maybe get a new monitor to go with the new graphics card? Of course depending on what you have now...

 

[lehtv]

I haven't even heard of an R9 285 4GB. 😕

290(X) is more on par with GTX 970 on average. 290 slightly slower, 290X slightly faster - unless it's a GameWorks title where both are slower. GTX 980 is not even worth considering, way too bad performance per cost.

PowerColor R9 290 PCS+ $240 AR
XFX R9 290 DD $260
PowerColor R9 290X PCS+ $290 AR
Sapphire R9 290X Tri-X OC $300 AR
Zotac GTX 970 $308
XFX R9 290X DD $320
Asus GTX 970 Strix $330
EVGA GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 $340 AR

Take your pick. The triple fan PowerColor and Sapphire cards may have trouble fitting in some cases.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You will see very little, if any, payoff by changing to another SSD, unless you are running out of space on the existing SSD.

I'd think the 2600K would yank most games around well, particularly with the available overclock.

What exact model is that Corsair PSU and how old is it?

Depending on how intensive your CAD work is, it may benefit from more RAM, but I wouldn't expect much gaming improvement.

Is your monitor entirely satisfactory?

Of course, if you have a serious upgrade itch and the cost is of little consequence, then.........

 

[Virsago]

Thanks for the responses, the power supply I have is the following: Corsair HX Series HX850 850W. It is about 4 years old. I have an old 24" 1080p 60hz LG monitor, can't remember the model, it's a pretty good monitor, but I will be looking into a new one later this year. Would it be better to get the 970 or the 290/290x (thinking in terms of future proofing).

If I get the R9 290 or 290x would it be worth the wait until the new 390 models come out. I probably won't upgrade until the FFXIV expansion comes out which is June 23rd.

 

[lehtv]

I don't think theres a difference in terms of future proofing between GTX 970 and R9 290(X), as they perform very close to each other. The differences are:

- performance: 6950 <<<<< R9 290 < GTX 970 < R9 290X
- cost: R9 290 < R9 290X < GTX 970
- 290(X) consumes between 70-100W more power than GTX 970, which means 290(X) have higher running costs and tend to run hotter and noisier
- GTX 970 comes with two free games: Witcher 3 and Arkham Knights
- GTX 970 practically has 3.5GB of usable VRAM, R9 290(X) has 4GB
- NVIDIA drivers seem to handle slow CPUs better, doesn't apply to you
- the usual AMD vs NVIDIA differences - FreeSync and Mantle for AMD, and GSync, PhysX, CUDA for NVIDIA to name a few

Then there are brand differences:
- PCS+ and Tri-X are the best coolers out of the bunch
- Asus is the quietest of the bunch
- XFX has lifetime warranty
- EVGA has the best customer service and also has a step-up program, and purchasable extended warranties, and you can fiddle around with the card more without voiding warranty
- Zotac has free 5 year warranty with registration

If you know you're going to go NVIDIA, keep in mind that the free game promo lasts until the end of this month. Otherwise, June 23rd is probably very close to AMD 300-series release date, you might want to check out those as well.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Thanks for the responses, the power supply I have is the following: Corsair HX Series HX850 850W. It is about 4 years old.

I think that PSU is made by Channel Well.

They are capable of making good PSUs, but I haven't seen a review of that particular model. At 4 years of age, it's kind of a coin flip on what to do about it, if anything. For a gaming PC, upgrading it wouldn't be more important than upgrading a video card--but I'd put it ahead of a new SSD or a new CPU.

You can probably find reviews of it online easily enough, but estimating longevity is always a bit of a crapshoot. It's certainly plenty powerful enough.

 

[lehtv]

I think that PSU is made by Channel Well.

They are capable of making good PSUs, but I haven't seen a review of that particular model. At 4 years of age, it's kind of a coin flip on what to do about it, if anything.

Not a coin flip at all. HX series is quality. There's should still be 3 years of warranty on it. Even if you factor in a very small amount of capacitor aging, it's still plenty even for R9 290 Crossfire. So... no point doing anything.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I haven't even heard of an R9 285 4GB. 😕

Could have sworn I saw one, but can't find it. My bad. It looks like we'll have to wait for the 300-series to see Tonga with 4GB.

Nothing wrong with the 290(X) BTW, the OP just struck me as more mainstream oriented with the 6950... 😀

 

[lehtv]

6950 was the equivalent of R9 290 in its generation though

 

[mfenn]

6950 was the equivalent of R9 290 in its generation though

:thumbsup: Right on. The 6950 was the ~$300 "one step from the top" price/performance card when it came out. That's the same place in the product stack as the R9 290.

 

[Virsago]

Yea my 6950 was right up there back when I first got it. My intention when I bought it was to get a second one a few months after, but that didn't pan out. I suppose I have to decide whether or not to wait for the 390 reveal, and see what happens to the 290 prices; or just get the GTX 970 now and get those 2 games for free.

 

[sm625]

I wouldnt even bother upgrading the SSD. Use a tool such as WinDirStat to take a look at whats on your drive. It displays the files on your drive in graphical blocks proprotional to the size of the files. So it is very easy to spot the large files that are consuming all your space. Simply move those files (and related folders if necessary) to the HDD. Last time I did this I found that 1/3 of my SSD was filled with ultraviolet movies that I had downloaded but forgot to delete.