To Upgrade or not to upgrade

[vultusprime]

Hi

My pc specs are:

i5 2500k 3.3ghz (stock speed)
Asus P8P67 MB
8GB DDR3 Ram
Asus GTX 570
x2 1Tb HDD
PSU Seasonic X-750W
Win 7 pro 64 bit

I'd like your advice on the feasibility of future upgrade.
This system is almost 2-1/2 years old, I plan on keeping it for another 2 years or so before buying a new one. But for the time being it stays put, (I've just played metro last light on high and it performed pretty well).

My idea was to simply upgrade to a new vga card instead of getting a new PC 2 years later, in order to extend its gaming life a little longer. A GTX 670 or 680, a GTX 770 or even a 780. By then the prices would have come down a bit.

Do you think this is worth considering 2 years down the line or should I do it earlier?
Would a newer and more powerful VGA cause some bottleneck with my, by then aging, CPU?
Would my PSU be enough?

Basically, the whole point is to save money by upgrading rather than changing the whole system.

 

[Seba]

If you are asking about upgrade in 2 years vs. new system in 2 years, then there is no point in debating this now.

 

[RussianSensation]

Get a solid after-market air cooler such as Thermalright True Spirit 140 (assuming your tower can fit a cooler with 170mm height), or Scythe Mugen 4. This will allow you to overclock the CPU from 3.3 to 4.4-4.6ghz.

After that, you are ready to go for any 20nm GPU.

As far as your 570 goes, I'd sell it while it still has value and get a stop-gap card with at least 2GB of VRAM. HD7850 or HD7870 for $150 are good options.

Otherwise, if you are an occasional gamer and your card runs the games you play just fine, just keep it until you have to upgrade.

 

[DigDog]

i would keep the hardware as it is until something (cpu, gpu, ram .. ) starts to hurt. You cannot predict future systems requirements, so trying to future proof is a non-starter. Wait until you really feel like you need a new part .. and then ask yourself if you need a new system or not.
Oh and do the OC thing like russian said^

 

[Silverforce11]

umm.. 2500K at 4.6ghz is still top notch considering Ivy and Haswell aren't much faster clock for clock.

In about 2 years, we'll prolly still be at the same plateau on CPU performance. Just compare the jump in IPC since SB to now and the average OC speeds, it aint much at all. I look at my 2500K and feel ZERO desire to even bother with Haswell.

CPUs keep their age quite well, GPUs tend to go obsolete much faster.

 

[vultusprime]

How much improvement in gaming would I see in reality, not in the benchmark tests, by overclocking to say 4.2 or even 4.4Ghz?
Would an OC and a VGA upgrade in 1 to 1-1/2 years give my gaming machine an extended lease on life? If I only upgrade the VGA card, would that cause bottleneck?

 

[monkeydelmagico]

We can't predict what the gaming gods will bring us in two years. If you just got done with Metro last light and were happy why worry?

 

[JimKiler]

How much improvement in gaming would I see in reality, not in the benchmark tests, by overclocking to say 4.2 or even 4.4Ghz?
Would an OC and a VGA upgrade in 1 to 1-1/2 years give my gaming machine an extended lease on life? If I only upgrade the VGA card, would that cause bottleneck?

a video card upgrade would definitely keep your current system viable for gaming for a while. I still have a Phenom II X4 955 and i slapped in a Radeon 7770 (low end) and I am still playing video games. Yes I could get more speed if I upgraded to a better CPU but i am not having issues either and a new video card is going to give me more frame rates than a new CPU would any day.

 

[Leyawiin]

Get a solid after-market air cooler such as Thermalright True Spirit 140 (assuming your tower can fit a cooler with 170mm height), or Scythe Mugen 4. This will allow you to overclock the CPU from 3.3 to 4.4-4.6ghz.

I have a Thermalright TS 140 on a Phenom II X4. Excellent performance for an air cooler. O.P., as far as your PC in general goes, I'd get a good CPU cooler as Russian suggested, OC the i5 and OC the GTX 570. Take stock of the performance you then have. It may be enough to keep you satisfied a good bit longer. If not, swap out the GPU for a better new one (because your CPU is fine).

 

[Sunburn74]

I have a similar PC to yours. A 2600k at 4.4 and a gtx 570 are inside my box. I too am feeling the upgrade itch.

My recs to you are over clock your processor to around 4.4 to 4.6 (not a significant voltage increase over stock is needed. FYI right now I'm just 0.25v over stock and my temps are amazing) upgrade your graphics card to anything in the 250 to 300 dollar range and sell off your old card for 150 on eBay. I see one month used under warranty 770s on eBay for 260 shipped which is crazy low. Or just grab a 280x.

As a kicker you can use that 150 to invest in a nice ssd. I don't think buying a new system in two years will be significantly faster than those simple changes.

As for me I already have a nice solid state drive setup. I'm currently just trying to figure out the optimal time to by a new gpu as the 570 is getting a bit long in the tooth.

 

[Attic]

I'd stand pat with where you are at and wait for 20nm.

Make sure you have sufficient cooling in your system to get the 2500k to 4.0-4.5ghz+ in order to mate well with 20nm gpus. Thermalright heatsinks are great and the ty 140 fan is quiet and pushes good air.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Get a solid after-market air cooler such as Thermalright True Spirit 140 (assuming your tower can fit a cooler with 170mm height), or Scythe Mugen 4. This will allow you to overclock the CPU from 3.3 to 4.4-4.6ghz.

After that, you are ready to go for any 20nm GPU.

As far as your 570 goes, I'd sell it while it still has value and get a stop-gap card with at least 2GB of VRAM. HD7850 or HD7870 for $150 are good options.

Otherwise, if you are an occasional gamer and your card runs the games you play just fine, just keep it until you have to upgrade.

I agree with this, but the 570 is probably only worth ~$90... I'd probably hold out until 20nm and keep the 570 as a backup or physX card.