Upgrade worth it?

bettz · Apr 16, 2015

Hi its coming up to 2 years since i built my last rig and im starting to look at upgrading parts again.

My current build is

i5 3570k
Asus p8z77-m
8GB DDR3 Ram
GTX 670 2gb

Would it be worth just upgrading the GTX 670 to a GTX970?

Also i was looking at upgrading the i5 3570k to a i5 4690k but that would mean a motherboard change? I've not looked into overclocking the processor as ive had no speed issues

Devon68 · Apr 16, 2015

I think it's not worth it. Too much investment for too little gain.

rtwjunkie · Apr 16, 2015

I say absolutely on just the GPU! GTX 660 Ti was almost at the performance level of a GTX 670 (especially when overclocked, as they were only slightly cut down 670's), and the performance for my fiance's rig just doing that upgrade to a 970 was almost twice the performance.

GhostRyder · Apr 16, 2015

bettz said:
Hi its coming up to 2 years since i built my last rig and im starting to look at upgrading parts again.

My current build is

i5 3570k
Asus p8z77-m
8GB DDR3 Ram
GTX 670 2gb

Would it be worth just upgrading the GTX 670 to a GTX970?

Also i was looking at upgrading the i5 3570k to a i5 4690k but that would mean a motherboard change? I've not looked into overclocking the processor as ive had no speed issues

For the processor, no I would not as overclocking that to 4.5ghz is a better option with some aftermarket cooling (Clock to clock there is about a 5% difference from a 4690K and 3570K). I would recommend a better cooler maybe even an H100i and doing some serious overclocking for performance.

As for the GPU, yes it would be a good idea to upgrade especially with prices the way they are right now. If you are just interested in 1080p gaming, I would recommend either an R9 290/X (300 bucks for X or 230 for non) or GTX 970 for about 300. Those would probably net you some nice performance that will last awhile.

rtwjunkie · Apr 16, 2015

I'll second @GhostRyder suggestion to overclock the cpu. It will help your 4 cores deal better with multithreaded games, as well as help some at 1080p with raising minimum frame rates.

bettz · Apr 16, 2015

Well ive a Bitfenix prodigy m Case with 5 fans cooling it not sure on the temps. The processor is cooled by a Scythe Ninja Mini

krusha03 · Apr 16, 2015

As others have said cpu side is not worth upgrading and you will be better off getting a good AIO and overclocking that i5. GPU side going to 290x / 970 will give you ~ 50% performance increase.

I would get one of these coolers (the LEPA seems really good @jordan1794 just bought one)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rls24m24pkr1
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/lepa-cpu-cooler-lpwac240hf

And 290 for $240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

or 970 for $310
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500362

Alternatively you can wait for the AMD 300 series to come out and see what they offer if you are not in a hurry to upgrade

jordan1794 · Apr 17, 2015

The LEPA cooler is also very easy to install. Assuming your case has a spot for the 240mm rad.
The cooler dropped my i7 4790k's overclocked temperature(4.7 @ 1.225 vcore) almost a full 10 degrees from my Phanteks cooler.
I'm actually at 4.8 overclock now, at 1.265 vcore. I tried 4.9 but I'd need a vcore over 1.3 to get it (tried 1.305 and crashed right after logging into windows)
My temperatures at the new overclock of 4.8, and the higher voltage, are still lower than my previous overclock with the Phanteks.

bettz · Apr 17, 2015

From what I can gather the case can hold a water cooler all be it a slim one

Jetster · Apr 17, 2015

GTX980

jordan1794 · Apr 17, 2015

bettz said:
From what I can gather the case can hold a water cooler all be it a slim one

Do you know the case model? http://www.Pcpartpicker.com does some fit checking and should be able to tell you what will/will not fit.
@Jetster I actually think the 970 is a better value, IF you don't overclock...if you get a 980 though the overclocking potential is massive. My EVGA gtx 980 Superclocked came with a boost clock over 1400, and I've easily gotten it overclocked to 1525. If I changed my voltage I could probably get darn close to 1600.

EDIT: Lol, tagged some random person on accident.
Wonder if they will get an update and be really confused.

EDIT2: I changed the tag but it still links to the other person.
I'm sorry random person.

bettz · Apr 17, 2015

My case is a Bitfenix Prodigy M from what i can gather it should be fine as i can just replace the top 2 fans with a radiator

Corsair Hydro Series H100i anygood?

How easy would it be to overclock the i5 bearing in mind i wouldn't have a clue where to start lol

jordan1794 · Apr 17, 2015

K processors are incredibly easy to overclock, just do your research on temperatures and voltages first so you don't fry the chip!

krusha03 · Apr 18, 2015

bettz said:
My case is a Bitfenix Prodigy M from what i can gather it should be fine as i can just replace the top 2 fans with a radiator

Corsair Hydro Series H100i anygood?

How easy would it be to overclock the i5 bearing in mind i wouldn't have a clue where to start lol

H100 is good and has been the go to AIO cooler for some time. however the lepa i linked is better and cheaper. overclocking intel k type cpus is really easy and you can open a thread here when you are ready to start and people will be more than willing to help you

bettz · Apr 18, 2015

krusha03 said:
H100 is good and has been the go to AIO cooler for some time. however the lepa i linked is better and cheaper. overclocking intel k type cpus is really easy and you can open a thread here when you are ready to start and people will be more than willing to help you

I'll have a look at it the only reason i linked the corsair H100i was because the Lepa seems to be hard to find in the UK,the only place ive found is amazon with only 1 review
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q2Q2BBC/?tag=tec053-21

Also would the cooler & overclocking use more power? As im not sure if my system is about at its peak due to it making strange noise from the speakers when under load

m0nt3 · Apr 18, 2015

Have you asked your self the question "Can my computer handle the application I run?" If you are satisfied with its performance/quality settings why bother. I bought a 290, because my 6950 was struggling with battlefield 4 high settings 30-40 FPS.

krusha03 · Apr 18, 2015

bettz said:
I'll have a look at it the only reason i linked the corsair H100i was because the Lepa seems to be hard to find in the UK,the only place ive found is amazon with only 1 review
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q2Q2BBC/?tag=tec053-21

Also would the cooler & overclocking use more power? As im not sure if my system is about at its peak due to it making strange noise from the speakers when under load

But if you look at US sites there are bunch of user reviews and most of them put it above the H100

System Name	Bella
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard	MSI MAG B550M
Cooling	SCYTHE SCMG-5100 Mugen
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4
Video Card(s)	Nvidia Geforce GTX1060
Storage	Western DIgital Caviar 250GB SATA & Crucial 256GB SSD
Display(s)	Asus VE247H
Case	Bitfenix Prodigy M
Power Supply	Be quiet 530w
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair STRAFE
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Ryzen 2023
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700
Motherboard	Asrock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	G Skill Flare X5 2x16gb cl32@6000 MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + gaming Oc
Storage	WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB 64MB 7k SATA600 Blue WD10EZEX, WD Black SN850X 1Tb nvme
Display(s)	LG 27GP850P-B
Case	Corsair 5000D airflow tempered glass
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-850W
Mouse	A4Tech V7M bloody
Keyboard	Genius KB-G255
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	SnowFire / The Reinforcer
Processor	i7 10700K 5.1ghz (24/7) / 2x Xeon E52650v2
Motherboard	Asus Strix Z490 / Dell Dual Socket (R720)
Cooling	RX 360mm + 140mm Custom Loop / Dell Stock
Memory	Corsair RGB 16gb DDR4 3000 CL 16 / DDR3 128gb 16 x 8gb
Video Card(s)	GTX Titan XP (2025mhz) / Asus GTX 950 (No Power Connector)
Storage	Samsung 970 1tb NVME and 2tb HDD x4 RAID 5 / 300gb x8 RAID 5
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU, Samsung G7 Odyssey (1440p 240hz)
Case	Thermaltake Cube / Dell Poweredge R720 Rack Mount Case
Audio Device(s)	Realtec ALC1150 (On board)
Power Supply	Rosewill Lightning 1300Watt / Dell Stock 750 / Brick
Mouse	Logitech G5
Keyboard	Logitech G19S
Software	Windows 11 Pro / Windows Server 2016

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

Upgrade worth it?

bettz

Devon68

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

GhostRyder

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

bettz

krusha03

jordan1794

bettz

Jetster

jordan1794

bettz

jordan1794

krusha03

bettz

m0nt3

krusha03

System Name	Desktop / Laptop
Processor	AMD Ryzen R7 5600x / Intel i5-4200U
Motherboard	ASUS TUF B550-Plus / Lenovo MB
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 / Stock
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 2x16GB DDR 3800 / 8GB DDR3-1600MHz
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 6900XT / Intel HD 4400
Storage	2.5TB SSDs + 4TB HDD / Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB
Display(s)	34" LG Ultrawide / 12.5 " 1080p IPS Touchscreen
Case	Fractal Design R6 / Lenovo X240
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Onboard
Power Supply	Enermax REVOLUTION87+ 1000W / Lenovo 40W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk X
Keyboard	Dell Business Multimedia Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
Benchmark Scores	Chicken Invaders 5 @125+ FPS

Processor	Intel i7 4790K
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z97X-UD5H-BK
Cooling	LEPA AquaChanger 240
Memory	G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0
Storage	Seagate St1000dx001
Case	Cooler Master HAF X ATX Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 850W ATX12V / EPS12V

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Headshot
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Motherboard	ASUS Crosshair VI Hero ROG
Cooling	Phanteks Glacier One 360 MPH
Memory	2x16GB Corsair Vengence LPX DDR4 @ 3200 16-18-18-18-36
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon Vega64 (Linux)/Gigabyte RX 6600 (Windows VM)
Storage	Cruscial P5 1TB nVME, Samsung 850 EVO 250GB, Seagate 1TBx2 (Home/Data), 2TB Seagate (Games)
Display(s)	2x Acer 1080P 144HZ
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Luxe White
Audio Device(s)	Schiit Stack (Schiit Audio Modi 2 DAC + Magni 3 AMP + Loki)
Power Supply	eVGA Supernova 1000 G2
Mouse	Razer DeathAdder V2
Keyboard	Logitech G710+
Software	Arch Linux with Windows 10 Gaming VM