[SOLVED] Should I upgrade my i7 4770 (and hardware which supports this processor)

[EmptyCoconut]

I was planning on building a new computer for about $1000, but should I just stick with my processor? If I stick with my i7 I'd also keep my rx 570. That would bring cost down to around 500-600 dollars. Should I upgrade, or stick with my dated hardware.

 

[RememberThe5th]

Does the hardware do what you need?
If yes you dont need an upgrade yet. (Since new amd processor is gonna be released soon)

What are your current specs?

Motherboard
Ram
PSU
Storage (Eg. HDD one SSD, years old)

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you are going to be using the RX 570, then your current CPU is more than enough for that graphics card. If you are going to upgrade to a higher end graphics card, THEN you might want to think about a higher tiered model of processor, which will also require a new motherboard and memory as nothing newer than what you have supports your DDR3 memory.

 

[EmptyCoconut]

I'll either upgrade everything, or only upgrade certain parts. It all depends on whether or not I decide to upgrade my cpu. If I do upgrade my cpu, I will likely buy a 1070 or 1080. But is it worth upgrading?

 

[Darkbreeze]

It is worth the upgrade if you want the increase in performance, which would be about three times what you have on that RX 570, based on a GTX 1080. I probably would recommend NOT going that route though, since you'd have to buy a used or refurbished card to do that. I'd look at the RTX 2060 or 2070, which will probably be seeing reductions in price fairly soon when the "Super" models are released. Or wait to see what Navi brings from AMD.

I cannot recommend buying used cards in this day and age when most of them are a real gamble as to whether they were used for mining or have already been overclocked to death and that is why they are being sold. I wouldn't buy a used graphics card from anybody I didn't know well enough that they would be welcome to dinner with the family during the holidays.

 

[EmptyCoconut]

What about refurbs? I'd prefer to spend no more than $400 on a card and I doubt 2070's will drop to that price range. I'll consider 2060's though

 

[Darkbreeze]

You can get a factory refurbished GTX 1080, which gives you pretty much RTX 2070 performance without the hardware level ray tracing, for under 400 bucks. The ONLY downfall is that it only comes with a one year warranty.

https://www.evga.com/products/Produ...ily=GeForce+10+Series+Family&chipset=GTX+1080

Seems like a better deal as far as performance since that's not much more than you'd pay for a 2060, however when it comes to graphics cards, the warranty can be a VERY important consideration because I probably see more graphics card failures over the last couple of generations that any other hardware component. It used to be motherboards or power supplies, but those have gotten much better, while graphics cards have increased in terms of the number of failures even just I see myself.

So it's something you want to think carefully about either way. Keep in mind, EVGA is likely the #1 company when it comes to customer service after the sale, so anything you get from them is going to see outstanding support.