How should i got about upgrading my PC next?

gtw1212

gtw1212

gtw1212

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Joined
30 May 2011
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66
I upgrade components for my PC whenever I can afford it.

Being a family man with 2 kids means I don't have a lot of disposable income to buy a complete new rig so whats best for me to upgrade next?

Current spec:
i7-2600
Intel H67 motherboard
4 x 4Gb DDR3 RAM
Cougar 600w modular PSU
Zotac AMP GTX 1070
3TB HDD

I recently bought myself the Zotac Amp GTX 1070 and then the 600w PSU as my old one was 460w (500w is recommended for the 1070)

Where do I go from here? I'm aware that my CPU is now getting on a bit but if I upgrade my CPU, I'm going to have to upgrade my motherboard too right?

I'd like to get an M.2 SSD but my current board doesn't support it unless i get a PCI-e adapter.

Can anyone suggest the best (and most painless to my bank balance) upgrades for my rig please?


(No idea how that 't' got into my title. lol)
 
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I don't see an SSD there. It doesn't have to be M.2 to make a difference to your system performance. You should pick up a 250-500GB SSD for your OS and favorite/most load-intensive games..

They aren't very expensive any more. The Samsung 850Evo is a good choice.
 
mistersprinkles said:
I don't see an SSD there. It doesn't have to be M.2 to make a difference to your system performance. You should pick up a 250-500GB SSD for your OS and favorite/most load-intensive games..

They aren't very expensive any more. The Samsung 850Evo is a good choice.
Click to expand...

I definitely will get a SSD, I just haven't really bothered as yet because my PC rarely gets turned off so boot times are N/A.

I'll be getting BF1 when it releases and I'll definitely put that onto a SSD.

Any tips for my CPU/Motherboard situation?
 
CPU is still a powerhouse

I used to have the same motherboard as you, it came standard in a lot of acer and dell pre-built systems back in the day.

When i upgraded my rig (very similar to yours)

I picked up a ASRock Fatal1ty-M professional Z77 motherboard second hand and swapped my ram with 16GB DDR3 corsair vengance pro @2133mhz

You probably wont see any LGA 1155 motherboards with m.2 support so your best bet is a decent SSD

But realistically, you could fill the ram you have with 8 chrome tabs, I seriously reccomend keeping the CPU (there is a very small performance gain between generations) and upgrading your motherboard, ram and picking up an SSD.

Unfortunatley LGA1155 socket motherboards aren't available on OC anymore but you could find one with relative ease, unfortunately i can't help on this forum with that :P

ps. I hit 70+ fps on battlefield 1 comfortably and my GPU isn't as fast as yours.. You will be using up 7-8gigs of ram on BF1 alone.

This is the picture of the motherboard i replaced yours with in my build:

Fatal1ty_Z77_Professional_Oblique.jpg
 
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terley said:
CPU is still a powerhouse

I used to have the same motherboard as you, it came standard in a lot of acer and dell pre-built systems back in the day.

When i upgraded my rig (very similar to yours)

I picked up a ASRock Fatal1ty-M professional Z77 motherboard second hand and swapped my ram with 16GB DDR3 corsair vengance pro @2133mhz

You probably wont see any LGA 1155 motherboards with m.2 support so your best bet is a decent SSD

But realistically, you could fill the ram you have with 8 chrome tabs, I seriously reccomend keeping the CPU (there is a very small performance gain between generations) and upgrading your motherboard, ram and picking up an SSD.

Unfortunatley LGA1155 socket motherboards aren't available on OC anymore but you could find one with relative ease, unfortunately i can't help on this forum with that :P

This is the picture of the motherboard i replaced yours with in my build:

Fatal1ty_Z77_Professional_Oblique.jpg
Click to expand...

You're spot on, the motherboard came straight out of a Dell XPS 6300.
This is awesome advice, thanks a lot.
How much am I looking at for the board and RAM you recommend?

P.S. I'm getting 90-120 fps in the BF1 beta with everything on ultra, DX12.

Edit: I've had a quick look over the interwebs and can't find anywhere that has that board in stock which is a problem as i know you can't put a link to a competitor website here.
 
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I would pick up these two (same RAM as me, and its lovely :) looks great too)

But as far as the motherboard goes, the only place you wont be paying over the odds for legacy hardware is the certain auction site. It may seem a bit of a gamble but you do have protection if anything is faulty, best of luck bud :) btw, the motherboard should cost no more than £60.. search for LGA1155 and you will see a list. Your CPU is not over-clockable so dont get anything that boasts overclocking, just look for a solid brand with a decent amount of USB 3.0 and whatever i/o you value.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £159.98
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​


​
 
terley said:
I would pick up these two (same RAM as me, and its lovely :) looks great too)

But as far as the motherboard goes, the only place you wont be paying over the odds for legacy hardware is the certain auction site. It may seem a bit of a gamble but you do have protection if anything is faulty, best of luck bud :) btw, the motherboard should cost no more than £60.. search for LGA1155 and you will see a list. Your CPU is not over-clockable so dont get anything that boasts overclocking, just look for a solid brand with a decent amount of USB 3.0 and whatever i/o you value.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £159.98
(includes shipping: £0.00)
​


​
Click to expand...

You're a superstar. Thanks
 
terley said:
Thats an LGA1150 socket not LGA1155, the i7 2600 can only take the 1155 :(
Click to expand...

Oh, oops

After having a look around on many different sites i can only find LGA1155 boards with only 1 x USB 3.0, none of them support RAM over 1600 and they support crossfire but not SLI.

The ASRock Fatal1ty-M that you suggested seems absolutely perfect for my needs but they just aren't available anywhere :(
 
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gtw1212 said:
I definitely will get a SSD, I just haven't really bothered as yet because my PC rarely gets turned off so boot times are N/A.

I'll be getting BF1 when it releases and I'll definitely put that onto a SSD.

Any tips for my CPU/Motherboard situation?
Click to expand...

A SSD helps with more than just Windows boot times. Everything is 'snappier' - less noticeable disk activity while running Windows (it still goes on but you don't notice it like you do with a HDD). Also many games benefit from a SSD - faster load times, faster map / zone / cutscene loading etc. And of course apps load in a flash too. Adding a SSD is easily one of the best upgrades you can make.

Samsung EVO 850 250GB would be a great choice, or 500GB if your budget can stretch to it.
 
OP, your computer all looks fine except I question the 3TB HDD. I presume the 3TB is not a fast drive, if so that will slow down your system.

Re upgrading memory when you already have 16GB. If its for memory speed it makes so little difference to performance I simply would not bother, just save your money and keep the memory you have.
 
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As has been said by others, simply get an SSD maybe even two.

I found the 250gb to fill pretty quick especially if you add a game or two, so would recommend a 500gb 850 Evo or similar
 
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