System Becoming DATED, Could use some advice

[polyformist]

Howdy everyone.

I have been building systems for the better part of 20 years. I have been pushing my current machine as long as I can, but I fear it's days are Numbered. Thus for the last 4 months I have been watching hardware trends and prices. I have been focusing on keeping the cost down as I maintain 4 machines at once. (Wifes and 2 kids) I am looking to get a sizely increase in speed and capabilities, but I am being very careful with cost vrs benefit. Here is the machine I am babying atm.

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Current System:
Q6700
4gig DDR2 800mhz
Nvidia GTX 550 TI 1gig
60gig Solid state drive
500gig 7,200 rpm Sata II dr
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (old school)
USB HDtv Tuner by Diamond
1 DVDRW
1 DVD
Logitech G-series Keyboard, and G-Gamepad
Crytech MMO rat7 mouse
Thermal Take Mid tower
750watt PSU
Windows 7 64bit
Sound Bar from Magnavox

Running Dual Screens "Primary 27' at 1920x1080 & Secondary 24' at 1080x1920"
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My CPU seems to be getting random spikes of 100% usage, and often runs in the 90% range while i Game, My GPU is also getting hammered @ 90%+ range often. I am starting to have to turn down graphics in games to keep them smooth, Thus my wanting to re-build.

Please throw out some idea's as I Built this system about 4yrs or more ago (short of some upgrades), and it's time to breath new life into it!

Thanks for all your advice in advance!

 

[Outlander_04]

The best bang for buck at the moment is probably something like

AMD FX 6300 $140
Motherboard with a 970 chipset 70 - $100
2 x4 gig od 1600 MHz RAM rated for 1.5 volts or less $35
and a Radeon 7850 is about $170

 

[killerhurtalot]

I think you might have a virus causing the spikes in cpu usage.

other than that, you should be able to use that cpu for at least another year or two (if your motherboard is capable of overclocking it).

The only really weak spot that I see needs to be replaced immediately (or as soon as possible) in that system is the graphics card. I would personally wait 2 months (mid January) until the AMD 8 series comes out. Then build a system based on the new cheaper prices for current gen graphic cards or a 8 series if that is a good performance boost compared to the 7 series. Then upgrade to a hanswell chip later on in 2013.

The reason why I'm not recommending upgrade right now is that the CPU should still be fine for most games at 1080p. And the current chipset is about to be outdated (and thus cutting off any opportunity for upgrades without changing the motherboard later on)

 

[rvilkman]

And if you want a bit more speed on the CPU front switch to a Z77 based intel board and an i5 3570k ( or if you don't overclock one of the slightly lesser i5 models )
Otherwise the stuff outlander mentioned seems right.

But of course that will cost you an extra $70-80

 

[killerhurtalot]

And if you want a bit more speed on the CPU front switch to a Z77 based intel board and an i5 3570k ( or if you don't overclock one of the slightly lesser i5 models )
Otherwise the stuff outlander mentioned seems right.

But of course that will cost you an extra $70-80

like I said... he might as well as wait until next year's hanswell chips (to get the new chipset with ability to upgrade later on without having to replace the motherboard too...) instead of upgrading now since his cpu can easily last until next march without having too many issues... 1155 socket is a dead socket...

 

[polyformist]

I have been watching and comparing the Hierarchy charts for CPU's and GPU's from 2012, and it seems I am still close to the upper tier on the CPU charts, however the GPU I agree is lacking greatly. I am running an ASUS LGA775 motherboard atm, and am worried that if i try to invest in a stiffer Video card that I would generate a bottlekneck on the Main Buss as my board is restricted to DDR2 memory.
(Tough as hell to find DDR2 2x 4gig sims atm for a reasonable rate)

 

[killerhurtalot]

I have been watching and comparing the Hierarchy charts for CPU's and GPU's from 2012, and it seems I am still close to the upper tier on the CPU charts, however the GPU I agree is lacking greatly. I am running an ASUS LGA775 motherboard atm, and am worried that if i try to invest in a stiffer Video card that I would generate a bottlekneck on the Main Buss as my board is restricted to DDR2 memory.
(Tough as hell to find DDR2 2x 4gig sims atm for a reasonable rate)

Well, your motherboard should have a PCI-Ex16 2.0 port. Even with top end current gen cards, you're only looking at about a 10% performance hit usually.

But that shouldn't really be a problem if you're planning on upgrading the cpu/motherboard soon since the new board will take advantage of the card...

It's only a problem if you're not planning on upgrading your current cpu/motherboard lol.

 

[rvilkman]

Your CPU and memory are bound to become bottlenecks once you up the graphics on that system. Thus the mobo+cpu+memory+GPU sounds like a good plan.

 

[jay2tall]

I think the big question is, what games do you play? That might determine what route you go for an upgrade. If you are hitting a GPU limit you could simply upgrade your GPU. You may be able to get away with your base system and CPU for a little while longer. Even if you tried just a GPU upgrade it is a component that can travel to a new system anytime. Other than than that you would need to go down the road of replacing your mobo,cpu,ram as well as GPU. In that case the AMD FX-6300 setup Outlander_04 recommended would be a good lowcost option that would give you a really good bang for the buck. Look for deals since it is that time of year. Newegg has a ton of deals and always look for rebates and combo deals. I've saved quite a bit on both of these alone.

 

[polyformist]

Thanks everyone for your tid bits. I think I have found a cost efficient combo. Here it is. Let me know your thoughts.

Video card -- $164.99
ASUS GTX650TI-DC2O-1GD5 GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

CPU -- $139.99
AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz (4.1GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 95W Six-Core Desktop Processor

Motherboard -- $ 89.99
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Memory -- $66.99
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory

Totaling --> $461.96

 

[jay2tall]

Just curious where you are buying these items from, Newegg?

I would dump the memory down to 8GB. Unless you are doing something very memory intensive, 8Gb is plenty for any gaming right now. Then with that extra money you could bump up your video to something like a GTX660, which would be WELL worth it. Also, here is another motherboard option with a $25MIR. It is the LE version of the one your chose and should be fine if you don't plan to do much overclocking. I am a huge fan of ASUS, never had one fail, even one of their lower end models.

memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455
video: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130825
mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131872

 

[samuelspark]

650 Ti is overpriced. Get a 2GB 7850. Cut down on the RAM

 

[polyformist]

New Egg was in-fact the site I priced at.

I tend to play WOW on primary screen, HOMM VI, TV "dvr is often workin hard too" and web pages are active on my 2ndry 24" vertical screen. I cap out the current machines resources horribly, to the point of dropping all games to minimum res to keep it moving.

I am avidly against ATI video systems for a few reasons, (one of my machines is ATI Video based and I am not a fan atm)

 

[polyformist]

I had a sudden brain storm today, while trying not to hit the "BUY NOW BUTTON", I am a fan of the Nvidia Video systems, With the New AMD AM3+ systems and the Trinity CPU/iGPU setup. Would I see an increase in performance by going with ATI Video systems, or is the synergy completed with Nvidia chipped Video systems too? This could sway video preferences to give ATI another try.

 

[polyformist]

Well, It's been almost 1 Year since I visited this site and solicited advise on a long anticipated upgrade. I am reporting back to show what I built. The machine is running fantastic to this day. No error's, Glitches, or otherwise unwanted performance hooks at this time. The machine runs as high as 50% CPU utilization with up to 80% memory usage at peak times for myself. As you will see, I chose to stick with Asus as my primary brand as I have had great luck with there hardware.

Thank you everyone for you tips and opinions. It helped me greatly in completing a successful Low Budget Design!

Video:
ASUS GTX650TI-O-1GD5 GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0

CPU:
Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell Dual-Core 3.4GHz LGA 1150

Main Board:
ASUS Z87-K LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Memory:
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)