1080p gaming | Advice about upgrading current vs buying new system

[elliot.martin]

Hi All,

I was wondering if people could share some advice on a current quandary I have, specifically whether to upgrade current system vs taking the plunge and buying new. I've got the available funds to buy a new a system (around £1600-£2000) however while available, I'd rather not just spend money for the sake of it.

I mainly play at 1080p and with the current price of 4k monitors and associated costs down the line with it, not really fussed with taking that plunge within the next 3-5 years. My current system is as follows:

CPU:Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
RAM:8GB DDR3
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-B85-HD3
SSD: 128 GB (OS installed)
HD: 2TB

I mainly play games like World of Warcraft, CS:GO, Rocket League, Battlefield 1 and down the line will be playing Destiny 2.

Currently I'm playing between medium to high settings without AA and it's running stable (60+ FPS) but as I've got some spare cash going I wanted to future proof myself a little for at least the next 2-3 years.

I've been toying with the idea of just picking up a 1070 GTX , another 250/540 GB SSD and a dual channel 16GB DDR 2133 MHZ kit to breath some life in it, however when working out that cost it's coming to roughly £600-700 which while is far lower then my budget, is still a fair whack.

I'm just wondering really if I should upgrade to the above spec, what kind of performance gains am I going to see (Worried my CPU will bottleneck the 1070 GTX) and if not acceptable (for example, run every game on ultra at 1080p and get above 60 FPS) then opt for a new system with current gen tech (http://www.ebuyer.com/770245-cyberpower-skybolt-pro-iii-gaming-pc-ecc01781 - £1634.15).

I don't want to build a system from scratch again, would rather just pick up a pre-built system (granted more expensive, but in this instance what I want).

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, or links to other pre-built systems (delivering to the UK) would be welcome too.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mastrom101]

Hello,

Based on what you have said, I think you would be best to hold off on upgrading. The 970 is still a very capable GPU, especially at 1080P. If you wanted to make an upgrade, I would look at buying a larger SSD (probably the 500GB to increase longevity) and carry it over to a new build down the road. I would throw in an extra stick of RAM if there is space on your motherboard (don't think it makes sense to pay for a full 16 GB when you have already bought 8), as this would be relatively inexpensive.

In a year or two, I think you will be at the stage where a new build makes sense. By then, your CPU will probably be due for an upgrade, and it will make sense to buy a new computer.

Good luck!

 

[elliot.martin]

Hello,

Based on what you have said, I think you would be best to hold off on upgrading. The 970 is still a very capable GPU, especially at 1080P. If you wanted to make an upgrade, I would look at buying a larger SSD (probably the 500GB to increase longevity) and carry it over to a new build down the road. I would throw in an extra stick of RAM if there is space on your motherboard (don't think it makes sense to pay for a full 16 GB when you have already bought 8), as this would be relatively inexpensive.

In a year or two, I think you will be at the stage where a new build makes sense. By then, your CPU will probably be due for an upgrade, and it will make sense to buy a new computer.

Good luck!

Hey,

Thanks for that, it's really helpful.

I was debating buying a new SSD for a while to see if that could upgrade, I'm thinking of buying the Samsung 850 Evo 500GB SSD.

In regards to memory, I know there isn't a performance gain in games with 16GB over 8GB (unless i'm streaming, running applications etc) however if I've got a spare bit of cash and may want to in the future do more, I'm happy to get up to 16GB now as a means of future proofing.

I've been trying to double check but cant be sure, do you know if https://goo.gl/3FvL9t would be compatible with my motherboard? GIGABYTE GA-B85-HD3 - my current mobo.

Thanks in advance!