Advice on which part to upgrade

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 11:40

So just a few years ago I spent just over £1000 on a gaming PC

Motherboard - Z97 Gaming 5
CPU - i5 4690k
GPU - GTX970 TWIN FROZR
RAM - 16GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE PRO

Oh and I have a 1080p monitor

here is my predicament, I just got AC: Origins & the Nvidia optimising feature is telling me that optimal for my specs is basically everything on the lowest setting?! I was surprised not to mention annoyed that a rig I spent over £1000 3 years ago at most is no longer capable of running a game that a PS4/Xbone can run, I even tried playing the game & FPS will drop to as low as 20 on medium settings, what part of my PC is bottlenecking the rest? What would you guys recommend upgrading? Thanks in advance

BongoHunter · 20 May 2018 at 13:15

I wouldnt pay to much attention to Nvidia util - they have a vested interest in selling you a new card! what happens when you set things up yourslef in game?

If you do want to upgrade....
Could do the CPU to a i7-4790K to give yourself 4 extra threads - but this will be an expensive upgrade and probably not worth the cost, will make a difference, but not a huge one.

You could overclock your current system if you havent already - thats kind of free and will give you some more perf.

Only other option would be a graphics card upgrade unless you want to spend big money on new CPU/Mem/Mobo...

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 14:06

I've tried setting things up myself in-game but as I said I'm not getting a smooth experience, some stuttering and fps drops even when the settings are on medium/high, what also confuses me is when I'm adjusting the graphics settings in-game there is a meter that shows you how much of your GPU you are using & I'm using around 2,500mb out of 4,096 so it's not like the GPU is being pushed to it's limits, at the time of building my PC I was under the impression it was far more powerful than the ps4/xbone but again, I'm struggling to run this game smoothly on decent graphics settings, what GPU would you recommend? ideally one that won't be outdated in 3 years time like my current GPU. :/

BongoHunter · 20 May 2018 at 14:09

Totally depends on you budget really

1070TI or 1080TI

But new Nvidia cards will be out in a few months...

BongoHunter · 20 May 2018 at 14:11

Update Nvidia drivers and have a look at this article:

Nvidia GTX 970

For 60fps on a GTX 970, you will first want to turn off one of Origins’ most thirsty features: volumetric clouds. These are beautiful and create some stunning skyboxes, but if we are truly honest they are pretty dispensable. Set fog, water, and screen space reflections to medium, and everything else to high, and you should be able to achieve 60fps without spoiling the beauty of Ancient Egypt too much.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/assassins-creed-origins/assassins-creed-origins-pc-graphics-performance-4k

Edit - that was first hit on google for "AC Origins settings for GTX970", might be better articles out there.

tamzzy · 20 May 2018 at 14:14

your 4690k would probably be the limiting factor for ac: o tbh

Pocah · 20 May 2018 at 14:43

Your CPU is still a very competent CPU. There is no doubt that replacing either the CPU or the GPU would help, but I think that replacing the GPU is the best money spent. The GTX 1070 is very significantly faster than the 970. I would aim for getting a 1070 or even 1070ti.

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 14:44

Thankyou, I best start saving for a 1070!

southernorth · 20 May 2018 at 14:47

Blancy91 said:
Thankyou, I best start saving for a 1070!

It might be a better idea to just wait. Whilst nothing is confirmed, Nvidia are expected to announce their next gen of GPUs fairly soon (June/July)

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 14:50

I can't even afford a 1070, there's no way I'll be able to afford the latest card. To be honest if I knew I'd be spending up to £500 for a new GPU after 3 years I might have stuck to console

matt1 · 20 May 2018 at 14:51

I also feel the graphics card is where you would see the biggest gains and holding on for the new Nvidia cards to be announced in the next few weeks (hopefully).

matt1 · 20 May 2018 at 14:51

Blancy91 said:
I can't even afford a 1070, there's no way I'll be able to afford the latest card. To be honest if I knew I'd be spending up to £500 for a new GPU after 3 years I might have stuck to console

Or buy a second hand 1070 on release of the new cards for less.

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 14:57

I've been told by multiple people that buying a 2nd hand GPU is a no-go given the risks involved

Blancy91 · 20 May 2018 at 15:00

Ideally I didn't want to have to fork out hundreds more in order to keep up with the latest games & at this point I can see myself being forced to spend another £1000 on components in order to play the latest games over a few years time. At this point I'm starting to realise why consoles are still so popular...

passifid · 20 May 2018 at 17:11

Blancy91 said:
Ideally I didn't want to have to fork out hundreds more in order to keep up with the latest games & at this point I can see myself being forced to spend another £1000 on components in order to play the latest games over a few years time. At this point I'm starting to realise why consoles are still so popular...

tbh I was happy 4k gaming on a 4770k and a r9 290 on tomb raider..
change the settings in game, check to see what the limiting factor is and if it really is the 970 then you have a better graphical experience than console anyhow.

orbitalwalsh · 20 May 2018 at 17:36

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070Ti Gaming 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £424.99
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 1070 EX OC 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £349.99

Total: £774.98 (includes shipping: £0.00)

BongoHunter · 20 May 2018 at 17:48

Have just tried AC Origins on a GTX 970 at 1080p - more out of curiosity than anything else (as its one of the only titles I've got on xbones as well)

Plays fine with only a couple of settings turned down (Coffelake i3, 16GB RAM, GTX 970), Im getting about the same frames on the 970 @ 1080p as I do on my 1070 @ 1440p

WThunder<3 · 20 May 2018 at 18:01

Woah, awesome stuff. I wish i have a money to builda new unit!