Upgrading Current PC

[cyitling]

Recently, I tried to play BF4 and find that my pc is lacking.. as it is laggy and will hang in the middle of the game.. I am also looking forward to AC4 Black Flag and GTA V... so, I am thinking of doing an upgrade on some of my parts..

I will be using the PC mainly for gaming and other normal usages like browsing and watching videos.. I won't be overclocking my PC..

I will be using the new parts most probably for the next 3-5 years.. with a possibility of upgrading the GPU and PSU 1-2 years down the road.. and I am hoping to not spend more than USD700 on the 3 things..

I would like to have some advice on if my choices are ok.. or could be better...

Only thinking about upgrading the 3 parts below:-
CPU: Intel Core i7 4770
RAM: GSkill TridentX F3-2400C10D-8GTX / 8GB (4GB x 2) / 2400Mhz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H

Things I won't be upgrading:
GPU: ATI Radoen HD 5770
PSU: Silverstone Strider 560W
HDD: Mixture of WD normal and Caviar Green

1. Should I be getting an i5 instead of i7 for CPU? I was reading some articles which states that future games will utilize more on multi-threading.. which was why I opted for a quad core 8 threads CPU.

2. Is 8GB RAM enough? Do I need a high performance RAM? Or should I opt for a cheaper RAM but go 16GB instead?

3. Will my PSU be sufficient to support everything? I am using Coolermaster Storm Trooper case, with an additional fan at the side panel.. other than the mouse and keyboard (Logitech G15 - not sure if it matters).. I will most probably have 3 additional USB devices connected to my PC from time to time.. I have a total of 4 HDD.. all of which should have normal power usage.. with 1 DVD-RW ROM.. I have checked using online PSU calculators.. it seems fine.. but I am just not too sure..

Thanks in advance for the advice..

 

[Puff3r]

1. It is speculated, and most likely true that more games will take advantage of Hyper-Threading in the future, but of course as this is the future we are talking about no one can say 100% that yes they will. Personally I have an older i5-2500K OCed to 4.5 GHz on a Gigabyte GA-P67-UD3-B3 with a GTX 670 and play demanding games like Skyrim at 60 fps, BF4 at 53-60 fps.

2. 8 GB is plenty for now. Games are just now beginning to take advantage of the x64 architecture and the additional RAM it allows. That said, if you do opt for 16 GB, you can always use 8 GB as a RAMDisk for ultra fast access to a swap file or as a virtual drive for loading iso files. This is really a matter of preference not performance. Most will agree 8 GB is plenty for now.

3. The PSU should suffice for now, but if you plan to upgrade that GPU I would strongly recommend updating the PSU as well.

 

[tiny voices]

YEs you should be getting an i5 not an i7.

8gb RAm is more than enough and will be for years.

You want a new GPU. A new CPU will not really help your gaming performance. The GPU does 85% of the work. The CPU simply has to keep up. Your GPU is weak and will only allow for medium settings at best. Changing the CPU but not GPU will not give any real performance increase.

 

[cyitling]

Puff3r: Thanks.

1. So.. should I go for i5-4670 instead? if this can last me a few years and save some money.. all the better..

2. Any other RAM recommendations? like other brands and models?? I have read some where that GSkill has a more bang for buck.. compare to Corsair and Kingston.. but I have never used any RAM but Kingston and Corsair.. so I am not too sure on this..

3. yup.. when I upgrade my GPU and will revisit the PSU needs..

 

[cyitling]

tiny voices: I know the GPU should be on par.. but I am not trying to spend too much on this partial upgrade of my system.. I will most probably only look at upgrading it in at least another year..

I am ok with medium settings with some more graphics intensive games.. but I do want a smooth gaming experience..

 

[tiny voices]

For more intensive games you will be at lowest settings for sure.

A CPU upgrade will not smooth things out. You NEED a new GPU or you will have to lower the settings to lowest.

 

[Puff3r]

1. Its truly a matter of personal opinion. For me, I would get the i5 and save the cash.

2. Real world applications of RAM tend to indicate the major brands are almost identical for performance. Benchmarks can spot differences, but that is under extreme testing. Go with the lowest timings/best price you can find. Just keep to the major brands would be my recommendation.

 

[Puff3r]

Also, I absolutely agree with Tiny Voices. That GPU will be your bottleneck.

 

[cyitling]

I know a new GPU would help things.. but if I change my GPU.. I would need to change my PSU as well..

let's say hypothetically.. I will change both my GPU and PSU as well.. what should I be getting? let say if I increase my budget from USD700 to USD1000..

and is performance RAM really needed?? or I won't feel a difference even if I go with normal RAM from Kingston/Corsair?

 

[tiny voices]

No, performance RAM is definitely not needed. for the money you wont to do this:

Get an i5 4670k.
Get a z87 motherboard
Get a gtx760 or gtx770 depending on money.
Get a 550w+ PSu from antec, XFX, Corsair, Seasonic.

 

[cyitling]

if I won't be doing any overclocking.. do I need a Z87 motherboard? I read somewhere that H87 is suficient..

 

[tiny voices]

If you arent overclocking get a NON-k CPU and an h87 board.

 

[cyitling]

if I am getting a value RAM.. what kind of RAM should I get.. like what kind of timing?? is 1333 enough? or should I get 1600?

 

[tiny voices]

Get 1600. There really isn't much different but it usually costs the same. Most importantly make sure the timings are CL9. Sometimes called CAS9.

 

[cyitling]

I think CL9 only comes in performance RAM for 1600.. when I read on the kingston website.. 1600 value RAM only has CL11..

1300 has CL9 though for value RAM...

GSkill looks to be a difficult find in my country.. at least near my place.. any other recommended brands? coz when I look at Kingston and Corsair.. for something similar to 2400.. its much more expensive..

 

[cyitling]

Ok.. final specs I will go with..

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670
RAM: Corsair Ram Desktop DDR3 Vengeance 2X 4GB PC1600 CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 BLK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H

the ram should do just fine right?

 

[tiny voices]

Yes, all ram will perform basically the same. No noticeable difference.

Everything looks good.

 

[cyitling]

Thanks everyone for your help.. I will now go and look for a place to buy my parts.. most of the online shops are not really a choice as the postage will be too expensive for me.. coz I stay in South East Asia..