Possible Gaming PC upgrades

[danieljo52]

Hello there,

These are my current specs:
Intel core i5 4670k
Coolermaster evo 212
Asrock z87 extreme3 motherboard
16GB 2x8GB Corsair vengeance RAM
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Corsair 600W PSU
Samsung EVO 500GB SSD + 1TB WD HDD

The PC was built by me in 2014 with the edition of the GTX 1060, SSD and Coolermaster heatsink recently. I’m looking to upgrade the CPU however it would mean I would need a new motherboard. If anyone could give me some suggestions on what CPU to get or any other upgrade I could do that would really help me out because it’s been a while since I was on the PC components scene

Thanks

Dan

 

[petrajordanriver]

Hello there,

These are my current specs:
Intel core i5 4670k
Coolermaster evo 212
Asrock z87 extreme3 motherboard
16GB 2x8GB Corsair vengeance RAM
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Corsair 600W PSU
Samsung EVO 500GB SSD + 1TB WD HDD

The PC was built by me in 2014 with the edition of the GTX 1060, SSD and Coolermaster heatsink recently. I’m looking to upgrade the CPU however it would mean I would need a new motherboard. If anyone could give me some suggestions on what CPU to get or any other upgrade I could do that would really help me out because it’s been a while since I was on the PC components scene

Thanks

Dan

what is your budget?

 

[danieljo52]

Hello there,

These are my current specs:
Intel core i5 4670k
Coolermaster evo 212
Asrock z87 extreme3 motherboard
16GB 2x8GB Corsair vengeance RAM
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Corsair 600W PSU
Samsung EVO 500GB SSD + 1TB WD HDD

The PC was built by me in 2014 with the edition of the GTX 1060, SSD and Coolermaster heatsink recently. I’m looking to upgrade the CPU however it would mean I would need a new motherboard. If anyone could give me some suggestions on what CPU to get or any other upgrade I could do that would really help me out because it’s been a while since I was on the PC components scene

Thanks

Dan

what is your budget?

Around £400

 

[petrajordanriver]

Here is the prossesor i have i think that it would suit you well as i use it with a nividia 1060 6gb.
https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

from jordan

 

[ArchitSahu]

4670k is still quite relevant. You can pick a 1070 for the build. PSU could use a change however.

Are you only gaming?

Here:

1. New CPU, Mobo, RAM and PSU-
PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8dHb29
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8dHb29/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor (£149.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - H310M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£49.89 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Team - T-Force Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£69.06 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £418.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-10 02:56 BST+0100

2. New GPU and PSU -
PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QzTX9W
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QzTX9W/by_merchant/

Video Card: Palit - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Video Card (£365.99 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£69.06 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £435.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-10 02:57 BST+0100

 

[ArchitSahu]

Here is the prossesor i have i think that it would suit you well as i use it with a nividia 1060 6gb.
https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

from jordan

His motherboard is not compatible with that chip. That chip is a laptop CPU. This is a desktop PC.

 

[geofelt]

The strongest processor your motherboard can support is a I7-4790K.
You will get 4 more threads and a higher stock clock(4.0 vs. 3.5) More with overclocking. About £254.35
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/6vzv6h/intel-cpu-bx80646i74790k

For more, you are looking at not only a processor, but also motherboard and ddr4 ram.

 

[cryoburner]

An i5-8400 would not be much of an upgrade at all though. I doubt you would even notice a performance difference in nearly all games, aside from perhaps the few that heavily utilize more than four cores, especially if your current CPU is overclocked. As was said, the 4670K is still quite relevant, and CPUs haven't exactly progressed a huge amount in the last five years, aside from adding more cores and threads at a given price point. Even on the unlocked current-gen processors, you are only looking at around 20% better performance per core. If you were only after better multithreaded performance, you could likely get a used i7-4770K without having to replace the motherboard and RAM, but since most existing games won't make heavy use of those additional threads, the performance gains from that would be similarly minimal.

Really, going with a faster graphics card would probably be the best upgrade for better gaming performance. It doesn't sound like you've had your 1060 for very long though, so I would at least wait to see what Nvidia's next generation of graphics cards will be like, which should be launching in a matter of months.

 

[danieljo52]

An i5-8400 would not be much of an upgrade at all though. I doubt you would even notice a performance difference in nearly all games, aside from perhaps the few that heavily utilize more than four cores, especially if your current CPU is overclocked. As was said, the 4670K is still quite relevant, and CPUs haven't exactly progressed a huge amount in the last five years, aside from adding more cores and threads at a given price point. Even on the unlocked current-gen processors, you are only looking at around 20% better performance per core. If you were only after better multithreaded performance, you could likely get a used i7-4770K without having to replace the motherboard and RAM, but since most existing games won't make heavy use of those additional threads, the performance gains from that would be similarly minimal.

Really, going with a faster graphics card would probably be the best upgrade for better gaming performance. It doesn't sound like you've had your 1060 for very long though, so I would at least wait to see what Nvidia's next generation of graphics cards will be like, which should be launching in a matter of months.

That's what I was thinking I recently got the GTX 1060 and the only thing I haven't upgraded was my CPU which I thought was bottle necking the performance of the 1060 since its a older chip and I didn't realise it was still quite relevant. Do you think overclocking would make any difference? since I've already got a cooler master heatsink or do you think it would finish of the entire CPU since I've been using my computer everyday since it was built?

 

[cryoburner]

You could potentially boost CPU performance by 10% or more with an overclock, although I'm not sure how far one can get on an i5-4670 with a 212 Evo. I suspect overclocking could be done safely, so long as temperatures and voltages don't get out of hand. Usually, modern CPUs tend to be pretty resilient against damage, and should automatically throttle performance if temperatures get excessively high to reduce the chance of causing damage.

Have you noticed performance issues in any games? And what resolution/refresh rate are you gaming at?

 

[geofelt]

Much depends on the kinds of games you play.
I can suggest two tests to give you some insight:

) Run YOUR games, but lower your resolution and eye candy.
If your FPS increases, it indicates that your cpu is strong enough to drive a better graphics configuration.
If your FPS stays the same, you are likely more cpu limited.

b) Limit your cpu, either by reducing the OC, or, in windows power management, limit the maximum cpu% to something like 70%.
Go to control panel/power options/change plan settings/change advanced power settings/processor power management/maximum processor state/
This will simulate what a lack of cpu power will do.
Conversely what a 30% improvement in core speed might do.