Upgrading current Rig Opinions Needed

[sze5003]

My current PC is in my signature. It's been 5-6 years since I built it. Running fine, no issues.

I feel it's time to upgrade some parts. Obviously I think the PSU will be fine.

I want to wait for the new GPU's this summer and reuse my hard drives and ram possibly. Ram isnt expensive so it can always be replaced any time.

So what should I start with while I wait for the graphics cards to come out? Doing it piece by piece now will leave me more money for when the GPU is out.

Any recommendations on motherboards or processors I should be looking at?

Mostly gaming at 1080p although I may get a larger monitor during the summer, not 4k though unless it's a hell of a deal.

 

[Smoblikat]

Honestly your rig looks fine. Intel hasnt released a faster processor than the 2500K yet, so its pointless to upgrade that unless you have a specific application that requires more threads. Your GPU is also fine for 1080P, im using a 7970 and have no issues, but you could look at either buying a second 7970 or getting an R9 290X/780Ti if you want to do some sort of upgrade. Maybe throw 8gb more RAM in it too, thats a huge upgrade if you play games like Ark that eat through RAM for some reason.

 

[UsandThem]

Honestly your rig looks fine. Intel hasnt released a faster processor than the 2500K yet, so its pointless to upgrade that unless you have a specific application that requires more threads. Your GPU is also fine for 1080P, im using a 7970 and have no issues, but you could look at either buying a second 7970 or getting an R9 290X/780Ti if you want to do some sort of upgrade. Maybe throw 8gb more RAM in it too, thats a huge upgrade if you play games like Ark that eat through RAM for some reason.

+1

I'd wait one or two more Intel cycles (Skylake E coming this fall). If you are able to play your games at 1080p fine, I'd throw in another stick of ram and call it a day.

l'm still playing games on a 7950 at 1080p with mostly medium settings. I understand that after a person has a rig for a while, you get that upgrade itch. I'd just wait a little longer and let the new GPUs hit the market this year, and see how AMD's Zen CPU performs when it hits sometime around Q4 this year, and what Intel's Kaby Lake (current estimate Q4 this year), and then Cannonlake sometime next year (current estimates Q2).

If AMD is actually able to put an competitive product in Zen, Intel might actually be forced to offer a higher performance product than what we got going from Haswell-E to Skylake (not a big performance jump outside of overclocking headroom going from i7-4790k to i7-6700k).

It should be an interesting year in between all the new GPU and CPU releases.

Also, it isn't recommended to buy parts and sit on them. If you end up having a defective part, instead of returning it to the retailer (often times free shipping if you have Prime or Shoprunner), you would have to deal with the manufacturer RMA department which often takes much longer, you likely will get a refurb unit back, and you pay for shipping to them.

 

[sze5003]

I was thinking of going with a i7 6700, and then a gtx 1070 later this summer when it's out. If anything more ram is a given. Assuming its better than anything amd comes out with in June.

If I get a new monitor past 1080p then I'd consider a gtx 1080. But for now it would be a waste.

If I buy ram now when upgrading later I'll need to get ddr4 instead.

I play games like Witcher 3, thinking about picking up doom, and other new releases that will be out later.

 

[UsandThem]

I was thinking of going with a i7 6700, and then a gtx 1070 later this summer when it's out. If anything more ram is a given. Assuming its better than anything amd comes out with in June.

If I get a new monitor past 1080p then I'd consider a gtx 1080. But for now it would be a waste.

If I buy ram now when upgrading later I'll need to get ddr4 instead.

I play games like Witcher 3, thinking about picking up doom, and other new releases that will be out later.

Yeah, it just comes down to your gaming wants/needs. I think Doom and Witcher 3 will play fine on your system (not a high settings). Before deciding on a GTX 1070, I'd wait until actual reviews come out and see how it performs.

I was unimpressed with the Founders Edition GTX 1080 (renamed reference card) reviews that were just released, but until I see some reviews on the Asus, EVGA, MSI, and Gigabyte versions, I'll withhold any final buying decisions.

 

[sze5003]

Yeah, it just comes down to your gaming wants/needs. I think Doom and Witcher 3 will play fine on your system (not a high settings). Before deciding on a GTX 1070, I'd wait until actual reviews come out and see how it performs.

I was unimpressed with the Founders Edition GTX 1080 (renamed reference card) reviews that were just released, but until I see some reviews on the Asus, EVGA, MSI, and Gigabyte versions, I'll withhold any final buying decisions.

I can play Witcher 3 on almost mostly ultra / high settings at 1080p. I know I won't be able to for long with other games.

I'm going to wait for gpu reviews anyway so that's why I was thinking upgrading CPU and RAM, mobo now

 

[UsandThem]

I'm going to wait for you reviews anyway so that's why I was thinking upgrading CPU and RAM, mobo now

I guess it would come down to if you want to overclock or not, and what you want to spend.

If you do, get a i5-6600k or i7-6700k, and a z170 motherboard of your choice.

If not, get a i5-6500 or i7-6700, and a h170 or z170 motherboard of your choice.

DDR4 - The best combo of performance and price is DDR4 2666....but you can go higher if you want (I think most current boards support up to DDR4 3400). But real-life performance gains after DDR4 3000 aren't that great compared to the higher price you pay outside of synthetic benchmarks.

 

[sze5003]

I haven't over clocked my 2500k either but I got it so I could be able to and even got the hyper 212 evo cooler just since it was a deal.

I've kept that CPU this long so the 6700 makes sense. Or I could wait until the 980ti prices drop and get either a 1070/Polaris equivalent or 980ti on sale and see how that does with the i5 2500k.

 

[UsandThem]

I'm not sure how much 980ti prices will drop. I was thinking of picking up a used 980ti when the GTX 1080 was released, but a factory overclocked 980ti holds its own against the newer card.

Unless the GTX 1070 turns out to be a good card that performs close to the 980ti, the prices might not drop too much.

The next 1-2 months will be interesting to see:

1. If AMD cards like the 390 will decrease in price.

2. What the 970, 980, and 980ti will decrease to. Microcenter already moved their EVGA 980ti cards out a few days ago at $475 before the new GPU launch. Other retailers are still charging pretty much full price right now.

 

[sze5003]

I'm not sure how much 980ti prices will drop. I was thinking of picking up a used 980ti when the GTX 1080 was released, but a factory overclocked 980ti holds its own against the newer card.

Unless the GTX 1070 turns out to be a good card that performs close to the 980ti, the prices might not drop too much.

The next 1-2 months will be interesting to see:

1. If AMD cards like the 390 will decrease in price.

2. What the 970, 980, and 980ti will decrease to. Microcenter already moved their EVGA 980ti cards out a few days ago at $475 before the new GPU launch. Other retailers are still charging pretty much full price right now.

Yea it will be interesting to see what happens. If the 1070 is just as good as a 980ti, prices on the 980 should drop. I think people were expecting the 1070 to base around $389.

I could just wait and buy a gpu only then if my processor is fine wait for the next Intel release. The 6700 is a good processor and I would be keeping it just as long as I've had the 2500k.

 

[UsandThem]

Yea it will be interesting to see what happens. If the 1070 is just as good as a 980ti, prices on the 980 should drop. I think people were expecting the 1070 to base around $389.

I could just wait and buy a gpu only then if my processor is fine wait for the next Intel release. The 6700 is a good processor and I would be keeping it just as long as I've had the 2500k.

Yeah, I would just pick out a GPU when things settle, overclock your 2500k a little, and maybe do a full upgrade next spring. That way you will see what Zen will do in Q4 this year, and see what Intel's Skylake-E refresh does this fall/winter.

Your 2500k with a good GPU will keep you gaming fine until then.

 

[sze5003]

Yeah, I would just pick out a GPU when things settle, overclock your 2500k a little, and maybe do a full upgrade next spring. That way you will see what Zen will do in Q4 this year, and see what Intel's Skylake-E refresh does this fall/winter.

Your 2500k with a good GPU will keep you gaming fine until then.

It's about 5 years old now you think over clocking it would fine? I know they loose their potency for over clocking after some time.

 

[UsandThem]

It's about 5 years old now you think over clocking it would fine? I know they loose their potency for over clocking after some time.

There's still quite a few users here still rocking a system with an overclocked 2500k, holding out until it is too slow to play the their games. You will be fine. Just watch your temps.