Upgrade GPU or start from scratch

[memetootoo]

Hi there,

I just bought a 1440 monitor and I'm expecting to have a lot of trouble with my transition from 1080p to 1440p. I'm trying to decide if it would make more sense to save up and buy a new desktop versus getting the X80 version of pascal or whatever it will be called. I mostly play blizzard games, but I've been playing a lot of Witcher 3, as well. I also will be playing FO4 when more mods come out.

I'm planing on buying pre-built prb. from Digital Storm (I know, I know). I just think if a new GPU is going to be bottle necked by my CPU, and a ton of parts needs to be upgraded (CPU, moather board, etc), I might as well strip my current desktop for parts, sell what I can and start from new. Also, my gaming case is HUGE, and my new (much smaller) apt is having trouble accommodating the space.

Please let me know what you think. And if it's going to be easier starting from scratch, let me know what parts would be worth trying to sell.

Thank you!

1 x Case Rosewill Thor V2 Gaming Case - Black
1 x Processor Intel® Core™ i7 3820 Processor (4x 3.60GHz/10MB L3 Cache) - Intel Core i7 3820
1 x Processor Cooling Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System (Intel) - ARC Dual Silent High Perfornamce Fan Upgrade (Push-Pull Airflow)
1 x Memory 16 GB [2 GB X8] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Kingston HyperX
1 x Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 - 2GB - Single Card
1 x Motherboard ASUS P9X79 -- 4x USB 3.0
1 x Power Supply 1050 Watt - Corsair CMPSU-1050HX - Free Upgrade to 1200 Watt Corsair
1 x Optical Drive 24X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Black
1 x Advanced Build Options Tuniq TX-2 High Performance Thermal Compound - The best interface between your CPU and the heatsinks

[Fascinate]

You really dont have to do either my brotha. 680 is still a strong card, wait til you get the monitor i bet you will be surprised how good your current rig games at 2k.

[Deleted]

curious to know why you got a 1050 / 1200 Watt psu. when a 650 watt is more than adequate.
http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator


as for upgrades, you could easily slap a 970 in there and play everything on high / ultra.

[Fascinate]

Ya i should have been clear, if you insist on ultra settings yes a new GPU would be in order. But drop stuff down a little bit (most games you can find a good mix of fidelity and FPS) and the 680 will surprise you

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1494?vs=1595

Ultra BF4 the 680 is still pulling 35 FPS at 2k, its no slouch of a video card.

[memetootoo]

You really dont have to do either my brotha. 680 is still a strong card, wait til you get the monitor i bet you will be surprised how good your current rig games at 2k.

Thanks, will see how things go when the monitor comes. I played through Witcher on mid to high on 1080p, which is why I was expect my setup to chug through 1440p.

curious to know why you got a 1050 / 1200 Watt psu. when a 650 watt is more than adequate.
http://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator


as for upgrades, you could easily slap a 970 in there and play everything on high / ultra.

When I bought my computer there was a free upgrade from 650 to 1050. It didn't cost anything extra so I pulled the trigger. If that will be the case for 2-3 years, I will def. do that. I can wait until pascal comes out in a few months and I would imagine prices would drop even more?

Ya i should have been clear, if you insist on ultra settings yes a new GPU would be in order. But drop stuff down a little bit (most games you can find a good mix of fidelity and FPS) and the 680 will surprise you

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1494?vs=1595

Ultra BF4 the 680 is still pulling 35 FPS at 2k, its no slouch of a video card.

Thanks, I guess Witcher 3 was just a very demanding game (hair works off, and mid and high, my setup was not doing too great). I was planing on spending a lot of time in game, so I assumed things would get much worse

--

Out of curiosity, how long before my non-gpu components become the bottleneck for games? I'm specifically curious about the CPU, since it's quite old now.

Thanks again for the replies.

[Fascinate]

A loonnngg time lol. Im still rocking a 2500k and it destroys everything still, 3820k is same architecture just overclock that beast and you are good for an EASY 5 years still. Unlocked sandy bridge CPU's will be first architecture with a 10 year gaming lifespan : )

[Elim Garak]

Thanks, will see how things go when the monitor comes. I played through Witcher on mid to high on 1080p, which is why I was expect my setup to chug through 1440p.
--

Out of curiosity, how long before my non-gpu components become the bottleneck for games? I'm specifically curious about the CPU, since it's quite old now.

Thanks again for the replies.

I cannot play witcher 3 at all high on 780 - fps is around 30 I plan to upgrade to 980ti

Your CPU might survive past next generation of Intel CPU's or even the next after the next unless they are going to make a major breakthrough in the speed.
Your memory is fine for years to come.
Your power unit can support 980 in 3xSLI even without upgrade I guess
Your board supports USB3 - so you are fine until the time comes to upgrade CPU I think

[Stormspark]

A loonnngg time lol. Im still rocking a 2500k and it destroys everything still, 3820k is same architecture just overclock that beast and you are good for an EASY 5 years still. Unlocked sandy bridge CPU's will be first architecture with a 10 year gaming lifespan : )

The newer architectures (ivy bridge, haswell, and skylake) are faster...but each generation is only about 10% faster than the last. If you can overclock the 3820k to around 4ghz it should still be pretty competitive with the newer ones though.

[the boar]

The newer architectures (ivy bridge, haswell, and skylake) are faster...but each generation is only about 10% faster than the last. If you can overclock the 3820k to around 4ghz it should still be pretty competitive with the newer ones though.

i'm not seeing a k in his list and googling 3820k has no results. dunno if overclocking a locked cpu is a good idea

[Blackmist]

Your current rig will run things at approximately PS4 level @1440p. If you want to hit 60fps you might want to turn some stuff down. At 2GB VRAM, textures might need to be lowered a bit.

You can go for a better GPU now, but tbh, if you can put up with it until the new generation of cards comes out later this year, you'll find it's probably worth waiting. Full DirectX 12 compatibility, faster HBM RAM, shrunk chips... It'll be a bigger upgrade all round.