What would YOU upgrade first?

Discussion in 'General Hardware' started by abistar, Sep 19, 2016.

  1. abistar

    abistar Guest

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    Hi guys! It's that time again for me to upgrade my PC components and wanted to hear some input as to what you would upgrade first? After careful consideration I've come to conclusion that PC would fit my every need as far as multimedia center, Game center, etc. I'm focusing on making this rig play games mainly. My budget is about $500.00 this time around. Following is what my PC components currently are!

    - Intel Core i5 3570k @3.40 GHz
    - ASUSTeK P8Z77-VLK
    - G.Skill 16 gig ddr3
    - Nvidia GeForce GTX 660
    - CoolMaster Hyper 212 Plus (fan bracket version)
    - Ultra 650 watt PSU
    - WD 500-1000 GB 7200 rpm HDD
    - SoundBlaster Audigy FX ( sound card)

    Thanks for taking the time to read this, hope to hear you guy's input.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
  2. Extraordinary

    Extraordinary Guest

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  3. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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  4. abistar

    abistar Guest

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    I was thinking about the GPU mainly as well.. But I don't know about switching to Radeon being on GeForce for so many years, although the Radeon price is VERY enticing.. Guys see some performance comparison.. What's more on par with the 480 from GeForce side?
     

  5. jura11

    jura11 Guest

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    Hi there

    As above GPU and SSD too,regarding the GPU RX 480 or GTX 1060 6GB should fit bill nicely,but with yours budget I would have look on GTX 1070

    RX 480 is comparable to GTX1060,in some games 480 is faster and 1060 is slower and in some games 1060 is faster or 480 is slower

    And SSD Mushkin Reactor looks OK and they're priced very well in US or Canada,in UK not so much

    Hope this helps

    Thanks,Jura
     
  6. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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    Its never to late try.;)

    RX480 seems like a great deal. Priced right, performance is better in latest api's Vulcan and Dx12. It also have more vram and higher memory bandwidth. I dare to say it its a better choice than similiar priced gtx1060.

    Seeing you dont upgrade so often it would be smart to invest in something you think it will last longer.

    That said, you can always go with gtx1070 if you budget allows and enjoy even better performance.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2016
  7. abistar

    abistar Guest

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    Wow, so yea I looked into this briefly and it does seem that the RX 480 is more future proof as far as vulcan api and DX12..but wouldn't there just be a GTX 1060 update to bring it up to par with it? Or does this go far beyond the programming side of things and it's hardware capable only? If so..wouldn't it be best to pick the RX 480 over the GTX 1070 as well??
     
  8. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    The RX480 and GTX 1070 are a different market segment, with the GTX 1070 costing considerably more. If you take into account performance benefit, goal of system, current system specs, amount you want to spend etc, the RX480 would be a much better choice.

    I see you're running your CPU at stock? You should consider overclocking, even if it is just to 4.2 GHz. I wouldn't recommend going 4.5 GHz or higher like some people. It's around 4.2-4.3 GHz where you start getting diminishing returns for performance versus heat in part due to voltage requirements etc.
     
  9. Kaarme

    Kaarme Ancient Guru

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    No. It's an architectural thing. Nvidia initially was promising the same things with Maxwell, that later updates fix everything, but such promises were never fulfilled. Maxwell cards could be said to have aged badly since they oft show negative scaling in proper dx12 titles, although they still rock in dx11.

    1070 (and 1080) have so big muscles that they can beat 480 easily with raw power alone, unless the game is really badly programmed, in which case nothing helps, naturally. If you have the dough, you should of course go for 1070.

    However, as jura11 said, an SSD is essential these days. Honestly, I'm so used to an SSD that when a (senior) friend asked me to sort out some photo sorting issue on her computer, I thought the thing was broken when the OS took so long to load. An SSD is the most significant upgrade you can do if you don't already have one. No joke there.
     
  10. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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  11. sverek

    sverek Guest

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    GPU, get 980Ti or 1070. Those will serve you long enough.

    480 or 1060 is an option if you stick with 1080 resolution 60 fps.
     
  12. Corrupt^

    Corrupt^ Ancient Guru

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    I would also add:

    A CPU cooler and OC the CPU since it's a K. Even if it's a modest OC of just 4.0 Ghz, just do it.
     
  13. Vipu2

    Vipu2 Guest

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    My vote goes for:

    1) just gpu gtx1070 for pure gaming speed, might need cpu OC tho.

    2) gtx1060 or rx480 + ssd for good gaming upgrade and overall speed for everything else too.

    I would add that new cpu cooler to both options too since that gives a big difference and new life to your cpu.
    Coolers are cheap and makes your pc more quiet too.
    Google is full of guides etc how to do it so its very easy, at least for some normal OC, if you want to get every tiny bit of power then it gets hard.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2016
  14. sykozis

    sykozis Ancient Guru

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    OP - I'd stick to a GPU upgrade. Since you're a long-term NVidia user, the GTX1060 or GTX1070 would make for a nice improvement over that GTX660Ti. An OC on the CPU to at least 4Ghz would do you well also.

    I still find this statement laughable.... I switched from a 1TB Seagate Barracuda to a 240GB ADATA SP550 and saw absolutely no improvement in boot or load times. Hell, I use a laptop with a 5400rpm mechanical drive that boots just as fast as my desktop does.
     
  15. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    A 5400 rpm mechanical drive in a laptop should not be as fast to load as your desktop with a SSD. Also boot time of Windows can be highly variable anyway, it all depends on the software loaded at boot, the drivers and OS uses, and a big factor is the devices. Once loaded though, if the SSD does not beat the mechanical drive in the laptop for non-cached loads (important factor), there is something wrong.

    When you load a program and quit, the program is still cached in the memory until that memory is required by another application. Reloading the application should be very quick if there isn't any other necessary disk capacity. This is of course, assuming there is enough memory to begin with.
     

  16. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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    I would so not agree with this. If you dont see a difference between some crappy old hard drive and an ssd then you are doing something wrong.

    I can boot my system in 10sec. You must be having a magic 5400rpm drive in that laptop to do that.
     
  17. boerenlater

    boerenlater Guest

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    Probably a suspend to ram thing where it is not really a boot.
    A 5400rpm laptop here also is that fast but it's not a real boot from bios to loading all things.
     
  18. Undying

    Undying Ancient Guru

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    Take a test :

    [​IMG]
     
  19. allesclar

    allesclar Ancient Guru

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    GPU. Done!
     
  20. abistar

    abistar Guest

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    I've got to think about turning to Radeon after more than 18 years with Nvidia, considering that I think I rather go with the 1070 GTX, I've come to familiar with the Nvidia ecosystem! I did forget to mention that I want beyond 1080p resolution and sverek reminded me! But then I want DX12 and Vulcan solidarity, although RX480 seems more capable of that right now it's still new tech I guess.. And something that'll take time for software companies to assimilate into their products.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2016

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