Is it time to upgrade?

[duncan_beattie]

I built my desktop in early 2013 and have not upgraded a single component (apart from the monitor) since. The machine works fine, it's still very fast and plays most games on high settins no problem.
With the advent of 4k, I'd like to stay ahead of the game but I'm not sure what to upgrade (apart from the GPU obviously). Specs are as follows:

CPU - Intel Core i5 3570K
Motherboard- Asus p8z77-v pro
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2 x 4gb)
CPU cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
HDD - Seagate Barrucuda 2TB
SSD - OCZ Vector 128GB
PSU - 650W
GPU - Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 OC 3GB

I was thinking of upgrading the GPU to GeForce GTX 1080, is this a decent enough card for 4k? Should I be thinking about upgrading the RAM etc even though my system works fine?

Any advice is appreciated

 

[TheUltimateAssassino]

If it's mainly gaming your going for I would advise to upgrade your CPU, RAM, and GPU, but because of the CPU and RAM you'll need a new mobo too, especially if you want to future proof a bit (I know this is impossible to do with the speed things are evolving ). A 1080 would be fine for 4K gaming, but do you have a 4K monitor? And also what is your budget, so I can be more specific about what you should buy. Hope that I can help.

 

[duncan_beattie]

If it's mainly gaming your going for I would advise to upgrade your CPU, RAM, and GPU, but because of the CPU and RAM you'll need a new mobo too, especially if you want to future proof a bit (I know this is impossible to do with the speed things are evolving ). A 1080 would be fine for 4K gaming, but do you have a 4K monitor? And also what is your budget, so I can be more specific about what you should buy. Hope that I can help.

Thanks for the reply. I have a 4k monitor but i mostly use it at 1080p as games still look crisp at that resolution. I would be look to spend around £500 for new GPU and maybe another £200-300 to set aside for RAM, MOBO and CPU. Is it absolutely necessary to change the board and CPU? Will it really have that much of an effect on gaming performance?

 

[TheUltimateAssassino]

It actually will be, especially for the newer games, your CPU will be a bottleneck as well as your RAM, because some new games use 8gb of it and if you upgrade those you'll need a new mobo. If you have £500 for a gnu, go for a 1080. If you have the money, go for a Ryzen 1600 (with stock cooler) and a B350 mobo. For the RAM you would need 16gb and with the current prices for RAM you won't be able to get it for less than £150. These are the parts I would advise you: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/pKTnZ8 .

 

[duncan_beattie]

It actually will be, especially for the newer games, your CPU will be a bottleneck as well as your RAM, because some new games use 8gb of it and if you upgrade those you'll need a new mobo. If you have £500 for a gnu, go for a 1080. If you have the money, go for a Ryzen 1600 (with stock cooler) and a B350 mobo. For the RAM you would need 16gb and with the current prices for RAM you won't be able to get it for less than £150. These are the parts I would advise you: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/pKTnZ8 .

Is that the Ryzan 1600 X (slightly more expensive) or just the 1600? Specs say it runs at 3.4Gz, which is exactly the same as my current processor so how would it make a difference/ improvement? 16GB RAM seems like overkill could I get away with 12GB?