Going for a Small Upgrade for now from an AMD to Intel (Help & Advice needed)

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

This rig that I am using now was the first one I ever built and because of my lack of proper knowledge and being economically weak - I ended up making a rig that just somehow stayed afloat these past three years.

I used to weep at those beautiful Ultra setting screenshots and videos and used to tell myself that one day, I will have a beast of a rig <- keyword 'One Day'. That one day is not now but I am going for a small upgrade because this rig is getting on my nerves now. For my work it's okay somewhat - if I am not being too choosy or greedy but deep down when gaming, I curse myself. So I am not doing a total overhaul but a small upgrade if you could say so and I need the fellow PC community members views and advice if I am making the right decision.

I will be moving to the US permanently by next year and I hope to never set foot in this country again (India - I currently live here) and this will be my last year and can't wait to get out of here. So the parts I mention here are based on my Indian currency value (1 USD - 66 Rupees).

Before I get on what I am upgrading, here's my current rig (Behold my first shitty Rig that I built myself) -

CPU - AMD FX-8350
Cooler - Antech Kuhler 920
Motherboard - ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. M5A97 LE R2.0
RAM - 16 GB DDR3 (Corsair)
Storage - 1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EZRX-00D8PB0 SATA Disk Device (SATA) and 931GB Western Digital WDC WD10 EARS-00MVWB0 SATA Disk Device (SATA)
GPU - Nvidia GTX 760 2GB Asus Twin Frozr OC Edition
Power Supply - Cooler Master Thunder 600W
Monitor - DELL ST2420L (I game in 1080p and I use my SONY 46 Inch TV as my Second output)
OS - Win 7 Ultimate (Installed on HDD, no SSD poor fellow so excuse my decision back than)
Mouse and Keyboard - Some nameless piece of shit, gets the work done (Also have a Wireless Duo of it)

Now that you have seen the disgraceful rig, I am thinking of doing these changes on the rig after some careful consideration and research. My economic condition is still tight but I can spare this upgrade by the end of next month, just before 1070/1080 and the Polaris 10/11 comes out. So I am doing my upgrade more or less before that. I will just install and replace my GPU and maybe my PSU at a later time.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($104.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $473.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-10 01:56 EDT-0400

The upgrade comes to - 674.183 USD in India (Which is 45,000 Indian Rupees).

Now these are the things - I am not changing (For now) -

!Storage - 1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EZRX-00D8PB0 SATA Disk Device (SATA)
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10 EARS-00MVWB0 SATA Disk Device (SATA)
!GPU - Nvidia GTX 760 2GB Asus Twin Frozr OC EditionS
!!Power Supply - Cooler Master Thunder 600W
!Monitor - DELL ST2420L (I game in 1080p and I use my SONY 46 Inch TV as my Second output)
!OS -Idea is to have Dual Boot Windows 10 and Win 7 Ultimate (Win 7 is already Installed on HDD - the 2 TB One and I am thinking of installing Win 10 on the new SSD as my primary OS)
!Mouse and Keyboard - Some nameless piece of shit, gets the work done (Also have a Wireless Duo of it)

! - Single ! means will not be changing now.
!! - Double !! means don't know if this PSU will do for another 2 months with the new upgrades, I hope it does so that I can change it when I get a 1080 or an AMD equivalent.

Now like I said it's not something to be wow'ed upon but I think it is a very big leap for me and with a 1080 or an AMD Polaris in the rig in the upcoming months - it should be a beast right or not? :'(

Anyways this is a work in progress and decisions can be changed if someone offers me sound advice and reasoning. Also I am not taking this rig with me to the US (it will be a complete new life there). I am going there with my E2 Investor visa, so new house, new car, new everything - Also wish me luck on that <3 Now back to this rig, it will be left here and I am only upgrading it because I feel it is a necessary and I can afford the above mentioned changes. Now I don't know if I am right as I may have half-baked knowledge, so please enlighten and guide me.

Final Build should look something like this -

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Antec KUHLER H2O 920 110.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($104.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($112.30 @ Amazon)
Video Card: 1080 or Polaris Equivalent ($599.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Thunder 600W ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($199.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell ST2421L 24.0" Monitor and SONY 46'' TV as Secondary Output
Total: $675 (For now) and $600 (When I will be adding GPU in 1 month's time)
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-05-10 01:59 EDT-0400

~ Aaron.

ak47jar3d · May 10, 2016

When you said your build was a piece of crap, I was expecting a lot worse. Anyways, your upgrade plans look fine as everything seems to be compatible. I would recommend buying the ram in the same retail package to avoid compatibility issues. Great and detailed post!

Dragos Manea · May 10, 2016

I really advice you to change gpu first, it will be a major bump in performance and after you can change cpu and motherboard. Steps to follow: 1) GPU (1070 or 1080), 2) SSD , 3) Cpu and motherboard

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

ak47jar3d :

Thanks for your response.

In terms of 1080p gaming (Mostly in Ultra) how powerful will this system be?

I intend to Overclock the CPU to 4.5 or 4.6 Ghz (As I have Liquid Cooling), so I was wondering if it it would be possible with this current PSU or will I need to get a new one when I get the GPU? I am asking because than I will keep using it at Stock speed if I indeed have to get a new PSU.

Lastly well it's not that bad but 2GB VRAM became obsolete very quickly and the FX 8350 is hated by many, so I tend to call it a piece of crap setup but honestly it did it's job. I still can play Witcher 3 mostly at Ultra settings (Excluding Shadows and Foliage) at an FPS of 28-30 (Frame capped to 30). So with this new setup, can't wait to experience the 60+ FPS at all times.

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

Dragos Manea :

Thank You for your response.

Well the thing is, I will almost have the necessary funds with me by 2 week's time to do the above changes and instead of doing it at a later date or partly doing the upgrade - I want to get it done and over with. I am going for a 1080 or an AMD equivalent, of course - I will look forward to the benchmarks and decide further but the remaining upgrade should be done by than because if I hold out for AMD, by the time it gets here in India it will take at least 2-3 weeks from the Market release in the US which could be by July or after the E3.

The only thing I am confused and a bit worried about if my PSU can support (i5 6600K) OC'ing of up to 4.5 or 4.6 Ghz because if not I will have to spend a few more bucks with my GPU to get a new PSU as well. Which of course when the GPU comes to India will be a tad higher than the US prices. It the 1080 will be $599 - In India it should be around $650-700 something like that.

Dragos Manea · May 10, 2016

In term of 1080p it will be a monster for sure an 60+ even 80+ cant say for sure right now because gtx 1080 or 1070 it is not released yet.

Outlander_04 · May 10, 2016

Chances are the change from AMD to intel will make very little difference to most games .
You are probably just wasting money you could spend on a graphics card .

But then the motherboard you have is a bit too budget
and a GTX 1080 is WAY overkill for 1080p if the benchmarks actually are what nvidia want people to believe they are

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

Dragos Manea :

Well that is good to hear and I look forward to the actual benchmarks of it and also for what AMD has in store but can I overclock with my current PSU, is it possible?

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

Outlander_04 :

Well fx 8350 and gtx 1080 isn't going to be a good combination according to the people over at reddit (They even insulted me and asked why I got this processor for gaming in the first place). Besides like I said fx 8350 has done it's part with the 760 and I am pretty sure an i5 6600k OC'd to 4.5 or 4.6 will or should be better according to what I researched, could be wrong though :x Sorry if I am wrong.

Dragos Manea · May 10, 2016

Well your cpu tdp is 125W and gtx 1080 is about 250W + 150W other components is a total of 420-450W from a total of 564W on the 12V line (12V x 47A). about 100-150W overclock is not much so if you wanna overclock you better go for a 850-1000W psu.

EDIT: as i said in an earlier post, your cpu is ok-ish for the moment, the biggest fps boost you will get from changing the GPU, buy a new psu too because you will need it in the future build too and overclock the fx untill it screams leave me alone

. You will be ok with this setup until you can change everything else then you can enjoy your pc at maximum performance.

RalphJoy22 · May 10, 2016

Dragos Manea :

Well

you're insisting I stick with this but I want to take this spare parts apart and keep it aside and make a second Desktop with it, so I am going with my plan of upgrading this rig.

Well what about this PSU - Click. I think that would be enough for Overclocking my CPU to 4.5 or 4.6

Dragos Manea · May 10, 2016

I think so, should be enought.

Half Life · May 11, 2016

i would go with outlander's advice. i also suspect that your upgrade may not help in cherishing "your maxed out settings" dream.

if any, i would wait till 1070 is released just to check the prices, and get either a gtx 970 or a 1070.

RalphJoy22 · May 11, 2016

Half Life :

If you went through the post I did mention that this is not my 'Dream setup' whatsoever. I am just looking to upgrade my rig to a point where I can play at 'Max Settings' with 60+ FPS all the time unlike my current rig which is honestly shit when it comes to gaming with it's limitation in 2GB VRAM and FX 8350 having lower individual core performance. Also I mostly want to play in 1080p and not 1440p.

So I would love to know why this upgrade won't help me in cherishing my 'Maxed out settings dream'?

Dragos Manea · May 11, 2016

As youc an see here https://youtu.be/Rutk9ErhKG4?t=137 your cpu is not so weak compared to intel, yes it is weaker but not as everyon e told you, thats why i said upgrade videocard first and you will see a major improvement.

Edit: again same story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-y7SjTA0hA but in battlefiedl 4 and crysis 3 which they are known to use both cpu and gpu

Half Life · May 11, 2016

I got that part, where you mentioned that the present build is not your best. It was easy to read and clearly laid out so there is no confusion there.

And dragos answered it as clearly as anyone can regarding your cpu bottleneck. In other words, cpu performance, while is incrementally progressing, is not as bad as it used to be 5 years ago; almost all contemporary processors do alright for typical tasks; very few games have a CPU bottleneck these days;

My point is that graphics performance is generally the place to spend on, if you want the best bang for your buck; and by the way, your 760 is not too bad for most of the games; if i read your posts correctly, your intermediate build is not touching this part at all; that is why, it won't matter.

Message from my Inner-voice:
Look he-man, If i read your request correctly, you wanted the BEST gaming experience; so i wanted to repeat my point for clarity's sake. For your needs (performance in games), You build is not a bottleneck, just upgrade the GPU, preferably NVidia 970 for efficiency reasons. Just add good ventilation to the case;

RalphJoy22 · May 12, 2016

--Edited Check Below--

RalphJoy22 · May 12, 2016

Dragos Manea :

After much thought and what the community said, I have decided to change only the GPU for now. I will get the GTX 1080 when it comes out.

Also I will be waiting until i7 6850K or the i7 6900K comes out and will do a complete build later in 4-5 months time, a whole new rig and this will end up being my Second Backup Rig.

Thanks for the help, is there anything else I should be concerned about or I am free to get the 1080 without any problems.

Dragos Manea · May 13, 2016

RalphJoy22 :

Everything seems fine, a 600W psu should be enought, 16GB of ram should be enought for now, i dont see anything drawing you back. If you got some spare money a big difference in boot time and windows loading will be a ssd, this will not increase your fps in games but it will speed up windows start.

Going for a Small Upgrade for now from an AMD to Intel (Help & Advice needed)

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