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Upgrade from a 970?

bobboberts

bobboberts

bobboberts

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Joined
21 Sep 2003
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408
I'm constantly thinking about a new build or some upgrades or just a.ew CPU and, as a result, never do anything. But whilst I've never checked to see what actual fps I get in a game, I think hitting 60 is no longer a default.

I have a 970 currently and a 1080p monitor. The monitor isn't going to change anytime soon, so it really is only the GPU that is an option.

Without breaking the bank - say a budget of £350-ish max - what options do I have? Ideally some that would be reasonable a d ot in for a bit if I did go for a new build in a year/18 months (once we see what effect the new consoles have)?
 
Your CPU is going to limit you somewhat with that build, I wouldn't go any higher than a Vega 56 and I suspect it might still bottleneck in some scenarios.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £429.98 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

You could save some and opt for a 580 for around £160 but I'm not sure it'd be a sufficient upgrade from what you're currently running, but definitely look up some reviews and think about that for yourself.

I'd recommend looking into a CPU/MOBO/RAM upgrade when you feel you can, which is very possible for around £350-400. Given your GPU will cost you around £150, a full system upgrade would set you back around £500-550 if you believe the 580 is a decent performance upgrade.

Given you want to spend £350 on the GPU alone I'd have a think mate, for roughly another £150 you could have a really nice upgrade.

Edit: Had to edit some stuff there, utter brain-fart on my behalf as I was looking at two threads.
 
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How much benefit you see will depend very much on the game.

I had an Nvidia 970 then upgraded to my 2080 and paired it with a 4690K & 16GB DDR3 for a few months before upgrading to my 9900K/32GB DDR4 and in games where no more than 4 cores are required, my framerates increased 2-3 fold. The good news is that nearly all games released up until 2018 don't really benefit from more than 4 cores and even some of the newest games like Control don't. Ubisoft & EA games released in the last year or two, all tend to need a minimum of 6 cores for non bottlenecking of a powerful GPU though.

So an upgrade will be worth it and you should see at least a doubling of frame rates with a GPU in the £350 class.
 
bobboberts said:
I'm constantly thinking about a new build or some upgrades or just a.ew CPU and, as a result, never do anything. But whilst I've never checked to see what actual fps I get in a game, I think hitting 60 is no longer a default.

I have a 970 currently and a 1080p monitor. The monitor isn't going to change anytime soon, so it really is only the GPU that is an option.

Without breaking the bank - say a budget of £350-ish max - what options do I have? Ideally some that would be reasonable a d ot in for a bit if I did go for a new build in a year/18 months (once we see what effect the new consoles have)?
Click to expand...

I'm still on my Intel 3770k @ 4.3. My monitor is 1920x1200 (just a smidgen over 1080p).

I changed from a 970 to a 1080Ti and the difference has been staggering. Only problem is, the 1080Ti's are still over £400 second-hand. EDIT: You could probably sell your 970 and push your budget over £400, so 1080Ti might be an option still.

I seriously wouldn't bother with anything less than a GTX 1080, if you really want a card where you can actually "feel" the upgrade difference. At £350, you'd pick one up second-hand. That's the route I'd go in your position - the new stuff is just seriously overpriced.

Other alternative is the 5700 series from AMD.
 
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You could sell your current components for easily £200.00 along with the £350.00 you already have, you could build a new system which would last you a fair while.

Ryzen 3600, B450 motherboard, and 16gb DDR4 can be had for £300.00 if you shop around, then you could get a Vega 56/1660ti/Used 1080 with the remaining £250.00.

That's a much better proposition that a cpu upgrade as it will have much more longevity.
 
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