Advice on upgrades

Hi all.

You guys know your stuff, so I thought I'd come get your opinions on my chosen upgrades.

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Current system:

Q8300 @ 2.5Ghz

4GB RAM

6950 1GB

Foxconn G31MX

OCZ Mod-Xtreme Pro 600W

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I would like to upgrade the PC so that it can last another 2 years playing games at high(ish) settings. So far this PC has lasted 2 years with current specs and runs most things on the highest settings, but I'm starting to see a difference now. I just got Arma 3, which is horribly optimised, but I'd like to make a system that is able to overcome the problems and run the game at an acceptable FPS, as well as future games.

Here's what I plan on getting. Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

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Planned upgrades:

i5 3570k

(probably need a CPU cooler as I intend to OC)

8GB RAM

(keep the 6950 for now, it's a decent card)

ASRock Extreme4

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Basically this will set me back about £350, which is budget. If anybody has better choices here then let me know. Also, if somebody has a suggestion on the CPU cooler to get that would be great also.

You guys know your stuff, lextehrex

Oh no..never EVER say that around here. Now the wackjobs'll be comin' of the woodwork with their "advice".

Sounds like a decent set of upgrades however, if gaming is the word the biggest gains will ALWAYS be with a video card upgrade. That card is around 3yrs old (I believe). Still a good card but if it were me I'd add some memory and drop the rest on a newer card. That CPU is just fine. Hell, I have a system with an e6600 in it (@ stock) popped a GTX 780 in it to see what was what and it ran damn near anything sooooo....vid card first, CPU later (in a gaming machine that is).

But, in the end, your selected upgrade path would be fine as well, and a newer vid card can be added later.

Your upgrades are "fine", and you have a good GPU. However, with those upgrades you're only going to notice a performance boost on CPU intensive game such as Arma, Battlefield 3 (specially multiplayer)... but for most other games that are GPU intensive, you're not gonna notice an upgrade.gp19

Your upgrades are "fine", and you have a good GPU. However, with those upgrades you're only going to notice a performance boost on CPU intensive game such as Arma, Battlefield 3 (specially multiplayer)... but for most other games that are GPU intensive, you're not gonna notice an upgrade.gp19

[QUOTE="gp19"]Your upgrades are "fine", and you have a good GPU. However, with those upgrades you're only going to notice a performance boost on CPU intensive game such as Arma, Battlefield 3 (specially multiplayer)... but for most other games that are GPU intensive, you're not gonna notice an upgrade.horgen123

Totally forgot I made this thread haha.

Cheers for the feedback. The current system does play games well, so I'm not particularly looking to increase gaming performance; more to just upgrade the existing parts which are becoming somewhat of a bottleneck in certain games (Arma III is VERY CPU intensive).

The GPU seems to handle all current games, but I would be looking to upgrade that in the next 6 months or so.

So if I was to get all those proposed upgrades, which GPU would yous suggest 6 months down the line. Possibly a £200/250 budget.

Totally forgot I made this thread haha.

Cheers for the feedback. The current system does play games well, so I'm not particularly looking to increase gaming performance; more to just upgrade the existing parts which are becoming somewhat of a bottleneck in certain games (Arma III is VERY CPU intensive).

The GPU seems to handle all current games, but I would be looking to upgrade that in the next 6 months or so.

So if I was to get all those proposed upgrades, which GPU would yous suggest 6 months down the line. Possibly a £200/250 budget.

lextehrex

Possibly a 7950 or would that not be a big enough difference?

Also, looking at some other CPU's here. Would it be worth spending a little more and getting an i7 (2600/2700k)? If so, would that go better with a different mobo or would the Extreme4 be decent enough?

Possibly a 7950 or would that not be a big enough difference?

Also, looking at some other CPU's here. Would it be worth spending a little more and getting an i7 (2600/2700k)? If so, would that go better with a different mobo or would the Extreme4 be decent enough?

lextehrex

[QUOTE="lextehrex"]You guys know your stuff, KyleGates

Oh no..never EVER say that around here. Now the wackjobs'll be comin' of the woodwork with their "advice".

Sounds like a decent set of upgrades however, if gaming is the word the biggest gains will ALWAYS be with a video card upgrade. That card is around 3yrs old (I believe). Still a good card but if it were me I'd add some memory and drop the rest on a newer card. That CPU is just fine. Hell, I have a system with an e6600 in it (@ stock) popped a GTX 780 in it to see what was what and it ran damn near anything sooooo....vid card first, CPU later (in a gaming machine that is).

But, in the end, your selected upgrade path would be fine as well, and a newer vid card can be added later.

too bad there are no thumbs down, or down votes for comments like this....i believe youd get thumbd down for every post just for having the rock in your sig

[QUOTE="lextehrex"]

Possibly a 7950 or would that not be a big enough difference?

Also, looking at some other CPU's here. Would it be worth spending a little more and getting an i7 (2600/2700k)? If so, would that go better with a different mobo or would the Extreme4 be decent enough?

superclocked

You know, that is the conventional wisdom, and if you're strictly a gamer pinching pennies it is 100% right, but I find there are times I wish I had a better CPU, ripping DVDs and rendering in Gimp, for instance. Get the best Intel you can afford.

[QUOTE="lextehrex"]You guys know your stuff, KyleGates

Oh no..never EVER say that around here. Now the wackjobs'll be comin' of the woodwork with their "advice".

Sounds like a decent set of upgrades however, if gaming is the word the biggest gains will ALWAYS be with a video card upgrade. That card is around 3yrs old (I believe). Still a good card but if it were me I'd add some memory and drop the rest on a newer card. That CPU is just fine. Hell, I have a system with an e6600 in it (@ stock) popped a GTX 780 in it to see what was what and it ran damn near anything sooooo....vid card first, CPU later (in a gaming machine that is).

But, in the end, your selected upgrade path would be fine as well, and a newer vid card can be added later.

See? I told ya they'd show up.

Show me the proof Mr. Aparthide. Talking games, the vast majority will favor the 6600/780 side.

Im NOT saying its a poor upgrade choice because it is just fine (and vid card can be done later) I am saying that for gaming, in most cases, the biggest gains will ALWAYS be in a GPU upgrade.

See? I told ya they'd show up.

Show me the proof Mr. Aparthide. Talking games, the vast majority will favor the 6600/780 side.

 

Im NOT saying its a poor upgrade choice because it is just fine (and vid card can be done later) I am saying that for gaming, in most cases, the biggest gains will ALWAYS be in a GPU upgrade.

KyleGates

See? I told ya they'd show up.

Show me the proof Mr. Aparthide. Talking games, the vast majority will favor the 6600/780 side.

 

Im NOT saying its a poor upgrade choice because it is just fine (and vid card can be done later) I am saying that for gaming, in most cases, the biggest gains will ALWAYS be in a GPU upgrade.

KyleGates