Poor man's Upgrade Help

[Deleted]

Hello all,

I was wondering if you could help me with something. I have quite an old system:
CPU: FX-8320
GPU: GTX 660
Mobo: Gigabyte 970A-UD3
PSU:Corsair CX750
RAM: 8gb DDR3 2400

My problem is twofold, first I always upgrade gradually, replacing specific components overtime and secondly, last time I seriously messed up with that build last time so I thought about asking for help this time.

Ideally I want to replace everything (except perhaps the psu). Budget is around 500 euros now and another 300-400 later this year. I was planning on waiting this time, but quake champions happened and it's really unplayable :-P

Resolution: 1080p
Games: Wow and games like witcher, mass effect etc. Only shooter I'm interested in is Quake

I don't really care for max settings and I'm more interested in futureproofing for as long as possible with playable settings. I'm tending again towards amd and ryzen 5 but I think I got burned last time with the FX series.

I'm thinking with replacing the cpu/mobo/ram first, then go for the gpu.
Any suggestions?

edit: i don't really need anything else (case, monitors etc)

[CandyCotton Marshmallows]

This might work for you, oc the CPU to 4/4.1 GHz

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£194.96 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.97 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard (£87.80 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£72.22 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GT OC Video Card (£169.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £548.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-17 11:14 BST+0100

Don't think you need a 1070 nor more the the 3 GB vram or 8 system personally; so can almost get everything on your initial budget.

[Deleted]

Hello all,

I was wondering if you could help me with something. I have quite an old system:
CPU: FX-8320
GPU: GTX 660
Mobo: Gigabyte 970A-UD3
PSU:Corsair CX750
RAM: 8gb DDR3 2400

My problem is twofold, first I always upgrade gradually, replacing specific components overtime and secondly, last time I seriously messed up with that build last time so I thought about asking for help this time.

Ideally I want to replace everything (except perhaps the psu). Budget is around 500 euros now and another 300-400 later this year. I was planning on waiting this time, but quake champions happened and it's really unplayable :-P

Resolution: 1080p
Games: Wow and games like witcher, mass effect etc. Only shooter I'm interested in is Quake

I don't really care for max settings and I'm more interested in futureproofing for as long as possible with playable settings. I'm tending again towards amd and ryzen 5 but I think I got burned last time with the FX series.

I'm thinking with replacing the cpu/mobo/ram first, then go for the gpu.
Any suggestions?

edit: i don't really need anything else (case, monitors etc)

For WoW upgrading the Cpu makes sense, but for quake champions, the witcher 3 and mass effect 4, it's the gpu, not the cpu, that is limiting.
I would recommend upgrade the gpu to GTX 1060 6GB oder RX 480/580 8GB or better.

[Deleted]

That is around 650euros, a little bit more than I originally planned for initially but I like it.

Quick question, is the CPU cooler necessary? I'm not asking price wise but I thought that Ryzen 5 had a good stock cooler, no?

For WoW upgrading the Cpu makes sense, but for quake champions, the witcher 3 and mass effect 4, it's the gpu, not the cpu, that is limiting.
I would recommend upgrade the gpu to GTX 1060 6GB oder RX 480/580 8GB or better.

But if you had to upgrade something first, wouldn't the cpu make more sense initially?

[Fascinate]

It has a fine stock cooler, im using the one that came with my 1700 for a 3.8ghz overclock. Mind you thats on all cores, making my 1700 faster than a stock 1800x.

If i were you id just grab cpu/mobo/ram for now and upgrade rest of stuff later.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it!

[Deleted]

For Wow both the GPU and the CPU are weak. But for the other games you listed your CPU is still good while the gtx 660 is the minimum.
So i would go for a gpu upgrade first and upgrade cpu,mainboard, ram later this year.

google the system requirements for your games

[Lathais]

This might work for you, oc the CPU to 4/4.1 GHz

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£194.96 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.97 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard (£87.80 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws 4 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£72.22 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB GT OC Video Card (£169.98 @ Novatech)
Total: £548.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-17 11:14 BST+0100

Don't think you need a 1070 nor more the the 3 GB vram or 8 system personally; so can almost get everything on your initial budget.

Don't get the 3GB 1060. It's not that the 3gb is not enough, it really kinda is for 1080p gaming. It's just that the 3gb 1060 is not just a 1060 with 3GB, it's cut down in other ways as well. It's not worth it really. Get a RX 570 instead, or step up to a 580 or a 6gb 1060.

[Fascinate]

Don't get the 3GB 1060. It's not that the 3gb is not enough, it really kinda is for 1080p gaming. It's just that the 3gb 1060 is not just a 1060 with 3GB, it's cut down in other ways as well. It's not worth it really. Get a RX 570 instead, or step up to a 580 or a 6gb 1060.

My god not you too lathais.

Where in the world people got the idea to stop recommending 3gb 1060's is one of the most baffling things ive come across since ive been on this forum as well as others. Not only is it a faster overall card than a 470/570 but it uses a lot less power. Ya we all know its not a full fledged 1060, but its also 50-70 dollars less expensive.

The 1060 3gb card is actually the best price/performance card in nvidias lineup, but people are scared to recommend it because of the 3gb frame buffer lmfao!

There is no possible scenario where this card wont be perfectly fine at 1080p using settings BEFITTING a midrange GPU. If that game exists that uses more than 3gb at 1080p with med-high preset, i can show you a game with terrible optimization.

Now moving on, lets stop being silly and start recommending one of nvidias best priced GPU's aimed at the mid range market.

Just check out tech deals channel (the ONLY dude i trust on youtube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOCn6FXfIos

That is GTA 5 but he has a ton of recent videos with 570/580/1060 3gb/1060 6gb

[Lathais]

My god not you too lathais.

Where in the world people got the idea to stop recommending 3gb 1060's is one of the most baffling things ive come across since ive been on this forum as well as others. Not only is it a faster overall card than a 470/570 but it uses a lot less power. Ya we all know its not a full fledged 1060, but its also 50-70 dollars less expensive.

I swear people are unable to use their brains sometimes (not just you lathias, everyone around here). The 1060 3gb card is actually the best price/performance card in nvidias lineup, but people are scared to recommend it because of the 3gb frame buffer lmfao!

There is no possible scenario where this card wont be perfectly fine at 1080p using settings BEFITTING a midrange GPU. If that game exists that uses more than 3gb at 1080p with med-high preset, i can show you a game with terrible optimization.

Now moving on, lets stop being silly and start recommending one of nvidias best priced GPU's aimed at the mid range market.

At 1080p, the 570 and the 3gb 1060 perform nearly identically:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/..._Pulse/30.html

So to your first point, no, it is not a faster card than a 570, it's about the same.

Uses a lot less power? Who cares about that? Will cost maybe $5 more over the life of the card and the heat isn't gonna matter in the least.

Who cares if it's the best in nvidias lineup. AMD exists and should be considered as well. Overall, the 570 performs the same and is cheaper.

Fact is, the 570 performs about the same on average and costs less. No point in the 3gb 1060 when the 570 exists.

[Fascinate]

At 1080p, the 570 and the 3gb 1060 perform nearly identically:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/..._Pulse/30.html

So to your first point, no, it is not a faster card than a 570, it's about the same.

Uses a lot less power? Who cares about that? Will cost maybe $5 more over the life of the card and the heat isn't gonna matter in the least.

Fact is, the 570 performs about the same on average and costs less. No point in the 3gb 1060 when the 570 exists.

570 does not cost less, where are you getting that info? They are priced nearly identical now with the recent 1060 3gb price drop to 180. Depending on sales the price difference is ~10 or less and ive seen each cheaper than the other for the past two weeks.

Recommending a 570 is fine (although i dont because of the higher power consumption and overall worse performance in popular games) but dont not recommend the 1060 3gb, that is what im trying to get across here.

Just scroll to the end of that video i linked and look at the charts, the 1060 3gb destroys the 570 and actually beats the 580. This is a common trend in popular games.

And eh lathais, that review is comparing an aftermarket 570 vs a stock 1060.....and the 1060 3gb still has a 1% lead in the titles they tested. Trust me ive watched so many videos on 570's, the 1060 3gb is the overall faster card.

[Lathais]

570 does not cost less, where are you getting that info? They are priced nearly identical now with the recent 1060 3gb price drop to 180. Depending on sales the price difference is ~10 or less and ive seen each cheaper than the other for the past two weeks.

Recommending a 570 is fine (although i dont because of the higher power consumption and overall worse performance in popular games) but dont not recommend the 1060 3gb, that is what im trying to get across here.

Just scroll to the end of that video i linked and look at the charts, the 1060 3gb destroys the 570 and actually beats the 580. This is a common trend in popular games.

And eh lathais, that review is comparing an aftermarket 570 vs a stock 1060.....and the 1060 3gb still has a 1% lead. Trust me ive watched so many videos on 570's, the 1060 3gb is the overall faster card.

That video shows ONE game. ONE game makes the difference? and in that one game, ALL the cards stayed above 60 FPS, which at this price range that's all that really matters. My benchmark was the average of SEVERAL games, INCLUDING that one.

You got me on the price. Did not realize the 3gb 1060 had dropped so much. So what you have is 2 cards that cost the same that perform pretty much the same. So, best bet is to go with the one that ages better. That would be the AMD card. So the 570 is still the better choice IMO.

[Fascinate]

That video shows ONE game. ONE game makes the difference? and in that one game, ALL the cards stayed above 60 FPS, which at this price range that's all that really matters.

You got me on the price. Did not realize the 3gb 1060 had dropped so much. So what you have is 2 cards that cost the same that perform pretty much the same. So, best bet is to go with the one that ages better. That would be the AMD card.

I linked it because that is what can happen in POPULAR titles, this would not happen vice versa. You are not going to ever see a 570 beating a 1060 6gb in any title that is popular, this is why i tend to stick with nvidia as my recommendations on the GPU side of things.

[Triggered Fridgekin]

Are we talking 1080p 60hz?

If so, you'll have to look in to whether or not the 1600 will offer any tangible benefits over, say, an overclocked 1400 when paired with a mainstream graphics card especially if we're talking single-thread or GPU-bound titles. I suspect the "mainstream" difference will be minimal to potentially unnoticeable in any case with the exception in titles like Fallout 4, Mafia 3 and Watch Dogs 2 which have awful performance across the board.

I mean, as far as gaming is concerned, you can get the 1600 but don't expect it to blow your dick off for quite some time if you use a frame rate limiter or vsync with a 570/580/1060.

I was in the same position as you right up until last week with my 290x and decided to hedge my bets with a 1500x. I'll reevaluate my purchase based on the shift in the gaming world in regards to cores/thread optimization as well as performance gains from the Zen2 processor refinement in a year or two and go from there.

Circle of life.

[Lathais]

I linked it because that is what can happen in POPULAR titles, this would not happen vice versa. You are not going to ever see a 570 beating a 1060 6gb in any title that is popular, this is why i tend to stick with nvidia as my recommendations on the GPU side of things.

I'm going to assume you meant 3gb there, as that is what we are discussing here. So, here you go:

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/..._Pulse/21.html
RotTR doesnt matter?

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...0_Pulse/8.html
I suppose BF1 doesn't matter either?

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/..._Pulse/10.html
CODIW doesn't matter either?


Those are not popular games and the 570 is not beating the 3gb 1060 there?

Get over yourself. The 570 is a better recommendation than the 3gb 1060. They both perform about the same, 3gb 1060 being better in some and 570 being better in others. The 570 does clearly win in some popular titles. Maybe not titles you like, but they are popular none the less. In addition to that,. AMD cards nearly always age better than nvidia cards. nvidia does not optimize drivers for older cards once newer cards are out, AMD does. So in 2-3 years, the 570 will be doing better than the 3gb 1060. Since people hang on to GPUs as long as 4-6 years(OP has a 5 year old GPU), the 570 is clearly a better choice for him.

[Fascinate]

No you misread...

1060 3gb beats the 580 in some titles, this does not happen the other way around (570 vs 1060 6gb).

I still dont know how you can come to the conclusion the 570 is the better card, honestly i cant lol.

1060 is cooler, quieter, uses less electricity and even in the review you picked was 1% faster at stock than a factory overclocked 570. They are close absolutely, but i just dont see a compelling reason to suggest a 570 over a 3gb 1060.

[Lathais]

No you misread...

1060 3gb beats the 580 in some titles, this does not happen the other way around (570 vs 1060 6gb).

I still dont know how you can come to the conclusion the 570 is the better card, honestly i cant lol.

1060 is cooler, quieter, uses less electricity and even in the review you picked was 1% faster at stock than a factory overclocked 570. They are close absolutely, but i just dont see a compelling reason to suggest a 570 over a 3gb 1060.

The cooler and quieter part does not matter to anyone, except you apparently. The extra noise it makes is not going to be noticeable and the extra electricity is so little it won't mean anything at the end of the day on your electricity bill. The compelling reason is how well AMD cards age compared to how well nVidia cards age. This has been proven before. nvidia will stop updating the drivers for older cards, or possibly even do things that make games run worse on older cards. The OP has a 5 year old GPU so it is safe to assume he will use his new one for around the same amount of time as well. When price and performance are basically equal, why in the world would you choose the card that is going to be gimped by it's makers in a few years? I can not fathom why anyone would choose the 3gb 1060 and see no compelling reason to suggest it over a 570.

[Fascinate]

So now you move the goal posts lol.

I dunno about you man, sometimes you just type to type.

And i highly doubt im the only one who cares about cooler and quieter cards, i absolutely love my 1060 its inaudible even at full load in games at 165hz.

[Deleted]

You shouldn't go for 3 GB. It's fine for today's demands but it's not future-proof. I wouldn't buy less then 6GB. Even the 1050 Ti has 4 GB.
I made this mistake once (bought a 7850 1GB instead of 2 GB) saved a bit of money.. but regreted it later.
1060 6GB and RX 580 8GB are so close in price-performance ratio.. just pick the one u like better

[Deleted]

No you misread...

1060 3gb beats the 580 in some titles, this does not happen the other way around (570 vs 1060 6gb).

I still dont know how you can come to the conclusion the 570 is the better card, honestly i cant lol.

1060 is cooler, quieter, uses less electricity and even in the review you picked was 1% faster at stock than a factory overclocked 570. They are close absolutely, but i just dont see a compelling reason to suggest a 570 over a 3gb 1060.

That happened literally one post above yours. The cards cost basically the same, they perform comparable(now), 570 WILL age better than 1060 and OP asked for system that will age well. Yes 570 will use more energy, will generate more heat and will run hotter than 1060 but the difference between 570 and 1060 in these regards is not all that big. It's not like one of them is super cool while other one is secondary heater (as was case with gtx460/480 and r9 290).
Both are good cards both got prons and cons but for OP 570 will be better choice, mostly because of the aging factor