GPU upgrade, or the whole rig?

boneslammer · Dec 1, 2014

Current setup:
Mobo: Asus P7P55D-E PRO
CPU: i5 750 @ 3.2 ghz (2.66 stock)
GPU: GTX 670
RAM: Corsair Dominator-GT 2x2gb 7-7-7-20
PSU: Thermaltake toughpower 850W
SSD: ocz agility 3

I build this one 4 years ago, upgraded the gfx after 2 years, and been happy so far. Running everything without trouble.
But then assassin's Creed unity, and far cry 4 came along. Suddenly my machine felt like a Pentium 2 relic.

So, what now?

I've read from the charts, not to upgrade CPU, unless the new one is 3 tiers higher than the old one. Im right on the edge there.
And I know that my next complete upgrade will be to a mATX or mITX. But is it time for that step now, or would I be far more relevant to just change the gfx to a GTX 970 and be able to game a couple af years more?

I am aware that I lack the minimum ram requirement for unity, but would a ram upgrade, and a better GPU be sufficient?

Looking forward to your thoughts...

JoneD · Dec 1, 2014

If I had that rig and I wanted to update it, I would keep the PSU, SSD and the GPU and purchase a newer Motherboard, RAM sticks and CPU. GTX 670 is still a powerful card, I don't see a reason why you should change it yet.

boneslammer · Dec 1, 2014

Because I have to run far cry in the lowest setting to get 30-50fps at 1080p

Unity never got over 20 fps in the lowest setting, even on lower resolutions. Quiet a shock to me.

I've been told several times, that changing the other components in my rig only will give me 10-15% more. Therefore my assumption that a GPU chance would be preferable.

And a 970 performs about 40% better than my 670.

I doubt that your suggestion would allow me to play the mentioned games in med-high settings at 55-60fps 1080p. Correct me if I'm wrong.

JoneD · Dec 1, 2014

Yes you would be able to play the games you mentioned with medium-high graphics settings.

Your current motherboard doesn't even have a PCIE 3.0 slot..

I would suggest you to update the parts I mentioned first and if you would still notice fps lag(you won't) you could order a new GPU but if money is not a problem you could buy the GPU sametime with other parts.

boneslammer · Dec 2, 2014

What would your estimate be performance wise?
% performance increase, exchanging the GPU, vs the mentioned parts?

Would love some input from other people too, to get some diversity to my possible options.

boneslammer · Dec 2, 2014

I can see from the GPU hierarchy chart, that the same 3 tiers to upgrade are recommended. And the leap from 670 to 970 only is 2 tiers. So it looks like a MB / CPU / RAM upgrade.

I'm just a little staggered that this would get me from running Creed unity low settings 20fps low resolution, to something playable at 1080p.

Any input is highly appreciated.

JoneD · Dec 2, 2014

boneslammer :

If money is not a problem you could buy the GTX 970 card to make sure you won't get any FPS drops.

Calculagator · Dec 2, 2014

JoneD :

My advice is pretty much the opposite of this. Your initial suggestion is the best. For the games you mention more RAM and a GTX 970 could definitely help. Your system should be able to last another few years before upgrading is worth the cost and effort. Having a pci-e 3 slot is completely unimportant for the GTX 970.
Newer platforms have some nice features-faster SATA, usb3, lower power, etc., but most of them won't make games any more playable.

boneslammer · Dec 2, 2014

I just had another look at the hierarchy charts, and it turns out that both my GPU and CPU only are 2 tiers behind what you can get today. Money isn't the issue. But why spend it when unnecessary right

So is the 3 tiers rule bogus, or what am i misssing??

boneslammer · Dec 3, 2014

I am kind of torn between you 2 opinions. Any more input anyone?

Calculagator · Dec 3, 2014

boneslammer :

Check out the benchmark charts on anandtech.com. The 970 will about double the performance of the 670. You certainly could double the performance of a stock i5 750 as well, but with your overclock, you will only notice a significant improvement when the cpu is maxed. Most games won't even max your current cpu. Some will at times, but not most.

Calculagator · Dec 3, 2014

Also, replacing a gpu is simple-just plug in the new one, power up, finish driver install and reboot. Replacing a cpu requires a lot more work and may require reactivation of windows and a bunch of new drivers from the new motherboard.
Finally, if you only replace your cpu, you will not receive any significant gaming benefits (more than a few fps) since almost every game will be bottlenecked by your gpu anyway.

boneslammer · Dec 4, 2014

I love building pc's, so I really don't mind starting from scratch. But I want to avoid it, if it wouldn't give me any significant real life performance increase.

I know that a better GPU will give me more performance, I am just a little concerned if it will be enough after I witnessed how bad fc4 and acu ran on my current system. The best GPU won't be enough of the rest of the machine is just to old. Minimum requirement of acu is a Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3 Ghz. I can match the ghz, but I guess it's not just only about the clock rate?

melonhead · Dec 4, 2014

im going to agree with JoneD on this one. Although i understand the argument that the 970 will outbenchmark your current GPU, it is not the only component that matter.
for an example, i am going to use my week old upgrade that i did, and even though it is different components, will still hold quite a bit of truth.
i was running an amd 970 BE processor (3.5ghz) and a R9 270x card. with Dayz mod and/or standalone, i would get, on average 20-25 fps on low settings. The card is plenty to run it at 40fps, as an educated guess.
I recently bought the i7 4790k and the gigabyte g1 970 card which gets me over 70fps continually without problem. i can run the same new setup, with using the R9 270x card and get more than i was with the old CPU.
Although the 970 card will outperform the current one, it doesnt necessarily mean that it is going to resolve your FPS issue if you upgrade that part only, and i stand by JoneD with his answer. i would upgrade the CPU/board/ram over the GPU at this time. The current GPU isnt top of the line, but it isnt a horrible card either.

gamerxavier · Dec 4, 2014

I would honestly say shoot for some better cooling and overclock the piss out of that system. I'd definitely upgrade that ram. Definitely more ram. If you run out of ram things start to use your SSD which is far slower. So, that alone could be causing a crawl of performance.

There's going to be 2 new sockets coming out next year. So, if you find yourself managing to get by with additional ram and a gpu awesome. I'd shoot for Broadwell. But, that's assuming Skylake is not going to support DDR3. If it does Broadwell will have a short life. Yes, new things are always around the corner. But, in this case we're nearing end of life for current releases as far as cpu goes on Intel. Which if you don't care about that could mean cheaper prices right around the corner.

boneslammer · Dec 5, 2014

I think I try to exchange my ram and see what happens. I'm already running an aftermarket cooler, so I could try to give the cpu a little extra.

I'm opting for 2x4gig, what ram would you suggest?
Mobo specs say "DDR3 2200(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066"

gamerxavier · Dec 5, 2014

8GB of ram should be good. I cannot really say what ram to shoot for. But, I use these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231589
Slightly underclocked the speed to get their timings under 10.

boneslammer · Dec 10, 2014

A little update...

I ended up getting a Gigabyte GV-N970G1 GAMING-4GD, and exchanged my 2x2gb ram with G.Skill TridentX Series DDR3 2 x 4 GB

A 3d mark run gives me about 75% better score.

My plan is to stick to this system until skylake arrives, and then shoot for a micro atx build.

Also, I got the cpu running at 3.7 now. After playing fc4 for one hour my max temp was 72. But if I run prime I get up to 98 pretty fast.

GPU upgrade, or the whole rig?

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