Desktop Computers

Gravel said:

I don't generally update my machine very often, but I'm thinking it'll be time soon. My current build is about 5 years old (and I usually go for slightly older parts to keep the price further down).

Currently I have:
ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard-Newegg.com
Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W BX80637I53450 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 - Newegg.com
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply-Newegg.com
HIS Radeon HD 7850 DirectX 11 H785F2G2M 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card-Newegg.com
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL-Newegg.com

I'm also using a single 1080p monitor.

I'm wondering what the best bang for my buck would be, or if I should really consider a complete rebuild? I'd assume a 1060 would probably be the first recommendation since I'm using a 1080p monitor, but other than that, I don't really know. If I were to only get a new GPU, would my CPU finally become a bottleneck?

Click to expand...

The problem with your build is you did not get the K version of your chip, which really hampers your ability to push out that extra 10%-20%. That CPU shoud be easily rocking at 4.3ghz if not 4.5ghz. So it might be a bottleneck, not sure.

You could go with something like a RX480 for $200. Thats probably the best bang for your bucks on the 1080p side.

Or you could go big style:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.66 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($164.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($93.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card ($214.49 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1004.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-12 14:21 EDT-0400

Thats considering you reuse the PS, which I really dont reccomend, but it might be OK for a few years more. Old case and getting your own Win 10 key from Reddit or whatever. If not ad an extra $200-250. Also add old optical for DvD drive.

To save a bit more you could opt for the i5 7600K instead and save $100, but many are saying that more and more games are utilizing more cores, so it does make a difference these days.You can always reuse your old drives if you want. That will save you an extra $150 or so too.

Edit:
UserBenchmark: Intel Core i5-3570K vs i7-7700K

this right here tells you the i7 is 35% faster overall, and 24% faster per single core than what you have right now. And thats the K version of the chip you have, so....

Its not about the extra 5% performance, its about getting that extra year or two life out of your processor when its nearing bottleneck territory like yours is. And going from 3.5ghz to 4.5ghz is like a 20-30 fps increase depending on games so its not 5%, lol. Its a no brainer these days anyways since most motherboards have an easy OC button in BIOS no more messing around with multipliers and voltages, all that shit is done for you conservatively depending on chip. ( I know that above one I linked has one)

See if that above chip you had was a K version, even not OCed right now, you could slap on a $30 air cooler on it, or even a fancier corsair al in one water cooler and get that thing up to 4.5 ghz, then just buy a GTX 1070 with a new 1440p 144hz monitor and youre all set for an extra few years no problem.

There is nothing wrong with reusing your PS, I just tend to buy fresh with every build. And yes, HDD you can definitely reuse.

Also that mo-bo I listed is dual card one, if you are not going to use dual cards like ever, might get the MSI Z270 M3 for an extra $30 cheaper.

MSI Z270 GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (Z270 GAMING M3) - PCPartPicker

Don't be butthurt Intel's i5 line was just made obsolete.

Fuck them and their market segmentation.