What's the better hardware upgrade path?

[cmdrdredd]

My 3570k is 5 years old and I have been considering my options in terms of upgrading or building a new PC. I want some opinions as to what the bigger benefit would be. My real question is how long the 3570k at 4.5Ghz would remain viable vs the GTX 970s and whether the benefits of being able to use USB 3.1 and the newer and faster m.2 SSDs with more cores and threads on the CPU would be a better overall benefit than a GPU and memory upgrade. I can say that in some new games I feel that I'm being held back either by my 970s, my memory, or a combination of things. However, if I do a big GPU upgrade to something currently high end and get more memory I will be unable to build a new system around it for a while. If I build a new system I will reuse my 970s for now. I wish I could do both but at the moment it's not in the cards.

Option 1) Build new with a new motherboard, new CPU(considering Ryzen 1700x),m.2 SSD, DDR4 etc.
Option 2) GPU Upgrade and memory upgrade(move from 8GB to 16GB). I'm just not sure if a 3570k is somehow a bottlekneck or will become one in the near future for something like a 1080ti. I know a 1080ti is probably overkill for most and it's expensive but I'd rather be done with SLI and think I'd have the best chance at avoiding an itch for more GPU power.

If I do option 1 I get a boost for things outside gaming and can benefit from all of the new standards and be ready for a GPU upgrade when I am able. If I do option 2 the benefit is mostly limited to gaming which I'd say comprises about 80% of my time outside the standard email and web browsing stuff but I'd have to start from scratch with a new build in the future at some point anyway.

 

[sze5003]

Hmm yea that's a tough choice. People were saying the 6700 could be bottlenecking the 1080ti too but I don't believe it so much yet.

As new games come out they for sure will use more cpu power. Bf 1 for example uses quite a bit of the CPU as I noticed when I got my 1080ti.

Do you do more gaming or work? If you do a lot of processing ryzen would be nice. I would for sure go from 8gb to 16gb.

I've been thinking of going 32 gb but I can't confirm if I can run 4 sticks in my mobo because I don't want to get rid of the two 8gb sticks.

If you can wait until August coffee lake should be out or whatever they call it now.

I am definitely happy with my 1080ti and would never run SLI since I've always bought the best I could afford for my resolution.

I got my mobo sometime last year so if I want coffee lake in the summer I may need a new mobo..I just haven't kept up with the processor thread too much.

I do agree that the processor you have now is a bit old but I kept my 2500k for close to 4 years too without issues, just upgrading memory and gpu as I decided to go from 1080p to 1440p.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Oh I didn't realize Intel's next stuff would be in august. Still wouldn't be able to build a new system and get a high end GPU at the same time though. Same question would apply then but there would be new parts to consider and maybe different pricing.

 

[sze5003]

Yea you will need to decide because by August we may have a new line of Gpu's but I doubt the 1080ti would need to be changed if you got one now.

The way I see it now is go to 16gb, get a 1080ti and just save up for a new mobo if needed when coffee lake comes out. Unless you want to wait for amd and see what they come up with by end of the summer.

I mainly game on my PC and work from home when I want to a day a week but even then I can't use my powerful pc to actually complete work because I'm logged in to my work PC through a secure VPN and the only thing the work PC has that's better than mine is a Xeon processor..then again that's at least 5 years old since I've been working there.

 

[Smoblikat]

Another option would be to get a 3770K, im using that and in no way am I CPU bound. Running it at 4.4, 16gb RAM is nice, 32 is nicer. Id say ditch your current SSD RAID array, grab a single 512gb drive, get an M.2 one if you can and use it to boot, up your rig to at least 16gb RAM and sit on whatever funds you have left over until AMD's ryzen 2 comes out, that should hopefully disrupt prices enough to make anything intel is offering a relevant purchase, especially in the used market. Your 970's should have enough power to last you through at least another generation or 2, wait until 1080Ti's are around $250 and scoop one up then.

EDIT - Just realized youre using a gene V, doesnt that only have 2 PCIe slots? Both of which being occupied by your 970's would make using an M.2 drive pretty impossible, youll have to stick to SATA.

 

[DaveSimmons]

m.2 won't make much if any difference for gaming compared to a SATA SSD. 16 GB might matter in some games but buying old RAM seems like a waste.

If you lean towards a new CPU + MB + RAM, do wait for August. If nothing else prices for Ryzen and the 7700K will probably drop a bit more. Work on your oldie and indie backlog

 

[Valantar]

What resolution and refresh rate do you game at? Unless it's 1440p >60Hz or 4k, a 1080Ti is overkill. On the other hand, doing a platform upgrade and keeping your 970s will probably net you very little extra game performance, regardless of what you go for.

I would buy a 1080 (non-Ti, unless you play at the resolutions/refresh rates above) and put aside the remaining cash for a platform upgrade down the line. There's always a new and attractive CPU coming, and as long as you get a middling OC out of your chip it's still more than okay.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Do you plan on selling your old kit? 970s are on eBay for ~$180 apiece, so out-of-pocket on a 1080Ti would "only" be ~$300.

Some games don't scale well with SLI, so a single higher-end card (and the corresponding drop in power use, temps, etc.) are, imho, likely to be a Good Thing™.

Christmas would be a good time for a platform upgrade: since you're replacing a bunch of parts (DIMMs, Motherboard, SSDs, maybe PSU), the little deals and coupons here and there can add up, and maybe the still-forthcoming Ryzen chips (Threadripper and APUs) will exert some downward pressure on Intel's pricing. The era of 4-thread CPUs being good value for gaming is probably over, though - plan on 4c/8t or better.

 

[Kadarin]

Personally, I'd hold out for Intel's Covfefe Lake Walletripper line. However, what you actually do really depends on your budget.

 

[Charlie98]

I'm still running a 2500K in my game rig... when the GTX970 came out, I got one of those and found another set of used Samsung RAM to match what I had (making it 16GB.) I don't have any problems playing the somewhat dated games I do (BF4 is probably the newest.) I would say update your GPU situation now and just wait for what comes next as far as CPU/mobo. You can always take your GPU to the next PC. I don't know if I would recommend finding more RAM, particularly Samsung RAM, if you can find it... although you would probably be able to sell it in any event when you moved to a new platform.

I will say, sadly, that I think the Sandy/Ivy Bridge days are numbered as far as gaming goes... if you expect to play the new stuff, but the 2500K in my main desktop is still as solid as it was when I built it almost 6 years ago for general PC use.