Upgrading my PC on a budget?

Mr Benevolent

I've been gradually upgrading my homebuilt PC over the last few years but the last thing it got was an SSD drive (that failed a year later). At the moment it has:

GC: 1GB ATI HD5770
CPU: Intel 2.4Ghz E6600 dual core overclocked to a stable 3.2GHz (bless its little cotton socks) with a good air cooled heatsink
RAM: 4GB DDR2
Mobo: Asus P5Q Pro
HD: 2 standard 500GB laptop drives. SSD makes very little difference for me.
PSU: OCZ 500W

It's a good machine and runs pretty much anything at good rates, including Far Cry 3 etc. However, GTA V will be out in September and I suspect it'll challenge the specs a bit. I don't do much high end gaming, more flight sims with a few FPS games thrown in.

The way I see it I have two options:

1. Buy the best CPU possible for my current mobo and overclock the crap out of it (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650, maybe €180)

2. Buy a new everything (€600).

Any ideas? Anything in the above spec that I can keep?

Gumbi

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

I've been gradually upgrading my homebuilt PC over the last few years but the last thing it got was an SSD drive (that failed a year later). At the moment it has:

GC: 1GB ATI HD5770
CPU: Intel 2.4Ghz E6600 dual core overclocked to a stable 3.2GHz (bless its little cotton socks) with a good air cooled heatsink
RAM: 4GB DDR2
Mobo: Asus P5Q Pro
HD: 2 standard 500GB laptop drives. SSD makes very little difference for me.
PSU: OCZ 500W

It's a good machine and runs pretty much anything at good rates, including Far Cry 3 etc. However, GTA V will be out in September and I suspect it'll challenge the specs a bit. I don't do much high end gaming, more flight sims with a few FPS games thrown in.

The way I see it I have two options:

1. Buy the best CPU possible for my current mobo and overclock the crap out of it (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650, maybe €180)

2. Buy a new everything (€600).

Any ideas? Anything in the above spec that I can keep?

Laptop HDDs? Are they 5400 or 7200RPM? Generally laptops ones are the former, which is atypical for desktop HDDs.

It's not worth upgrading IMO. I would save up some money, sell off your current rig, and have about 900 quid for a new system. This is near the sweet spot for high end performance at a nice price.

What kind of monitor do you have?

Mr Benevolent

Gumbi wrote: »

Laptop HDDs? Are they 5400 or 7200RPM? Generally laptops ones are the former, which is atypical for desktop HDDs.

I'd guess they're 5400rpm.

Gumbi wrote: »

What kind of monitor do you have?

A bog standard 19" LCD Dell thing.

It's not worth upgrading IMO. I would save up some money, sell off your current rig, and have about 900 quid for a new system. This is near the sweet spot for high end performance at a nice price.

You're probably right.

joetoad

Item|Price
Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB SATA 6GB's|€47.79
4GB G.Skill PC3-10667U CL9|€25.29
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€44.14
MSI 760GM-P34 (FX), Sockel AM3+, mATX|€42.82
HIS HD 7770 GDDR5 1024MB DVI HDMI 2xMiniDP|€99.74
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Box, Sockel AM3, 125W|€75.00
FRACTAL DESIGN Gehäuse Core 1000 black|€29.54
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€383.31

Very similar to my pc, plays a lot of new titles maxed out and might have to turn settings down a small bit for far cry 3 and Crysis 3, only just a tad though!

Bioshock infinite maxed out with AA - 33-36 FPS
Dishonored maxed out with AA - 35-40 FPS
Assasins creed 3 - maxed out with AA - 40 FPS
Far Cry 3 No AA, post FX set to medium 30-35 FPS

BloodBath

The above system is fine but not much of an upgrade over your current system. I'd say sell everything except the psu and do a full upgrade. You might get about €200 for the other parts. Try and muster another €250-300 and get something like this.

Item|Price
AMD FX-6300 Prozessor, Boxed, Sockel AM3+|€122.56
ASRock 970 Pro3, AM3+, ATX|€62.99
8GB-Kit A-DATA XPG G Series PC1600 CL9|€50.39
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850, 1GB GDDR5|€157.49
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB, SATA 6Gb/s|€58.58
BitFenix Merc Alpha|€34.03
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€505.03

What's the resolution of that 19" dell? You should probably look into getting a 1080p 23" at some stage if you are upgrading. I'd upgrade the graphics card to the 2gb version if you are.

Tij da feen

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€207.02
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€83.99
BitFenix Outlaw Midi-Tower - black|€39.17
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€44.14
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€59.20
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€102.86
Club 3D Radeon HD 7870 XT jokerCard, 2GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort|€208.94
LG Flatron IPS234V|€149.00
8GB Corsair ValueSelect PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€45.87
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€959.18

Depending on how much you can sell your current rig off for this might be a viable option. This is likely to be still over-budget but stuff here can be dropped down or gotten at a later date.

This rig will blow your current one away and will play games on very decent settings at 1080p.

joetoad

Tij da feen wrote: »

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-3570K Box, LGA1155|€207.02
ASRock Z77 Pro3, Sockel 1155, ATX|€83.99
BitFenix Outlaw Midi-Tower - black|€39.17
Super-Flower Amazon 80Plus 450W|€44.14
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€59.20
Crucial M4 128GB SSD 6,4cm (2,5")|€102.86
Club 3D Radeon HD 7870 XT jokerCard, 2GB GDDR5, DVI, HDMI, 2x Mini DisplayPort|€208.94
LG Flatron IPS234V|€149.00
8GB Corsair ValueSelect PC3-10667U CL9-9-9-24|€45.87
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€959.18

Depending on how much you can sell your current rig off for this might be a viable option. This is likely to be still over-budget but stuff here can be dropped down or gotten at a later date.

This rig will blow your current one away and will play games on very decent settings at 1080p.

Its a good PC but you don't really need to spend that much to get a gaming PC.

Tij da feen

joetoad wrote: »

Its a good PC but you don't really need to spend that much to get a gaming PC.

I was putting it up there to have a high end rig as well. Bloodbaths is a very decent upgrade too and if he's looking for a smaller upgrade then that's the way to go.

smileyj1987

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Buy the best CPU possible for my current mobo and overclock the crap out of it (Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650, maybe €180)

Don't bother with a Q9650 get a Q6600 if you are going to upgrade your machine . You will pick one up for about €60 to €80 depending on the seller .

BloodBath

That's also an option if you want a cheap upgrade to extend it's life. I'd slap a decent cooler on there and get it above 3ghz though. You would get 1 for about €60.

tuxy

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

However, GTA V will be out in September and I suspect it'll challenge the specs a bit. I don't do much high end gaming, more flight sims with a few FPS games thrown in.

How is a console only title that's released on 8 year old hardware have an effect on pc gaming

joetoad

tuxy wrote: »

How is a console only title that's released on 8 year old hardware have an effect on pc gaming

Is GTA 5 not coming out on PC?

marco_polo

joetoad wrote: »

Is GTA 5 not coming out on PC?

Nothing announced, for next gen consoles or PC yet although plenty of rumors, I'd be surprised if it doesn't appear at point but if it does it ll probably be at least six months later like GTA 4.

tuxy

marco_polo wrote: »

Nothing announced, for next gen consoles or PC yet although plenty of rumors, I'd be surprised if it doesn't appear at point but if it does it ll probably be at least six months later like GTA 4.

Yes this is what I'm thinking too. Rockstar don't care about the PC market.
If it does come to pc it will be outsourced and it will probably be unoptimised and buggy just like gta 4's release for PC.

marco_polo

tuxy wrote: »

Yes this is what I'm thinking too. Rockstar don't care about the PC market.
If it does come to pc it will be outsourced and it will probably be unoptimised and buggy just like gta 4's release for PC.

Max Payne 3 was a pretty accomplished PC version in fairness, but they do have a pretty schizophrenic attitude to the platform in general, ranging from a near simultaneous good quality PC release for MP3 , to never for red dead redemption, and a six month delayed mess that was GTAIV.

Which rockstar will show up for GTAV?

Mr Benevolent

marco_polo wrote: »

Max Payne 3 was a pretty accomplished PC version in fairness, but they do have a pretty schizophrenic attitude to the platform in general, ranging from a near simultaneous good quality PC release for MP3 , to never for red dead redemption, and a six month delayed mess that was GTAIV.

Which rockstar will show up for GTAV?

Good point, and I do have a PS3, already, I just don't use it. Actually I've just answered my own question.

RoverZT

You guys are mad

OP seems pretty happy with how his pc is performing at the moment, so why does he need a new one.

He's playing on a 19" monitor, which is probably running @ 1280 x 1024

He doesn't need a new machine for that.

I think a new graphics card would do the trick.

Many games will run just fine on a dual core operating at 3.2GHz, especially @ 1280 x 1024.

I would sell your HD5570 for 25 - 30 euro or so and get 7770 for 100 euro delivered.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/12703289/art/vtx3d/radeon-hd-7770-x-edition.html

Net spend of 70 euro and you will see a big difference.

GTA 5 will probably come out a year after Playstation/Xbox versions, as usual.

joetoad

RoverZT wrote: »

You guys are mad

OP seems pretty happy with how his pc is performing at the moment, so why does he need a new one.

He's playing on a 19" monitor, which is probably running @ 1280 x 1024

He doesn't need a new machine for that.

I think a new graphics card would do the trick.

Many games will run just fine on a dual core operating at 3.2GHz, especially @ 1280 x 1024.

I would sell your HD5570 for 25 - 30 euro or so and get 7770 for 100 euro delivered.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/12703289/art/vtx3d/radeon-hd-7770-x-edition.html

Net spend of 70 euro and you will see a big difference.

GTA 5 will probably come out a year after Playstation/Xbox versions, as usual.

You don't need a 7770 for that resolution, 7770 will run 90% of games maxed out at 1080P

RoverZT

joetoad wrote: »

You don't need a 7770 for that resolution, 7770 will run 90% of games maxed out at 1080P

Only 20 - 25 euro difference between that and other cards like 6670, GT 640, might as well get the 7770 when it's that close and it being a superior card.

7770, 3.20ghz E6600, 4gb ram @ 1280 x 1024 should be pretty nice.

Not a bad setup for cheap

tuxy

joetoad wrote: »

You don't need a 7770 for that resolution, 7770 will run 90% of games maxed out at 1080P

Not with AA and not with 60 fps so no not maxed out.

joetoad

tuxy wrote: »

Not with AA and not with 60 fps so no not maxed out.

It does for a lot of games with AA. I get 35 to 55 on Bioshock Infinite with everything set to max with AA. Dishonored, Skyrim all play perfect with AA set to max. Then you have Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 where you have turn down one or two lighting settings and no AA to stay on the 40 FPS.

Mightn't be hitting 60 FPS but still a damn good card on a budget

Gumbi

joetoad wrote: »

It does for a lot of games with AA. I get 35 to 55 on Bioshock Infinite with everything set to max with AA. Dishonored, Skyrim all play perfect with AA set to max. Then you have Far Cry 3 and Crysis 3 where you have turn down one or two lighting settings and no AA to stay on the 40 FPS

Bit of exaggeration there I would say. My 7950 (slightly overclocked) gets 40-45 FPS without AA (or with FXAA - virtually no performance hit with this). Crysis also eats 2GBs of RAM (which the 7770 doesn't have).

joetoad

Gumbi wrote: »

Bit of exaggeration there I would say. My 7950 (slightly overclocked) gets 40-45 FPS without AA (or with FXAA - virtually no performance hit with this). Crysis also eats 2GBs of RAM (which the 7770 doesn't have).

No exaggeration. I've mine overclocked as well. What game do you get 40-45 fps on with no AA?

Gumbi

joetoad wrote: »

No exaggeration. I've mine overclocked as well. What game do you get 40-45 fps on with no AA?

Crysis 3 @ 1080p.

joetoad

Gumbi wrote: »

Crysis 3 @ 1080p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0Q0XsvR80

After turning down two of the lighting options to high and another to medium I get a steady 35fps to 45 fps and never dips below this. Every other setting left to ultra bar AA obviously which is off

Gumbi

joetoad wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0Q0XsvR80

After turning down two of the lighting options to high and another to medium I get a steady 35fps to 45 fps and never dips below this. Every other setting left to ultra bar AA obviously

That's crysis warhead man, that game is 5 years old

joetoad

Gumbi wrote: »

That's crysis warhead man, that game is 5 years old

oops apologies, I have post processing set to medium on mine, Shadows set to medium and water set to high, everything else on very high and runs fine. There the biggest performance hits

tuxy

joetoad wrote: »

oops apologies, I have post processing set to medium on mine, Shadows set to medium and water set to high, everything else on very high and runs fine. There the biggest performance hits

So not maxed and now where near a constant 60 fps. Min fps is the figure I look at when checking out how a game plays.

I'm not saying the 7770 is a bad card because it's great value for money but top of the range cards (7970, gtx 680) are struggling with the newest games @1080p with ultra settings.

joetoad

tuxy wrote: »

So not maxed and now where near a constant 60 fps. Min fps is the figure I look at when checking out how a game plays.

I'm not saying the 7770 is a bad card because it's great value for money but top of the range cards (7970, gtx 680) are struggling with the newest games @1080p with ultra settings.

Dishonored, Bioshock Infinite, Battflefield 3, Skyrim etc all play perfect with AA, heck I get 35 FPS to 55FPs on bioshock infinite with everything maxed out including AA. It mighn't be sixty but its grand. Only games I encountered a problem with was far cry 3 and crysis 3 that I couldn't max out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OfjViC78wo

Mr Benevolent

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Don't bother with a Q9650 get a Q6600 if you are going to upgrade your machine . You will pick one up for about €60 to €80 depending on the seller .

That's a good idea. Nice futureproofing for another year. The HD5770 card is fine, more than 4GB RAM won't make any difference to things and most of the games I play depend more on the CPU than the graphics card (simulators etc). If I want to play GTA V I'll use the PS3, it's just gathering dust anyway.

BloodBath

Bioshock infinite is still using unreal engine 3 as is dishonoured. It's a 5-6 year old engine at this stage and they will be some of the last titles using it. Unreal Engine 4 is here and will be reasonably more demanding and will most likely be used in a lot of next gen games as UE3 was used last gen. With new consoles around the corner expect big jumps graphically in most games. Crysis 3 graphics/performance will probably be the norm.