Should I Rebuild, or Upgrade?

[napes22]

I built my current PC back in 2011, aiming for a middle of the road gaming PC. It's still running well (despite the case front panel portion of the mobo frying), and I'm thinking of either upgrading a few pieces or going for a full rebuild. I'm a little out of the game, and I'm not entirely sure what's out there and if anything new is on the horizon in terms of new generation of parts.

Should I look to rebuild, upgrade a few pieces, or just stand pat until 2017?

Current Build:

• Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3
• CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K w/ Corsair H60
• RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB 1600
• Case: Corsair 400R
• GPU: SAPPHIRE DUAL-X Radeon R9 2803GB
• PSU: Corsair CX750M
• Storage: 1xCrucial M4 128GB SSD (Windows 10), 1xSamsung 850 EVO 120GB (Games), 1xWD Caviar 1TB 7200 (Data)

Thanks in advance.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Between the AMD, Intel, and nVidia's release cycles, there's _always_ something new on the horizon. Just gotta buy what's right for you when you need to buy. Self-recrimination and buyers' remorse isn't allowed.

Unless you're planning on playing some newer games that will break your 280 (by needing more than 3GB of VRAM, for instance) I'd say nah. Keep what you got until it's not really usable, and then buy the biggest/brightest/best at that time.

Although FWIW, you could just upgrade your GPU. That could be a nice improvement if you're gaming at 1080p or higher. A new GPU would presumably be carried over to your new system when you do a platform upgrade.

What kind of overclock do you have on the 2500k, if any?

 

[whm1974]

Get a much larger SSD and add more memory.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Get a much larger SSD and add more memory.

You could argue the RAM. Depending on the games/OS you run, you might be able to get away with 8GB for a while yet.

ALWAYS get a bigger SSD.

 

[napes22]

Between the AMD, Intel, and nVidia's release cycles, there's _always_ something new on the horizon. Just gotta buy what's right for you when you need to buy. Self-recrimination and buyers' remorse isn't allowed.

Unless you're planning on playing some newer games that will break your 280 (by needing more than 3GB of VRAM, for instance) I'd say nah. Keep what you got until it's not really usable, and then buy the biggest/brightest/best at that time.

Although FWIW, you could just upgrade your GPU. That could be a nice improvement if you're gaming at 1080p or higher. A new GPU would presumably be carried over to your new system when you do a platform upgrade.

What kind of overclock do you have on the 2500k, if any?

I just picked up a 144hz monitor actually. Will my current GPU not really benefit from the 144hz?

Currently no overclock on the 2500K. I planned to do so when I built the system, but never really seemed to need the performance boost. Given my cooler I probably could benefit from it.

 

[napes22]

You could argue the RAM. Depending on the games/OS you run, you might be able to get away with 8GB for a while yet.

ALWAYS get a bigger SSD.

I mainly play CS:Go and Overwatch. I played Fallout 4 for some time and never had any graphical issues or slow downs. The RAM was definitely a thought of mine, but for SSD, will I really benefit from a larger one? I'm nowhere near out of space with the 120GB for Games and 120GB for OS.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I just picked up a 144hz monitor actually. Will my current GPU not really benefit from the 144hz?

I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, not being a competition FPSer myself. But I think the way it works is that for best results, you want to have consistent minimum framerates that match or exceed the refresh rate of your monitor. Doing that at 1080p on a 280 will probably require turning the detail/graphics quality down quite a bit, I'd imagine.

Currently no overclock on the 2500K. I planned to do so when I built the system, but never really seemed to need the performance boost. Given my cooler I probably could benefit from it.

A easy/mild OC (say, 4.0-4.2GHz) might get you another few FPS and probably wouldn't hurt anything.

I mainly play CS:Go and Overwatch. I played Fallout 4 for some time and never had any graphical issues or slow downs.

CS:Go isn't terribly demanding, so that's not a surprise. I was under the impression that Fallout 4 was a bit more GPU intensive than average, but good enough for you is good enough for me.

The RAM was definitely a thought of mine, but for SSD, will I really benefit from a larger one? I'm nowhere near out of space with the 120GB for Games and 120GB for OS.

Nah, I'm just kinda being an SSD fanboi. If you're not out of space, no real reason to upgrade your storage.