PC Upgrade Assistance

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ImKable

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Sep 14, 2013
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Hey all

i have had my PC now for around 5-6 years and it has seen many hours of enjoyable gaming, however all things come to an end.

i am looking to upgrade where possible as what i did previously has seemed to lasted for some time! but being busier and out of the loop of up to date equipment i am hoping to seek some assistance in this.

i currently have around £500-700 to spend the more time the more i have, so slow upgrades that i can purchase over a space of time (if this is possible)

my current build
Motherboard: Z68X-UD5-B3
CPU: i5-2500K
GPU: GTX 580 Phantom
RAM: 8GB Vengeance
Power supply: TX850

Now im hoping to be able to purchase a new CPU and motherboard later on as my current graphics card is on its last leg and it struggles in game with various visual bugs and tearing (sometime flashing) of the screen

i am also wanting to upgrade my HDD (possible SSD)

as of this week i will be upgrading to Win10

*Edit*

i currently operate one a 1920 - 1080 resolution and will most likely remain this way

also in regards to upgrades for GPU i am probably thinking i will stick with the GTX series 970-980 i have looked into the difference and would like to know what to look at and where to start - sorry my knowledge in this area isn't up to scratch but i am hoping this is a good starting point to push me in the right direction

*Edit*

i hope i have applied all the information possible, if you have got this far thank you for reading, any help with this will be greatly appreciated as its time to say goodbye to this old gal!
 
Solution
BadActor
Seeing as how you intend to stick with the 1080p monitor, a GTX 970 is a good choice and will be a considerable bump in performance over the 580. If you would be going with a 1440p monitor, I would have said spend the extra money on the 980, even though it's not currently the best bang for the buck at that price point. Upgrading the GPU first isn't a bad idea if you want to do it incrementally, the i5 2500k is still a viable CPU and if overclocked, will not be a bottleneck issue. If you anticipate spending more than 500 to 700 pounds eventually on the system, you might consider upgrading the monitor now and then the rest of the system over the next couple of months. In that case, I would be looking at using a GTX 980 Ti or one of the...
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£201.97 @ More Computers)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£26.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£96.91 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£42.88 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£68.99 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card (£250.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £688.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-19 00:46 BST+0100
 
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bjornl

bjornl

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Mar 16, 2016
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That is enough money to get a decent video card and a new SSD. If you get an SSD you will either have to image the old HD to the new one, or re-install. Re-installing is better and should be done from time to time. But is a pain.
The graphics card I would recommend in your budget is the Nvidia 970 GTX. There are many brands, most are good. I owned on from EVGA and one from MSI both worked great. I currently use a ZOTAC 980ti Amp! which is also a good brand. It depends on your local pricing. Just remember to also look at warranties, how quiet it is and what the clock rates are.
The fast and good value SSD seems to be the Samsun 850 EVO.
 
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I

ImKable

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Sep 14, 2013
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10,510


Thank you for this! and the reply,

could i ask would it be worth going that extra mile to upgrade to a 980 - im aware if the graphics card was upgraded first i will probably come across some bottleneck issues

would you suggest slowly upgrading with a 980 (not sure which one is best value) and then upgrading the CPU and motherboard around that?

thanks again!
 
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I

ImKable

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Sep 14, 2013
8
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10,510


Morning!

thanks for the response! much appreciated

i am definitely looking at getting a new SSD and HDD and with my windows 10 upgrade coming in i will be looking at a complete reinstall as i tend to do this every few months

i would very much like to get a 980 but it seems my current 580 is struggling and having alot of issues it would seem i will be looking to get a 970 possible depending on what happens on payday!

would you suggest the i5 or i7 as i know my budget will expand as time goes on like i said

thanks again!

 
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bjornl

bjornl

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Mar 16, 2016
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Badactor put out a very good build that was withing budget. He did leave out the operating system, thinking you could re-use that which might or might not be true.

I use both an i5 and a couple of i7's. For gaming there is little difference. I use the i7 for photo processing, 3d rendering, video encoding, and similar heavy tasks. For gaming all you need is a CPU which is good enough so that it can keep up with your video card. Even your old trusty i5-2500k can mostly keep up with something like a gtx 970.

So to answer your question, is I normally recommend an i5.
 
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BadActor

BadActor

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Oct 31, 2015
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Seeing as how you intend to stick with the 1080p monitor, a GTX 970 is a good choice and will be a considerable bump in performance over the 580. If you would be going with a 1440p monitor, I would have said spend the extra money on the 980, even though it's not currently the best bang for the buck at that price point. Upgrading the GPU first isn't a bad idea if you want to do it incrementally, the i5 2500k is still a viable CPU and if overclocked, will not be a bottleneck issue. If you anticipate spending more than 500 to 700 pounds eventually on the system, you might consider upgrading the monitor now and then the rest of the system over the next couple of months. In that case, I would be looking at using a GTX 980 Ti or one of the Pascal cards when they are released (July?), and then CPU motherboard. If mostly gaming, The i5 is still the best choice, but an i7 could be used if it will fit in your budget.
 
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I

ImKable

Honorable
Sep 14, 2013
8
0
10,510


thank you for the reply,

this gives me an idea of where to go next,

i believe the first upgrade will be the GPU as mine seems to have problems at the moment

thank you very much for all the help!

 
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