Upgrade old pc or buy next gen

BeardedBadger

I have a PC which I don't really use as I am away at college and the xbox 360 is more portable but with the next gen consoles out I don't want to fall behind in terms of specs. My PC at the moment has:

AMD 965 black edition
4GB of ram
Radeon 5770
Can't for the life of me remember what motherboard as I'm not home this weekend.
650W PSU
500gb HDD
Cooler Master 690ii case
21.5 inch monitor at 1920x1080
Stock fans
Don't need a copy of windows

Also would like to ugrade or add another HDD/SSD provided it wouldn't be too expensive.

If you need to know anything else let me know

So my question is this, what would be my best option upgrade this PC or to go with a next gen console (probably PS4) taking into account i have friends that play on both but maybe prefer the console scene a bit.

Thanks in advance guys!!

Jaafa

For the four or five hundred euro it'd cost to get a "next-gen" console you can upgrade what you have there to be playing any game out there at max settings. In fact just sticking a 270x/280x GPU in there at the moment and you'd be maxing out most games. That CPU is still decent. That said if you want to go all out the upgrades I'd recommend are:

1.CPU +MOBO
2.GPU

and then less importantly but also good to upgrade:

3. Add 4gb more ram
4. SSD

So depends how much you wanna spend to be honest. What make is the PSU? And is the ram ddr3?

GarIT

For 300 quid you could get a good GPU, ssd and a ram upgrade, your CPU is still good for gaming at max settings on most games for another year minimum.

marco_polo

If you decide to replace the CPU/board and portability is needed, you can put together some pretty nice mITX builds these days, if the budget allows of course

BeardedBadger

The mITX bundles really aren't an option for me as my budget is in or around 300/400 but obviously the less the better coming up to Christmas although people might be feeling a little more generous :P (typical student)
Ram is ddr 3 clocked at 1333 (not 100% sure of speed)
Make of the psu I am unsure of but I will check when I get home, should be either Monday or Tuesday. All I can remember is it's bronze rated. Will also check ram speed and make of MOBO.
Also what would be the best upgrade all things considered? Would the 2 gb 270 and 8gb of ram be my best bet for the money or is 3gb VRam fast becoming a requirement for gaming i.e. bf4 even at 1080p. If I could keep my current CPU and MOBO for another while it'd be great

marco_polo

Your biggest problem by fair bit in most games will be the HD5770, so if all you do is replace that (with whatever is close to the top of you GPU budget) and add another 4GB RAM that you won't be too badly off. Ideally if you haven't OC the CPU already, get a cheapish but decent enough cooler like the 212 and do just that. A 965 BE overclocked isn't too far behind an FX6300 which is the budget gaming CPU of choice these days, and something like the Hyper Evo 212 you could almost certainly reuse if you did change CPU down the line.

fergus1001

Adverts.ie I'm a student not that much money and I upgraded my pc just enough to run bf 4 medium to high setting with a decent constant frame rate get a console if most of your friends play on them in my opinion great way of keeping in touch

BeardedBadger

What upgrades did you make and how much did it cost you if you don't mind me me asking? I hhavelots of friends that play on pc too so the keeping in touch part doesn't bother me I am more about the games
Could bottle necking of the gpu occur if I I don't overclock the cpu? I have dabbled in overclockiing but nothing major so I'm not the most experienced person with it. Sorry if this is a stupid question.
I think upgrading the PC is the way to go, wait for the console prices to come down and bugs to be ironed out, always wind up jumping on a console once a decent number of exclusives I want get released :P
What do ye think would be the best upgrade for the money?
Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated!!

BloodBath

A 270x or 7870 and another 4gb of ram should do the trick. There's a 2gb 7870 on Pixmania for €135 at the moment. Not a great cooler but the price is great.

http://www.pixmania.ie/graphics-card/vtx3d-powercolor-hd-7870-graphics-card-radeon-hd-7870-2-gb-gddr5-pci-express-3-0-x16-dvi-hdmi-mini-displayport/21836739-a.html

BeardedBadger

Cheers bloodbath,
A 2 gb card should be plenty to run newer games perfectly well at 1920 x 1080, right?
Also how future proof would this make my system? (when would i have to upgrade again) And does anyone know anything about the new mantle api amd will be rolling into bf3 shortly?

BloodBath

Well it's not just about the memory but the 7870 is a good mid range card. A bargain at €135. They have the Generic one for €150 as well but it's usually the Sapphire dual-x model that gets shipped. Worth the extra if you are going to overclock it. Those cards have a good bit of headroom if they can be kept cool.

BeardedBadger

Thanks again Bloodbath,
I think I'll go for the generic version and another 4 gb of ram provided i can find some compatible. Might wait until after christmas now though and home for a few sales/price drops

BloodBath

I don't think you will see a 2gb 7870 for less than €135. If anything that price will go up.

BeardedBadger

Ok I'll go for that then and keep an eye on the bargains thread for a decent ram upgrade
thanks for everything guys !!!

BeardedBadger

The MOBO is aan Asus M4A77T and the power suply is a cooler master GX 650W bronze edition. Not sure if this makes any difference but I said i better throw it up anyway in case

fergus1001

Just as an aside you should be well able to run battlefield 4 on medium settings

Shabaz50

keep your xbox for the next year or 2 and when games stop coming out for the 360 THEN buy a next gen console and the ps4 will probaly be around 300 euro by then

BeardedBadger

Shabaz50 wrote: »

keep your xbox for the next year or 2 and when games stop coming out for the 360 THEN buy a next gen console and the ps4 will probaly be around 300 euro by then

Is it really worth it for the extra 100 euro? I mean I'm not getting one anytime soon but I know a lot of people that won't wait in hope of the the price falling, because realistically, it won't. Just look at how long the last gen held its price tag for. Sure the hardware issues and and optimisations will be sorted out but that'll be the case after a couple of months. I know that for me I couldn't wait if I didn't have the PC. I'm like a child when something new and shiny is released.
I know they said they'd continue supporting the 360 but to what extent can they do it realistically?

thegame983

I recently built my gaming pc (thanks again for the help guys!) and it's a marvelous gaming machine. Unless you really want to play battlefield 4 or Forza 5 right now there's no need to go next gen just yet. even though I have my new beefy pc I will buy a next gen console probably summer of next year. By then we will have a lay of the land and have a better idea which the best one to get is.

As I recall I didn't get my 360 till Oblivion came out. It's all about that killer app that you must have and right now neither the xbox one or ps4 has one

Shabaz50

well id wait and maby next Christmas or the Christmas after look out for deals for the ps4 or in a year you will have more money to up grade your pc by then and insted of upgrading it build a new one and use this portable case http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/chassis/prodigy/.
What im trying to say just wait a year or 2 then choose id keep your 360 for at least most of 2014

SterlingArcher

Have not seen any games that would entice me to pick up a "next gen" console right now. Killzone? Forenza racing? Pretty limp dick games. I Was looking forward to watch dogs but that pushed back now till spring it was the only really interesting game coming out.

Pc gaming is where It's at right now. Battlefield4, Rome 2 , arma 3 and a lot more.

Shabaz50

SterlingArcher wrote: »

Have not seen any games that would entice me to pick up a "next gen" console right now. Killzone? Forenza racing? Pretty limp dick games. I Was looking forward to watch dogs but that pushed back now till spring it was the only really interesting game coming out.

Pc gaming is where It's at right now. Battlefield4, Rome 2 , arma 3 and a lot more.

another good reason why you should wait

Shabaz50

here is a video of why you should waithttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdAoWtJeiGU

Shabaz50

well i think there are many reasons

Shabaz50

if you have the money sure buy it now but if you want/need to save money WAIT

Shabaz50

what?

Shabaz50

at least wait till next christmas

BloodBath

If you have a gaming pc I don't see why you would rush into buying one.

The launch titles are fairly crap and half are available on pc. If there were several top exclusives then maybe.

Shabaz50

because you might not have the money

BloodBath

poopy wrote: »

Because PS4 beats gaming pcs hands down, much much better graphics.

:rolleyes:

Shabaz50

????????

BloodBath

poopy wrote: »

You have no idea what you are talking about with your roll eyes.

And you are clearly trolling. At least I hope you are.

Shabaz50

i thought he was just incredibly stupid

Shabaz50

bloodbath how do these stars work