Looking for some upgrade advice for aging system

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viperchrisz4

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Sep 4, 2014
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Been looking to do an upgrade for my aging system for a bit and been eyeing new CPU's and also GPU's and prices etc.

Current Hardware:
Xeon W5580 3.2ghz w/ Zalman cooler
16gb 1333mhz
Evo 250gb ssd
2x GTX 560 SLI
700W bronze

Main choices I've seen so far was the i5 4690k or the upcoming fx 8370. Looking to stay around $200 for CPU alone, also considered doing getting a decent 1150 board and temporary throwing in the Pentium K G3258 and OCing for fun [the benchmarks on that thing are crazy!] til the holiday pricing arrives and I get something better. I do 95% gaming, mostly Payday 2, Metro, Company of Heroes 2, Borderlands, and eventually Star Citizen when they hash the optimization and SLI out. Also looking for some good options to pair the CPU with a good GPU capable of ~60fps 1080p around $200 or less. SLI or CF with cheaper cards is another consideration too. In a nutshell I'm looking for some newer hardware that will give me a leg up and be smooth at 1080p and be the best bang for the buck!
 
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Icaraeus
Changing to a 4690k (or worse any AMD CPU) would be a big downgrade. Your CPU is like an Intel Core i7 (4 strong cores, hyperthreaded). There's no need to change your CPU or motherboard. Xeon's are just as capable as i5s and i7s for gaming. I would pour all your funds into a strong graphics card like the R9 290, GTX 780 or, if you can't afford it, GTX 770 or R9 280X. Also I would consider getting a new PSU, especially if it's a no name one. Antec, Seasonic, XFX, EVGA or Corsair (HX,AX,TX) are the best, and you'd want to look for 650-750W, 850W to be on the safe side for SLI/CF. Star Citizen will be ridiculously demanding but I reckon your CPU could still pull it off, though maxing Star Citizen might require something like one of AMD or...
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Icaraeus

Icaraeus

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Oct 9, 2013
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Changing to a 4690k (or worse any AMD CPU) would be a big downgrade. Your CPU is like an Intel Core i7 (4 strong cores, hyperthreaded). There's no need to change your CPU or motherboard. Xeon's are just as capable as i5s and i7s for gaming. I would pour all your funds into a strong graphics card like the R9 290, GTX 780 or, if you can't afford it, GTX 770 or R9 280X. Also I would consider getting a new PSU, especially if it's a no name one. Antec, Seasonic, XFX, EVGA or Corsair (HX,AX,TX) are the best, and you'd want to look for 650-750W, 850W to be on the safe side for SLI/CF. Star Citizen will be ridiculously demanding but I reckon your CPU could still pull it off, though maxing Star Citizen might require something like one of AMD or Nvidia's upcoming GPUs (R9 300x series / GTX 8/900s).
 
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viperchrisz4

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Sep 4, 2014
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My Xeon is kinda old ~2008 about the same as a i7 920 I think so not sure if it will still be ok but I agree video card would be a more noticeable upgrade. The PSU I have is a Thermaltake, it's not fantastic but if there are any good deals on soon I may replace it. Yeah unfortunately Star Citizen is hard on just one of my 560's and it doesn't support SLI yet so i'm stuck with about 20-30fps at low settings :/
 
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Icaraeus

Icaraeus

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Your Xeon will still be good for gaming. Upgrading your GPU would be more noticeable. If you've had your PSU for more than 3-4 years then I would consider replacing it. The best ones are Antec, XFX, Seasonic, EVGA, Superflower, or Corsair (HX,AX,TX series).
 
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viperchrisz4

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Sep 4, 2014
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The PSU is pretty new I got it in April so I think ill be ok for a while. Will probably be leaning towards a single gpu setup since 700W is a clear limitation. One thing I was really amazed by the g3258 was its low power usage even while clocking to 4.8ghz. Matches i5's in benchmarks but not very good at multitasking. I think mine is a 130w right now not sure though, course if I keep my cpu I could always clock it a bit higher to extend its performance life.
 
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