Upgrade advice please. What's really worthwhile?

Hi all

Current spec (Don't laugh - it's done everything I've asked since 2008 up till now)

Gigabyte GA-EX58 UD3R
Intel i7 920 (running at stock)
6gb DDR3 1000
R9 380 gfx 4gb
EVO 850 ssd 250GB (just died only 15 months old still under warranty I think)
Assorted other hd's
We don't talk about the psu.

All was good until the Witcher 3 when I had to upgrade to the R9 380.
Now Deux Ex MD is a bit too much of a stretch. Mostly it plays perfectly well but I'm getting some pretty severe stuttering in the large open areas particularly when turning to face a new direction which is spoiling my enjoyment of what i think is an awesome game.

How much will I need to spend on mobo/cpu to be a significant upgrade?
Would it be worth maxing out the ram on the current mobo (16gb DDR3 2000) instead?
Any other options?? Hopefully not the gfx card.
Budget is as usual as little as I can get away with.

Any and all advice much appreciated.

Firstly, please do look into overclocking your cpu. It'll help to get more out of the gpu, though from what I've read the latest Deus Ex game is a taxing title anyway.


More memory might ease things a bit, but I think your best move is a new board, cpu and memory. Your graphics card should be fine, and it's not something I'd change right now, if not for at least a little while.

I've literally just upgraded from a 3570K + Z77 board to a 6600K + Z107X, which came to around £375 (memory included / thermal paste). I, too, didn't want to spend much as mine wasn't a planned upgrade, so as sourcing a 1155 board wasn't all that easy, I went for the 1151 platform.

If I recall rightly, the Z97 is the oldest but still available platform out of them all, so at least something like that will make the upgrade a pleasant surprise.


I've had a quick bash at putting a few components together:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...cket-1150-ddr3-atx-motherboard-mb-498-gi.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...ocket-lga1150-processor-retail-cp-540-in.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...channel-memory-kit-cmy8gx3m2a2-my-382-cs.html


I guess it's debatable going down the oldest of the currently available platforms, when for a bit more cash you get something with more longevity. However, you still will see a a very nice boost in performance and the bottom line is it's about as cheap a good upgrade you can get (if buying new). Someone may be able to get the price down even further (I'm not experienced at this sort of thing).

One thing to remember is that if you did go for something that costs a little more, then bear in mind that the i5 6600K / 6700K don't come with a stock cpu cooler, where as I think the 4690K does.


A rough guide as to what to expect in terms of performance boost:

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-920-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4690K/1981vs2432

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-920-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6600K/1981vs3503


Is it just those two games that are struggling? Tried lowering settings down a few notches? That's the cheapest option.

Hi
Thanks for your help.

A friend has just offered me an AMD FX 8320 and mobo so I think I'll just go for a ram upgrade to 16gb of something faster. That'll leave me some money for the PSU upgrade should have done years ago.

Most important component in any system is the PSU.