[SOLVED] Keep Upgrading Old Computer or Start Fresh?

[FortyNothing]

Hello,

I've created a dilemma for myself. I can't decide my next course of action. I have an old HP Pavilion that I've replaced every part in except the motherboard and case and it has worked great for the last 5 years or so, but I feel like I'm starting to max out its potential.

Using the original motherboard, I have put in the best CPU that can fit in the LGA 1150 slot, an i-7-4790. which is now dated.

I have two 8GB sticks of RAM in it as well, but they're only DDR-3 slots, a pair of Kingston HyperX Fury's at 1600Mhz.

My graphics card is a GTX 1060 3gb which has been fine for 60fps, I generally hover around 90fps on low settings in most games, but I'm wanting to maybe get a 144hz monitor and 90fps isn't going to cut it.

So do I just trudge along and update the graphics card hoping it can keep up, or do I start a new, fresh build with a new motherboard and case and add all the newer, more modern goodies?

What do you guys think?

 

[Obakasama]

You mention the refresh rate but not the resolution of the (intended) monitor. It would factor into any advice and decision you wish to make. Depending on the games you play a graphics card upgrade might be sufficient.

As it is, to go onto a modern platform you'd have to look at the Ryzen 5 3600 and better for it to be, what I'd consider, a worthwhile upgrade. What sort of budget would you have in mind for a new system build?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I would say you could start with a freesync monitor and an AMD card with freesync. That should help smooth things out a bit. See how you feel about it then. You will want to look at a platform upgrade at some point, but since you have a decent i7, you should have a little time to decide when.

 

[FortyNothing]

You mention the refresh rate but not the resolution of the (intended) monitor. It would factor into any advice and decision you wish to make. Depending on the games you play a graphics card upgrade might be sufficient.

As it is, to go onto a modern platform you'd have to look at the Ryzen 5 3600 and better for it to be, what I'd consider, a worthwhile upgrade. What sort of budget would you have in mind for a new system build?

I'm really only intested in 1920x1080 as I mainly play competitive online shooters. My budget is pretty much that I don't want to pay over $400 for a single part.

 

[Obakasama]

Hm... that would rule out a full system build for the time being then. However, if the shooters are older or coded to take advantage of clockspeed rather than threads then you should still be fine for a while. So, to me, this would mean a graphics card upgrade is the most obvious way to help with framerates (assuming the graphics card is what is preventing you from hitting higher framerates).

Have you ran something like MSI Afterburner to see GPU and CPU utilisation while playing your games? Personally I would like to confirm that you are currently constrained by the graphics card before spending money. Though with a $400 budget... could look towards an RTX 2060 Super.

 

[Archaic59]

If you're playing online competitively you probably don't run very high settings to begin with, I'm guessing, to help keep frame rate as high as possible? You should be fine at 1080p for a while. Keep your parts cooled and rock on. Plans you make for a new system now could change quite a bit a year from now. You still have a pretty good system. I'd wait.

 

[FortyNothing]

Hm... that would rule out a full system build for the time being then. However, if the shooters are older or coded to take advantage of clockspeed rather than threads then you should still be fine for a while. So, to me, this would mean a graphics card upgrade is the most obvious way to help with framerates (assuming the graphics card is what is preventing you from hitting higher framerates).

Have you ran something like MSI Afterburner to see GPU and CPU utilisation while playing your games? Personally I would like to confirm that you are currently constrained by the graphics card before spending money. Though with a $400 budget... could look towards an RTX 2060 Super.

If you're playing online competitively you probably don't run very high settings to begin with, I'm guessing, to help keep frame rate as high as possible? You should be fine at 1080p for a while. Keep your parts cooled and rock on. Plans you make for a new system now could change quite a bit a year from now. You still have a pretty good system. I'd wait.

I've actually figured out the source of my problems getting high fps and have eliminated the problem. It was something simple and something I should have done a long time ago. I just spent two hours taking apart my PC piece by piece and cleaning 5 years worth of dust and dirt out of it. Once I put it back together I am now getting double the framerate I was getting before in some games on low settings and the screen tearing I was having an issue with has gone away completely. I have a pretty good overclock on my gpu, so I'm sure the built up gunk in there was causing the card to overheat and lower its performance. Now that it's clean I can safely get the fps I need. So now I probably can just get a 144hz monitor and be done for awhile. I didn't realize how dirty it had gotten and the area I live in is notoriously dusty. So lesson learned. CLEAN YOUR PC HEAD TO TOE every now and then. Thanks for your suggestions too btw.

 

[Obakasama]

Ah... general PC maintenance. Yeah, good idea to have a regular schedule for it.