Thinking of an upgrade

mato · 3 Feb 2015 at 22:14

Thinking about an upgrade (on the spec in my signature) + will be giving my brother whatever parts I replace as the basis for his build.

Am planning on a new case as fancy something different to the Corsair and need a bigger SSD; would everyone agree that CPU+Mobo would be the next things to change?

Z97 + 4690K seems like the obvious upgrade; no fixed budget just looking for a slight improvement that will be good VFM long term. Would I likely see an increase in gaming performance without upgrading my GPU? Not keen to shed out a load of money on a new GPU especially as the newest game I'm playing is BF4.

Thanks

varkanoid · 3 Feb 2015 at 23:07

Big improvement going from i3 2120 to 4690k especially if overclocked.

Might want to think about upping the PSU if you upgrade the GPU but I would do those two next. Leave SSD till last.

Doomedspeed · 3 Feb 2015 at 23:11

Really you can drop in a 2500k/3570k and be happy. There cheap to pick up secondhand.

Then all you need is a cheap H81, £35 motherboard for your brother and youre winning.

SSD whose, that's up to you. The MX100's or SKs are very good value for money. Either a 256gb or 512gb would work wonders.

I think going Z97 (4690k) is a good idea but considering you already have a good Z77 motherboard a £90 CPU upgrade (compared the £250-£300 has well outlay).

If you are struggling for FPS on BF4 maybe the GPU is a small bottlecknevk too.

mato · 4 Feb 2015 at 18:20

Thanks for the ideas. Personally i'd prefer to buy new for warranty & peace of mind.

Is it worth buying the 3570K new at the same price as the 4690K? It would obviously save the cost of a motherboard upgrade but is there a performance difference?

Also I thought I could only put Sandy Bridge in my motherboard am I wrong?

Doomedspeed · 4 Feb 2015 at 18:35

mato said:
Is it worth buying the 3570K new at the same price as the 4690K? It would obviously save the cost of a motherboard upgrade but is there a performance difference?

Thats tricky, the performance increase is around 10%, though obvoiusly the 4690k requires an extra £60-£100 for a motherboard.

mato said:
Also I thought I could only put Sandy Bridge in my motherboard am I wrong?

You are (unfortunately) it supports Sandybridge and Ivybridge (it was released prior to ivybridge for that CPU line)

mato · 7 Feb 2015 at 12:00

Thanks that's given me some stuff to think about!