[SOLVED] Recommendations for upgrading my rig?

[Plated Sorok]

I’ve been using the same rig for about 7 years now and I figured it’s probably time for some upgrades. Mainly looking to upgrade my graphics card and CPU.

I’m currently using an EVGA GeForce GTX 770 (superclocked edition) and an Intel Core i5 4670k at 3.4Ghz.

Decided to start playing a modded Skyrim for the first time and I’m enjoying it however If I try to use some of the high end hd texture mods my game sputters and I get bad FPS drops. Currently playing through on high settings with minimal texture mods and the game runs fine. Also looking to try RDR2 at some point. What would you guys recommend as a solid upgrade? I heard the GTX 1070-80 are pretty good cards. I just wouldn’t know what CPU to get to go along with it.

Also would an upgrade like this require me to get a new motherboard? Currently I have a Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H. I’m looking at new monitors as well and was wondering if upgrading to a 144HZ monitor is worth it. Would I notice a real difference from a 60hz monitor or would it be a waste?

I have $1000 to spend but wouldn’t mind spending more if it came down to it. What do you guys think?

Current Specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670k 3.4Ghz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H
Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Memory: 8GB Corsair Vengeance
Storage: Sandisk Extreme SSD 240 GB, also Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD
Storage: WD Blue 1 TB
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked Edition
Case: NZXT Phantom 410
Power Supply: EVGA 750W (forget exact model)

 

[WildCard999]

Can you list all of your specs?

For $1000 you could build a pretty nice gaming tower but if there's parts we can reuse to save money for other parts then it could be worthwhile.

$1000 tower only build. Disregard the error message, the motherboard ships with a updated BIOS.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($279.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P350X ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $988.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 18:09 EDT-0400

Made sure you had enough space, my modded Skyrim including the game & DLC put me near 500gb.

 

[Plated Sorok]

Can you list all of your specs?

For $1000 you could build a pretty nice gaming tower but if there's parts we can reuse to save money for other parts then it could be worthwhile.

$1000 tower only build. Disregard the error message, the motherboard ships with a updated BIOS.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($39.99 @ Best Buy)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($279.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P350X ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $988.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 18:09 EDT-0400

Made sure you had enough space, my modded Skyrim including the game & DLC put me near 500gb.

Edited original post with specs. Wow that must've been a lot of mods, I don't think I'll be going that crazy so I think I should be fine with the space that I have.

 

[WildCard999]

Edited original post with specs. Wow that must've been a lot of mods, I don't think I'll be going that crazy so I think I should be fine with the space that I have.

So you could reuse the storage, Case and maybe the PSU depending on the model. Doing so could give you a better CPU & GPU but it depends on what you want to do with the current system. Selling it whole could be faster then parting it out but you won't get as much.

Anyways the build above would be able to play 1080P/1440P (around 60hz) smoothly.

 

[Plated Sorok]

So you could reuse the storage, Case and maybe the PSU depending on the model. Doing so could give you a better CPU & GPU but it depends on what you want to do with the current system. Selling it whole could be faster then parting it out but you won't get as much.

Anyways the build above would be able to play 1080P/1440P (around 60hz) smoothly.

Thanks for the recommendations. Is it worth it to look into 144Hz monitors? As someone who has always played on a 1080p 60Hz monitor would I even notice a difference?

 

[WildCard999]

Thanks for the recommendations. Is it worth it to look into 144Hz monitors? As someone who has always played on a 1080p 60Hz monitor would I even notice a difference?

Depends on the games you play. Stuff like Skyrim & RDR2 I doubt you'd notice much of a difference between 60 & 144 but for more faster paced games like Battlefield or Racing titles then 144hz would be a solid choice. I tend to play games like Skyrim that don't necessarily benefit from a fast screen so I end up going 2560x1080P/75hz at 34" (29" is decent, same height as 16:9 24" monitor) which gives far better immersion (need 21:9 mod for Skyrim) which I prefer more then a fast 16:9 screen. There's also 3440x1440P but it gets a bit more expensive.

 

[Plated Sorok]

Depends on the games you play. Stuff like Skyrim & RDR2 I doubt you'd notice much of a difference between 60 & 144 but for more faster paced games like Battlefield or Racing titles then 144hz would be a solid choice. I tend to play games like Skyrim that don't necessarily benefit from a fast screen so I end up going 2560x1080P/75hz at 34" (29" is decent, same height as 16:9 24" monitor) which gives far better immersion (need 21:9 mod for Skyrim) which I prefer more then a fast 16:9 screen. There's also 3440x1440P but it gets a bit more expensive.

Ok thanks, I've seen some comments from people along the lines of "once I went to 144Hz I never went back" and so on so figured it was worth asking.

 

[WildCard999]

Ok thanks, I've seen some comments from people along the lines of "once I went to 144Hz I never went back" and so on so figured it was worth asking.

I was one of those until I went 21:9. Now of course if you can afford 21:9 and a fast refresh rate then it's a solid choice but for me it was going from 1080P/144hz to 2560x1080P/75hz and honestly I love the ultra wide so much better. Even in FPS such as BF4 my K/D didn't change as I was still doing quite well at 75hz but I think with the wider screen I could see more enemies trying to flank me and could attack first or get myself ready for the flank. That and if you get a monitor that supports Freesync ( AMD GPU or Nvidia 10XX or newer GPU) then it makes everything so much smoother and is well worth it nowadays.

EDIT: The 21:9's are pricey currently so I'd hold off for now.

If you reuse some of your parts you can get a RTX 2060 & a 27" 1440P/IPS/75hz/Freesync monitor.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk Extreme 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB KO ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($323.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer V277U 27.0" 2560x1440 75 Hz Monitor ($238.50 @ B&H)
Total: $996.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:19 EDT-0400

Here's how to use Freesync with a Nvidia GPU.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html

There's a 1440P/144hz/VA/Freesync monitor for a bit more.

PCPartPicker Part List
Monitor: VIOTEK GN27D 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($269.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $269.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:21 EDT-0400

IPS has the better colors but VA is kind of like in between where IPS and TN is for colors, still looks good.

 

[Plated Sorok]

I was one of those until I went 21:9. Now of course if you can afford 21:9 and a fast refresh rate then it's a solid choice but for me it was going from 1080P/144hz to 2560x1080P/75hz and honestly I love the ultra wide so much better. Even in FPS such as BF4 my K/D didn't change as I was still doing quite well at 75hz but I think with the wider screen I could see more enemies trying to flank me and could attack first or get myself ready for the flank. That and if you get a monitor that supports Freesync ( AMD GPU or Nvidia 10XX or newer GPU) then it makes everything so much smoother and is well worth it nowadays.

EDIT: The 21:9's are pricey currently so I'd hold off for now.

If you reuse some of your parts you can get a RTX 2060 & a 27" 1440P/IPS/75hz/Freesync monitor.

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($174.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M/AC Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk Extreme 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($0.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB KO ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($323.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($0.00)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: Acer V277U 27.0" 2560x1440 75 Hz Monitor ($238.50 @ B&H)
Total: $996.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:19 EDT-0400

Here's how to use Freesync with a Nvidia GPU.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-run-gsync-on-freesync-monitor,6072.html

There's a 1440P/144hz/VA/Freesync monitor for a bit more.

PCPartPicker Part List
Monitor: VIOTEK GN27D 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($269.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $269.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-02 19:21 EDT-0400

IPS has the better colors but VA is kind of like in between where IPS and TN is for colors, still looks good.

You have just saved me a ton of time with this information. Appreciate all the help!

 

[WildCard999]

You have just saved me a ton of time with this information. Appreciate all the help!

Your welcome.

One last thing I want to add in is that for the GPU upgrade either RTX 2060 (or better) orRX 5600 XT (or better) would be a good upgrade from your 770. Which one depends on your preference. I tend to lean more Nvidia because I still play games that utilize PhysX however the AMD RX 5XXX (XT) cards perform quite well for the price.