Upgrade 2500k or just a new monitor?

craptakular · 29 Apr 2017 at 18:00

Hi I currently have the following system:

2500k @ 4.5ghz
8gb ram
1tb ssd
970gtx

I do have a really old and cheap 24 inch monitor. I like the sound of a gsync 27 inch. I'm looking at a Dell 27 inch TN gsync for £500.

So upgrade CPU ram and mainboard or a new monitor?

I'm currently only playing world of tanks, overwatch and battlegrounds. So not stressful on pc.

andy_mk3 · 29 Apr 2017 at 18:05

Your 2500k should drive the Dell pretty nicely along with the 970, obviously don't expect to run everything on ultra though. A second hand 2600k would be a half decent bump in performance assuming the games you play can make use of more than 4 threads. Sandbridge still has some life left in it yet IMO. I would upgrade the GPU afterwards, and then look towards replacing the CPU/Mobo.

Plec · 29 Apr 2017 at 19:41

As above.

You're clocked 2500k will still hold it's own when coupled with a modern gfx card (GTX 1070) playing most games at ULTRA with little or no tweaking at 1440p (i speak from experience - i was going to upgrade but dropped in a GTX 1070 into my clocked 2500k gaming at 1440p and have shelved my plans for a complete upgrade for a few more months.).

I would be tempted to get your monitor and drop in the gfx card you intended to buy for your new build and judge the performance - i think you'll be quietly impressed.

You could then upgrade to a new MB and CPU when all the dust has settled around the Ryzen updates - and build a system with nearly all the optimisation and BIOS updates already sorted.

craptakular · 29 Apr 2017 at 20:01

I think I'll try monitor first may even go 21.9 gsync. The games I'm playing at the moment are not intensive.

Plec · 29 Apr 2017 at 20:07

craptakular said:
The games I'm playing at the moment are not intensive.

True, I missed that.

andy was spot on with his analysis in the first post.

craptakular · 30 Apr 2017 at 17:58

Gents, if I were to blow some more cash and replace my monitor as well as mainboard, ram and cpu what do people recommend?

I would be in two minds:

AMD 1700 and try overclock it to 4ghz
To give this its best shot wouldn't it need a £230 - £270 motherboard?
16GB fast ram
and a stonking cooler - what around £100?
Keep my GTX970

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Team Group Dark Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TDPGD416G3= £149.99
1 x Gigabyte Aorus GA-AX370-Gaming K7 AMD X370 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £229.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 7 Eight Core 1700 3.70GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99
1 x Corsair H100 RGB Extreme Performance Liquid Cooler OEM **OcUK Exclusive**= £94.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 400C Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black Window (CC-9011081-WW)= £89.99

Total: £867.25
(includes shipping: £12.30)

OR

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 Eight Core 1800X 4.00GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £439.99
1 x Team Group Dark Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TDPGD416G3= £149.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard= £91.99
1 x Asetek Premium Retention Kit AMD AM4= £3.95

Total: £696.42
(includes shipping: £10.50)

Reusing my Micro ATX Lian Li Case, Reusing my Asus watercooling kit cooler and keeping my GTX970

What do people think?