Upgrade advice

SuperSeb

SuperSeb

SuperSeb

Associate
Joined
3 Oct 2004
Posts
103
Hi, i've had my pc for quite a while now and it feels very sluggish. I occasionally get a blue screen crash when playing games but that may be to do with the heat we have been having.

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz 45 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 802MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z68A-D3-B3 (Socket 1155) 43 °C
Graphics
S32D850 (2560x1440@59Hz)
VE228 (1920x1080@60Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (ASUStek Computer Inc) 55 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST31000524AS ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
Optical Drives
No optical disk drives detected
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Power Supply
Antec TRUEPOWER 650
Case
Coolermaster but unsure of the model, I cant see any model numbers anywhere.

Could anyone advise me on what to upgrade? Im thinking motherboard, processor, SSD and RAM.

Ideally I would be spending around £600 but could stretch more if it wouldnt be future proof.

I only use the pc for games and browsing.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
@SuperSeb

is it the 1440p screen or 1080p screen you game at ?

also what games you you play? only recently games starting to take advantage or more cores- least one being as below

https://www.overclock3d.net/news/software/codemasters_reveals_f1_2018_s_pc_system_requirments/1

cheapest solution, slap in second hand i7 2***K and overclock it and add another 8GB of ram and SSD

If you are looking for a core upgrade regardless - comes with free 480gb ssd

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £595.46 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​

but wouldn't gain you to much FPS.. for that its GPU upgrade
 
Thanks for the quick reply.

I use the 1440p for gaming, I know it’s not the best for games but I got it cheap from a friend.

I mainly play Dota 2, a bit of pubg (which takes ages to load) but I’d like to try other games too, mainly interested in fps and mmo.

I will probably upgrade the gpu at some point but if I can fix the sluggishness first that would be ideal.

How do I know if that bundle will fit in my case? Will my power supply be fine? Is there anything else I would need or can I just swap everything over.

Thanks again
 
1440p 60hx is fine for gaming, what I have, although PUGB tends to be a drain so worth doing the Res to 1080p if 980 not hitting 60fps on average .

Worth seeing end of thethe w next Gen Nvidia comes out Q3/4 how pricing of current 1*** series is effected, might be able to pick up a steal .

Board above is same size as your current one, so should swap over .

SSD will be a massive bonus to speeding up everything in your system from Windows load time to games. Might be able to clone your current drove straight onto it
 
SuperSeb said:
Thanks a lot, really appreciate it. I've ordered the bundle you suggested. Do you think the 1080Ti will drop in price then?
Click to expand...

In theory but might take a little longer like previous one as they matched 1070 power.. what will happen is **80 will come in.. stock will go quick , and price will rise ! Why lower prices if supply and demand make newest gen a lot higher the .older stock . Wasn't till 1070 came out and was in good stock that OCUk did killer deals on 980ti
 
Ok I will definitely wait on the GPU then.

I'm making a USB to install windows on the new SSD, do you know if i will be able to just plug in my old hard drive to take all my files from? Will there be a problem because im moving from Intel to AMD? Also will it be a problem because it has windows installed on too?

Thanks
 
SuperSeb said:
Ok I will definitely wait on the GPU then.

I'm making a USB to install windows on the new SSD, do you know if i will be able to just plug in my old hard drive to take all my files from? Will there be a problem because im moving from Intel to AMD? Also will it be a problem because it has windows installed on too?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Should be fine, just had new SSD plugged in when you install windows. Update .

Then add in old hard drive but make sure it's set to boot from new drive and then copy files across

Only issues would be if old PC had HDD in raid - then it's a pain .
 
SuperSeb said:
How do I know if that bundle will fit in my case? Will my power supply be fine?
Click to expand...
Throughout years Antec has had awfully many Truepower models.
Many of them would be completely or extremely dated designs by todays standards.
Though few laters ones would be more up to date.
From age of PC would guess PSU is likely Truepower "New". (TP-650 model number)
Which is rather curious PSU, using DC-DC design, but still having lowish efficiency.

SuperSeb said:
Ok I will definitely wait on the GPU then.
Click to expand...
GTX980 certainly isn't any big bottleneck so waiting is way best option currently.
Again only four cores/threads in CPU isn't good for smoothness of games unless you keep your PC clean with minimal background stuff running.
Even without open browsers etc standard PC has awfully many background processes and softwares starting from AV.
(something never accounted in reviews to minimize number of variables)
 
SuperSeb said:
Ok perfect, should I look into the Intel options that cost more or are AMD as good these days?
Click to expand...
IPC wise Intel is still ahead and will be faster in general for gaming, however it is not the night and day difference like the Intel Core i 2000/3000/4000 series vs the AMD FX days.

For example, for games that would utilise up to 8 cores of more, the 2700x with 8 cores/16 threads will be faster than Intel's more expensive 8700K with just 6 cores/12 thread. I myself is on the same boat considering upgrading from my i5 2500K, but still holding out to see what price will the Intel new 8 cores/8 thread CPU be launched at. Because whilst majority of the mainstream games would utilise up to 8 or more threads thesedays, for niche games such as mmo (that always tends to be more CPU intensive than graphic) could still be using dated game engines that do not utilising more than 2 to 4 threads, so Intel would still have clear advantage for those lighter threaded games and applications over AMD's offering. This is the key reason that as much as I'd like to go for the 2700X, I really want to see how the Intel's 8 cores CPU will performance when they are launch, considering that have the best of the both world with 8 cores, along with higher IPC and can be overclocked to higher frequency.

Update: Just pre-ordered Monster Hunter World for tomorrow's launch...going to see how badly my overclocked i5 2500K gonna get destroyed :p
 
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