Advice On Order Of Upgrades

MutenJoshi

MutenJoshi

MutenJoshi

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Joined
12 Aug 2013
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216
Hi all. When I originally built my PC, quite a few people on here helped me in coming up with the parts and it turned out really well. I've now come to the point where I feel I need to start upgrading my specs. I bought Total War Attila yesterday and my PC can't handle it on full settings. With Total War Warhammer set to come out in 2016, I want to ensure I can run it on full settings. I also built this PC just before the new generation of games consoles came out so demands went up quite a bit just after building my PC.

I'm looking for two pieces of advice really, if anyone wouldn't mind helping me out? First of all what order do you recommend upgrading my parts? E.g. should I look at GPU first to get it up to standard and then CPU, etc? Also, could you recommend some parts that would be good (and obviously compatible with my current hardware)?

In terms of price, I don't want to go overboard (i.e. spending thousands) but, since I am only upgrading rather than building from scratch, I'm in no rush to buy them all at once so they don't have to be cheap pieces of kit either. I could probably afford around £2-300 per month on upgrades but possibly more if it's really worth it (i.e. if it's worth spending £4-500 on something that's miles better, I'd get it and miss out on buying something the next month). I also have a bit of money saved up already but it won't all be available for PC upgrades (could probably set aside an initial few hundred). I mentioned Total War games but I would ideally like to be able to play all games. I plan to get Star Wars Battlefront which would ideally be played on full settings so, as mentioned, if I need to upgrade over the next few months rather than all immediately, so be it.

My current set up is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K @ 3.40GHz, 4 Cores
RAM: Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 Mhz
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
HDD: 1TB
GPU: ASUS GTX670-DC2OG-2GD5 VGA - 2GB
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45-GAMING MOBO

Any help would be very much appreciated... :)
 
CPU should be fine, you could overclock for extra performance. What res do you game at? 970 would be a good upgrade from a 670.
 
BriT said:
CPU should be fine, you could overclock for extra performance. What res do you game at? 970 would be a good upgrade from a 670.
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1080. I was thinking of the 970. This is a stupid question but I don't know a hell of a lot... Could it run in SLI with 670 with it being a different card? And would there be any point in doing so? I've never tried it before since this is the first PC I've custom built. My thinking is if I get a new GPU, my current one will just be sitting around so may as well go to some use.
 
TO be honest no need to upgrade yet. Just as above overclock your cpu it will help in minimal fps quiet a bit. Also I would advice to keep your gtx 670 and wait for pascal gpu's as gtx 670 is about only 15-20% slower which isnt a big deal as it should be enough for 1080p gamin at high to ultra settings.

Also gtx 970 has 3.5gb ram and potentially doesnt support Async (DX12 feature) which increases performance :D

Sli gtx 670 is not a good idea as only 2gb vram so you will be limited in modern games. Just wait for pascal there is not real need for upgrade. I personally got gtx 780 2 years ago and I will be upgrading next year or even 2 depending on how efficient cards will be released
 
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Thanks for your advice. If I put Attila on full, it doesn't run smoothly. I wanted to ideally run it smoothly on Max settings but if it isn't worth upgrading now, then I guess it won't be needed. It does run smoothly on 1080 but I need to drop a couple of settings slightly. Would over clocking my CPU help with this? I've never done it before so is it perfectly safe to do and how do I go about it?

Edit: I'll probably avoid over clocking as I don't know what I'm doing so it won't be worth the risk.
 
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just be happy dropping a couple of settings lol, if you have more money than sense then buy a 980Ti to max the settings for the games you play, If you're smart with your money then just put the money into the bank and save up for a full system upgrade in a year or two.
 
Reality|Bites said:
just be happy dropping a couple of settings lol, if you have more money than sense then buy a 980Ti to max the settings for the games you play, If you're smart with your money then just put the money into the bank and save up for a full system upgrade in a year or two.
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It's not so much having to drop a couple of settings for this game, it's more future games I plan to get which will be more demanding (star wars battlefront etc). While I have money free, I thought it would be worth upgrading now, rather than trying to upgrade when I'll have more financial commitments.
 
1. New GPU. This will depend on your PSU (which is it?) and case (most will take the longest but some won't).

2. 8GB more RAM (if you are seeing usage near max in some games).

3. Bigger SSD to put your games on.
 
MutenJoshi said:
Edit: I'll probably avoid over clocking as I don't know what I'm doing so it won't be worth the risk.
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In which case you wasted money by going for a more expensive unlocked K series cpu and Z series motherboard.

Look into overclocking. It's easy enough to do and there are loads of Haswell overclocking guides. You should get at least a extra 1Ghz out of it if you have a decent cooler. It will really help in cpu intensive games. A 4670k shouldn't need replacing for at least 2-3 years yet and the performance gains for each new generation seem to be getting smaller and smaller. We are even advising people with 2500k's to stick with what they have and that's 2 generations older than your 4670k.
 
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Danny75 said:
1. New GPU. This will depend on your PSU (which is it?) and case (most will take the longest but some won't).

2. 8GB more RAM (if you are seeing usage near max in some games).

3. Bigger SSD to put your games on.
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The time has come to finally upgrade for gaming.

Step 1 - new case (thinking lian Li liancool one?) and a new monitor?

Step 2 - do I then go to graphics cards? Is an rtx2070-super overkill or not enough?

My MSI motherboard, from what I can tell, doesn't support Ryzen. Is my cpu OK for now?

Do you agree with GPU after monitor and case? Should I switch mother boards to prepare for a CPU upgrade or will the i5-4670k be OK for the time being?

What about the rest of the specs? Is there an order I should look at upgrades in?

XFX 850w XT Series Bronze... Is my PSU btw
 
MutenJoshi said:
The time has come to finally upgrade for gaming.

Step 1 - new case (thinking lian Li liancool one?) and a new monitor?

Step 2 - do I then go to graphics cards? Is an rtx2070-super overkill or not enough?

My MSI motherboard, from what I can tell, doesn't support Ryzen. Is my cpu OK for now?

Do you agree with GPU after monitor and case? Should I switch mother boards to prepare for a CPU upgrade or will the i5-4670k be OK for the time being?

What about the rest of the specs? Is there an order I should look at upgrades in?

XFX 850w XT Series Bronze... Is my PSU btw
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Hello again,

Four years on, you're looking at a CPU upgrade. You should buy the CPU and motherboard at the same time. The DDR4 RAM you could arguably buy now in case it shoots up in cost even more. 3200 C16 or 3600 C17 16GB.

You could do with a new PSU to better protect your new components. It's your choice.

Which GPU do you have these days? GPU choice should be based around monitor (resolution/refresh rate) choice.

Lian-Li now have the Lancool II.

As for order now - I'd probably go with CPU/motherboard/RAM/PSU and a case if you want a new case. Wait on the GPU and monitor just a bit (end of March). There'll be news on new cards.
 
Danny75 said:
Hello again,

Four years on, you're looking at a CPU upgrade. You should buy the CPU and motherboard at the same time. The DDR4 RAM you could arguably buy now in case it shoots up in cost even more. 3200 C16 or 3600 C17 16GB.

You could do with a new PSU to better protect your new components. It's your choice.

Which GPU do you have these days? GPU choice should be based around monitor (resolution/refresh rate) choice.

Lian-Li now have the Lancool II.

As for order now - I'd probably go with CPU/motherboard/RAM/PSU and a case if you want a new case. Wait on the GPU and monitor just a bit (end of March). There'll be news on new cards.
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It's been a while!

I've got two options. Wait it out and save up (about £1k) and do a complete new build. Or update gradually? If I do that, it'd mean not upgrading my graphics for a while but not updating all in one go seems to be limiting me because of the MOBO?

What do you reckon? Go all out on a new build in a few months time for approx 1k? Or go step by step? I can afford maybe 300/400 every couple of months so would be a while either way to get to my end goal.

As for the lancool, I don't like the look of the lancool ii but the one looks quite smart to me. All opinions of course!

So wait it out and go complete new build or go step by step?

I still have the 670. I do have a razer blade 15 base model (2018) which arguably beats my desktop but I don't want that to be my long term fix for gaming.

My current monitor is
ASUS VG248QE 24 Inch

So quite outdated

If you could spec me up a new build or upgrades, I'd really appreciate it?
 
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I'd probably save up more to get a new system and start finding buyers for the old system once you're close to budget target (could end up with a little extra that way). Unless you want to keep or give to someone.

The monitor is 1080p 144Hz so not terrible. Depending on the games you play and the settings you use, you're probably not getting the best out of it. A monitor that would improve it would cost about £350+ (1440p 144Hz+ IPS Freesync).
 
MutenJoshi said:

If you could spec me up a new build or upgrades, I'd really appreciate it?
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Just as a rough guide (as there'll be newer items or price difference by the time you buy):

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £994.04 (includes shipping: £13.20)



And sell old system + monitor and grab a new monitor.​
 
Danny75 said:
Just as a rough guide (as there'll be newer items or price difference by the time you buy):

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £994.04 (includes shipping: £13.20)



And sell old system + monitor and grab a new monitor.​
Click to expand...


What do you think about upgrading in two stages? Effectively as you originally suggested? First stage as below. I'll have about £600 end of March to spend so I was thinking use my gtx670 and SSD and HDD with my new build for now (from end of march). As soon as I can afford an rtx2070, add that in to near enough complete the build (is there much of an advantage to not using my existing storage?). Then finish everything off with the monitor?

I originally was going to suggest the Ryzen 7 - 8 core. It's £115 more but wanted to see if that would be worth the extra money? When I've done a little digging (please correct me if I'm wrong) I'm under the impression a Ryzen 5 is the sweet spot and a Ryzen 7 is probably a little bit overkill for a gaming pc? More of a nice to have? Same seems to be the case for 6 Cores vs 8 Cores?

Stupid question but since I have a new motherboard, do I need a new copy of Windows? My current build isn't Windows 10 so maybe worth upgrading the OS anyway?

 
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Can do it that way as well... just thought if you were going to save up more, then you get a better idea of total budget and how much you can assign to what. But it's fine.

Hopefully there'll be something better than RTX 2070 £350 in the offing.

You can use existing storage no problem.

Try upgrading to Windows 10 for free on current system. If it works, link the licence to a Microsoft account, and it should allow you to activate it with the new motherboard.
 
Danny75 said:
Can do it that way as well... just thought if you were going to save up more, then you get a better idea of total budget and how much you can assign to what. But it's fine.

Hopefully there'll be something better than RTX 2070 £350 in the offing.

You can use existing storage no problem.

Try upgrading to Windows 10 for free on current system. If it works, link the licence to a Microsoft account, and it should allow you to activate it with the new motherboard.
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That's great to hear on all counts. I've just ran the parts through pc part picker to check for any compatibility issues and had the following messages. I'm not too sure what they mean in great detail but would it be anything to worry about?

Just want to say too that I really appreciate all the help you've given me. I think I'll go with the initial upgrade and get the GPU later on (April). It'll end up £1000 either way but will help me not see that much go out in one go haha!

Warning messages:

  • Warning!Some AMD B450 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Matisse CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.
  • Note:Some physical dimension restrictions cannot (yet) be automatically checked, such as cpu cooler / RAM clearance with modules using tall heat spreaders.
Can't see the bottom one being a problem. Can you see the top warning being an issue?

If not, I'm pretty much set on my build! Just a short waiting game for the money! Thanks again!
 
MutenJoshi said:
That's great to hear on all counts. I've just ran the parts through pc part picker to check for any compatibility issues and had the following messages. I'm not too sure what they mean in great detail but would it be anything to worry about?

Just want to say too that I really appreciate all the help you've given me. I think I'll go with the initial upgrade and get the GPU later on (April). It'll end up £1000 either way but will help me not see that much go out in one go haha!

Warning messages:

  • Warning!Some AMD B450 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Matisse CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.
  • Note:Some physical dimension restrictions cannot (yet) be automatically checked, such as cpu cooler / RAM clearance with modules using tall heat spreaders.
Can't see the bottom one being a problem. Can you see the top warning being an issue?

If not, I'm pretty much set on my build! Just a short waiting game for the money! Thanks again!
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The tomahawk max comes ryzen 3000 ready out the box so no worries there.
The arctic freezer wont give you any ram clearance issues especially for just 2 modules.
 
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