Help with upgrading my computer please

treyu86

Hello guys.

 

My current PC is:

 

intel core i5 750 2,66Ghz 1156 socket (overclocked to 3,6Ghz)

motherboard Asus P7P55D PRO socket 1156

Nvidia gtx 660 2gb

8 gb RAM

Windows 7 64 bit

 

I was thinking on upgrading my graphic card to a new nvidia gtx 970 4gb, but as my motherboard and cpu are from the year 2010, I though that for sure they should be upgraded too as they could be a bottleneck. Could someone tell me their options to upgrade those to relatively good new hardware (together with the new graphic card) the cheapest possible (of if it is not really needed tell me too please) ? thanks in advance

Quizzical

The only piecemeal upgrade that I could recommend for that system is adding an SSD if you don't have one already, as it's otherwise pretty balanced.  If you want to buy a new computer to upgrade everything, you're looking at about $1200+ to get something faster by enough to justify the cost.  If you want to go that route, I can help you pick stuff.  But otherwise, I'd just wait unless you're running into serious problems today with the computer not being good enough for something.

treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical
The only piecemeal upgrade that I could recommend for that system is adding an SSD if you don't have one already, as it's otherwise pretty balanced.  If you want to buy a new computer to upgrade everything, you're looking at about $1200+ to get something faster by enough to justify the cost.  If you want to go that route, I can help you pick stuff.  But otherwise, I'd just wait unless you're running into serious problems today with the computer not being good enough for something.

I was thinking on spending like 600 euros or so.

 

So you don't think a new gpu would be good? If i decided to get a new gtx 970, do my cpu or motherboard become a bottleneck for any improvement? My intention is to get fully new pc during the following 4 months, but I don't care if i can do it piece by piece, like changing first the motherboard and gpu, then later the cpu etc.

Quizzical

I usually advise against doing a piecemeal replacement.  That causes too many chances for something to go wrong, and the old computer would be worth something intact.

If you want to buy a couple of new components and otherwise keep the computer as is for another couple of years, then fine.  Other than adding an SSD, though, which new parts make sense depend on why you think the current computer isn't fast enough anymore.  Don't just upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  Upgrade when the old computer is too slow at something.

treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

I usually advise against doing a piecemeal replacement.  That causes too many chances for something to go wrong, and the old computer would be worth something intact.

If you want to buy a couple of new components and otherwise keep the computer as is for another couple of years, then fine.  Other than adding an SSD, though, which new parts make sense depend on why you think the current computer isn't fast enough anymore.  Don't just upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  Upgrade when the old computer is too slow at something.

That is why I said I was thinking on upgrading my gpu to the new nvidia 900 series, but I have doubts that the motherboard or cpu could be bottlnecks as they are 5 years old.

Phry

I would also go with adding an SSD, although i'd also consider doubling the ram from 8gb to 16 gb.. but i am not sure that would have much impact, at least, not as much as adding an SSD would 

jdnewell

Its doubtful that the cpu would be a bottleneck, or at least not enough of one to even be noticed.

Maybe add an SSD and a new GPU and see how the performance is. If it to your satisfaction then no need to buy anything else. And if its not and you still want to upgrade then you would already have a gpu and an SSD you can use in the new system.

Quizzical

Originally posted by treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

I usually advise against doing a piecemeal replacement.  That causes too many chances for something to go wrong, and the old computer would be worth something intact.

If you want to buy a couple of new components and otherwise keep the computer as is for another couple of years, then fine.  Other than adding an SSD, though, which new parts make sense depend on why you think the current computer isn't fast enough anymore.  Don't just upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  Upgrade when the old computer is too slow at something.

That is why I said I was thinking on upgrading my gpu to the new nvidia 900 series, but I have doubts that the motherboard or cpu could be bottlnecks as they are 5 years old.

Are you running into situations today where your video card is a problem and the CPU isn't anywhere close to being a bottleneck, so that a faster video card would give you much faster performance?  And if you do upgrade just the video card, would you plan on keeping the entire computer for a few more years, or would you replace it outright soon?

You could get just a new video card and see considerable performance improvements in situations that rely heavily on the video card.  But I'm not so certain that it makes sense to do so.  It's nice to replace the whole computer every so often and have all modern parts, rather than staying with PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, and SATA 2 forever, as well as an aging motherboard, power supply, hard drive, and case fans with a lot of wear and tear on them so as to be more prone to failure.

treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

I usually advise against doing a piecemeal replacement.  That causes too many chances for something to go wrong, and the old computer would be worth something intact.

If you want to buy a couple of new components and otherwise keep the computer as is for another couple of years, then fine.  Other than adding an SSD, though, which new parts make sense depend on why you think the current computer isn't fast enough anymore.  Don't just upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  Upgrade when the old computer is too slow at something.

That is why I said I was thinking on upgrading my gpu to the new nvidia 900 series, but I have doubts that the motherboard or cpu could be bottlnecks as they are 5 years old.

Are you running into situations today where your video card is a problem and the CPU isn't anywhere close to being a bottleneck, so that a faster video card would give you much faster performance?  And if you do upgrade just the video card, would you plan on keeping the entire computer for a few more years, or would you replace it outright soon?

You could get just a new video card and see considerable performance improvements in situations that rely heavily on the video card.  But I'm not so certain that it makes sense to do so.  It's nice to replace the whole computer every so often and have all modern parts, rather than staying with PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, and SATA 2 forever, as well as an aging motherboard, power supply, hard drive, and case fans with a lot of wear and tear on them so as to be more prone to failure.

That is what i was saying... As i want to eventually upgrade my whole pc, getting now a new gtx 970 and later get a new motherboard and cpu. With the new gpu i would see an improvement in performance now vs my gtx 660 and i can use that card which is high end when i change the motherboard and cpu. But i would like to know if my current motjerboard (and cpu) is too old to make a new high end gpu shine

Kabaal

Originally posted by treyu86

That is what i was saying... As i want to eventually upgrade my whole pc, getting now a new gtx 970 and later get a new motherboard and cpu. With the new gpu i would see an improvement in performance now vs my gtx 660 and i can use that card which is high end when i change the motherboard and cpu. But i would like to know if my current motjerboard (and cpu) is too old to make a new high end gpu shine

It depends on the games you will be playing but yes that CPU will bottleneck a 970 in some. Some CPU intensive ones like Arma 3 it will be quite a hindrance but games like GW2 not so much.

 

You could always overclock the 750 as a stop gap to lesssen the bottleneck while you wait to build your new system.

ceratop001

Few things to consider before buying a new video card is your power supply. Make sure your current power supply can handle an upgrade. Make sure your case has proper ventilation and your present cooling system is adequate. The most amateur problem I see is people not upgrading their current power supply unit when making video card upgrades.

cribett

Get a Graphics card ( R9 or 970 will do everything on high ultra just make sure you have a decent PSU) and SSD job done

Quizzical

Originally posted by treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

Originally posted by treyu86

Originally posted by Quizzical

I usually advise against doing a piecemeal replacement.  That causes too many chances for something to go wrong, and the old computer would be worth something intact.

If you want to buy a couple of new components and otherwise keep the computer as is for another couple of years, then fine.  Other than adding an SSD, though, which new parts make sense depend on why you think the current computer isn't fast enough anymore.  Don't just upgrade for the sake of upgrading.  Upgrade when the old computer is too slow at something.

That is why I said I was thinking on upgrading my gpu to the new nvidia 900 series, but I have doubts that the motherboard or cpu could be bottlnecks as they are 5 years old.

Are you running into situations today where your video card is a problem and the CPU isn't anywhere close to being a bottleneck, so that a faster video card would give you much faster performance?  And if you do upgrade just the video card, would you plan on keeping the entire computer for a few more years, or would you replace it outright soon?

You could get just a new video card and see considerable performance improvements in situations that rely heavily on the video card.  But I'm not so certain that it makes sense to do so.  It's nice to replace the whole computer every so often and have all modern parts, rather than staying with PCI Express 2.0, USB 2.0, and SATA 2 forever, as well as an aging motherboard, power supply, hard drive, and case fans with a lot of wear and tear on them so as to be more prone to failure.

That is what i was saying... As i want to eventually upgrade my whole pc, getting now a new gtx 970 and later get a new motherboard and cpu. With the new gpu i would see an improvement in performance now vs my gtx 660 and i can use that card which is high end when i change the motherboard and cpu. But i would like to know if my current motjerboard (and cpu) is too old to make a new high end gpu shine

Whether you'll see gains depends on what games you're playing and at what settings.  Your current GPU is already a capable GPU, so it's not like it's stopping you from playing games at high settings today.  Though if you're an "if it won't run at max settings, I won't play it" sort of person, you'll probably be happier with a new GPU.

You should be aware that next year, the transition to 14 nm with finfets is a jump of two full process nodes all at once.  This is the first time in the history of 3D video cards that we've been stuck on one process node for about four years before finally getting four years worth of Moore's Law advances all at once.  So that's likely to be the biggest generational jump in performance in many, many years.

If you need a new card now, you need a new card now.  But if you don't, and are just considering upgrading for the sake of upgrading, I'd wait until the next generation--meaning, not the GTX 980 Ti that just launched or AMD Fiji coming later this month, but the generation after that.  But it's really a question of how impatient you are and how much you're willing to spend.

Hrimnir

I'm with Quiz on this one.  Unless there is some game out there you desperately want to play that you either can't, or can't play without turning everything down to low.  I'd wait till Pascal to upgrade.  I personally picked up a 980ti, but thats because A.  I want to play Witcher 3, and my current setup is headache inducing, and B. This should be fast enough to tide me over for a couple years until the generation after Pascal comes out, and they've worked some kinks out of the new process node.