Anything worthy of upgrade, or new rig time??

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

Chris [BEANS]

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Hi all.

Been thinking of building a new rig soon, I've had this one for about five years!

However, it's still actually going pretty well, so I wondered whether it was worth upgrading anything instead?

I know it's possible, but I really do mean is it 'worth' it?

As in, no point sticking in a £500 graphics card if it won't be used to full capacity because it's held back by other components etc etc....

I currently have:-

  • Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
  • Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
  • GeIL Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
  • KFA2 GeForce GTX 670 EX OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • Corsair HX 750W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply

I'm only gaming, and on a 1080 monitor too so no need to play at 4k right now.

Is there anything there that's worth the upgrade, or shall I save my pennies and go the whole hog?

Cheers

Chris
 
A new GFX card, more RAM (do you have a 64bit OS) and an SSD.

Thats all you need to do.

So for a GFX card you have 8GB RX580s for like £239, a 256GB SATAIII samsung SSD is like £80 and more RAM is also like £70-80.

You can oc the cpu if you add a cooler to help bring it upto the same levels of performance as newer cpus.

The motherboard may need a BIOS update to work with newer gfx cards.
 
Agreed with stulid. Something like an RX580 around £240 would be a good choice IMO. You might still be fine with 8GB RAM depending on your games, but 16GB would be nice. I'd just do the GPU upgrade first and see how you get on.
 
I have an SSD, two in fact, one just for the OS (64 bit) and one for steam etc. Plus a storage HDD.

If I can get good performance uplift for just over £300 that's fantastic.

Overclocking is another matter altogether. Haven't done that for a very long time, I'll have to look in to it....

Thanks guys, great news (thumbs up emoji)
 
Right....

Just about to order and I've hit two snags.

Firstly, all RX 580s appear to be sold out?!
Is an Nvidia 1060 an equivalent?

Secondly, my RAM is definitely 1600mhz, but my PC reads it as 1333mhz, I've no idea why?!

If I get an additional 8 gig of 1600mhz, is that going to cause some sort of conflict?
 
Last edited:
Where are you reading the RAM speed?

You may need to setup the ram timing and speed in the BIOS manually or see if you can load the Auto profile.

I think all the minors are buying all the AMD cards.
 
RJC said:
Where are you reading the RAM speed?

You may need to setup the ram timing and speed in the BIOS manually or see if you can load the Auto profile.

I think all the minors are buying all the AMD cards.
Click to expand...
You were right! Had to go into BIOS and enable 'extreme' memory something or other. It's now showing up as 1600mhz.

Checked by going to Run->cmd->wmic memorychip get speed
 
Chris [BEANS] said:
You were right! Had to go into BIOS and enable 'extreme' memory something or other. It's now showing up as 1600mhz.
Click to expand...

I'd disable that XMP though, just before you add the new sticks. Find it's better to add RAM at default motherboard speeds/timings first. Although if needed, a Clear CMOS should sort it out.

Re: GPU - I'd be concerned about GTX 1060 prices rising too, with no supply of AMD to compete. Then again, Vega is coming soon. Hard to say right now. 1060 v 580 do trade blows and 1060 is still faster in some games even if 580 is generally stronger. Unless you had a Freesync monitor, the difference shouldn't matter too much.

This vid shows benches for 27 games (forward to 16:19 for 1080p comparison chart):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6st6QZTDxE

RX 580 2% faster on average. GTX 1060 faster in games like Overwatch, GTA V, Witcher 3.
 
Special offer on the 1060 6gb and free game (ends today check graphics forum area) wont go wrong with that card if playing at 1080p will smash anything you throw at it.

Also clocking the cpu is a doddle just disable the turbo and increase the multiplier (keep eye on cooling) mine will be happy to run at 4.3 all day with out having to change any voltages, very easy to clock.
 
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