To Upgrade current rig or build a new one, that is the question

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 2, 2014

Hello community,

I'm a PC gamer with a rig that's starting to show its age. It's my first build from 2012, so I'm still new to the in's and out's of building the optimal PC.

Specs for my current rig:

Core- Intel i5 Sandybridge 2500k
GPU- XFX Double D 6870 Radeon AMD
Motherboard- BIOSTAR TZ68K+ LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
Ram- 2x 4GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3
Case- Coolermaster HAF 912
PSU- Corsair Enthusiast 850W with Bronze cert.
HDD- 2 TB Seagate Barracuda Green 5900 RPM
CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
General Cooling- 2 x 120mm fans
OS- Windows 7 64 bit

My current peripherals:

Monitor- Viewsonic VX2450WM-LED 24-Inch
Mouse- Razer Deathadder black
Headset- Plantronics Gamecom 780
Keyboard- Razer Arcosta

Options:
Although the prospects of just starting with a brand new rig are tempting, I don't want to just throw money at my rigs when I can optimize what I have for much less. I currently have an OCZ 80GB SSD that I plan on using as a boot drive with my current HDD working as mass storage. I'm also looking into upgrading my peripherals, my GPU, and my RAM (from 8GB to 16GB).

What concerns me the most is compatibility. Given that my current mobo is rather basic, upgrading hardware on it may not be the best idea. However, if I were able to upgrade my graphics, I don't really have a preference, but I was reading up on some articles on Tom's Hardware and it seems that the Radeon R9 285 is a smart choice.

However, if it seems that I should just build a new rig I'm willing to spend roughly up to $2000 which includes the peripherals that I plan on purchasing:

BenQ 120 Hz Monitor $400.00 (roughly)
Logitech G710+ $150.00
SteelSeries mousepad $20

Any suggestions or guidance is much appreciated and I may edit this further for more info. Thanks in advance.

-Ethan

Newbbuilder11 · Oct 2, 2014

Theretoohsprahs :

Your 2500k(unless OC'd) will bottleneck a 285 slightly, that is of course if you have it at stock. Your RIG is still fine for today's gaming needs and for a while as long as you have the CPU over 4.0 ghz. You do not need over 8 gb for gaming as you hardly notice a difference for the amount you pay.

Therefore, the 2k you have now save for later and just nab a GPU.

Or, you can salvage that RAM, case, fans, cooler, PSU and your peripherals and I can just make you a more recent list of parts

-Lisandra

James Mason · Oct 2, 2014

There won't be all that much of a performance increase if you update to "todays" CPU, only about 18% (assuming you get another i5, and there's not any good reason to go to an i7 for gaming)

You could definitely get a decent performance boost out of a new GPU though, the 970s that just got released are basically the best value to performance as well for only around $330-380.

You don't NEED more than 8 GBs of RAM for gaming, only if you're hosting a server of some kind do you need more, or doing alot of video rendering/ect.

Your Storage hard drive is kind of bad though for anything that's not like documents and pictures. You'd want like a WD Blue for a gaming-storage hard drive.

Your motherboard is fine-ish, only need a new one with a new CPU, it can currently handle whatever you want, except it wouldn't be good for Crossfire because the 2nd PCI-E port only runs at 4x, but you don't need to crossfire if you have a single good card.

Newbbuilder11 · Oct 2, 2014

James Mason :

You forgot to mention that he has to uninstall all the Radeon drivers to use that 970. The performance increase would increase dramatically judging by which CPU he gets like the I5 4460.,4670, 4690, etc. That 2nd gen he has is great yes, but when he upgrades he will see a difference. How do I know this? My school has sandy bridges in their PC's and I notice a difference to my friends I5 4460 in gaming. For everyday youtube he won't see a difference, but he will in gaming.

Now I'm not saying he should upgrade now since the 2500k OC'd will handle the card he wants and will last him till 2017-2018.

James Mason · Oct 2, 2014

Newbbuilder11 :

Yeah, i kinda did forget to mention he'd have to uninstall the radeon drivers, but it's not that big a deal to do it, and it probably wouldn't cause any problems initially anyways, he could do it at any time as well.

The performance difference between his 2500k and a 4690k is only about 18% though. He mainly just needs a better graphics card.
I get amazing performance out of my i3-4130, which fairly close to his 2500k.

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 2, 2014

James Mason :

There won't be all that much of a performance increase if you update to "todays" CPU, only about 18% (assuming you get another i5, and there's not any good reason to go to an i7 for gaming)

You could definitely get a decent performance boost out of a new GPU though, the 970s that just got released are basically the best value to performance as well for only around $330-380.

You don't NEED more than 8 GBs of RAM for gaming, only if you're hosting a server of some kind do you need more, or doing alot of video rendering/ect.

Your Storage hard drive is kind of bad though for anything that's not like documents and pictures. You'd want like a WD Blue for a gaming-storage hard drive.

Your motherboard is fine-ish, only need a new one with a new CPU, it can currently handle whatever you want, except it wouldn't be good for Crossfire because the 2nd PCI-E port only runs at 4x, but you don't need to crossfire if you have a single good card.

Thanks for the info! I'll look into applying your suggestions. I take it the 970 is AMD? I'm rather confused by the various names for graphics cards.

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 2, 2014

Newbbuilder11 :

Theretoohsprahs :

Your 2500k(unless OC'd) will bottleneck a 285 slightly, that is of course if you have it at stock. Your RIG is still fine for today's gaming needs and for a while as long as you have the CPU over 4.0 ghz. You do not need over 8 gb for gaming as you hardly notice a difference for the amount you pay.

Therefore, the 2k you have now save for later and just nab a GPU.

Or, you can salvage that RAM, case, fans, cooler, PSU and your peripherals and I can just make you a more recent list of parts

-Lisandra

Thanks for the help!

James Mason · Oct 2, 2014

Theretoohsprahs :

Oh sorry, no, the GTX 970 is made by Nvidia.

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 2, 2014

James Mason :

Right... OK, I feel dumb. I probably could've looked it up...

Newbbuilder11 · Oct 3, 2014

James Mason :

Newbbuilder11 :

Yeah, i kinda did forget to mention he'd have to uninstall the radeon drivers, but it's not that big a deal to do it, and it probably wouldn't cause any problems initially anyways, he could do it at any time as well.

The performance difference between his 2500k and a 4690k is only about 18% though. He mainly just needs a better graphics card.
I get amazing performance out of my i3-4130, which fairly close to his 2500k.

I have the same processor

!

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 3, 2014

I guess my next major concern is overclocking my PC. I'm not entirely familiar with the process and I'm unsure if my current motherboard will be able to handle the stress. From what you guys are suggesting, I guess I can tweak it to get some more performance.

Newbbuilder11 · Oct 3, 2014

Theretoohsprahs :

Judging by that mobo you should have this

T-Overclocker
T-overclocker presents a simple Windows-based system performance enhancement and utility management. It features several powerful yet easy to use tools such as overclocking for system performance enhancement, CPU and memory special enhancement, a smart-fan control for managing fan speed control of both CPU cooling fan, north-bridge chipset cooling fan, PC health for monitoring system status, and pre-set OC modes for easy OC.

That should help you out

.

Theretoohsprahs · Oct 4, 2014

Newbbuilder11 :

Theretoohsprahs :

Judging by that mobo you should have this

T-Overclocker
T-overclocker presents a simple Windows-based system performance enhancement and utility management. It features several powerful yet easy to use tools such as overclocking for system performance enhancement, CPU and memory special enhancement, a smart-fan control for managing fan speed control of both CPU cooling fan, north-bridge chipset cooling fan, PC health for monitoring system status, and pre-set OC modes for easy OC.

That should help you out

.

OK thanks! I think I already have a copy that came with the mobo, so I'll dig through my stuff to find it.

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