Upgrade Advice for AMD FX 8320/GTX 970 Gaming PC

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ohemgeequinn

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With the holiday season approaching, and a large christmas bonus on the way, I'm looking to make some upgrades to my rig, but I'm at a loss as to where I should start. I primarily use it for gaming, and in game performance is really all that matters to me for this machine. I was considering SLI, or possibly changing over to Intel processors, but I'm not sure what would be to most 'bang for your buck' option. I'm willing to go up to about $500 total, maybe $600 at the most.

This is the current build:
*AMD FX(tm)-8320 Eight-Core Processor
*Asus STRIX GTX 970 4 GB
*GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 6 x SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
*Corsair H80i water cooling system
*Antec 620w power source
*8GB RAM
*Sold State HDD (240GB)

The system performs just fine now, and I was able to run The Witcher 3 at almost full settings with only Hairworks and one or two of the foliage settings turned off/down a few notches. What I'm looking for is a performance boost and a bit of future-proofing. What would you recommend as upgrades for this machine with a $500 budget?
 
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logainofhades
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noobgamer40

noobgamer40

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($318.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $638.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 03:39 EDT-0400

intel + another gtx 970


orrrrrrrrr


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($659.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $659.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 03:37 EDT-0400

a gtx 980 ti, although I don't know how much of a bottleneck is the fx 8320, you might want to overclock it..
 
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ben001

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Jun 17, 2013
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Just need to know few more information:
Memory: What's the name of the manufacturer you're using. Are you running a dual kit configuration?.
Video Card: You are really thinking for SLI?. Unless you're running dual display's it's not worth it. As noobgamer hinted, a single powerful card is enough & better for single display.

Power supply: You could save dollars if you don't go for SLI. So, another card means investing more amount on a higher wattage psu.


 
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ohemgeequinn

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The RAM is Patriot brand.

I'm hesitant to spend over $600 on just a graphics card, when the one I have right now is doing just fine. For the sake of argument, let's say I'm just looking to make the switch to intel, so I'll need a motherboard and CPU. What would you recommend then, with the entire $500 devoted just to those two items?
 
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noobgamer40

noobgamer40

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This is your best bet:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($216.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $536.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 07:31 EDT-0400

Or you could go for a i7 5820k 6 core proccessor, but this is better for gaming..

I f you do however want an i7 5820k just tell me
 
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ben001

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That's a right decision you have made.
Well, $600 could be in well use:
Since, you have 8 GB memory kit, made it to 16 gig.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $504.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 10:14 EDT-0400

Good luck !
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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That would require new ram. X99 and Z170 are DDR4. If you really want the latest gen chip, this would work. Not sure it is worth the extra cost.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($365.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $595.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 10:29 EDT-0400


For less, you could go with this, then just get a matching set of ram, to your current set.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($326.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($144.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $471.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-23 10:30 EDT-0400
 
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ohemgeequinn

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@logainofhades What makes you say that the latest chip isn't worth the extra cost? I don't mind changing out the RAM at all; the RAM I have at the moment was a Fry's black friday sale item. Not particularly attached to it. Switching to Intel, I did expect that it would require changing out some core parts, so that's not really an issue. I suppose my issue is that graphics cards tend to 'come and go' and drop in price much faster than games keep up with them. CPUs not so much. When I built the PC, I was sort of frankensteining it together with what I could afford at the time (it took me about a year to get all the parts together.) I know the weak point is the processors, but I went with AMD because at the time that's what my budget could afford. The GTX 970 was an upgrade in the last year from... I think it was a ZOTAC AMP! GTX 760? I can't remember. I was going off of a $800 build from Gamer's Nexus for a 'Halloween' type computer, and I went with the 'upgraded' parts on the list.

I figured for 'future-proofing' the best move would be to make the switch to Intel, since I've got a decent amount of money to spend at once. I got the water cooler as a gift from a friend, so heat isn't really a concern for me (really the reason why I have the water cooler is that i live in a VERY hot climate area and I have no air conditioning in my house. So... with a stock cooler, even opening up MS Paint has the fans and CPU cooler kicking up to high gear.) I guess my question is; if I'm committing to going for 'bang for the buck' on an Intel processor, and would be willing to up the budget to $700 if I need to replace the RAM, would going with the latest chipset be a good option?

logainofhades option looks good, and I think I might do that. I am not really that fond of overclocking processors. I am about a... mid-level user. I built the computer myself, but I'm still learning about OCing and that sort of thing.
 
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noobgamer40

noobgamer40

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Here is my attempt of making an analogy -

You want to buy car x, now the latest one is a 2016 model, but it didn't change from the 2015 model and performs the same with just a little change in the headlights, and it's $10,000 more, now tell me, is it worth it?
 
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logainofhades

logainofhades

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There is no such thing as future proof. You can build for longevity, but that is about it. Also, Skylake isn't much faster, than Haswell. If you do not want to overclock, then switch to a Xeon 1231v3. It is basically an i7 4770, without the integrated graphics, and a good deal cheaper. You could even go to a cheaper SLI capable Z97 board, as you won't need a good overclocking one, just one that works well, at stock, and supports SLI.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $349.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-26 10:01 EDT-0400
 
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