Upgrade CPU or GPU?

Psychosocial94 · 5 Oct 2014 at 00:47

Hello forums,

So with what I feel is an old rig, I'm set on doing a small upgrade to handle the newer generation of games.

Here's my specs:

Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - W/ STOCK COOLER
VTX3D HD 7850 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9)
Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply

So my main question is as the title states. Should I upgrade my GPU or my CPU to something that you can recommend? For GPU I was thinking GTX 970 but I wasn't sure if i have enough power with 600W???

Stas823 · 5 Oct 2014 at 00:56

Get the 970 and a better cooler so you can clock up your i5

CEUOTC · 5 Oct 2014 at 01:06

YOUR BASKET
1 x Palit GeForce GTX 970 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £259.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80 CPU Cooler *Manufacturer Refurbished Unit - 1 Year Warranty £35.99
Total : £305.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Psychosocial94 · 5 Oct 2014 at 01:10

Is the Palit 970 a good one? Or does it not really matter?

And my CPU is still only a Sandybridge? Will that not be too much of an old CPU?

CEUOTC · 5 Oct 2014 at 01:21

It will be more than fine as a GPU, OcUK have an excellent return policy.
Your i5 is more than good enough, SB are solid CPU's.
The 600w PSU is fine, the GTX 970 is very efficient.

lee32uk · 5 Oct 2014 at 01:22

I would go for something like this Inno3D for an extra £10.

What case do you have ?

YOUR BASKET
1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £269.99
1 x Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure Edition CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £309.58 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Psychosocial94 · 5 Oct 2014 at 01:24

My case is a Cooler Master Elite 430 Blue LED Windowed Case - Black

Will it be big enough for the Inno3D and Matterhorn cooler?

Purgatory · 5 Oct 2014 at 02:20

Raijintek Themis Evo Professional CPU Cooler - £27.95 inc VAT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-007-RT&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2666

Review here :- http://www.eteknix.com/raijintek-themis-evo-pro-nemesys-cpu-coolers-head-to-head-review/

GALAX GeForce GTX 970 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (97NQH6DNB4UX) - £269.99 inc VAT

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-GX

Shipping : £8.00

Total : £307.54

Better Performing Air Cooler & An Overclocked Out Of The Box 970 to These Specs :-

Core Clock: 1126MHz, Boost Clock: 1266MHz, Memory: 4096MB 7010MHz GDDR5, Stream Processors: 1664, SLI Ready, PhysX/CUDA Enabled, 2 Years Warranty.

The 970 also uses 1 x 8pin and 1 x 6pin so gives you more room to overclock it further.

The above cooler and GPU will fit in your case without a problem and the cooler will also not hit your memory on the motherboard. The GPU also has a nice back plate and the card will match your motherboard nicely too as they both have a blue PCB.

Psychosocial94 · 5 Oct 2014 at 02:36

Awesome, thanks everyone. I'll put some thought into it then!

I'm liking the sound of the Galax and the Raijintek.