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If you could only upgrade one component on this Gaming PC (1 Viewer)

Anthony Martino

Anthony Martino

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What would you upgrade?

CPU: Intel Core i5-3330 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3Ghz
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-Z77-HD3 LGA 1155
VIDEO: MSI Radeon HD 7870 2GB
RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)
HARD DRIVE: Western Digital VelociRaptor 500GB 10K RPM



I primarily use for gaming, so I would assume the expected responses would be:

VIDEO: to a 4GB GTX 970 or an 8GB Radeon 390

With the next recommended upgrade being a switch to an SSD instead of SATA drive.
 
Tommy said:
HDD to SSD (preferably a Samsung)
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Interesting, I thought for sure the graphics card would be the first choice. Do you feel the SSD would decrease system and game loading times significantly enough to make it the better option over moving to a faster graphics card with 2-4x the video memory?
 
english-mutherfucker-do-you-speak-it-meme-23494.jpg
 
Anthony Martino said:
Interesting, I thought for sure the graphics card would be the first choice. Do you feel the SSD would decrease system and game loading times significantly enough to make it the better option over moving to a faster graphics card with 2-4x the video memory?
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Your not saying what size monitor and res you are running your games so that card may just be fine. System boot and game loading times will increase with an SSD.
 
I'd still do the SSD. 1920 x 1080 should be fine on that card. Or do both.
 
144hz gaming monitor. Huge huge huge difference in terms of smoothness. Both Benq and Asus make good ones in 24" 1080p sizes.
 
^ Will that GPU be OK with such a monitor? As a PC gamer, I really am not in the know with hardware any more, but wonder if he's going to need an upgraded GPU to benefit from such a screen?
 
doakwolf said:
Will that GPU be OK with such a monitor?
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Yes. The monitor refresh rate just describes how fast it renders to the viewer the information the video card is sending it. Since the resolution isn't changing, the card would be fine.

That being said...

#1 is the video card, if for no other reason than AMD will cease supporting it with new drivers relatively soon (you might have another year left, but not much beyond that.

After that it's a toss up between the disk and the CPU. Some games, such as Final Fantasy XIV are *heavy* on CPU usage. Others, not so much. You'd have to look up what you play the most and review benchmarks & such. If your CPU is a chokepoint for the games you most enjoy, then that's a target. If, on the other hand, you need new areas to load faster/minimize breaks in the action, then an SSD may be the more appropriate choice.

If the chip is #2, then 2a is probably the MOBO - if you're upgrading chips (other than going to an i7 in the same series, but why?), then you're probably changing the chipset which means a new MOBO.
 
doakwolf said:
^ Will that GPU be OK with such a monitor? As a PC gamer, I really am not in the know with hardware any more, but wonder if he's going to need an upgraded GPU to benefit from such a screen?
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It depends on a couple of things. What games are you playing and how many frames do you get. If you get less than 60fps then your current monitor would be fine. If you get more than 144fps you want one of these monitors yesterday.
 
In case anyone was looking for the deals they've got at NewEgg, here's what they sent me, some promo codes for extra off

promos.png
 
It's been forever since I've had any case mods, and since I can't build a new PC right now I figured I'd freshen up the appearance of this one. I went to FrozenCPU, put items in my cart, only to discover there was no button showing up to submit my order. I thought it was just a glitch, but it turns out they kinda went out of business because of the owners drinking problem or something!

Anyway, I managed to find Performance-PCs.com which is conveniently located on the East Coast of Florida. I placed my order at 3pm on the 25th, it was processed and shipped the 26th and I received it the 27th. Beats waiting a week for all those West Coast shipments from Cali!

I got two Corsair UV Purple 120mm case fans along with two multi-setting BitsPower Fire UV LED RAM mods that attach to your ram and allow you to have blinking or breathing lights on them. Here's a quick video I did last night, colors in the video look more blue/white but in person they are definitely purple

 
Cable management is the #2 reason I don't build my own systems any longer (with #1 being that I hate having to go through the RMA process whenever a component arrives bad...particularly when it's the mobo). Nice work!
 
Psypher1000 said:
Cable management is the #2 reason I don't build my own systems any longer (with #1 being that I hate having to go through the RMA process whenever a component arrives bad...particularly when it's the mobo). Nice work!
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This is actually the first system I've ever done cable management on. I used to always just have a mess of cables all over the place. But this Corsair case we have already had space behind the motherboard and plenty of holes to route the cables through, so figured I'd give it a go. Unfortunately the PSU isn't modular, but at least the cables are sleeved.

Man, I just want to build systems like crazy right now, love tinkering with this stuff!
 
Ran the overdrive test on PCPitStop and my system came in the top 18% of those tested, so even though it's a number of years old still plenty of power. I'll re-test (and take new pics) once I get the Intel SSD installed and have a fresh install on the system.

Didn't get a hard drive enclosure for it, just going to use Velcro to attach it to the case.
 
My 17 year old in-house tech support says, "Definitely SSD. Graphics card will probably need upgrade when you can afford it. It's around 6 year old architecture."

Whatever that means! ;-)
 
inca911 said:
Graphics card will probably need upgrade when you can afford it. It's around 6 year old architecture."

Whatever that means! ;-)
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The Radeon 7000 series was released in early 2012. Since that time they've had two more launches, the R8 200 series and the R9 300 series (so instead of saying Radeon 8000 they switched to "R8" and gave them three-digit identifiers).

It's still handling anything I throw at it on 1080p with full graphics options on, but definitely would be the next upgrade after the SSD.
 
Installed the SSD and made the jump to Windows 10 at the same time. System boots up within 15 seconds of pressing the power button, and I've noticed applications like Steam or games I play load a lot quicker than before.

This will tide me over until I can build a brand new dream system
 
SuckoutKing said:
What games do you play?
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Right now still playing Battlefield 3 and Endless Legend. Some other games in my Steam & Origin accounts I've played (doesn't include the backlog of games I haven't even touched yet)

Total War: Rome II
Civ V
Left 4 Dead (1 & 2)
Europa Universalis IV
Xcom
Galactic Civlizations III
Bioshock Infinite
Tropico 4
Game Dev Tycoon
Sins of a Solar Empire
Crusader Kings II
This War of Mine
Banished
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Skyrim
Dragon Age: Origins
Ultimate General: Gettysburg
Dead State: Remastered
Guild of Dungeoneering


ON MY WISH LIST:

Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadville
Carmageddon: Reincarnation
Homeworld Remastered Collection
Clockwork Empires
Xenonauts
Starbound
Divinity: Original Sin
Wasteland 2
Papers, Please
Arma 3
The Witcher 3
Pillars of Eternity
Xcom 2
Master of Orion
Elite Dangerous
Fallout 4
Darkest Dungeon
Cities Skylines
Dying Light
Organ Trail: Directors Cut
Universe Sandbox
Plague Inc: Evolved
The Age of Decadence
War for the Overworld
Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition
 

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