Need more umph! New build or upgrades

Arthur Hucksake · 18 Apr 2017 at 18:56

Well, it seems to be coming to that time again.

Currently have a 2600K @ 4.5Ghz , 8gb ram and a first gen Titan.

Would upping to 16GB Ram and shoving a 1070 GTX in save me having to totally rebuild or buy again?

I only game at 1080p for streaming purposes.

Cheers

mickyflinn · 18 Apr 2017 at 19:53

Think you on the right track with your sugestion, what gpu do you have ?

mistersprinkles · 19 Apr 2017 at 01:56

I took my 2600K out back and shot it in summer of 2016. It's still acceptable even today but it's getting long in the tooth. IPC doesn't stand up to modern chips. And with Ryzen 8 cores at such succulent and enticing prices... it's hard not to go for it.

I think a 1070 and 16GB of RAM will help, but I wonder if you wouldn't be better off starting over with a Ryzen 8 core.

Akagi · 19 Apr 2017 at 02:19

mickyflinn said:
what gpu do you have ?

Arthur Hucksake said:
a first gen Titan.

Arthur Hucksake · 19 Apr 2017 at 05:58

mistersprinkles said:
I took my 2600K out back and shot it in summer of 2016. It's still acceptable even today but it's getting long in the tooth. IPC doesn't stand up to modern chips. And with Ryzen 8 cores at such succulent and enticing prices... it's hard not to go for it.

I think a 1070 and 16GB of RAM will help, but I wonder if you wouldn't be better off starting over with a Ryzen 8 core.

I'm not sure Ryzen is that cost effective when up against a new set of RAM and GPU.

£450 spend vs new mobo, ram, cpu, gpu etc for a total rebuild.

Would be happy to squeeze 2-3 more years out of the 2600K.

I don't intend to go above 1080p neither. (for streaming purposes)

Plec · 19 Apr 2017 at 09:44

I was in the same boat as you with a 2500k @ 4.5Ghz - although I game at 1440p.

I dropped in a GTX 1070 with 16Gb of memory with the full intention of doing a Ryzen build once the 5s were released. However, I've been so impressed with the performance that i'm going to wait - even at 1440p.

It's totally reinvigorated my rig - Yes, there's a slight CPU bottleneck and the gen 2 PCIe knocks of another 1% - but I can't tell in real world situations. I can play most games on ULTRA without tweaking at 1440p. If you're playing at only 1080p you'll be smiling even more.

You could conceivably squeeze another 2 years out of it - and even if you get the upgrade itch early, the GPU will drop in nicely into your next rig until you upgrade again...

The only thing I will add - is that the Ryzen is proving very capable with streaming (on the same system) - reviews are very favourable. Something to consider if you start to experiencing problems...

Arthur Hucksake · 19 Apr 2017 at 22:16

Plec said:
I was in the same boat as you with a 2500k @ 4.5Ghz - although I game at 1440p.

I dropped in a GTX 1070 with 16Gb of memory with the full intention of doing a Ryzen build once the 5s were released. However, I've been so impressed with the performance that i'm going to wait - even at 1440p.

It's totally reinvigorated my rig - Yes, there's a slight CPU bottleneck and the gen 2 PCIe knocks of another 1% - but I can't tell in real world situations. I can play most games on ULTRA without tweaking at 1440p. If you're playing at only 1080p you'll be smiling even more.

You could conceivably squeeze another 2 years out of it - and even if you get the upgrade itch early, the GPU will drop in nicely into your next rig until you upgrade again...

The only thing I will add - is that the Ryzen is proving very capable with streaming (on the same system) - reviews are very favourable. Something to consider if you start to experiencing problems...

Thanks, that's put it into perspective.

What kind of games have you been playing? Are you averaging over 60fps?

Battlegrounds and Escape From Tarkov are the two I am looking at.

Thanks

Plec · 19 Apr 2017 at 22:22

Haven't played those games - but Battlegrounds is on my wish list for when I have time.

Off the top of my head gaming @ 1440p: Doom runs over 100 FPS, GTA V 60/70 FPS, Black Ops II over 120 FPS, SHadow of Mordor over 100 FPS (may be 20 more or less - can't remember) all on Ultra with some tweaks.

I can test a couple of other major titles if you name what you have - chances are I may have one of them (would be tomorrow).

I have BF1, BF4, ArmA 3, Fallout 4, Skyrim (new enhanced version), StarCraft 2 - do you have any of these?

Arthur Hucksake · 19 Apr 2017 at 23:38

I haven't bothered getting BF1 until doing something about an upgrade. I don't need everything to run at Ultra, just need it to be over 60fps. (120hz screen)

Be good to know how that runs. 1080p with a bit of AA, Very High (or High).

Because i'm on a P67, not sure the memory will run above 1600mhz which is my only worry.

Cheers

Plec · 19 Apr 2017 at 23:52

No problem - I'll run a 1080p FPS test with modest aa and settings at high/very high and ultra thrown in for you to compare.

Some time tomorrow...

Arthur Hucksake · 20 Apr 2017 at 20:26

Well....

I've gone for it.

ASUS STRIX 1070 OC and HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) - HX318C9SRK2/16

Is that ram likely to be ok? The mobo manufacturer site is so out of date it's nigh on impossible to know.

Asus P8P67 Pro board. (Rev B3)

Plec · 20 Apr 2017 at 21:19

HyperX is pretty slutty and you have a board that's old enough to have flagged up any major memory issues with a search.

I'll run that test soon...

Plec · 20 Apr 2017 at 21:38

OK, BF1, changed to 1080p with FXAA and everything else on and set to ULTRA - averaged about 90/95 FPS - but dipped when the zeppelin blew to 75 briefly but no noticeable stutter/tearing etc...

I don't have Gsync - 60Hz IPS 27" DELL Ultrasharp monitor

Arthur Hucksake · 20 Apr 2017 at 21:45

Plec said:
OK, BF1, changed to 1080p with FXAA and everything else on and set to ULTRA - averaged about 90/95 FPS - but dipped when the zeppelin blew to 75 briefly but no noticeable stutter/tearing etc...

I don't have Gsync - 60Hz IPS 27" DELL Ultrasharp monitor

That's awesome!! Appreciate that. The 60fps dream is alive!!!!

Plec · 20 Apr 2017 at 22:08

No problem - let me know how you get on. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed - it's a fantastic boost for the money.

If you do run into any install issues - update the BIOS (if you haven't already), this should eliminate any compatibility issues. The latest updates are usually PCIe/ivybridge/memory compatibility related - clicky.

Just checked The Asus site - the latest BIOS, 3602, even has a 'Fixed Nvidia GTX 680 hang when runing with UEFI driver' - so I would perhaps recommend doing the flash in preparation with the system running as is. That way if the system starts acting odd - you know the BIOS may need a reflash/clearing or an erroneous BIOS setting and not the newly installed hardware.

Arthur Hucksake · 20 Apr 2017 at 22:51

Plec said:
No problem - let me know how you get on. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed - it's a fantastic boost for the money.

If you do run into any install issues - update the BIOS (if you haven't already), this should eliminate any compatibility issues. The latest updates are usually PCIe/ivybridge/memory compatibility related - clicky.

Just checked The Asus site - the latest BIOS, 3602, even has a 'Fixed Nvidia GTX 680 hang when runing with UEFI driver' - so I would perhaps recommend doing the flash in preparation with the system running as is. That way if the system starts acting odd - you know the BIOS may need a reflash/clearing or an erroneous BIOS setting and not the newly installed hardware.

I've got that bios and have been running a Titan without any issues for a long while. (First old Titan....getting a bit slow now)

Plec · 20 Apr 2017 at 22:59

Arthur Hucksake said:
I've got that bios and have been running a Titan without any issues for a long while. (First old Titan....getting a bit slow now)

Great - you shouldn't have any issues with the 1070. Most problems usually arise with the more power hungry AMD cards.

Hope all goes smoothly.