Upgrade or complete overhaul?

4Play · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:22

Hi all,

I've been out of the loop with components for a long time so dont really know where to start with this/ the best avenue to take.

Current specs are;

I5 2500K at 3.00ghz.
770 GTX lightning edition.
8gb Corsair DDR3 ram.
SSD 120GB.
HD 500gb.

I still runs games but I have noticed its starting to struggle. My question is am I best off completly overhauling from scratch (this is over 6 years old now) or upgrading certain components.

Thanks in advance!

stulid · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:27

I would start by swapping the GFX card for something with more punch.

A bigger SSD as 128GB cant last long with all these large modern games.

OC the CPU if you have a suitable cooler and motherboard.

4Play · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:30

Thanks for the reply Stulid, I dont think I can safely get much more out of the CPU on air cooling alone. Graphics wise I was thinking of the new nvidia cards.

p.s You helped me create this build many moons ago and your still here!! Good to see you now have don status!

stulid · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:38

Well all 2500K all do 4.5GHZ at least with a £20-£30 cooler attached to them.

What mobo do you have? there will likely be a guide somewhere on how to do that sort of speed.

What case+psu do you have so I can recommend a card thats actually going to fit in the case.

4Play · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:45

I have the NZXT Phantom full tower, its a huge case so I would imagine it will be fine.
My psu is the XFX Black edition 850w.

stulid · 17 Jul 2016 at 10:47

Oh thats spot on.

What sort of budget do you have and what resolution is your monitor.

4Play · 17 Jul 2016 at 11:15

1080p 144hz benq. I know going to the 1070/1080 I'm not going to reap the full rewards due to my monitor but its more future proof? Budget wise probably no more then £450 for a gpu.

stulid · 17 Jul 2016 at 11:19

GTX1060 is due the end of the month on the 28/29th.

That will be around £250-300, ealy leaked benchmarks show it being a bit quicker than a RX480 which in itself is more than enough for a 1080P screen.

Then you could spend the other £150approximately on a bigger SSD (256Gb for £60-70).

And if you are running an old version of Windows how about Windows10 so you have DX12 support and all the new wizzbang features that it brings.