Should I upgrade my rig for CSGO?

Netopr

Commendable
Oct 3, 2016
9
0
1,520
Greetings from Grampa! (32 yrs old lel)

I was a gamer back in the cs 1.5/1.6 era and the bug has biten me back.. I started playing csgo basically every day for 1-2 hours with old friends and I am having a good time. My pc is old and i cannot overclock it anymore due to the motherboard. However I made a few changes recently and I am able to get 160-230 fps on a regular 5vs5 game depending on the map in windows 7 64bit.

- Motherboard: Asus M3A78 Pro
- Memory: OCZ ddr2 4gb
- Processor: Phenom ii X4 B95 (OC to 3.3Ghz) <------ recently bought used for $20
- Storage: Two SATA 3 GB/s disks
- Video card: 970 GTX 4GB founders edition <-------recently bought used for $140
- PSU: 500W EVGA 80+ certified <--------- recently bought new
- Monitor: Acer 24" 144hz <--------- recently bought new
- Thermaltake Wavemaster aluminum case

Option 1
Keep current system and do nothing.

Option 2 Spend $800

- CPU: intel i5 6600k unlocked
- Motherboard: Asus or similar Z170
- Memory: 16GB ddr4.
- Case: inwin 303
- Storage 120GB ssd Drive
- Cooling: Thermaltake Water 3.0 Triple Riing

Option 3
AM3+ Motherboard with a 970 chip ($90)
8GB ddr3 ($35)
Evo 210 cooler ($25)
keep CPU, storage, video card, psu, and storage.
Maybe overclock to 3.6Ghz to 4.0 Ghz


However, I cant hit the button for options 2 or 3 because I only play CSGO (im not a hardcore gamer) and I am not sure if upgrading everything will be worth it to obtain a little better FPS in csgo..

Any thoughts? Would I see benefits from 150fps to 300 fps?
 
Solution
Woah woah woah, most definitely! :)
The CPU is a massive bottleneck for that graphics card, you'd only need to upgrade that though, the GPU is still very good.
Considering you're getting quite high frame rates, you should be fine, but you'll want to get some more CPU power in that system to take advantage of your graphics card and make your PC much faster.
Your current frame rate is very good, but it should be much higher.
Even with my old GTX 680 it still hits around 300fps+ maxed.
I recommend getting this, although you'll need to pick up a fresh copy of Windows 10 with your build. (New motherboard = new windows key)
This should keep you future proofed for a long time. 😉
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by...
I'm not a CS:GO player, but the OP stated he is getting "160-230 fps on a regular 5vs5 game ".

Am I missing something or is that not sufficient to play that game?

If it's working for you, and nothing is slowing you down, then keep what you have, save for the future, and enjoy the game.
 
Woah woah woah, most definitely! :)
The CPU is a massive bottleneck for that graphics card, you'd only need to upgrade that though, the GPU is still very good.
Considering you're getting quite high frame rates, you should be fine, but you'll want to get some more CPU power in that system to take advantage of your graphics card and make your PC much faster.
Your current frame rate is very good, but it should be much higher.
Even with my old GTX 680 it still hits around 300fps+ maxed.
I recommend getting this, although you'll need to pick up a fresh copy of Windows 10 with your build. (New motherboard = new windows key)
This should keep you future proofed for a long time. 😉
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($227.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($100.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($66.54 @ NCIX US)
Total: $430.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-10-03 17:58 EDT-0400

 
Solution
@Corwin65: Oh totally missed that part.
On a 144 Hz Screen 150fps in csgo is on edgy. Especially since I'm pretty sure he plays at a lower resolution and with lower graphic settings to reach that fps target since I had the same CPU and @1080p you struggle to reach 100fps

Chugalug s build is good but if you're just playing csgo with old friends for fun it's slightly overkill. An i5-6500 or i3-6300 with a H170/B150 board would easily do and saves 100$
 


I am actually playing at 1080p and FPS ranges from 160-230
 


To be honest, the game does feel good with my current hardware and minor upgrades that I had recently. However, I keep reading some peoples comments that having 300fps constant would feel better and others say that there is only performance issues and differences under 100fps...

 


Thanks, I pretty much want a whole new system since I dont think my current case will house the motherboard and the drives are 3Gb/s. Anyways, I have a local microcenter store and they offer the best cpu/motherboard combo prices. An Asus Z170-AR with a i5 6600k will only cost me $295.