Should I Upgrade Parts or Rebuild?

[napes22]

I put together my current build back in December of 2011, so needless to say, many of my parts are likely outdated at this point. I've pre-ordered Fallout 4, and starting to realize that my current PC may struggle to play the game even at medium settings.

Below is my current build - is it worth upgrading any parts, or is the PC too outdated and new parts may end being bottle-necked? I was thinking about getting a new video card and overclocking my processor). I'd prefer not to rebuild completely, and wouldn't want to spend more than $400 total to upgrade.

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K (not overclocked) with Corsair H60
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws 8GB 1600
GPU: Sapphire 6950 2GB
Case: Corsair 400R
PSU: CX750M PSU
Storage: 1xCrucial M4 128GB SSD (OS), 1xWD Caviar 1TB 7200 (Data), 1xSamsung EVO 850 120GB (Games)

Thanks.

 

[maddogchen]

buy game, play it.

if lag, upgrade video card

if lag, overclock cpu

 

[mvbighead]

I'd say a video card should do nicely for you. The 2500k is a decent CPU, and while you could be CPU limited at uber high settings, I would really think that for most situations your CPU is more than adequate.

 

[napes22]

I'd say a video card should do nicely for you. The 2500k is a decent CPU, and while you could be CPU limited at uber high settings, I would really think that for most situations your CPU is more than adequate.

Thanks for the advice. I was looking at an R9 280 as a modest upgrade if I were to make the jump. I figure this would hold me over until my next build. Should I go higher?

 

[napes22]

buy game, play it.

if lag, upgrade video card

if lag, overclock cpu

That's pretty sound advice actually, and a lot less stressful than worrying about what to do.

 

[adamantine.me]

Yeah that build is ripe for a new GPU to be dropped in. Grab a 980 or one of the new AMD cards - whatever the best deal is on Black Friday. You'll be good for another 2, 3 maybe even 5 years. CPU shouldn't need overclocking.

 

[lehtv]

I'd get a GTX 970 and OC the 2500K to about 4.2-4.4

 

[Charlie98]

I'd get a GTX 970 and OC the 2500K to about 4.2-4.4

That's what I did last year, in lieu of upgrading to a whole new platform, it still works very well, even considering it's age. Your PSU can handle pretty much anything short of SLI/Crossfire (and even then...) and the rest of your specs are fine for what you have.

OP, I would get a simple CPU cooler, something like the CoolerMaster 212 Evo and manually OC your chip to an easy 4.0GHz... it's quite capable of that without problems. Do not use Gigabyte software to OC your chip. There are a few of us still running the Gigabyte Z68/Z77 boards, they are pretty easy to OC, just start a thread and we can walk you through it.

EDIT: I just realized you already have a Corsair C60 CPU cooler... nevermind the aftermarket air cooler.