Upgrading rig, but what to upgrade? (Mobo & CPU vs GPU)

Wadair · May 28, 2015

Current Rig

Chassis: Corsair Graphite 600T
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
Memory: G.Skill RipjawsX 2x8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K @ 3.4GHz
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB SSD & Seagate 2TB HDD
Power: Corsair 750W 750AX
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 240M

I'm in a pickle here.
I'm debating should I upgrade my mobo and CPU or just GPU?

For instance, The Witcher 3 is giving me a bit hard time, though it's mostly because AMD has had horrendous track record with new game releases and post drivers for them.

I found out that my CPU should be decent enough to run with GTX 970, but is this truly the case? My CPU isn't overclocked and frankly I've had some trouble overclocking it. Have gotten fairly frequent BSODs after increasing it's Turbo Speed from BIOS.

So I'm looking to step up my game here.

If it's the mobo and CPU I should upgrade, what should I get?
If it's the GPU I should upgrade, should it be GTX 970 or something else?

turkey3_scratch · May 28, 2015

Upgrade the GPU, the CPU is still great.

JackNaylorPE · May 28, 2015

The 970 would just about double fps

Wadair · May 28, 2015

JackNaylorPE :

Intriguing!
Should I go with MSI or Gigabyte?

If you're familiar with my case and CPU cooler, should Gigabyte's 970 fit considering it's somewhat larger?
Also - AFAIK - my PSU should do the trick?
When I originally bought my PSU it was some what of an overkill, and have had it for 2-3 years now.

turkey3_scratch · May 28, 2015

PSU is fine, the 970 uses less power than your current card.

Tchota · May 28, 2015

neither, just wait a while longer and seem what becomes of the r9 3xx when released, and with the prices of current GPU. As others said, your CPU is fine, you dont need a new one.

If you decide to go with GTX 970 now, any of those two brands would be great choices. Evga would be too, they have the higher clock speed for the price.

Before you buy make sure you search on newegg user reviews so you can avoid models with defects. or high DOA rate.

Wadair · May 28, 2015

I'll go with 970.

There appears to be few different GTX 970 models from both MSI and GigaByte.

For instance, would this be a good model?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127832

Tchota · May 28, 2015

perfect: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_970_Gaming/

Search

Upgrading rig, but what to upgrade? (Mobo & CPU vs GPU)

Wadair

Honorable

JackNaylorPE

turkey3_scratch

Expert

JackNaylorPE

Titan

Wadair

Honorable

turkey3_scratch

Expert

Tchota

Reputable

Wadair

Honorable

Tchota

Reputable

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page