Better to buy a second video card, or upgrade cpu for gaming?

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SMITZ

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Current setup:

CPU - Intel Core i5-3570k 3.40GHz
CPU Fan - Noctua D-14
Video Card - Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670
Motherboard - Asus P8Z77 V
Power Supply - OCZ 850w
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 16gb
Operating system - Windows 7

I have been using this build for around 2 years now, it has performed outstandingly and I am happy with it. Though, with the progressing gaming development, there are more demanding games coming out and I want to know for future reference, if it is better (for smoother gaming at higher settings) to upgrade my current CPU or to invest in another video card.

I have no real knowledge in the whole overclocking department, so I am unsure if it is safe to do, or if it could harm my PC. Though, when I purchased my parts I also bought a good quality Noctua fan for my CPU just incase I decided on overclocking in the future.

Any advice or input is greatly appreciated, thank you :D
 
Solution
DSzymborski
There's really no compelling reason to upgrade a 3570k at this point given that you already have it. Building a new rig, you'd obviously buy a 4670k (and now, 4690k) as they are better, but only incrementally, so you'd be out the money for the upgrade *and* a new motherboard, given that you'd need LGA 1155 has gone to socket heaven.

If you do need to upgrade, GPU makes more sense.
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DSzymborski

DSzymborski

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There's really no compelling reason to upgrade a 3570k at this point given that you already have it. Building a new rig, you'd obviously buy a 4670k (and now, 4690k) as they are better, but only incrementally, so you'd be out the money for the upgrade *and* a new motherboard, given that you'd need LGA 1155 has gone to socket heaven.

If you do need to upgrade, GPU makes more sense.
 
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Shamar Holtz

Shamar Holtz

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First off, hello sir.

You will need to overclock if you want to keep up with today's games with your current CPU, or you will experience some bottleneck, Get the second 670, SLI them and overclock your CPU to keep up with the task.

Overclocking is always a chance to harm your PC but it is EXTREMELY low if you do it right, which is quite easy.

Have any question? Hit me/us up with another post
 
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SMITZ

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When you say upgrade the GPU, would you guys advise me to invest in like a GTX 970 and replace my 670? Would I be able to SLI the two? Or would I get two 670's? Btw, thanks for quick answers.
 
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Shamar Holtz

Shamar Holtz

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Getting another 670 to SLI will give you more power than a single 960 or 970, but sometimes SLI or Xfire could cause a bit of trouble
 
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SMITZ

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What problems does SLI cause, exactly? And is it easy to fix, and find a stability?
 
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sizzling

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I'm guessing your 670 is a 2gb VRAM card? 2gb VRAM is becoming a bottleneck even at 1080p and seeing as Sli does not help this in any way a single card upgrade to a 970 makes way more sense.

No you cant sli a 670 and 970 but you could use the 670 as a PhysX card
 
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Scibbo

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The issue with a second gpu in sli is bottlenecking with the current cpu.
The current cpu will bottleneck a gtx670 sli.
a single gtx960 or 970 will not bottleneck the cpu and will be the best option.
 
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Shamar Holtz

Shamar Holtz

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Heat issues, installing and getting the cards to work together, sometimes ppl experience worse FPS than a single card, Maybe bottleneck from CPU, Noise issues, crashes.

There are a few possible ones, but all should have fixes and is unlikely for your card model.
 
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SMITZ

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Yes it's a 2gb card, so getting two wouldn't help because of their vram? Is that one of the troubles?
 
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SMITZ

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So would some games try to run on just the one card, if they dont support SLI?
 
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SMITZ

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Oh I understand, so getting a second card at this time may give me a boost, but in the near future when games are requiring more vram I won't be using my cards to their full performance?
 
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SMITZ

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Thank you all for the quick responses and input! I think the 970 will be my best option right now, but I'm gonna ride the 670 out for a while until it becomes a need for change.
 
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