Time to throw it in the bin and start over or is this upgradable?

[FlamBango]

ok so i think this is the important stuff from the sys info window....

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19041 Build 19041
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 1017, 13/06/2011
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 16.0 GB


I want to move up to bigger monitors / resolutions for photo processing and gameplay. at the moment im running at 1920x1200 which is ok , things run smoothly , games are running at that res in high settings now but i want to go bigger. Can i get away with a newer gfx card or just bin it and start over? i know the motherboard is quite long in the tooth now so i don't know what that can support.

 

[Jay85]

If you're wanting to use photo editors, modern gameplay at 60hz or above at higher resolutions then yes i would start from scratch if im honest. The 970 is still an okay gpu for 1080p at medium/high but you ideally want a faster processor to handle those loads.

Depends on your budget as well but if you take the upgrade route you'll have to bin all except for the gpu. Sell your old stuff and use that to fund your new rig.

 

[Tetras]

What kind of games do you play? If they're older games then a new graphics card should be fine, but if they're newer games your CPU will choke. Since you say that 1920 x 1200 runs fine, I'm assuming they're older ones? Overclocking would certainly help push up framerates, but not sure you'd want to do that, for your workstation usage.

Do you have a big PSU? If you go much higher than a 3060 Ti, it will likely need upgrading.

An alternative is just to buy the bigger monitor for photo work and play games in a window at 1920 x 1200, or even just set up both monitors, if you have the room. Be aware that if you plan to play new games at 4K, you're looking at thousands.