Upgrading computer please help.

[Conan_AlexCody]

Hey!!!

I'm wanting to upgrade my computer even more its already doing veeeery well but you know how it is; I NEEEED more power haha. So I don't know which to upgrade next so I tagged the things that I think would make sense. I'll try to provide the information needed, if you'd need more just let me know. I'm relatively a hardcore gamer. I also livestream gameplay sometimes of a few games.

If more than one thing would have to be changed to get the next upgrade then that would be perfectly fine as well. Money isn't an issue unless it's over $1,000 because, by then it's pretty much a new computer. I guess I'd like to know the best of the next upgrade I could have for my computer.

I know there's a thing that I could type into windows-R and I could put it as an attachment and it would give all the info about the computer but, I can't remember what it is. Thank you greatly in advance for you help!!!!

I'm running Win8.1 pro.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006
I'm about 98% sure that's the one I have...I don't remember 3GB but it might be that one.

I have 8GB of ram I have thought about getting 16GB but if that would be the next upgrade then I'd like to also upgrade the CPU or GPU also I guess.

I don't really know if there's something else that would be upgraded other than CPU GPU or more RAM; I have plenty of disk space and my power supply is 780W, maybe give or take 20~30.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd be looking at a core system upgrade (CPU/Motherboard) and maybe your RAM if it's DDR3-1066. I generally don't recommend upgrading a graphics card until you're looking at a three tier upgrade from Tom's Hardware - Best Graphics Card for the Money Hierarchy Chart; which, in this case, would be a GTX 980 or better and I wouldn't recommend any of those with your current CPU/motherboard.

So, which motherboard I'd recommend depends on your current motherboard form-factor. The CPU would easily be the Intel Core I5-4690K. What RAM to get depends on your current RAM Speed.

Just for the sake of clarity, I'd recommend you download, install, and run CPU-Z. Take screen captures of the CPU, Mainboard, Memory and Graphics Tabs and post them here.

-Wolf sends

 

[Conan_AlexCody]

My RAM is DDR3-1600. What about DDR4, I saw that's being sold on newegg. Would that be an upgrade worth that would be worth it?

 

[Wolfshadw]

DDR4 is not compatible with your motherboard. Intel's ARK Page show that processor only with memory types DDR3-1333/1066 so if you're currently running DDR3-1600, then 8GB would be sufficient.

-Wolf sends

 

[Conan_AlexCody]

Ok here's the CPU-Z.

http://imgur.com/6wcP7QV

 

[Wolfshadw]

Ok. What I would probably do is start shopping around for an Intel Core I5-3570(K) or Core I7-3770(K) processor. If you can find one for under $200, I'd probably just upgrade that and call it a day. If not, then I'd go for the core system upgrade (processor and motherboard) and re-use your current RAM.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $309.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-18 16:16 EDT-0400

-Wolf sends

 

[Conan_AlexCody]

Ok so you said to look for the processor i5-3570 how does that compare with the other than you linked, the 4690? $$$$ doesn't matter to me, how good my computer is matters to me haha.

For that motherboard that you linked should I also get any RAM? any upgrades anywhere is amazing and I'm wanting to do it. Would the 8GB RAM be fine? Should I not upgade to 16GB?

Do you highly recommend the motherboard and cpu that you linked?

Say I were to get more RAM; Would I really see a difference in quality of the games, or even livestreaming.

 

[Wolfshadw]

If I were to rate the three processors for your usage, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, I'd say:

Intel Core I5-2400 - 7.8
Intel Core I5-3570(K) - 8.8(9.0)
Intel Core I5-4690(K) - 9.6(9.8)

Personally, I wouldn't worry about having more that 8GB of RAM, but if you want to spend the money, there's no harm in having it and it may prove useful for live streaming of your game play. Also, it does give you a full core system as a back up, for sale, or any other usage. Probably a good idea would be to check your memory usage with the system you have now during gameplay/livestreaming. If you're hitting the wall, then obviously, more RAM would be recommended. If not, then having more RAM isn't going to help you with what you currently use your system for.

I tend to be budget minded, so I don't always look at every single bit of data. I tend to go with what I've heard as a quality product plus what I happen to know about any given product.

Do I highly recommend the processor I linked? Yes
Do I highly recommend the motherboard I linked? Eh... Sort of. I've heard good things.

To get more of a recommendation than that from me, I'd need to know a lot more details about what you need. Are you going to overclock? Do you want or need an SSD/M.2? Do you want to go Crossfire/SLI? Do you need USB3? Etc...

-Wolf sends

 

[Conan_AlexCody]

No I don't need to overclock, no I'm fine with the hdds I have, I'm perfectly fine with my one video card now; I don't really care for two also I don't know the benefit of having two opposed to the price of what two would be and also a motherboard have two slots like that. No for the USB3 also I don't have anything that isn't working right now with what I have now.

Does all that make the recommendation for the motherboard yes? haha

As for the RAM, no, I haven't had problems with going anywhere near 8GB useage even with a Minecraft server running live streaming and also my foreground game that I'm playing. The Minecraft server is ~4GB, it might be a bit more if not 4GB, and its 97% free 99% of the time even while playing other games.

Thanks a bunch!!!!

I'll order the cpu and motherboard in a few minutes but one last question. what would the next upgrade be would you think, don't need to go into too much detail it would be in a very long time from now.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Next upgrade would be an SSD and then, probably, the next generation of NVidia Graphic cards.

-Wolf sends