I have about £350 to spend, help!

DONOHUE07 · 20 Apr 2017 at 19:09

Ok, I have an upgrade itch that needs scratching very soon. I don't get much in the way disposable income nowadays with a 4 yr old and a baby on the way, I have approx £350 to spend to treat myself to new PC bits,

I have
FX 8350
Gigabyte UD5 motherboard
8GB 1333hz
120gb SSD
500gb HDD
R9 290

I game on the living Room TV, 60hz 1080p.

most of the games I play are unoptimised alphas like Rust, Ark, Miscreated and Star Citizen. Though I do play the occasional graphicaly beautiful single player game like GTA5 and Farcry.

My question is, what would spending £350 on give the best upgrade boost, I'm thinking Ryzen 1600 and a £80 motherboard, thoughts?

Thank you

ExoMale · 20 Apr 2017 at 20:07

ryzen or a skylake/kabylake i5 or gpu boost?

TallPaul1878 · 21 Apr 2017 at 20:25

New graphics card. GTX 1070 will make everything better.

That system can stretch for 1 more year.

JediFragger · 21 Apr 2017 at 20:30

TallPaul1878 said:
New graphics card. GTX 1070 will make everything better.

That system can stretch for 1 more year.

Am inclined to agree, you'll get the bigger boost and give you time to upgrade the rest next year.

TallPaul1878 · 21 Apr 2017 at 20:33

JediFragger said:
Am inclined to agree, you'll get the bigger boost and give you time to upgrade the rest next year.

Yep the GTX 1070 is a massive improvement over OPs current graphics card.

Also it gives them another year to survey the landscape. Will the next gen Ryzen chips be monster overclockers? Will Intel move up to 6 or 8 core chips?

DONOHUE07 · 22 Apr 2017 at 07:16

Cheers guys, I was under the impression my fx8350 was severely getting left behind and wasn't up to running higher end GPU's I'll have a look at 1070, and possibly the cheapest 1080

wedrum · 22 Apr 2017 at 07:40

Honestly for 1080p that system is fine
I am running a 290 and they still rock.

Save the pennies you will need it when the other babby comes along.

FloppyPoppy · 22 Apr 2017 at 07:59

DONOHUE07 said:
Cheers guys, I was under the impression my fx8350 was severely getting left behind and wasn't up to running higher end GPU's I'll have a look at 1070, and possibly the cheapest 1080

If you go second hand on a 1080 you can get them for around £380 now. But politely buddy, your cpu is gash.

DONOHUE07 said:
and a baby on the way

you and wes having a competition or something?

Not an english video but skip to 3:00 to see cpu side by side

Plec · 22 Apr 2017 at 09:12

DONOHUE07 said:
Cheers guys, I was under the impression my fx8350 was severely getting left behind and wasn't up to running higher end GPU's

Agree, with above 2 reples (wedrum and Harry), and in part, with your summarisation. (A GTX 1080 at 1080p woukd be overkill at 1080p - an RX 480 would keep that res very honest)

You're only gaming at 1080p and the 290 will still be doing a respectable job at 1080p 60HZ for now.

There is no denying, you would see a considerable boost bumping up to a GTX 1070. But given your present platform - and your budget - i would be considering a whole new platform and sticking in the 290 until i could afford a better gfx card.

Admittedly, the speed bump will not be as significant, or as visually exciting, as a GTX 1070 (although GTA V will be pleased with Ryzen) - but you'll have the bases of a far superior rig which will munch it's way through anything when you can eventually afford to upgrade your gfx card. Plus, the AM4 platform will have considerable longevity so when you can afford to upgrade your card, it won't feel compromised.

(This comes from someone who stuck in a GtX 1070 onto a heavily clocked 2500k gaming at 1440p so i feel a bit hypocritical :/. But, had i owned an am3 chip i would have bitten the bullet and gone Ryzen as there is no ticking clock on the socket like Intel and you've spent enough on the am3

)

EDIT: If you do choose the GTX 1070 route (no real wrong option here) the CPU would be a bottleneck but nothing that you would notice in real life terms as you would have nothing to compare it to. You would only notice your FPS gain and better Gfx setting which would be significant.

DONOHUE07 said:
with a 4 yr old and a baby on the way,

Just noticed this - read my edit (justifying both options) - as i can't see you having any time/money to use your rig soon

(been there) - so perhaps consider all options... And best of luck with new baby.

arc@css · 22 Apr 2017 at 21:20

Without a doubt, a new CPU/motherboard would be my choice. The graphics card you have is fine for now.

Another option is a second SSD.

Martini1991 · 23 Apr 2017 at 12:53

I wouldn't bother doing anything.

DONOHUE07 · 23 Apr 2017 at 18:24

Thanks for all the suggestions guys, I'm still on the fence on what to get

Vish Petrol · 23 Apr 2017 at 18:58

You will notice a bigger improvement with the gtx1070, will handle everything you throw at it for the next few years, and you will see some good deal on them over the next month, leading up to vega