Thinking about an upgrade..Help!

Timmeh82

Timmeh82

Timmeh82

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Joined
4 Apr 2018
Posts
21
Hey all, seems like a few years since I spent money on any components, and my rig isn't holding up as well as it used to in newer games.. my setup is as follows:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor
Gigabyte Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C11 2133MHz Dual CHannel Kit X2
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Evo CPU Cooler
Corsair Carbide 200R ATX Case - Black
OCZ-PETROL 128Gb SSD
Seagate 3TB 3.5" SATA HDD

I'm surprised it's lasted me so long, although at the time it was a relatively expensive build. Any ideas on what I should upgrade? Would one of the newer Nvidia cards blow me away with it's performance compared to my current card? I could probably stretch to a 1060 if it would be a big performance boost in games?

From what I understand upgrading the CPU will in turn mean I need to buy new motherboard and ram. Is it worth it at this point? Or could I just get away with upgrading the GPU? Bearing in mind I built this in 2013!
 
What PSU do you have?

From your current spec, I'd overclock the CPU (if it's not already) and upgrade the GPU to the best your happy to afford, so a 1060 would go great. If you then still want more then consider a new CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade?

[EDIT] What monitor and resolution do you use?
 
Space Monkey said:
What PSU do you have?

From your current spec, I'd overclock the CPU (if it's not already) and upgrade the GPU to the best your happy to afford, so a 1060 would go great. If you then still want more then consider a new CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade?

[EDIT] What monitor and resolution do you use?
Click to expand...

Thanks Space Monkey

Without cracking my case, I recall it's a Corsair 750w PSU. CPU isn't overclocked at the moment, but the CPU cooler I have is pretty good I suppose and it has been overclocked in the past.

Using a Samsung 330HS monitor, so running at 1080p no plans to go above that as yet.
 
Timmeh82 said:
Thanks Space Monkey

Without cracking my case, I recall it's a Corsair 750w PSU. CPU isn't overclocked at the moment, but the CPU cooler I have is pretty good I suppose and it has been overclocked in the past.

Using a Samsung 330HS monitor, so running at 1080p no plans to go above that as yet.
Click to expand...
PSU should be good to go, and at 1080p the GTX 1060 or RX 580 as mentioned above would be great, though try and get the 6GB version of the GTX 1060 if your budget allows?

Write down the temps your currently getting on your CPU at idle & under load (both gaming load & stress test load) this'll give you an idea on how well your CPU cooler is doing & whether or not you need something better before overclocking?
 
i would get a 1060 6gb to replace the 7950, the performance increase should be nearly double.
and needless to say, overclock the 4690k
then if you're still not happy with the performance, then do a platform upgrade, as you can carry the 1060 over to the new build.
although the 4690k is getting a tiny bit long in the tooth, it's still no slouch either - i wouldn't be so quick to discard it
 
Yeah sounds like a good plan guys, thanks. This 7950 is quite power hungry and loud right now :)

I'll probably stick with my bare bones and just upgrade the card. Any recommendation on which card in particular as in bang for buck right now?
 
Just remembered, I replaced the board with a cheap board when it failed about a year ago. Currently using this board: Asus B85M-E LGA1150 Motherboard

Guess that may change things, as it's a pretty crappy board and probably not capable of a good overclock?
 
Yeah, I've got £500 burning a hole in my pocket right now, so might go with the 1060 and a replacement board that I can overclock. Any recommendations for a good cpu cooler?
 
Timmeh82 said:
Any recommendations for a good cpu cooler?
Click to expand...

The one you have isn't awful imo, and you'd be spending £50+ for an extra 0.1Ghz which will mean nothing in fps terms. Get a good card and you'll be flying :)

Timmeh82 said:
Also, how does this card compare to the Gigabyte?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-30b-ea.html

My mate has the same one and raves about it :)
Click to expand...

It's good and the warranty is top-notch. A good choice :cool:
 
Cool. Can anyone recommend a good socket LGA1150 board that will overclock well? I'm guessing it will be an ebay jobbie, don't think you can buy that socket now on most sites :)

Also, my memory is 2133MHz but I've never got it to reach that for some reason.
 
Timmeh82 said:
Cool. Can anyone recommend a good socket LGA1150 board that will overclock well? I'm guessing it will be an ebay jobbie, don't think you can buy that socket now on most sites :)

Also, my memory is 2133MHz but I've never got it to reach that for some reason.
Click to expand...


The Gigabyte Gaming 7 and Asus Maximus VII Hero are two that spring to mind. They might be stupid prices though for boards like these 2nd hand.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z97X-Gaming-7-rev-10#ov
https://www.asus.com/uk/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VII_HERO/overview/



As for the Ram have you got xmp enabled in the bios ?
 
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