Should I Just Upgrade the CPU or a Complete Upgrade?

[violette58]

Hello,

I'm trying to decide if I should just upgrade my CPU or just do a complete upgrade. I plan on getting the ASUS STRIX GTX 1070 pretty soon. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Approximate Purchase Date: CPU, MB and RAM are about 4-5 years old.

Budget Range: Around $500, if possible

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Most of the time it will be used as a Plex Server, so I do rip and convert a lot of movies. And just normal web surfing. I just started gaming on it and would like to be able to start gaming on a 1440p UltraWide Monitor with maxed out settings.

Are you buying a monitor: Currently have a 1080p monitor and will be getting a 1440p UltraWide later

Parts to Upgrade: I currently have an i5-2400 CPU, ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 Motherboard, G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1066 4GBx4 RAM, Samsung EVO 500gb SSD and a NVidia Quadro K5000 video card (will replace with GTX 1070). I forget what power supply I have, but I believe it is around 500-550.

Do you need to buy OS: No, unless I do a complete upgrade.

Overclocking: Maybe, depending on the suggestions

SLI or Crossfire: Probably not, I think a single GTX 1070 should be good enough

Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200 now, 1440p later

Additional Comments: I would like to run the latest games at 1440p with max settings

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I feel I won't be able to play some of the latest games at max settings

 

[drtweak]

if you had the K version of the i5 i would say stick with that. It isn't a bad build. I would try to OC that CPU a bit if you can or by a 2600k and OC that.

 

[violette58]

if you had the K version of the i5 i would say stick with that. It isn't a bad build. I would try to OC that CPU a bit if you can or by a 2600k and OC that.

Thanks for the quick response. I did some research on how to OC my cpu and I ended up changing the Turbo multiplier to 36. Think that would be good enough? I don't want to make it unstable. Is it worth upgrading to an Ivy Bridge? Also, what about Xeon? Aren't they like i5 and i7 chips w/o a gpu?

 

[drtweak]

yes they are and also with no overclocking but they are usually a little lower than their i5/i7 counterparts. You don't need anything more than an i5. Upgrading to like a 4690 or 4670 might give you a good enough boost to be worth upgrading and to be able to use all your existing parts except CPU and Motherboard.

 

[violette58]

Cool thanks. With my current setup plus the gtx 1070 I'll be getting do you think I'll be able to game with high/ultra settings on 1440p ultrawide monitor?

 

[drtweak]

High you should be able to. Not sure about ultra and not sure about 1440 pc. The video card can handle it. the CPU should be able to keep up.

 

[violette58]

High you should be able to. Not sure about ultra and not sure about 1440 pc. The video card can handle it. the CPU should be able to keep up.

Thanks. I was able to run Battlefield Hardline at Ultra on a 1920x1200 while running a prime95 test. highest temp on one of the cores was 74. I'm hoping that means my setup can handle recent games for now since I still haven't bought the GTX 1070 yet. I'll find out if that's true when I upgrade my monitor on black Friday. If I do need a newer CPU, do you think a i5-3570k or i7-3770k would be good enough? I'd rather not get a new cpu/mobo/ram setup because that means I'll have to pretty much get a new Win10 license and reinstall everything.

 

[drtweak]

You don't need an i7. Unless you plan on Playing AND recording at the same time then get an i7. If not an i5 is more than enough. if you go the 3570k assuming your board will take it, you should be able to get a good overclock with the right cooler and be set for a few more years.

 

[violette58]

You don't need an i7. Unless you plan on Playing AND recording at the same time then get an i7. If not an i5 is more than enough. if you go the 3570k assuming your board will take it, you should be able to get a good overclock with the right cooler and be set for a few more years.

Thanks. I got the 1070 installed, man that's a huge card! So it looks like my pc can handle the highest settings on Battlefield Hardline. I'll see how it handles 1440p in few months or when I get around to playing Witcher 3 or something that requires a beefier build and see how my system handles the ultra settings on 1920x1200. I'm marking your response as the answer, but I had another question. If an i7 isn't really necessary for a gaming rig then why does www.systemrequirementslab.com recommend an i7 for Witcher 3, Battlefied 1, Resident Evil 7, Fallout 4, etc.? Just wondering if the newer games are starting to utilize the HT in an i7.