Upgrading for christmas! CPU or GPU. (..and AMD or Intel, Ati or Nvidia..)

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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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Like the title says its xmas soon and its time to upgrade my system. Ive been lookin way too much here and on overclockers, sweclockers and all the webshops around for reviews but i just dont seem to be able to settle this on my own.

I realise i might be outdated on info since i only upgrade every year or 2 and rarely read between the times.

My system is:
CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 945 @ stockspeed(3ghz)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0
Ram: Kingston HyperX Fury 1600mhz 2x8gb
Graphics: XFX Radeon 7870 Ghost Edition 2gb
Harddrive(s): Samsung SSD 840 EVO 120gb and Seagate Desktop HDD 2TB 7200RPM.
PSU: Cooler Master B700 V2 700W
Case and cooling: Corsair Carbide SPEC-03 Midi Tower fitted with 2 big 120 in the front, 1 in the top, Cooler Master Seidon 120v radiator with push-pull in the back.
Everything is running very cool, except my graphiccard even with the MSI afterburner profile set i still feel like its wierd it can reach 60-70 degrees in this well vented case.

Games i play and will be playin is:
Casual WoW, Defiance, League of Legends, Planetside2, Payday2, Arma3.
Im really waiting for Star Citizen wich will be very heavy, hard to determine what it would take to run it properly still but i would like to atleast stand a fair chance later in 2015 when it comes to games.

I dont care much for getting the top3 components, i rather stay in the top parts shadow and play with the cheaper yesterday parts.

Graphic thoughts and budget:
Ive been thinking 280x or even get another 7870, if only it wasnt so hard to get by nowdays.
7950 even crossed my mind but i fear its a pricey upgrade for a small boost.
Another card that crossed my mind was sapphires 290 tri-x wich is pretty cheap.
Graphic card budget: 260euro

Processor thoughts and budget:
Ive always liked AMD, call me old fashion but i remember back in the days when the pcs built by intel looked like a writing machine and AMD machines were gaming monsters.
Nowdays intel has really catched up, i would switch and atleast give it a try, everyone is so in love with it so why wouldnt i wanna try.
Problem is, got a am3+ motherboard, intel processors is expensive as it is, getting a new CPU is almost double the price of the AMD upgrades im lookin at. FX8320-8350 is sorrounded by intel chips at the benchmarks, but AMD is almost half the price.
And apperently you can push it to 5ghz with some luck and skill.
If i were to buy a Intel i would probably settle for a i5, thats 200euros though, atleast, add another 100 to a new motherboard. i would only spend about 140-150 on a new AMD.
This is where i need recomendations especially, i figured i should pick 8320 and just punch it up to the levels of a 8350-8370.
Or? Worst case scenario is i buy the AMD, if im not satisfied then ill just sell that one, along with the motherboard, add in some cash to take home a intel system (sucks you cant buy a good priced upgradepackage with cpu+board and NOT ram).
CPU budget: 200euro.

However i just want to see a boost to my gaming experience, mainly in games that is abit heavier such as Arma3, i would really love to be able to play Tom Clancys Division, aswell as start playin BF4 when this upgrade is done.
And by be able i mean 60fps+, preferbly 80 on max.

Suggestions and thoughts please,
AMD or Intel,
..Nvidia or ATI,
..CPU or GPU,
..what brands is alright on current average topcards?

Thanks in advance.

And sorry if the information is abit much but wanted to make sure i got all in there.
More is better.

/Joxe
 
Solution
draconis123
I would definitely go intel if you like Arma 3. I saw a pretty good boost in fps when I switched from an 8350 to a 4790k. Intel's almost always outperform amd's nowadays's. The 4690k would be enough for you as well as you don't need more than 4 cores/threads.

As for gpu it really depends on what you like. You should get 3GB vram or more if you decide to replace yours. Will be useful in Star Citizen when it comes out next year. The GTX 970 seems to be the best bang for buck at the moment.
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draconis123

draconis123

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Jan 24, 2014
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I would definitely go intel if you like Arma 3. I saw a pretty good boost in fps when I switched from an 8350 to a 4790k. Intel's almost always outperform amd's nowadays's. The 4690k would be enough for you as well as you don't need more than 4 cores/threads.

As for gpu it really depends on what you like. You should get 3GB vram or more if you decide to replace yours. Will be useful in Star Citizen when it comes out next year. The GTX 970 seems to be the best bang for buck at the moment.
 
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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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Thanks for your input, i wouldnt say i really like Arma3 in particular. It fills my hunger for military simulation, for now. Im sorry but "pretty good boost" needs to be defined abit better here, like i said my motherboard feels ok, so if i can grab a 8350, OC it to 4.6-4.8ghz and only be like 10fps away from a intel then that would be fine by me rather then buyin a new motherboard and all at 350euros.

 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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With your components I'd wait another year or maybe even two before upgrading. You are at the high rang of last gen parts which is still good. If you were on the mid or low range then an upgrade would be worth it, with what you have, not so much.

You should be able to play BF4 on what you have easily.
 
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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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I dont know, it still feels weak, i keep finding myself tweaking the settings here and there to gain some performance and i really wanna be able to just put it on Ultra. Ive decided to switch over to Intel asap though, seems to be a good bet for securing the future of my system.
Intel i5-4690K + GA-Z97X is what im thinkin for now. Hopefully this should give me the edge on some games ive had bad configs on earlier. I dont really wanna buy a good graphiccard yet seeing as theres probably some new ones coming out soon and pricedrops about to go down but i really feel like i need a upgrade from this good old card.
Its too bad with the motherboard though, i was lookin on the specs 2..3..4..5 times and then realised its a awesome gaming board.. without wifi. Really wouldve loved to complete the system with that, yes i know you can buy a seperate card... But still.. :)
Z87 got wifi on it, but the board seems alot weaker and its.. yellow? what the... (weaker might not be the right word but got the feeling it had way less awesomeness compared to the z97)

If you could suggest anything within reasonable price but still a pretty decent upgrade from my HD7870 then that would be perfect.
Also, im pretty new to intel, the 1150socket, is that on its final breaths or will it last for a few more cpu upgrades?
 
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draconis123

draconis123

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Jan 24, 2014
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Sorry for the late reply. I went from about 40-45 fps with the occasional drop below 30 at high to ultra settings to around 60 fps stable at ultra settings. Both cpu's were clocked to 4.6 Ghz. I also saw another 5 fps or so increase when switching from 1600 Mhz ram to 2400 Mhz.

Intel definitely makes the best cpu's and Arma 3 is sensitive to clockspeed. So the higher you get it the more fps you'll have.

As for the mobo unless you're using the new features available in the new z97 boards then a z87 will work just fine. Got myself a Asus Maximus vi Hero for an excellent price and never regretted it. Also, you will need to make sure the board is compatible with Devil's Canyon if you decide to go the z87 route. Most tend to be able to once the bios is updated (before installing the cpu.)
 
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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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ok so, let me ask you this.. If i were about to upgrade something this month and upgrade the other next or month after that. Wich one should benefit more from a upgrade? CPU or GPU? Been seeing some really cheap 280x goin now but im afraid CPU will let me down if i go as far as 280x.
 
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hang-the-9

hang-the-9

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Mar 25, 2010
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Simple way to tell. Overclock the CPU and video card one at a time and see how much framerates go up in a benchmark. Whichever overclock gives you the biggerst improvement that's what you upgrade first.
 
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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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Thats a good idea i havent thought much about, thank you.

 
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Joxe

Joxe

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Dec 3, 2014
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Seems my CPU maxes out quickly while my graphiccard got more juice to give. Ended up buying i5 4690k along with MSI z97 gaming 5 motherboard.
 
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