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Should I upgrade and to what?

sze5003

sze5003

Lifer
I've had my desktop built since 2011 and its running great except for games I feel it could be getting long in the tooth as time goes by. Playing games like witcher 3 I can see it starts to show its age. I used to crank all settings to the highest snd not mess around. Although that's the only game I've played on there in quite some time.

Looking at my sig, would now be a good time to upgrade it and what parts are worth replacing ? I haven't been up to date on parts lately. I also do mess around with ROMs and emulators for android but I feel that's more memory related.
 
CPU's old but good. GPU's a little dated but not bad - it's basically an R9 280X. I'd wait a month, then maybe upgrade to one of the new GPUs.
 
You should be able to squeeze another 300 Mhz out of the 2500K without risk to it. Whether it would make a difference, I couldn't say with certainty -- you be the judge.
 
So I should probably upgrade the gpu next month? I'll have to look and see what to go with. I'm not a fanboy of any brand, I usually go for best performance for the money.

Hopefully CPU will last me some more. I was thinking with everything being 4 years old I would need all new base components.
 
piasabird said:
Might want to wait till skylake comes out if you are considering Intel.
Click to expand...
When is that coming out? I mean I would need a new mobo anyway if I upgrade the processor. So I guess the parts I'd be considering to change would be GPU, mobo, processor. Doing it all at once or piece by piece is the question as to what would be best.
 
sze5003 said:
When is that coming out? I mean I would need a new mobo anyway if I upgrade the processor. So I guess the parts I'd be considering to change would be GPU, mobo, processor. Doing it all at once or piece by piece is the question as to what would be best.
Click to expand...

A GPU upgrade will probably be the most bang for your buck - since you obviously buy high end gear (7970) it'd be a good idea to wait a bit, since AMD is releasing new high end cards soonish and there will be some market shakeout and price adjustments. (Hopefully.) :awe:

A 2500k @ 4.2GHz isn't going to be bottlenecking you anywhere, not really, until somebody creates a game that is just crazy-super-threaded. But I don't know if Witcher specifically falls into that category. I do know that the overall difference between a 2500k (Witcher 3 minimum) and 3770k (Witcher 3 recommended) at stock speeds is not huge. Your overclock should (?) make up for it.
 
dave_the_nerd said:
A GPU upgrade will probably be the most bang for your buck - since you obviously buy high end gear (7970) it'd be a good idea to wait a bit, since AMD is releasing new high end cards soonish and there will be some market shakeout and price adjustments. (Hopefully.) :awe:

A 2500k @ 4.2GHz isn't going to be bottlenecking you anywhere, not really, until somebody creates a game that is just crazy-super-threaded. But I don't know if Witcher specifically falls into that category. I do know that the overall difference between a 2500k (Witcher 3 minimum) and 3770k (Witcher 3 recommended) at stock speeds is not huge. Your overclock should (?) make up for it.
Click to expand...
I remember trying to overclock to 4.25 and it wasn't stable. Can't remember what it was working at without issues but I'm pretty sure 4.25 was a bit too high if I remember correctly.

When I bought the 7970ghz I spend nearly $500 on it alone and I didn't mind because I could play anything with max settings. I'm surprised to see the nvidia 980 for a lot less now. I don't know if I'd get the latest of the late amd card due to price being new but I'd probably go with high end right below the newest.
 
What is your monitor resolution for gaming? But, even without knowing that I think the idea of waiting for the next AMD GPU release is the way to go - then just pick the sweet spot in price/performance for your resolution as prices settle into their new ranges.
 
riversend said:
What is your monitor resolution for gaming? But, even without knowing that I think the idea of waiting for the next AMD GPU release is the way to go - then just pick the sweet spot in price/performance for your resolution as prices settle into their new ranges.
Click to expand...
Its a 22" inch monitor I usually play at 1080p resolution. Any rumors when the new amd cards will be out?

I figure the 290x will drop in price by then. The 280x looks like a rebranded version of my card with higher speeds.
 
sze5003 said:
When is that coming out? I mean I would need a new mobo anyway if I upgrade the processor.
Click to expand...

Skylake is supposed to be out in the latter part of the summer, August-September.

At introduction, the top models are said to be:

i7-6700K 4.0/4.2 Turbo
i7-6700 3.4/4.0 Turbo
i5-6600K 3.5/3.9 Turbo
i5-6600 3.3/3.9 Turbo
 
people are too hung up over internals. monitors/headphones/mice/keyboards/chairs are the things you physically interact with and it's not a bad idea to put some consideration into upgrading those things too
 
Ichigo said:
people are too hung up over internals. monitors/headphones/mice/keyboards/chairs are the things you physically interact with and it's not a bad idea to put some consideration into upgrading those things too
Click to expand...
Yea but I like my crappy chair and I can buy one anytime. I don't use headphones or need crazy keyboards or mice. So the internals I may not be able to upgrade whenever I want, never know what could happen at any given time, unexpected expenses, etc.
 
You are getting the itch in the worst of times - right before some quality hardware launches. Now, granted, that is usually the case when you are looking at upgrading - something always is on the horizon - but join the '2500k and holding' club like me and put that money away for another 6 months.

I actually did a minor upgrade this year, going from a 7970 to a 290x. I was really after a 290 to keep the costs down, but that Powercolor PCS+ for $270 just forced me to rethink my plan. I then retired the 23" TN panel for a 27" VA and that will be it for me for at least another year.
 
My current system, s775, was built in 2007. I recently swapped my e8600 for a q9550, got rid of all my spinning HDs, went SSD and got rid of my old 5770 and got an r290 for cheap. Also added another 4gb of ram and this ancient s775 plays GTAV fully cranked and 1920x1080 and barely hiccups. I have also cranked DAO: inquisition and it doesnt hiccup either. Youd be surprised what can keep your system going. For me it was the r290 and SSDs, not so much the CPU as the e8600 was a beast but GTAV required a quad core.
 
WT said:
You are getting the itch in the worst of times - right before some quality hardware launches. Now, granted, that is usually the case when you are looking at upgrading - something always is on the horizon - but join the '2500k and holding' club like me and put that money away for another 6 months.

I actually did a minor upgrade this year, going from a 7970 to a 290x. I was really after a 290 to keep the costs down, but that Powercolor PCS+ for $270 just forced me to rethink my plan. I then retired the 23" TN panel for a 27" VA and that will be it for me for at least another year.
Click to expand...
Yea no CPU upgrade for me until later. I would need a new mobo anyway. Hanging on to the CPU.

How is the 290x? Is it a relevant upgrade? I guess I'll wait to see what they release in june.
 
The key to gaming today, and I have been doing this for years, but I don't buy any current AAA titles. I only buy older games that run like butter on my older setup, and that way I push off obsolescence for years.

I finished Skyrim last month, and earlier this week finished Sniper Elite 2. The only game that pushed my rig hard and made me upgrade was Company of Heroes 2, which is just a pig of a game that even a Titan can't get 60fps, and later a heavily modded Skyrim did in my 7970, so my 290x upgrade was not as worthwhile for my needs as a gamer who updates yearly.

To me, the 7970 to 290x was hardly noticeable. All my older titles played fine on the 7970. Now if I were to be playing AC:Unity, TW3:WH or Project Cars I could notice that upgrade and appreciate it more. But games seem to demand more GPU than CPU, so I plunked down my $$ and decided to only upgrade the GPU for the time being.

SZE, if you play current games, you will need to dump more money into your rig - its as simple as that. With marriage, 2 young kids and age 47 fast approaching, I don't have the time that I once had to game, but I still enjoy playing, just not to the fanatical extent that I once did. Its a lot easier on the wallet not having to drop $400 on a video card every 3 years too !!
 
Unfortunately I usually play AAA games or new games if they catch my interest. But I'm also one to go for the best value for money. I don't like upgrading every year. I'm kind of glad its been about 4 years since I built the PC. Let's see what amd comes out with next month.
 
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