Help! So many choices

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 16:36

Ok first of all thanks to everyone for the support whilst trying to decide on my next upgrade this forums ROCKS!!! e-erm

Anyway, I have decided to buy a Samsung 840evo SSD but I have been given these suggestions overall and I wanted to see what you guys think.

i5 or i7 processor and SSD

Like the idea of longevity and faster loading times but I could get a CPU later in the year

or

ATI R9 280X GPU and SSD

I kinda like the idea of better graphics which someone said I quote "would be Night & Day" in terms of improvement.

What do you guys think?

My Rig:
Motherboard GA-Z77-D3H
CPU: Intel i3 2120
Coolermaster 650w
Gigabyte GZ-G2 gaming case
8Gb Corsair Vengence 1600Mhz
GPU: Nvidia Zotac 660Ti
HDD's: Seagate 2TB 7200rpm, Hitachi 160gb 7200rpm, Seagate 160gb 7200rpm
Monitor: AOC 23" 2353PHz 3D monitor Resolution(1920x1080)Full HD
Windows 8.1 64Bit
Asus Phobeus ROG Soundcard

systemerror · 3 Jan 2014 at 16:40

I think the 280x will be a good upgrade not sure about night and day. I use an i3 for my work PC and think it's not bad tbh. I would probably put my money on ssd and GPU now and CPU later in the year if you can afford it

setter · 3 Jan 2014 at 16:56

If it was me personally id opt for a quad core cpu first. For games a quad is a bit of a must theese days.

SiDeards73 · 3 Jan 2014 at 16:59

Buy it all imo... BUY IT ALL!!!!!! MWahahahahahaha!

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:16

SiDeards73 said:
Buy it all imo... BUY IT ALL!!!!!! MWahahahahahaha!

I actually could buy it all, but to be honest there be no bedroom action for at least a year if I did.....lol

Difficult choice really.

What benefit is the processor going to give me?

Martini1991 · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:18

The R9 280X is a pointless upgrade over a 660Ti, the R9 280X is better... But you've got a bottleneck as it is with the CPU.
Slap whoever told you it's a night and day difference, in actual usability, depending on your resolution, (1080p) you're unlikely to see any difference, I had a 660Ti at launch as a sample.

The SSD is a must though.

Get an i7, then get a better GPU later in the year, a 20nm one.

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:21

Ouch, I was almost about to order the GPU SSD. Help!!!!!!! it's getting even more complicated.....arrrrrgh

Martini1991 · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:21

Get an SSD, get an i7.

Later in the year we'll see 20nm GPU's, buy one.

Here's a 660Ti review, an R9 280X is a 7970.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6159/the-geforce-gtx-660-ti-review

OvEr_KiLL · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:22

upgrade the processor first and get the samsung evo ssd! everything else is fine for now and then save up and get a better gfx eg. 290 or 780

setter · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:24

Martini1991 said:
The SSD is a must though.

Get an i7, then get a better GPU later in the year, a 20nm one.

An ssd would provide a very signifigant boost, on the cpu front an i5 quad would be more than enough id say. Id only reccomend the i7 if doing tasks that will use all threads, or for multi gpu gaming.

Martini1991 · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:25

setter said:
An ssd would provide a very signifigant boost, on the cpu front an i5 quad would be more than enough id say. Id only reccomend the i7 if doing tasks that will use all threads, or for multi gpu gaming.

I figure the extra money left over from not buying a GPU means an i7 is viable, but an i5 is perfectly fine still.

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:26

setter said:
An ssd would provide a very signifigant boost, on the cpu front an i5 quad would be more than enough id say. Id only reccomend the i7 if doing tasks that will use all threads, or for multi gpu gaming.

I have two flight sims BF4 and sports games which I know are probably not multithread do you reckon an i5 would do it

setter · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:29

Bf4 is multithreaded, but im not sure on flight sims tbh. But with a single video card an i5 is still fine in bf4. The i7 only shows gains in this game with sli/xfired gpu's.

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:31

setter said:
Bf4 is multithreaded, but im not sure on flight sims tbh. But with a single video card an i5 is still fine in bf4. The i7 only shows gains in this game with sli/xfired gpu's.

So maybe a second hand Zotac 660ti i5 and ssd...could work

setter · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:36

Id personally go with a cpu and ssd now and then upgrade your gpu later when newer models are out. Regarding the choice of i5 or i7, this will depend on what your main uses are.

Jonnibravo · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:40

setter said:
Id personally go with a cpu and ssd now and then upgrade your gpu later when newer models are out. Regarding the choice of i5 or i7, this will depend on what your main uses are.

I think you're probably right njust the temptation of telling my son my pc is alkready better than his naffy XBOX One would have been sweet.

I use the pc for flight sim, sports titles and occasional BF4 COD though I only play football online.

Music and watching hi def vids

Martini1991 · 3 Jan 2014 at 17:54

Jonnibravo said:
So maybe a second hand Zotac 660ti i5 and ssd...could work

660Ti SLI? I wouldn't really opt for a 660Ti SLI, it has grunt, but the memory bandwidth leaves a bit to be desired.

Honestly, 20NM is due this year, a 660Ti's not going to crap out this year, and it'll net you much better performance, 20NM should give us 70% on what we have now performance wise at the high end, hopefully we'll get
R9 290X performance at 200 pound.

systemerror · 3 Jan 2014 at 18:14

Do you really think 20nm will be 70% quicker than a 780ti and 290x?

Martini1991 · 3 Jan 2014 at 18:18

systemerror said:
Do you really think 20nm will be 70% quicker than a 780ti and 290x?

Probably won't be, we used to get almost double gains from die shrinks, look at the 4870 then the 5870.

The 7970GHZ edition on the latest drivers is quite a ton faster than a 6970 (Try some of the later DX11 stuff, and you're like twice as fast)