2013 dual PC build questions

[JMer806]

Hello all,

I am planning on upgrading the gaming PC I built earlier this year (specs below) late next summer in order to play Rome II and other modern games at the best settings possible, without breaking the bank. I plan to reuse as much of my PC as possible to keep costs down. I plan to recycle the remaining components and smoosh them together with an old HP prebuilt that still has a few years left in it.

Here is what I have currently:

- CoolerMaster HAF 912
- Asus P8Z77-V
- Intel i5 3570k
- Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2x4) 1600 mHz
- EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked
- Crucial M4 128GB
- Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB
- Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB
- Corsair Enthusiast TX-650W

Here is the old PC, a custom HP I bought in 2009 for around $600:

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 (Yorkfield) 2.5 Ghz
- IPEAL LA3 microATX (HP house brand I believe)
- 2x2GB ELPIDA RAM 1060
- LiteOn 300W PSU
- CD burner

I plan to buy a new GPU, PSU, and maybe case (just for an upgrade ) for my PC. I will take these components out of my current PC and add them to the old PC, putting it into a new case with a new HDD and CPU cooler (since the stock one broke...). The second computer will be for my GF to play Sims 3, do office work, and browse the internet.

Here's my question. What do you think the best upgrades will be next summer? Will the new series of Nvidia and Radeon chips be out? For the best gaming possible (ultra settings with good FPS) will I have to spend $500 or more on the new GPU? I'm not familiar with these things and would appreciate some insight.

Finally, I'll gladly welcome any additional comments or suggestions about either build.

Thanks all! Sorry for the long OP, I look forward to the discussion.

 

[iSpecialTime]

I'm going to address out gpu concerns.
As for nvidia, the 600 series is still pretty brand spanking new. Although they may release a new series in mid next year, a 600 series card will still work fine. A 4gb 670, or a radeon 79703gb would be your best bet. Worst case scenario, a system destroying game is released in the future. By then, you should be able to buy another 670 or 7970 and just install it in sli or crossfire. If you plan on gaming, then the gpu should be your priority.

 

[JMer806]

I'm going to address out gpu concerns.
As for nvidia, the 600 series is still pretty brand spanking new. Although they may release a new series in mid next year, a 600 series card will still work fine. A 4gb 670, or a radeon 79703gb would be your best bet. Worst case scenario, a system destroying game is released in the future. By then, you should be able to buy another 670 or 7970 and just install it in sli or crossfire. If you plan on gaming, then the gpu should be your priority.

Well, I'm not going to be buying anything until next year in any case, because I don't want to spend the money right now. The game I'm preparing for specifically is Rome II, which won't be out until Q3 or Q4 2013, most likely, so there's not much point to me upgrading now when I'm not playing graphically demanding games.

But am I correct in thinking (based on your comments) that there likely won't be a significant performance increase from, say, a GTX 670 and a GTX 770? Or from a 7970 to an 8970? Assuming of course that those will be out next year, which I suppose is not necessarily the case.

 

[zdbc13]

By next summer it will be a whole new ball game. You would do best to ask your questions then. There might be major increases. We just don't know right now.

 

[djscribbles]

I would suggest just upgrading your GPU, the rest of your computer is great, so just throw your budget at a GPU (get the biggest you feel comfortable buying, I would try for a 670/7950, or the future equivalent of such). Even if new CPUs are out, you won't really need to upgrade that, you have plenty of ram and good storage config as well.

To breathe some life into the HP, pickup a new PSU; a decent 500-600w would probably be fine to replace the liteOn, or you could pickup a 750w-850w PSU for your gaming machine to support SLI sometime in the future, and move your TX650 into the HP.

 

[JMer806]

By next summer it will be a whole new ball game. You would do best to ask your questions then. There might be major increases. We just don't know right now.

I will definitely do that as well, not to mention following things between now and then, but I thought it would be interesting to see people's thoughts on what next year would bring for people looking to upgrade.

I would suggest just upgrading your GPU, the rest of your computer is great, so just throw your budget at a GPU (get the biggest you feel comfortable buying, I would try for a 670/7950, or the future equivalent of such). Even if new CPUs are out, you won't really need to upgrade that, you have plenty of ram and good storage config as well.

To breathe some life into the HP, pickup a new PSU; a decent 500-600w would probably be fine to replace the liteOn, or you could pickup a 750w-850w PSU for your gaming machine to support SLI sometime in the future, and move your TX650 into the HP.

Thanks for the compliment! I've been very happy with the computer, but I'm going to be upgrading to a better monitor (currently at 1368x600 or something like that) and will need a better GPU to play next year's games.

I think you're spot on with the PSU, and that's my plan. For one thing my tower is a mess, so I want a modular PSU. But I do want to leave for SLI so I'll be looking for 750W or so.

So it looks like the HP will just need a case (it's a microATX so I can hopefully pick up a cheap one), a hard drive, and the recycled PSU from my system.