Thinking about an upgrade..Help!

Timmeh82 · 4 Apr 2018 at 23:44

Hey all, seems like a few years since I spent money on any components, and my rig isn't holding up as well as it used to in newer games.. my setup is as follows:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor
Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit X2
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo CPU Cooler
Corsair Carbide 200R ATX Case - Black
OCZ-PETROL 128Gb SSD
Seagate 3TB 3.5" SATA HDD

I'm surprised it's lasted me so long, although at the time it was a relatively expensive build. Any ideas on what I should upgrade? Would one of the newer Nvidia cards blow me away with it's performance compared to my current card? I could probably stretch to a 1060 if it would be a big performance boost in games?

From what I understand upgrading the CPU will in turn mean I need to buy new motherboard and ram. Is it worth it at this point? Or could I just get away with upgrading the GPU? Bearing in mind I built this in 2013!

Space Monkey · 4 Apr 2018 at 23:51

What PSU do you have?

From your current spec, I'd overclock the CPU (if it's not already) and upgrade the GPU to the best your happy to afford, so a 1060 would go great. If you then still want more then consider a new CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade?

[EDIT] What monitor and resolution do you use?

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 00:06

Space Monkey said:
What PSU do you have?

From your current spec, I'd overclock the CPU (if it's not already) and upgrade the GPU to the best your happy to afford, so a 1060 would go great. If you then still want more then consider a new CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade?

[EDIT] What monitor and resolution do you use?

Thanks Space Monkey

Without cracking my case, I recall it's a Corsair 750w PSU. CPU isn't overclocked at the moment, but the CPU cooler I have is pretty good I suppose and it has been overclocked in the past.

Using a Samsung 330HS monitor, so running at 1080p no plans to go above that as yet.

mrbazmondo · 5 Apr 2018 at 00:10

GPU - 1060 or RX580. The 1060 will use less power.
Another SSD for the games you use the most.

Space Monkey · 5 Apr 2018 at 00:16

Timmeh82 said:
Thanks Space Monkey

Without cracking my case, I recall it's a Corsair 750w PSU. CPU isn't overclocked at the moment, but the CPU cooler I have is pretty good I suppose and it has been overclocked in the past.

Using a Samsung 330HS monitor, so running at 1080p no plans to go above that as yet.

PSU should be good to go, and at 1080p the GTX 1060 or RX 580 as mentioned above would be great, though try and get the 6GB version of the GTX 1060 if your budget allows?

Write down the temps your currently getting on your CPU at idle & under load (both gaming load & stress test load) this'll give you an idea on how well your CPU cooler is doing & whether or not you need something better before overclocking?

tamzzy · 5 Apr 2018 at 00:26

i would get a 1060 6gb to replace the 7950, the performance increase should be nearly double.
and needless to say, overclock the 4690k
then if you're still not happy with the performance, then do a platform upgrade, as you can carry the 1060 over to the new build.
although the 4690k is getting a tiny bit long in the tooth, it's still no slouch either - i wouldn't be so quick to discard it

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 00:59

Yeah sounds like a good plan guys, thanks. This 7950 is quite power hungry and loud right now

I'll probably stick with my bare bones and just upgrade the card. Any recommendation on which card in particular as in bang for buck right now?

tamzzy · 5 Apr 2018 at 01:06

Timmeh82 said:
Any recommendation on which card in particular as in bang for buck right now?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WindForce OC 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £289.99

Total: £299.89 (includes shipping: £9.90)

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 01:14

Just remembered, I replaced the board with a cheap board when it failed about a year ago. Currently using this board: Asus B85M-E LGA1150 Motherboard

Guess that may change things, as it's a pretty crappy board and probably not capable of a good overclock?

tamzzy · 5 Apr 2018 at 01:20

Timmeh82 said:
not capable of a good overclock

can't overclock at all, unfortunately.
only z-series boards (in your case z87/z97) can overclock

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 09:20

tamzzy said:
can't overclock at all, unfortunately.
only z-series boards (in your case z87/z97) can overclock

Thought as much.. Can get a Z87 for around 80 notes but is it worth it for the overclock? Or would I be able to keep stock and run the 1060?

tamzzy · 5 Apr 2018 at 10:48

I'd jsju run it stock and save the 80£ for a future upgrade

Space Monkey · 5 Apr 2018 at 11:28

tamzzy said:
I'd jsju run it stock and save the 80£ for a future upgrade

Agreed, if you're planning to upgrade very soon, though if you'll not upgrade for another couple of years, I'd go for the new mobo and overclock the CPU

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 21:45

Yeah, I've got £500 burning a hole in my pocket right now, so might go with the 1060 and a replacement board that I can overclock. Any recommendations for a good cpu cooler?

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 21:47

Also, how does this card compare to the Gigabyte?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-30b-ea.html

My mate has the same one and raves about it

JediFragger · 5 Apr 2018 at 21:48

Timmeh82 said:
Any recommendations for a good cpu cooler?

The one you have isn't awful imo, and you'd be spending £50+ for an extra 0.1Ghz which will mean nothing in fps terms. Get a good card and you'll be flying

Timmeh82 said:
Also, how does this card compare to the Gigabyte?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-30b-ea.html

My mate has the same one and raves about it

It's good and the warranty is top-notch. A good choice :cool:

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 22:20

Cool. Can anyone recommend a good socket LGA1150 board that will overclock well? I'm guessing it will be an ebay jobbie, don't think you can buy that socket now on most sites

Also, my memory is 2133MHz but I've never got it to reach that for some reason.

lee32uk · 5 Apr 2018 at 22:36

Timmeh82 said:
Cool. Can anyone recommend a good socket LGA1150 board that will overclock well? I'm guessing it will be an ebay jobbie, don't think you can buy that socket now on most sites

Also, my memory is 2133MHz but I've never got it to reach that for some reason.

The Gigabyte Gaming 7 and Asus Maximus VII Hero are two that spring to mind. They might be stupid prices though for boards like these 2nd hand.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-7-rev-10#ov
https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/overview/

As for the Ram have you got xmp enabled in the bios ?

Timmeh82 · 5 Apr 2018 at 22:39

lee32uk said:
The Gigabyte Gaming 7 and Asus Maximus VII Hero are two that spring to mind. They might be stupid prices though for boards like these 2nd hand.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-7-rev-10#ov
https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/overview/

As for the Ram have you got xmp enabled in the bios ?

Are they not for socket 1151 only?

lee32uk · 5 Apr 2018 at 22:42

Timmeh82 said:
Are they not for socket 1151 only?

No they are both LGA1150 on the Z97 chipset. Just click on specifications