Looking to upgrade, need advice

biscuit409 · Oct 28, 2016

I am looking to upgrade my current setup because its been about 4 years since my last upgrade.

Current setup:
AMD R7 250 2GB
I5-4690k
asrock z97 pro4
some shitty 250w psu
8 GB of ram

Looking mainly at upgrading the gpu and get 8 more gigs of ram.
I am not looking to go over the top or anything, but I want a good gpu that can run most games at least on medium. The one I like the look of most is the rx480, but I can go for a 1060 as well. Which one should I get? and which "version" to get? and why? (Gigabyte, asus, nvidia)
Another question I have (still pretty new to the whole pc building thing) when should I get a new mb? are there any specs to look out for? what makes a good mb good?

Thanks in advance

Isokolon · Oct 28, 2016

you'll need a new PSU. get a quality one.
as for the GPU the ASUS Strix is usually the best 1060 but not enough to justify a significantly higher price.
basically any dual fan (or better EVGA like the ftw or acx with one fan) 1060 is fine
as for the rx480 Sapphire & Powercolor are good, as are MSI and ASUS

specs look good. board + cpu can still last.

CTurbo · Oct 28, 2016

Yep you just need a new better psu and video card. What is your budget?

dontlistentome · Oct 28, 2016

The next time you get a motherboard you will want one that supports DDR4. This means a new motherboard= new memory and new CPU.

So think twice about buying more memory, since you won't be able to use it in your next build. A new PSU and videocard and you should be fine with what you have now.

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

Isokolon :

so which one should I go for and why?

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

CTurbo :

Rx480/ gtx 1060 range.

The gigabyte gtx 1060 costs about 300$ where I live. The gigabyte Rx480 (4GB model) costs roughly 340$.

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

dontlistentome :

I know that currently my cpu is up to standard, it can run pretty much whatever I want, but I dont know how long it will last. What should I bee looking at when buying an new mb?

maxalge · Oct 29, 2016

biscuit409 :

no reason to upgrade platforrm yet

if you dont have a good aftermarket cpu cooler get one, overclocking will easily let you keep it in fighting shape for a long time to come

You also dont need to get more ram if all you want to do is game

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

maxalge :

biscuit409 :

no reason to upgrade platforrm yet

if you dont have a good aftermarket cpu cooler get one, overclocking will easily let you keep it in fighting shape for a long time to come

You also dont need to get more ram if all you want to do is game

ive never overclocked anything, I dont know id ill do it, I am kinda scared

Johnfreak · Oct 29, 2016

hey guys new to building pc also i have this https://www.cnet.com/products/zt-affinity-7157mi-core-i3-2120-3-3-ghz-4-gb-1-tb-lcd-21-5/specs/ computer for 5+ years and just started doing bluescreen whenever i play my games( LoL mostly) and photoshop and lightroom . i want an advice on how to build it fot light-meduim gaming thanks

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

accidentally marked the previous post as the answer, is there a way to cancel it?

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

Isokolon :

so which would you recommend?

Isokolon · Oct 29, 2016

depends on your budget. if there's no budget, than a Seasonic S12II, any XFX (except the XT) or a CXM450 / CXM550 by Corsair (no other CX/CXM, they're all crap) is your best bet

if there's some budget to work with, look for a Superflower Golden Green HX or Golden King, a XFX TS Gold, a Seasonic G or M12II or an Antec High Current

Corsair's RMx/RMi, Super Flower's Leadex series, EVGA Supernova G2 and G2 offer premium quality (as do the XFX and Seasonic untis in that price range)

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

Isokolon :

which s12II? there are quite a few available? and I was asking about the gpu, but thanks anyways for the psu recommendations

Isokolon · Oct 29, 2016

with a geforce card 430W can be enough
generally I'd go for the 520W variant though (or higher) as the S12II has a quite aggressive fan profile

as with graphich cards, the price determines the recommendation.
I listed some cards, whichever is the cheapest is the best

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

Isokolon :

is there really any difference between the 1060 and the rx 480? I have heard that the rx 480 is better with dx 12, but the 1060 is better at dx 11(current gen)

Isokolon · Oct 29, 2016

the rx480 is better with dx12/vulcan. any game that doesn't use the vulcan API they're on par or the 1060 is a wee bit faster. in dx11 the 1060 is better than the 480.

however it's not like the differences are world changing.
at the same price, I'd lean towards a 6GB 1060.
if the Rx480 8GB is let's say 25-30 bucks cheaper it's the better buy most likely.

biscuit409 · Oct 29, 2016

Isokolon :

the sapphire rx 480 nitro+ 8gb is roughly 310$, msi rx 480 8gb is roughly 322$, msi armor is roughly 340$ and the asus 1060 is 344$. quite a substantial jump, thanks a lot for the help, just need to decide between the sapphire nitro+ and the msi.

I also read somewhere that indeed the 480 is better at dx 12 and that obviously devs are going to make more games using dx 12 rather than 11, which is sort of "future proofing" the 480 more than the 1060

Isokolon · Oct 29, 2016

as said, with dx12/opengl they're the same, only in Vulcan the 480 is really a bit faster

the nitro+ is a bit louder, so if you're building a silent pc it's not for you
otherwise it's hell of a card

biscuit409 · Oct 30, 2016

There are going to be more games made with dx 12 in the future than dx 11, right?

That mean that the 480 is slightly better for futureproofing.

Looking to upgrade, need advice

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