New Gaming PC Build/Upgrade (Advice needed)

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sephorian

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Jan 7, 2012
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Hey guys,

I'm a bit of a graphics fiend when it comes to PC gaming and I *have* to play games on max settings with a smooth framerate to feel like I'm enjoying the fullest potential of the experience. I know it might sound silly to some, but that's me.

With that said, a few recent game purchases have highlighted the fact that it's well and truly time for a hardware upgrade/new build!

So I'm going to list my current build and my planned upgrades, and I'm just looking for your opinions as to whether they are good upgrade choices/suggest some better alternatives/how much of a performance boost I should expect to see/whether I should wait a month or so for 'x' or 'y' that's coming out soon/etc. etc.

CURRENT BUILD:
PSU: Antec Neo Eco 620W
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V LX
Memory: Corsair 16gb (2 x 8gb) Dual Channel DDR3
GFX Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD7970 Ghz Edition (1100mhz)
SSD (OS + Games): Crucial MX100 250gb
HDDs (Storage): Samsung HD321KJ 320gb + Hitachi OF12115 2TB
DVD: LG GH22NS50
OS: Windows 7 64bit

PLANNED UPGRADES:
PSU: Nothing yet unless the new build/upgrades require more than 620W
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600k
MOBO: ASUS Z170-AR
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury 16gb (2 x 8gb) DDR4
GFX Card: RX 480 or GTX 1060 (Help me decide!)
SSD: Not changing
HDDs: Not changing
DVD: Possibly changing, haven't looked into it. Suggestions?
OS: Windows 10 Home 64bit

Lastly, as I plan on keeping my current SSD, should I format it before or after I've installed it in the new system? Or does it not matter?

Sorry for the big post, thanks to anyone who has a look and offers some advice/suggestions.

Cheers.
 
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Isokolon
Indeed. Splashing so much cash on mainboard that can overclock decently is money wasted.
A Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 comes with all the high quality features and chips you need in that case and costs significantly less.
Paired with an i5-6500 or -6600 it's a decent choice, if you're not looking to overclock and leaves some budget for a decent PSU
(Without over-clocking I'd still get a new one but a Corsair CXM450 would easily do, as would any XFX but the XT or the EVGA B2. They're a lot cheaper than the ones I mentioned before)
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Gallarian

Gallarian

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Your upgrade path looks great, with a solid choice of CPU, motherboard and RAM.

Your current PSU is on the low-quality side of things, and seeing as you still have a sandy-bridge CPU, I'd wager its getting fairly old by now. If you can, I would suggest getting something new to keep your shiny and expensive new gear properly supplied. An EVGA Supernova GS 550w is a great choice with Gold rating and excellent quality, for not much money.

As for the GPU, it really depends on what games you are looking to play.

For DX11 based games, I'd go for the 1060, but if you want to play a lot of DX12/Vulcan based games, the 480 might be the better option.

With your SSD, it really does not matter in which order you install/format when you are changing OS. Install it, pop in your Windows 10 install media, then run the format order through that.
 
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Isokolon

Isokolon

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Maybe formatting means something else in English than in my language but if you format a drive it's wiped clean. You'd want to do that before you install new OS of course.

I agree that a new PSU would be a good idea. Corsair RMx / EVGA G2 or GS of XFX XTR would be my go to.

The upgrade path looks indeed reasonable.

I disagree however on the rx480. It outperforms the 1060 by a slight margin in some dx12 games, in most of them it's just as fast while the 1060 is significantly faster in dx11.
That being said, the 1060 can't be SLI'd while the 480 supports CF. So if you want to go CF 480s in the future (and got a 650W+ PSU to support it) the 480 is the obvious choice. Otherwise I suggest the 1060.
Then again it depends on pricing. Both cards will max out current games, if the Rx480 is 40 bucks cheaper than the 1060 it's a no-brainer however if the difference is marginal then id be in favour of the 1060

Also you'll need a cpu cooler as the 6600k comes without one.
For up to 40bucks go with a Cryorig H7 if you can find it
 
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sephorian

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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I should have mentioned that I don't plan on doing any overclocking, would you still recommend a PSU upgrade?

Thanks for the heads up on the CPU cooler, will definitely add that to the list.

As for the GFX card, you both make some interesting points. I think I'm leaning more towards the 1060 as I haven't had an nVidia card for a while now and wouldn't mind mixing it up! Price wise they aren't too far apart and from what you's have said and what I can tell performance wise they aren't massively different either.
 
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sephorian

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Anyone else care to weigh in on whether it's worth getting a new PSU if I don't plan on overclocking.

Also on that note, as I don't plan on OC'ing, would the i5-6600 be a better choice instead of the 6600k? It's a bit cheaper and if the only main difference is the ability to overclock then I can save a bit of cash there!
 
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Whonoes

Whonoes

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If you aren't going to OC the most cost effective would be the I5-6500. The 6600 Isn't worth the price. You also Won't need a Z170 MB if you aren't Getting an I5-6600k. An H110 or H170 would be good for I5-6500.

 
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Isokolon

Isokolon

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Jul 24, 2016
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Indeed. Splashing so much cash on mainboard that can overclock decently is money wasted.
A Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 comes with all the high quality features and chips you need in that case and costs significantly less.
Paired with an i5-6500 or -6600 it's a decent choice, if you're not looking to overclock and leaves some budget for a decent PSU
(Without over-clocking I'd still get a new one but a Corsair CXM450 would easily do, as would any XFX but the XT or the EVGA B2. They're a lot cheaper than the ones I mentioned before)
 
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