Blow it up or upgrade GPU

[sirgrotius]

I built my computer using everyone's advice here about 2.5 years ago. Games like Shogun 2 that I like a lot are now laggy and I cannot play at high settings with much consistency.

Should I blow up the system (well, keep the tower and I have a cool 27" LCD, etc.) or just rectify an issue or two?

Budget is not a huge issue, but I'm also not a huge gamer (I'd like to play Shogun II and Skyrim maxed out though), so am thinking if I should start anew $1200 would be a price point.

Here are some key stats:

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
$74.99 -- Is this big enough for the beastly new NVIDIA GPUs?

OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model
$94.99 -- I'm imaging this is low these days

XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V REV.W with ACK-I5361 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler I7 i5 775
$41.99

Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601920
$279.99 -- very skeptical of this component

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
$259.99

BFG Tech GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
$234.99 -- this was probably cool in 1994

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 $114.39 -- bottom limit of power supply these days?


LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model GH22NP20 - OEM
$22.99

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
$74.9 -- wouldn't mind a SSD thrown in there for loading times. I hear Skyrim is abysmal

 

[drunkducki]

wait for next series of ati/nvidia and then upgrade.

 

[vitornob]

You could exchange your VGA.
I don't think it's necessary a CPU+Mobo change (it could help.. but would help less than VGA..)

About VGA, you could either grab a GTX 580 now if you like Nvidia, or wait a month to get the AMD 7970

 

[kajabla]

This isn't terrible yet, actually. A perfectly good low-mid-end gaming build if an equivalent one were made today. I see that isn't what you're going for, though.
Here we go.
-One new 120mm fan, $10. Stick it on bottom; it's pretty cool that the 690 can do that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233084

-One more 2gb RAM stick, if you can find a matching one. If not, a whole new 8gb set.

-2500K, $220. Incredible processor. Skyrim maxing ftw.

-GA-P67A-UD4-B3 mobo, $140 after rebate.

-TWO EVGA 012-P3-1570-AR gtx 570, $680 ($340 each). External exhaust is good for SLI.

That's $1050 plus RAM, and you've got a wicked build. This is essentially a $1600-$1700 build with scavenged parts.
Alternately, you could go 560 Ti SLI and get a Crucial M4 128gb or an ADATA S510 120gb SSD.

You don't need a new PSU. Components don't use more power as the years go by. Recently they've held pretty steady or slightly decreased at the high end. That one should work fine for a few years more.

You could wait for the next GPU series forever, but that won't get you anywhere. The 7970's beastly, but it's not a good value. You'd need to be spending more, I think. Plus, it sounds like a jumbo jet.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Don't blow it up, kids have two systems side by side upstairs and there's really not a huge difference in observable game performance .... yeah the 560's get 40 % more fps but taking it from say 168 to 218 fps in CoD-MW doesnt really make ya notice things

2600k @ 4.8Ghz, twin 560 Ti's
920 $ 3.8 Ghz, single GTX 580

Pop in two of these and you'll be just a bit (15%) behind a 2500k system

$430 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125363

 

[sirgrotius]

Best answer selected by sirgrotius.

 

[sirgrotius]

Love this advice, but...do you think I need to upgrade my MoBo?

I was thinking about doing either the dual 570s or waiting for the new 7950 that everyone's clamoring about, and upgrading my CPU to the 2500 or 2600. I'll get more RAM to 8 or 12 GBs, but consider that almost an afterthought. Same 750 Corsair PSU.

(I don't necessarily want to remove my MoBo and reinstalling it as I've been out of the game for a little while. )

 

[elayman]

I'd just upgrade the GPU and maybe get 8gb of RAM. It should be plenty for your needs IMO. Why waste money if you aren't an avid gamer? Get a 560Ti, 69502gb, or gtx 580 if you don't mind the price.