Time to Upgrade

Excalibur_2102

Excalibur_2102

Excalibur_2102

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Joined
24 Apr 2011
Posts
66
Hey guys,

Just looking for some advice on recent hardware and whats worth upgrading on my system and whats not worth it. My system specs at the moment are:

Asus P8 P67 motherboard
Intel i5 2500k 3.3Ghz Processor (stock settings and cooler)
12Gb Ram
AMD Radeon 6870 1Gb graphics card
Antec High current gamer 620W PSU

Now, the game I want to run (when it comes out) will likely be very demanding (the witcher 3), so I basically need advice keeping in mind id like to run that game at decent settings while keeping a good frame rate.

Now I dont know a lot about the newer processors so correct me if Im wrong, but from what ive gathered the latest intels are only about 10-20% faster than the sandy bridge chips? Is it worth upgrading my processor at all? Its not something I really want to do at the mo, and I should really buy a custom cooler and just overclock my current one but I just wondered if you guys thought it was worth it.

The obvious thing to upgrade (as always) is the graphics card. I've been waiting for the new AMD series to come out but of course theyve rebranded it all thus making it more confusing :p. Is the R9 290x worth it over the R9280x considering the price difference? I dont mind shelling out a bit, but I like to get good value for performance so wont spend 400-500 quid on a card thats only 10% better than one for 2-300 pounds, so... Any opinions on this? And of course if I do opt for the 290X, would my PSU be able to handle one of these?? I know my PSU has a high current on the 12V rail (cant remember the amount), but it only has one and its only 620W. My system however doesnt have many extras. Im running 1 HDD, 1SSD, 1 case fan and a DVD writer. I think thats about it.

I guess long story short I just want advice on the latest hardware in comparrison to my current set up, and what will get me the best performance boost on relatively high settings for the Witcher 3 :). Thanks.
 
Hi,

You are correct in thinking that a move to Haswell+Z87 will not bring significant performance increases over your current 2500K+P67.

• You really should spend £25-30 on a heatsink and overclock the 2500K to 4.5Ghz+

You PSU is great (made by Seasonic and a quality unit) so it will be fine with a R9 290X or the R9 290 which is due this week.

So with that said a upgrade of the GFX card and a heatsink added to your CPU and overclock it is what I would do.
 
Well the R9 280X are 7970Ghz editions with a new name, the Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum is £239 with free delivery, three games and is a beast of a card and PCB with voltage adjustment to overclock it within an inch of its life.

So if you were considering a R9 280, I would get the Matrix instead while its still available to buy.

Your resolution that you play games at is an important factor in GFX card choice, also with Nvidia announcing the GTX780ti it might be worth waiting to see if,

• What price it comes in at
• Maybe the GTX780 will drop in price
• The R9 290 is due next week and according to gibbo isnt far of the 290X and will be cheaper.
 
Hmm... I suppose I could wait for next year to get the graphics card. After all the main game I want to play is The Witcher 3 which isnt out till some time next year anyway. System reqs for the game havent been posted yet either as far as Im aware. Only other graphic intensive game I want to play is Arkham Origins, but my current set up might be okay with that?

Will try the Custom Cooler and CPU overclock soon though. Thanks for your advice!
 
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