New system or just upgrade parts?

squerble

squerble

squerble

Soldato
Joined
13 Apr 2009
Posts
6,567
Location
UK
Hi all,

I have a rig that I'm fairly happy with but I'm looking at what to do next and I think I'd like a bit more performance. My monitor is a 1680x1050 and I'd like to make the bump to 1080p too.

Quick overview of what I have:

i5-3570K @ 4.0GHz, 8GB 1600MHz RAM, Gigabyte Z77X-D3H (Socket 1155) mobo with an EVGA GTX560Ti 448 edition.

The PC handles most stuff will but naturally most of the settings aren't at the highest. At this stage should I be waiting until 5th GEn intel stuff and build a new system or would upping the graphics card in this case warrant enough of a performance boost for the money (presuming I can claw some cost back from selling on the card)?

Cheers
 
Upping the GPU will be enough, the i5 3570k will cut the mustard for quite sometime.
 
A proper overclock on the 3570k (4ghz is so girly on these :D:p:D) and a new graphics card will see you right. You have very little, if anything at all, to gain by changing the cpu and motherboard.
 
What cooler do you have and how much are you looking to spend?

I'd recommend an SSD as well as a new GPU, if you don't already have one!
 
I'm air cooled. It's a Gelid Tranquilo or something to that effect. I'd be tempted to go watercooling in future to push the overclock but I can try some smaller increments for now still on air.

Would bumping to a 760 be worth it or should I aim for a 770?

No SSD at the moment, so I'll certainly keep that on the list.


Edit: As for budget, I'm not sure yet. I guess I have around £150 to spend but should be able to claw some extra back selling on my 560?
 
My i5 3570k on air is clocked at 4.7ghz. ( so look at overclocking yours, I used a Noctua D14 )

Look into a GPU, and SSD.personally,( I would get the SSD first)

As above, what is your psu?
 
i'm still running the rig in my sig at 1080p and i can play most games at high settings with a couple of things lowered (aa settings mainly).

your cpu is much more powerful than mine so i would just upgrade the gpu to a 760 or r280 or similar and you should get nice performance at 1080p.

adding a ssd to my rig made it feel like a new pc so that is something you should consider after a gpu upgrade.
 
I'd prioritise an SSD, made a massive difference to my PII 955 system. Crucial M500 is plenty fast and 240GB should be gettable for £80.

The rest of the money can go on a bargain from Members Market. I'd have thought you could pick up a 7870 LE XT or 7950. Wouldn't bother upgrading to anything less. Don't know about Nvidia, sorry.

I use this to see if an upgrade would be worth it.
 
Gotta be nVidia at this stage - I'm a big FSX user and I'm a beta tester for a new aircraft so I'll have to stay. So a GTX7xx and an SSD. Thanks for all the advice!
 
I'd get a really nice monitor.
At first, this will mean you have to lower settings especially AA to maintain good framerates. But later you can add a better GPU. A really nice monitor can last 5 years +
 
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