PC upgrade (mb / cpu / ram ) , is this worth it?

[Rooster]

Ok, relatively simple...

The last time I purchased new mb / cpu / ram was ... 2009 I am pretty sure.

i7-920 2.67Ghz, along with a Gigabyte GA-EX58UD4P and some generic DDR3 RAM processor only supports from 1066 anyhow.

Now my question is, price wise, is it worth upgrading to a modern i5 3.3Ghz along with faster RAM (probably still DDR3, just some cheaper stuff like this ) and some low end micro-ATX board?

Unless someone can suggest something <$600 that would be worthwhile if at all?

I mostly play EQ (box 4 chars normally) and play Fallout 4 (really notice a lag in this) and some other games i notice no issue with at all.

Essentially i'll be going from i7 2.67Ghz to i5 3.3Ghz (before boost?)
Ram from 1066 to 1600, same DDR3 (tripple channel to dual channel?)
Sata 3Gb/s to 6Gb/s
USB 3 all round ( i have a pci-e usb3 card, i know how much faster this is for external HDD already, damn i was missing out for a while!)

And probably a lower running temp/power consumption.

I have a SSD already and a halfway cheap GTX 960.

I just want to make sure I will notice a decent boost, it's been a long time since i spent any real money on my PC.

 

[aspire2008]

Could go OEM if you want to go that cheap.

HP 750xt Desktop: i7-4790, 8GB DDR3, 1TB HDD, GTX 970, Win 7 - Slickdeals.net


Drop the video card.

or

HP Envy 750-167C Desktop (Refurb): i5-6400, 1TB HDD, 12GB DDR3, Win 10 - Slickdeals.net

 

[Smarty]

No considering AMD at all?

AMD Processor FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W D8350FRHKBOX - Newegg.com
AMD 8 core 4.0 for 170

Intel Core i5-6600 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 65W BX80662I56600 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 530 - Newegg.com
Intel 4 core 3.3 for 230

I've had both, and never had an issue with either, so I usually go for the cheaper.



Ok, so you have a case, power supply, HDD, i assume some kind of DVD drive, and video card.

GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s 1 x USB Type-C port, with USB 3.1 support 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard - Newegg.com mobo

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM - Newegg.com ram (get 2 sets)

AMD FX-4350 Vishera Quad-Core 4.2 GHz Socket AM3+ 125W FD4350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor - Newegg.com cpu

$326.95

 

[Rooster]

Can't drop the video card for them deals, thanks Aspire


No real issue with AMD, I just tend to stick with Intel as I tend to run in a warmer environment and Intel have always run cooler. I used to have days overheating non-stop with AMD.

Also I thought i mentioned it in my post, i must of deleted it before i posted sorry . I am in AUS so the $600 Aus price range is why your prices are so competitive from AMD, not just the normal price difference.

Also am hoping to buy locally, but after looking at some of neweggs prices by the time I add shipping, the price works at nearly the same. Then I have the added issue of having items being posted/turn up/missed/collection/potential return issues.

Virtually the same items from newegg was $4 more after postage was added.


Similar story with the AMD, I didn't work it out exactly though for that.


I guess I just some affirmation that an modern i5 (even a lower end 6400?) is going to be better then the older i7 ? I imagine even an i3 would be on par with the i7 , especially with single threaded stuff. I probably wouldn't be able to 4 box very well with an i3 though


I have just turned into a real tight arse the past few years, so spending money on my PC was low priority but the longer i leave it the more likely i'll end up just rushing out and buying something not necessarily well thought out.

 

[Smarty]

I dont think its going to be that big of a difference for the money you plan on spending.

If you can 4 box now, and only wanna 4 box, I'd save the money some more years and upgrade later.

 

[aspire2008]

Ah didn't know you were AUS, could ask Fry maybe he keeps up with the deals not sure.

Personally I prefer Intel but you pay for it in expense, different price points but IPC matters.

I assume this is going to be a EQ Box, I'd like to hear from htw what he thinks about IPC and running multiple accounts with mq2 loaded with IPC gains.

 

[dewey2461]

The first thing I would suggest doing is benchmark your current system and look for what the bottleneck is.

Simply pull up the resource manager and watch your CPU and memory usage while you are playing Fallout 4. Are they maxing out?

Getting a faster CPU will help feed your GPU data so there is some scaling there depending the settings of the game.

Are you playing at max eye candy? what happens if you drop the settings down?

-------------------

Going from an 2.7 Ghz i7 to an 3.3 Ghz i5 with faster will give you a noticeable boost in benchmarks and should make both EQ and Fallout 4 more playable.

-------------------

Quick search shows a nice set of requirements for the game and from that list your CPU definitely needs a boost.

Building the Best PC for Fallout 4

 

[aspire2008]

Modern games aren't to cpu intensive i5 should be plenty for any modern game in the last 5 years. The problem is going to be gpu and especially vid card memory if you play at high resolutions with everything turned on. Fallout 4, you'll need something in last 3 years to enjoy it.

 

[Rooster]

Well i picked up a GTX 960 a couple weeks ago on sale, which is why I bought Fallout 4... something different to waste time on.

I turned on steams overlay for FPS counter on Fallout 4, it never went above 60 (i assume that's some sort of limit somewhere in settings) but it hovers at 60 for almost everything on medium and dropped to 40/50's on some more intense situations. Ultra setting was 30/40's drop. Both at 1920*1080 resolution. I did try lower res and it improved for the most part, but still never over 60 FPS.

I limited the CPU usage for Fallout by 35% and noticed little changes, maybe a bit lower FPS in the same situations.


Since I bought the new GPU, I did notice improvement in EQ boxing and even less on raids I can look around without lag now, unless it's mid raid and there is so many effects going on I can't even see half the raid i get lag when trying to look around.

I think I might do as Smarty suggest and save my money for alittle while longer, the next gen intel cpu's i think will use the same 1151 socket from what i read so the prices may drop a little too.

I think im just getting a bit bored with everything , too much spare hours in my day after work. used to have over 2 hours travel a day, now I have a 5 min walk lol.

 

[Sum1]

Well i picked up a GTX 960 a couple weeks ago on sale, which is why I bought Fallout 4... something different to waste time on.

I turned on steams overlay for FPS counter on Fallout 4, it never went above 60 (i assume that's some sort of limit somewhere in settings) but it hovers at 60 for almost everything on medium and dropped to 40/50's on some more intense situations. Ultra setting was 30/40's drop. Both at 1920*1080 resolution. I did try lower res and it improved for the most part, but still never over 60 FPS.

I limited the CPU usage for Fallout by 35% and noticed little changes, maybe a bit lower FPS in the same situations.


Since I bought the new GPU, I did notice improvement in EQ boxing and even less on raids I can look around without lag now, unless it's mid raid and there is so many effects going on I can't even see half the raid i get lag when trying to look around.

I think I might do as Smarty suggest and save my money for alittle while longer, the next gen intel cpu's i think will use the same 1151 socket from what i read so the prices may drop a little too.

I think im just getting a bit bored with everything , too much spare hours in my day after work. used to have over 2 hours travel a day, now I have a 5 min walk lol.

I'd fucking kill for a 5 minute walk to work. I'm about 15km from work, and that sometimes takes me 20 minutes and other times takes me 1.5 hours.

My goal: retire from the military with a pension, buy a house somewhere close enough to a city that I don't get bored, but far enough in the country that I can breath, get a job doing some shit I can do from home. Boom.

 

[Rooster]

My goal: retire from the military with a pension, buy a house somewhere close enough to a city that I don't get bored, but far enough in the country that I can breath, get a job doing some shit I can do from home. Boom.

Ha, yeah. One day, that's what i keep telling myself

 

[Smarty]

Marry a rich woman, become a golf "professional".

I'm living the dream!