Upgrading GPU and RAM

Alex34 · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:13

Hello all,

I am normally a console guy but I haven't really been spending any time on my PS4 in a good while now... getting older I guess. However, PC gaming has kind of peaked my interest a bit due to the large catalogue of games available.

We only have one desktop PC in the house that is being used and it's my wife's photo editing PC. I have a couple games on it that I play once in a while but can't get the most out of the experience due to hardware limitations. We were already looking at upgrading the GPU for more display ports so I thought, why not just get a good gaming GPU and be done with it.

I did a bit of reading and for the price I was looking at either an MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Gaming X card, or an MSI Radeon RX 590 Armor card. Both are similarly priced (£240) but the Radeon seems to be slightly better on paper. The games I like are varied from old legacy games up to shooter games like ARMA, Insurgency and Battlefield. Also looking to purchase Tom Clancy's The Division 2 if I upgrade the GPU.

The current system is:
Motherboard: ASUS X99-S / 64GB RAM capacity, PCI 3.0 x 16
CPU: Intel Core I7 5820K
GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 4GB
RAM: currently 16GB but will be upgrading to 32GB at least
Windows 10 64bit

The question is, which one of the two GPUs mentioned above would be the better or, suggest a better option for the cost if there are better options available?

Many thanks in advance!

heatonpkmassive · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:18

Try and stretch to a 1660 Super and don't waste your money on more RAM if you're gaming.

Alex34 · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:29

I was just speaking to someone and they recommended a "Gigabyte GeForce 1660 Super Gaming" which is £250.

On paper vs real use is two different things and there are far too many GPUs on the market, so to say this is a minefield for me is an understatement of the century. I seriously don't know how these companies make a profit with so many options being produced.

heatonpkmassive · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:47

That's a good shout from that someone, I'd go along with that.

EsaT · 13 Apr 2020 at 20:52

That PC will run out of "muscle/workers" before memory:
Next-gen consoles will have better CPU with stronger cores and third more of them.

So forget RAM and just get better graphics card.
Whose requirements depend on monitor resolution.
If it's actually good for photo editing monitor, its resolution is going to demand GPU power.

Alex34 said:
I seriously don't know how these companies make a profit with so many options being produced.

Nvidia is doing better profits than bank robberer...
By robbing consumers.

Alex34 · 14 Apr 2020 at 12:25

EsaT said:
That PC will run out of "muscle/workers" before memory:
Next-gen consoles will have better CPU with stronger cores and third more of them.

So forget RAM and just get better graphics card.
Whose requirements depend on monitor resolution.
If it's actually good for photo editing monitor, its resolution is going to demand GPU power.

So are you saying the CPU will need upgrading soon as well?

Both monitors are 4K. One is a Dell UP2414Q and the other is a Dell P2415Q. They were purchased for photo editing.

The 1660 Super is £10 more than the RX 590 Armor. If you think Nvidia is over priced then would you suggest something else?

thedandyp · 14 Apr 2020 at 13:02

What's your max budget for just the gpu, £250?
If it's going to be running at native 4k then no gpu under £250 will do a satisfactory job (unless running at 1080p or 1440p). The closet you'd get would be the 5700 on here for around £299, it's a MASSIVE step-up from either a 1660 or a 590.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-19e-pc.html

Alex34 · 14 Apr 2020 at 14:06

thedandyp said:
What's your max budget for just the gpu, £250?
If it's going to be running at native 4k then no gpu under £250 will do a satisfactory job (unless running at 1080p or 1440p). The closet you'd get would be the 5700 on here for around £299, it's a MASSIVE step-up from either a 1660 or a 590.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-19e-pc.html

£250 was my budget but I can go up a bit if I'm no longer buying more RAM.
I was planning on gaming at 1080p and 1440p... the 4K is for my wife's photo editing.

My mother board is PCI 3.0, I thought the 5700 was PCI 4.0? Can that still work with my motherboard? The board is ASUS X99-S.

Grimley · 14 Apr 2020 at 14:47

/\/\/\ Shouldn't be a problem. 5700 supports PCI-E 4.0, its not native AFAIK. Modern PCI-e GFX cards should be backwards compatible with PCI-E 3.0, that standard has been out for 10 years, whereas its replacement, PCI-E 4.0 the only boards that have it as standard right now are AMD X570 & these have been on the Market for better part of a year now.

EsaT · 14 Apr 2020 at 14:48

Alex34 said:
So are you saying the CPU will need upgrading soon as well?

That 5820 is 4th gen Haswell architecture based, whose IPC (instructions per clock) performance has been clearly exceeded by Zen3 and neither are clocks better than in consoles.
Which have 8 cores/16 threads instead of 6c/12t.
With six cores it will do better than all those i7 quads, including "7th gen", but in couple years it's no doubt bottleneck in heavy games.
Now very few games need more than six cores to run at their best.

Alex34 said:
My mother board is PCI 3.0, I thought the 5700 was PCI 4.0? Can that still work with my motherboard? The board is ASUS X99-S.

PCI-express is backwards compatible.
Newer version "client" device will work with older version "host" and vice versa.

Alex34 · 14 Apr 2020 at 15:12

Grimley said:
/\/\/\ Shouldn't be a problem. 5700 supports PCI-E 4.0, its not native AFAIK. Modern PCI-e GFX cards should be backwards compatible with PCI-E 3.0, that standard has been out for 10 years, whereas its replacement, PCI-E 4.0 the only boards that have it as standard right now are AMD X570 & these have been on the Market for better part of a year now.

Thanks.

Alex34 · 14 Apr 2020 at 15:25

EsaT said:
That 5820 is 4th gen Haswell architecture based, whose IPC (instructions per clock) performance has been clearly exceeded by Zen3 and neither are clocks better than in consoles.
Which have 8 cores/16 threads instead of 6c/12t.
With six cores it will do better than all those i7 quads, including "7th gen", but in couple years it's no doubt bottleneck in heavy games.
Now very few games need more than six cores to run at their best.

So basically my PS4 will be more equipped to handle games now than this PC would be with a new GPU?

EsaT · 14 Apr 2020 at 16:04

Alex34 said:
So basically my PS4 will be more equipped to handle games now than this PC would be with a new GPU?

PS4/Xbone had tablet PC level CPU (like Intel Atom) when new.
It's next-gen consoles coming before Christmas which have proper high end architecture CPU.

thedandyp · 14 Apr 2020 at 16:15

Alex34 said:
So basically my PS4 will be more equipped to handle games now than this PC would be with a new GPU?

Completely forget about the current consoles, it's the 'Next Gen' ones that are being referred to here.

You're current cpu/platform is absolutely rock solid, and will easily work with something like a 1660 super, 2060, 5600xt or 5700. The latter 3 being what you should be looking at if you're spending between £250-£300, with the 1660 super being more sensible at around £200, and the 590 at around £160-170.

heatonpkmassive · 14 Apr 2020 at 17:11

Alex34 said:
£250 was my budget but I can go up a bit if I'm no longer buying more RAM.
I was planning on gaming at 1080p and 1440p... the 4K is for my wife's photo editing.

My mother board is PCI 3.0, I thought the 5700 was PCI 4.0? Can that still work with my motherboard? The board is ASUS X99-S.

If you're shifting budget upwards, then a 5700/5700XT would still go fairly well with your system. Plus, you'd likely be able to carry it over to a new system if you upgrade in the next 12-18 months.