Upgrading for next gen

clarkey1986 · 2 Oct 2013 at 11:22

Hi all,

Im really unsure of how to proceed with upgrading my current gaming system.

I currently have;

CPU: AMD FX6300 OC @ 4.00ghz
RAM: 8GB
GPU: Geforce GTX 660 2GB
Monitor: LG IPS 24inch LED
PSU: Coolermaster 1000w modular
SSD: 256gb Samsung 800 series

I was saving some money for the Xbox one, but I think I am going to scrap that and build up my PC.

I currently have a budget of £350 - £500 right now, and will have more money free as the months progress. So I am wondering how I should best invest my money?

I was thinking of eventually switching to Intel for the CPU and AMD for the GPU, Thoughts?

I play COD titles, bf3, Dota 2, CS:GO, Skyrim, and will be buying the new COD, bf4, watchdogs, titanfall etc.

Thanks in advance

teppic · 2 Oct 2013 at 11:27

What motherboard are you using? Do you have a good cooler? It's quite possible you can push your current CPU a lot more - 4GHz is not a big overclock.

The GTX 660 isn't terrible, but something like a 7950 at the current low prices would be a good upgrade and give you extra RAM for future games.

clarkey1986 · 2 Oct 2013 at 11:40

Hi, thanks for the reply.

My motherboard is an ASUS M5A97 LE R2.0 AMD 970
I am using a stock cooler.

I am wanting to future proof as much as possible, so I was looking at the 7970 1Ghz edition as ive heard that it beats the GTX 680 and is much cheaper.

Ive heard that the AMD CPU's perform poorly again the Intel chips, so I was looking at an i5.

Also wondering if I should upgrade to a larger monitor and run dual screens.....hmmmm

Doomedspeed · 2 Oct 2013 at 11:54

I have a plan in mind for you:

Step 1:

Sell your GTX 660
Buy a 7970 (ghz/matrix)

Step 2:

Sell your 6300
If you want to stay with AMD: Get a 8320 (You will need a 970/990X motherboard)
If you want to go Intel: Get a 4670k/4770k and Xfire compatible motherboard

Can you see where this is going yet?

Step 3:

Buy another 7970 (ghz/matrix)

Optional:

Buy a 144hz monitor/ or another 2 montors to go Eyefinity

Im not sure what your budget will cover at the moment..

I think the GPU is a good place to start.

teppic · 2 Oct 2013 at 11:58

I'd upgrade the GPU for sure. Sell it, get either the HIS 7950 (£185) and give it a massive overclock, or get one of the 7970s and do the same. The 7970 is only worth paying the extra for if you overclock it well.

Unfortunately the board you've got is too cheap for decent overclocks, and you'd need something better than the stock cooler anyway. I'd get a cooler in the meantime and try for 4.3-4.5GHz, it'd improve things a lot if it's stable.

The CPU question is more complicated, especially if you want both older and next gen games to perform well.

los · 2 Oct 2013 at 12:33

Quite similar to mine tbh, but I have a 7970, my plan is get a new motherboard and overclock it, till some of the newer games come out and see what direction they go. Then can upgrade to an 83*0 if need be or steamroller if it stays as am3+ when it comes out (next year sometime I believe) or sell up and swap to intel, but I'm pretty sure the 6300 will cope alright for now.

teppic · 2 Oct 2013 at 13:18

The 6300 is a good all rounder (especially overclocked), but the 8320/50 is going to be a better bet with next gen games. It's quite far ahead in the BF4 beta benchmarks.

clarkey1986 · 2 Oct 2013 at 14:59

Thanks for all the replies guys,

I think the plan is going to be:

Get a 7970 1ghz and sell my GTX 660
then after a month or two I will get a 4670k and a decent mobo and cooler and overclock it, seems people are getting just under 5ghz out of it with a decent cooler.

Thanks for all the advice