Upgrades for Witcher 3

[Legsday]

Hello,

I'm looking to upgrade my PC for the Witcher 3 and possible future next gen games.

Here are my current specs:

CPU:Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
MB: asrock z68 extreme3 gen3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
RAM: 8GB

According to the games requirements I will for sure need to upgrade my graphics card. And if I'm going to do that I might make it worth while and upgrade enough to handle this game very well and future games no problem.

Also wondering if it will be worth it or necessary to upgrade my CPU as well. Any recommendation on that would be helpful. I don't know much about mother boards so I'm not sure what will be compatible and if I should look to upgrade that with my a new CPU?

I know this is somewhat vague but so is my knowledge of computers. Any input will be much appreciated budget is around $500-$700 but willing to increase if its worth it.

Thanks!

 

[James Mason]

You CPU should probably be fine, Upgrades would be in like GPU and RAM.

A better GPU will help the most. You could fit a gtx 980 in that budget, and still get a new PSU if necessary, which it may be since you didn't list it.

You could get like maybe 16GBs of faster speed ram, up to 2133mhz, that is probably more than you need but makes heavy multitasking easier. (streaming,recording,youtubing,audio corrections)

 

[Legsday]

I really don't multi task much, just have skype and or facebook up on my second monitor when i play games. But Ram isn't to expensive so I might look into this anyway.

With the GPU how much better is gtx980 vs the 970? because the price about 200 less. and my cpu meets the min requirements for the game so would that be a bottle neck at all with a nice GPU like the 980?

 

[James Mason]

a 980 is about 11-16% stronger than a 970, you can decide if that is worth it to you.
It probably shouldn't be too much bottleneck, and a new CPU won't help that much more, and would require a new mobo as well.
But this is a viable option, Keep your RAM and HDD, maybe even pick up an SSD, also might want to make sure you have the necessary number of PCIE connectors on your PSU for a 970. You'd need at least a 500W one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($226.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($67.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($349.99 @ Adorama)
Total: $754.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-21 12:01 EDT-0400

 

[Legsday]

Awesome!

I'm pretty sure I have a 550w power supply so I should be good? I like the SSD and will probably pick one of those up. Also gonna go with the 970 which I think comes with a free copy of the Witcher 3!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[James Mason]

550W should be enough, just make sure it's not one of the "avoid at all costs" PSUs:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html

 

[Velgus]

Consider overclocking the GTX 970 a bit if your power supply can handle it. An overclocked GTX 970 can surpass a GTX 980 for 1080p gaming.

 

[Legsday]

Just checked, its a corsair cx 600 thinking i might start with the 970 and keep my current cpu and if im not happy when i play the game ill upgrade the cpu and mother board at that time

 

[bembene]

Consider overclocking the GTX 970 a bit if your power supply can handle it. An overclocked GTX 970 can surpass a GTX 980 for 1080p gaming.

u can also OC the 980...