[SOLVED] Should I upgrade, or invest in an entire new build?

[TheGodMouse]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I love this community and figure one of the many gurus here may help guide my path.
Long story short, I ended up with a N.I.B Vive Cosmos Elite for a great deal. I consider it an impulse buy, due to the allure of playing half-life alyx (the cosmos elite is compatible with the new steam "knuckles" when they're in stock), and the fact that my PC is sorely lacking in order to play it. I really want to play VR games reliably and without nausea-inducing stutter, but more importantly, I want to be able to stream HL: Alyx (even on low settings) with a good friend online. As it stands, my setup STRUGGLES to play Alyx on low settings.

My 4 year old PC's specs are;
Intel Core i5-6600k OC@4.2GHz
Corsair h55 liquid CPU cooling
MSI Z170a SLI Plus
16GB G-Skill Ripjaws DDR4 2133MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 970sc
650w PSU (I can't determine the make, thanks iBUYPOWER)
Razer NZXT S340 case
250GB Toshiba SSD
2TB (ADATA SP600 I think?)

I suppose my question is;
Should I upgrade the CPU to a (potentially used) Core i7 7700k with the BIOS update, a corsair h100i CPU cooler and a 1070 or 1080 ti to last me and my new VR setup? Then wait a few years and fully upgrade everything after the PCs have counter-attacked the new consoles?
OR
Should I save up for now, deal with my current specs for a few more months, and try to upgrade everything now to a new mobo with a more affordable and powerful AMD setup?

I appreciate all feedback, thanks for your time!

 

[Wolfshadw]

If you upgraded the graphics card now (RTX 2070 or better), how long would it be until you could upgrade your core system (CPU/Motherboard/RAM)?

-Wolf sends

 

[TheGodMouse]

I would say, after the ~$500 GPU, it would take roughly 6 months of saving/ setting back to purchase a new mobo (MSI z370 or z470?) and newer gen Core processor, assuming I went that route.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Six months isn't that bad. You could go that route if you wanted, but personally, I hate doing that. I never want to piece-meal my systems. Full upgrade or nothing in my opinion. If I were you, I'd wait six months. Then I'd have the monies for a full system upgrade and I'd see how the new hardware (Intel 10th Gen/Ryzen 4000 Series) coming out performs. Give those platforms a bit of time to settle down and then make the purchase based on that.

-Wolf sends

 

[TheGodMouse]

Six months isn't that bad. You could go that route if you wanted, but personally, I hate doing that. I never want to piece-meal my systems. Full upgrade or nothing in my opinion. If I were you, I'd wait six months. Then I'd have the monies for a full system upgrade and I'd see how the new hardware (Intel 10th Gen/Ryzen 4000 Series) coming out performs. Give those platforms a bit of time to settle down and then make the purchase based on that.

-Wolf sends

I appreciate the insight! I was kind of leaning this way already but wanted some external input, as well.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Just my input shouldn't be enough. Hopefully, others will chime in with their thoughts as well.

-Wolf sends

 

[geofelt]

If you are going to be multitasking while gaming, then I think you need more threads.
A i7-7700K would give you that, but those processors still command a good price on ebay. Perhaps $300. I think a cpu upgrade would be better on ryzen or intel 10th gen.

A gpu upgrade is the easy thing to do and it can be carried forward to a new build.
You might want to try this test:
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.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I appreciate all feedback, thanks for your time!

Get a better graphics card. It's required anyway. may need PSU upgrade also.
Then see, how that performs and decide with cpu upgrade later.

Half Life: Alyx Performance & IQ Review across 13 AMD & NVIDIA Cards

Half Life: Alyx Performance & IQ Review across 13 AMD & NVIDIA Cards using FCAT-VR with the Vive Pro UPDATED again 11:45 AM PDT, Sunday ... Read more

babeltechreviews.com

 

[TheGodMouse]

So, a further question, then. Would the 2070/super future-proof me enough for several years? Which CPU and mobo would likely stay relevant as long as the GPU?