Need some opinions on upgrading my system please?

Anthony82093

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Apr 24, 2012
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Kind of a ball of words, sorry about that!

I got a gaming computer from my mom as a birthday gift about 5 or 6 years ago (Atleast it feels that long). And I've replaced this, or that over the years. But I'm at that point that I'd like to replace the rest and I'd really like some opinions on what would be best to replace them with. With tax returns coming soon I wanted to have what I need ready for me to use. So been looking around here and there. This is what I have at the moment.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/zQ6RwV

I couldn't list the MB, Ram, Sound Card or Optical Drive probably because of how old they are.
But the MB is Asrock z77 Pro3, Sound Card is Realtek Digital Output(All it really tells me), and the Optical Drive manufacturer just says "Standard CD-ROM drives". So that's always a good sign. I couldn't find much info on my ram physically other then there are 2 of them, so I used CPU-z and it tells me I have Type DDR3 at 8192 MBs, Dual channels, DRAM Frequency is 666.8mhz. Not sure if thats good enough info or not.

And my case is NZXT Phantom 410 I believe. Looks the same anyways.

I've added the GPU, PSU, Mouse, Keyboard, Headset, Monitor, and Hard Drive.

At first I thought about upgrading my Ram because me and my brother play Ark and I run both game, and our server on this computer. Which 8gb of ram might not be enough for that.
But then I read I'd probley need to upgrade my motherboard, and with that probley my processor. So I'm where I am now. Kinda want a new Processor, Motherboard, and some more RAM. I've read the Intel I5 6600 is good, and so is the Intel I7 6700k. Kinda want to future proof my computer so thought about going with the I7 6700k. But now I have no idea about what Motherboard to get. Thought about looking on MSI's website since I like sticking to the products I already have if you can't tell. I don't know if they work better together or not. I just feel familiar with them.

So any thoughts on what kind of MB or ram I should go for would be a lot of help. In fact, any opinions on my system in general would help a lot, what would you upgrade? And to what exactly and for what reasons? Also I know I need an SSD, probley get the 500gb one from samsung, the evo.

Thanks for any and all help!

 
Solution
Your mobo supports up to 32GBs of ram, so you're actually okay on the mobo front.
A 3rd gen i7 3770k would be a good upgrade for running an ARK server and playing it at the same time, you can get one on ebay for around $140 (don't pay more): http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.Xi7+3770k.TRS0&_nkw=i7+3770k&_sacat=0

The difference between the a 3770k and a 6700k is only 25%, and you'd have to get a new motherboard as well which further increases the cost for that performance increase: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3770K/3502vs1317

If you get extra ram (16 GBs or 32GBs read your motherboard manually on how to install them properly, the kits have...
Your mobo supports up to 32GBs of ram, so you're actually okay on the mobo front.
A 3rd gen i7 3770k would be a good upgrade for running an ARK server and playing it at the same time, you can get one on ebay for around $140 (don't pay more): http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.Xi7+3770k.TRS0&_nkw=i7+3770k&_sacat=0

The difference between the a 3770k and a 6700k is only 25%, and you'd have to get a new motherboard as well which further increases the cost for that performance increase: http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-3770K/3502vs1317

If you get extra ram (16 GBs or 32GBs read your motherboard manually on how to install them properly, the kits have to go in certain slots to work correctly) you'll be better off running the ARK server.

The Evos are a bit of a premium for their difference in performance, the MX300s aren't as fast, but you get more storage space for cheaper (and still double to triple the speed of an HDD)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($140.00)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($79.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Crucial MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB 100 Million Edition Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $0.00)
Monitor: AOC G2460PQU 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor (Purchased For $0.00)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $0.00)
Mouse: Corsair M65 RGB Wired Laser Mouse (Purchased For $0.00)
Headphones: Corsair VOID Special Edition Yellowjacket 7.1 Channel Headset (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $448.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-12 10:55 EST-0500

When you have the new CPU in there, you may want to use a program called Process Lasso to manually assign CPU cores to the server program so it doesn't try to fight for control with the game for the same CPU cores: https://bitsum.com/

But as you can see, the ARK servers appear to still be single threaded, so it will only ever use 1 threa/core: https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/23424-dedicated-server-cpu-usage/
 
Solution


Thanks for the help, I'll look into these options! 😀