PC upgrade - Feasablility

User360 · Sep 25, 2014

Hi, I'm considering upgrading my PC. These are my specs:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2320 CPU @ 3.00GHz
Socket 1155 LGA - Asrock z77 Pro3
6Gb ddr3 (3 sticks of 2gb)
ATI radeon 5770
600W PSU

The main reason for this upgrade is because my motherboard has several issues and I can't replace it. Some of these include: random corruption of data(checked ram and HDD on another pc - which found nothing), clock keeps losing time(tried changing CMOS battery-no luck), when my graphics card is plugged into the other PCI express I get loads of blue screens randomly(even after reinstalling windows/drivers) as well as blue screens when I need to use my PC the most(usually during some work ><)

In which scenario would I see the best performance increase
(I like to play high end games on a single 1080p display):

Waiting for DDR4 motherboards' and ram's price to settle a bit and thus do a whole system upgrade

or

Get a new motherboard, graphics card and PSU with remaining cash(if any)to be used on cooling and SSD
(Graphics card would probably be either a GTX 760/770/R9 290x - altough I'm open to suggestions)

Budget for option 1 = 1100euro
Budget for option 2 = 600euro

plywrlw · Sep 25, 2014

For a single 1080p monitor I'd go with option 2. The new Gtx 970 would be a great upgrade. What's wrong with your PSU? Or did you mean mobo and CPU?

User360 · Sep 25, 2014

plywrlw :

I wasn't quite sure if I had enough wattage. My PSU is ok but is it a good thing to have it outputting on its max for, say, 2-3 hours at a stretch?

plywrlw · Sep 25, 2014

What make and model is it? Compared to the r9 cards the 970 uses much less power for more/equal performance

User360 · Sep 25, 2014

plywrlw :

http://postimg.org/image/8a6ps0wex/

plywrlw · Sep 25, 2014

Your PSU is an old design but very well made. NVIDIA state a minimum of 500w PSU for the gtx 970 so you should be OK

Edit...

Hmm I've been trying to view that picture properly and I can't tell so don't want to assume. Can you confirm that there are 2 18amp 12volt rails because that's what it looks like. If it's only one 18 amp 12v rail I think the PSU will actually struggle, sorry!

User360 · Sep 26, 2014

plywrlw :

I think I have two

PS: keep clicking the image for better quality

Would it be possible to O/C the graphics card with my current PSU?
Also, what about the CPU? Would I see a huge difference in games/general office use/programming with a broadwell instead of a sandy bridge?

plywrlw · Sep 26, 2014

Now I've looked at the image on my PC and not my tablet I can see that yes, you have 2 18A rails so I think you'll be OK.

As for overclocking, I wouldn't trust such an old PSU. Broadwell isn't out yet so I can't really say but you won't see a huge difference with Haswell, if you can afford a GTX 970 and a new PSU (the EVGA Supernova B2 750W is a great choice as it's a fantastic price)

I'd be tempted to stick with the Sandybridge CPU a while longer as long as you can get a Z77 motherboard at a sensible price. If not then maybe get a Z97 motherboard with a Pentium G3258 to tide you over until the new Broadwell chips are out (Z97 should be Broadwell compatible but not DDR4 compatible). I think it will be a couple of years until DDR4 becomes worth it as prices are very high for the fast modules right now.

This Z77 motherboard http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77ds3h is an OK price but then the price of a G3258+Z97 isn't huge either http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/7FgcRB

User360 · Sep 26, 2014

plywrlw :

Now I've looked at the image on my PC and not my tablet I can see that yes, you have 2 18A rails so I think you'll be OK.

As for overclocking, I wouldn't trust such an old PSU. Broadwell isn't out yet so I can't really say but you won't see a huge difference with Haswell, if you can afford a GTX 970 and a new PSU (the EVGA Supernova B2 750W is a great choice as it's a fantastic price)

I'd be tempted to stick with the Sandybridge CPU a while longer as long as you can get a Z77 motherboard at a sensible price. If not then maybe get a Z97 motherboard with a Pentium G3258 to tide you over until the new Broadwell chips are out (Z97 should be Broadwell compatible but not DDR4 compatible). I think it will be a couple of years until DDR4 becomes worth it as prices are very high for the fast modules right now.

This Z77 motherboard http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77ds3h is an OK price but then the price of a G3258+Z97 isn't huge either http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/7FgcRB

Thanks for the answers it has made things a lot clearer for me

User360 · Sep 26, 2014

plywrlw :

Now I've looked at the image on my PC and not my tablet I can see that yes, you have 2 18A rails so I think you'll be OK.

As for overclocking, I wouldn't trust such an old PSU. Broadwell isn't out yet so I can't really say but you won't see a huge difference with Haswell, if you can afford a GTX 970 and a new PSU (the EVGA Supernova B2 750W is a great choice as it's a fantastic price)

I'd be tempted to stick with the Sandybridge CPU a while longer as long as you can get a Z77 motherboard at a sensible price. If not then maybe get a Z97 motherboard with a Pentium G3258 to tide you over until the new Broadwell chips are out (Z97 should be Broadwell compatible but not DDR4 compatible). I think it will be a couple of years until DDR4 becomes worth it as prices are very high for the fast modules right now.

This Z77 motherboard http://de.pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaz77ds3h is an OK price but then the price of a G3258+Z97 isn't huge either http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/7FgcRB

plywrlw · Sep 26, 2014

That's totally fine, I hope I helped a bit!

another point I should mention is that your i5 2320 will probably still fetch a good price second-hand so you could sell it to make some money back if you decided on new CPU + Mobo + GPU + (possibly) PSU

Someone will almost certainly buy that old GPU too, would be good in a HTPC

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PC upgrade - Feasablility

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