[SOLVED] First Time Upgrading System

[alexanderpierpoint]

Hi All,

I bought a custom PC from PC Specialist about 3 years ago. I'm now looking to make the PC the main way I play games (previously played a lot on console) so I feel like an upgrade is needed.

Current specs are:
CPU- Intel i5-7500k (3.8GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard - ASUS Prime Z270-P
GPU - GTX 1070 (8GB)
Memory - 16GB Corsair DDR4

Budget would be around £1,000 - £1,500 and I'd ideally want to get something that could do 1440p/4k gaming (don't have the monitor yet but thinking I will in time) plus some level of future-proofing so I can use this for a couple of years at least.

Questions I had were:

• Is the i5 sufficient that I could look to spend big on a new graphics card or is that now a little outdated?
• If I'm getting a new processor, should I push for an i9 processor to stop the processor becoming outdated?

- If I'm getting a new processor, am I going to need a new motherboard, case, more cooling etc? At that point, am I better configuring a whole new PC and selling the one I have currently?
- Having never upgraded a PC before, what is it generally best to focus on and is it possible to upgrade bit by bit?

Cheers

 

[sizzling]

The older 4 core/thread i5’s are quite a limiting factor for modern games. Unfortunately the only i7 upgrades your motherboard supports are fairly small upgrades that are usually very expensive for their level of performance.

What make and model is the psu and what configuration is the RAM? Is the RAM 2x8gb and what is it’s speed? Do you have an SSD?

NVidia are due to announce their new range of gpu’s today so you want to wait until the reviews are out for these. You will effectively building a new pc.

 

[egda23]

Hi All,

I bought a custom PC from PC Specialist about 3 years ago. I'm now looking to make the PC the main way I play games (previously played a lot on console) so I feel like an upgrade is needed.

Current specs are:
CPU- Intel i5-7500k (3.8GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard - ASUS Prime Z270-P
GPU - GTX 1070 (8GB)
Memory - 16GB Corsair DDR4

Budget would be around £1,000 - £1,500 and I'd ideally want to get something that could do 1440p/4k gaming (don't have the monitor yet but thinking I will in time) plus some level of future-proofing so I can use this for a couple of years at least.

Questions I had were:

• Is the i5 sufficient that I could look to spend big on a new graphics card or is that now a little outdated?
• If I'm getting a new processor, should I push for an i9 processor to stop the processor becoming outdated?

• If I'm getting a new processor, am I going to need a new motherboard, case, more cooling etc? At that point, am I better configuring a whole new PC and selling the one I have currently?
• Having never upgraded a PC before, what is it generally best to focus on and is it possible to upgrade bit by bit?

Cheers

Have you actually start using this PC for gaming ?
What game are you playing ?
This is still today a powerfull machine, so I am a bit puzeled why you are so willing to upgrade.
What problems do you have ?

 

[alexanderpierpoint]

The older 4 core/thread i5’s are quite a limiting factor for modern games. Unfortunately the only i7 upgrades your motherboard supports are fairly small upgrades that are usually very expensive for their level of performance.

What make and model is the psu and what configuration is the RAM? Is the RAM 2x8gb and what is it’s speed? Do you have an SSD?

NVidia are due to announce their new range of gpu’s today so you want to wait until the reviews are out for these. You will effectively building a new pc.

Thanks.

PSU is a Corsair 550W VS Series, RAM is 2 x 8GB sticks and 2133 MHz, I have a 250GB SSD with the OS installed.

 

[sizzling]

Ok the VS550 is not a good choice for a gaming pc and I would not risk a high end gpu on it, this also needs upgrading. You can use your RAM but 2133mhz is the slowest DDR4 and it will reduce performance, by how much depend on other factors. You can move the SSD over to the new system but you should plan to reinstall Windows.

At this point in time with 1440p/4K in mind Id wait to see the reviews of the new NVidia gpu’s before putting together a parts list.

 

[alexanderpierpoint]

Have you actually start using this PC for gaming ?
What game are you playing ?
This is still today a powerfull machine, so I am a bit puzeled why you are so willing to upgrade.
What problems do you have ?

I've been using the PC for some gaming since I bought it. I don't have any massive issues but I've not been able to get a stable 144Hz at 1080p (mainly play R6 Siege on low settings). I've heard this might be down to how these are installed so trying to remedy that before buying anything new.

Main reason for thinking of the upgrade is because I'll be starting to pick up the newer, more taxing games going forward (with next gen consoles due out later this year) and have never really run anything graphics intense on the machine so wondering whether I will start to see performance issues. I also want to think about 1440p/4k gaming and didn't know if the CPU/GPU would be up to that. Basically, I want to maintain at least the level of performance I've been getting on console when I move all gaming over to the PC.