Upgrading old tech

thunderdan602 · Sep 9, 2013

Good evening/morning.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I love coming on here myself and reading the posts in the forums and how awesome everyone is in helping answer peoples tech questions. Now I have a question and I am hoping a few of you can help me in my decision.

I am running and old rig and I am looking to make it last a bit longer. I know I need an upgrade and i plan on doing a new built this spring with my tax rebate. That being said, I am not getting rid of this rig I am using, as it runs very smoothly and is fairly fast for being so old (I take care of my equipment and tweak what i can with what little I know). This rig is only my second build and parts of it have been running since 2007. I have upgraded a few parts here and there.

My question is, is it worth upgrading my video card, with the mobo/cpu/RAM I am running now? And if so, what would be the best video card to get? I play mostly BF3 and get 60+ FPS on high settings. This is what I am running right now...

Windows 7 Pro 64 bit
Intel Q9550 2.83 quad core CPU (I have it OC'd to 3.8 GHz)
Antec 900 Case
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Mobo
8 GB OCZ Reaper HPC (4 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
Samsung 840 PRO 128GB SSD
WD VelociRaptor SATA II 300GB HD
WD Caviar Black SATA II 640GB HD
EVGA SuperClocked GTX 570
BFG Tech EX-1200 PSU 1200W
Samsung Black Internal Blu-ray SATA II BD-ROM DVD-/+R
LG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner SATA II
Evercool 120mm Transformer 4 Heat Pipe CPU Cooler

I would like to play BF4 at a decent frame rate when it comes out and I am thinking a newer GPU might help in that area. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all and i look forward to your knowledgeable responses.

Good night and have a good day.

Daniel

kyzarvs · Sep 9, 2013

I'd look at a graphics upgrade - I don't know your budget but a 660ti for example would lower power usage (from memory) and improve performance. Four cores at 3.8ghz are fast enough at the moment (I've noticed very little difference recently going from a PhenomII 955 quad @ 3.2 to an FX6350). I also have W7Pro on a 300GB 'raptor on my gaming machine and whilst it's not as fast to boot up as my SSD-based office machines, it's still pretty perky and since most of my games are on my 1TB second drive it's only boot-up time that would be affected any way.

coozie7 · Sep 9, 2013

You might find this interesting:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ivy-bridge-wolfdale-yorkfield-comparison,review-32682.html
Jumping to a GTX660Ti is not going to yield much:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32760-7.html
From what you have said it's still a more than competent gaming rig-it's just getting a little old and so well balanced that any single change will have a fairly small impact.
Personally I would suggest you enjoy this machines twilight years and start planning the inevitable full scale upgrade/new build, not that there seems to be any great need for it ATM.

kyzarvs · Sep 9, 2013

I suggested the 660ti as it's upper-mid range in price and over twice the fill rate of his card according to the nVidia specs (43.9 Bil Textures/second vs 102.5)

determinologyz · Sep 9, 2013

kyzarvs :

Yea a 570 to a 660ti but i would go for a 760 which would prob be a better option and cheaper

kyzarvs · Sep 9, 2013

760 has higher memory bandwidth and slower texture fill rate - I'd go for whichever is cheaper, but depending on the OP's budget we may be both miles out if he's shopping for Titan's

determinologyz · Sep 9, 2013

kyzarvs :

I hope he doesnt get a titan 780 is a better value and if he waits he might run into the release of titan ultra/790 and 800 series which im looking fowards to the most..Its going to be great

coozie7 · Sep 9, 2013

If you look around it's possible to find GTX660Ti reviews that compare it with the GTX570, like this:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Ti_Direct_Cu_II/
Realistically, any of those games could be made to run smoothly enough with a GTX570 with a little careful trimming of the high end features.
I really don't think the OP will benefit enough from a new card to justify the cost, he'll be better off looking for a possible large scale upgrade this time next year-or even later if it's still playing games the way he wants.

hang-the-9 · Sep 9, 2013

Since there is no good value upgrade, do you have a good monitor? IPS screen maybe? If not, put your upgrade money towards a good IPS screen, a Dell UltraSharp or something. I have a Q6600 based system, and the best upgrade I did to is was to go from a TN to an IPS screen. The first time I started a game it looked like I upgraded the video card, it just looked a lot better.

coozie7 · Sep 9, 2013

^ (Embarrassed) Er...Yeh....Right...Cough.
Truth to tell, I've been using IPS panels for the last 5 years (first one died. Three weeks out of warranty

) it's such a familiar item I tend to forget how great it was when I ditched the previous TN panel.

determinologyz · Sep 9, 2013

I couldnt go to a TN panel even if its 120hz after seeing a IPS/PLS

thunderdan602 · Sep 10, 2013

Gent's, thank you so much for you knowledgeable input. I really appreciate it. You all make excellent points. I was looking at the video card prices that were mentioned, and for the return that can be given, i think i am just going to suck it up and wait to do a complete rebuild next year. Thanks again and I hope you all have a good night.

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