Upgrade Graphics card?

[Wuush]

Hey all,

 

Currently I've been having some issues with my rig. I've had the same components for about 6-7 years and recently its been being sluggish. I do some basic video editing and gaming on this rig but it's never run this slow before. My specs are as followed

 

 

I have the opportunity to pick up a GTX 1660 from my boss since he doesn't need it after purchasing it. I was wondering if this would be a good pick up? Also based on the specs would this be the best way to restore my rig to its former glory? 

 

Sorry if this is in the wrong section. Kind of making this post in between extra work from home.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Crunchy Dragon]

GPU is a good place to start. After that, look at an i7-4770K and another 8GB of memory. Couldn't hurt to throw in an SSD as well.

[Jurrunio]

Sure, take the 1660. Also add an SSD in there for the OS and major software. Single channel memory could be a problem so doesn't hurt to get another 8GB stick. If you want to upgrade the CPU, try find a cheap i7 or Xeon E3 1230 (or larger number) v3. unlocked i7s are quite expensive last I checked in my region and fake CPUs are everywhere for this generation.

[TheKDub]

I second Crunchy's suggestions. Definitely throw an SSD in there for a nice performance boost. I recommend the Samsung 860 Evo as it's very reliable, fast, and reasonably priced. (https://amzn.to/2XJ2HwQ)

[VenomizerX]

The GTX 970 ain't balf that bad even up to this date. I'd be looking at a RAM upgrade to 16GB dual channel and definitely as suggested an SSD to benefit from its much faster load times and boot times.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

1 hour ago, Wuush said:

I have the opportunity to pick up a GTX 1660

the question is how much does 1660 cost you?

free? 

I wouldnt invest any more on cpu & ram on this platform, as intel used market is insanely overpriced and ddr3 ram isnt reusable on newer platform.

1 hour ago, Wuush said:

this rig but it's never run this slow before

 what is the slow you mention here? 

due to parts overheating/ strange windows / software config?

[Wuush]

7 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

the question is how much does 1660 cost you?

free? 

I wouldnt invest any more on cpu & ram on this platform, as intel used market is insanely overpriced and ddr3 ram isnt reusable on newer platform.

 what is the slow you mention here? 

due to parts overheating/ strange windows / software config?

My boss said he would sell it to me for a slashed price since he can't use it for his machine at work. I don't know the total Maybe somewhere in the 150s?

 

[Wuush]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

GPU is a good place to start. After that, look at an i7-4770K and another 8GB of memory. Couldn't hurt to throw in an SSD as well.

Yeah i'm definitely gonna pick up more ram. Depending on the price do you think I should just spring for the card from my boss?

 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

5 minutes ago, Wuush said:

I don't know the total Maybe somewhere in the 150s?

you could get a new one for just $220, saves you just $70 here for roughly 30% perf gain

(its quite an optional upgrade)

and remember the 970 was a $369 card so you may want to upgrade to 2060 super / 5700xt grade for nearly double or more the performance of 970

[Wuush]

1 hour ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

you could get a new one for just $220, saves you just $70 here for roughly 30% perf gain

(its quite an optional upgrade)

and remember the 970 was a $369 card so you may want to upgrade to 2060 super / 5700xt grade for nearly double or more the performance of 970

Wait how would I be saving 70 bucks if i get the card for 150 something? 

 

Also the 2060 seems nice but a little far out of my budge atm. I would definitely be able to pick that up after my next paycheck though. 

 

What about like a 1070 or something similar?

[Wuush]

On 7/10/2019 at 10:21 PM, VenomizerX said:

The GTX 970 ain't balf that bad even up to this date. I'd be looking at a RAM upgrade to 16GB dual channel and definitely as suggested an SSD to benefit from its much faster load times and boot times.

My biggest problem right now is that it seems like no matter what i do my entire rig is slowing down week by week. I used to be able to open up something like my league of legends client in a few seconds now it takes at least 2 minutes. I'm trying to really do anything besides a clean install but i can't think of anything else that isn't my components right now.

[VenomizerX]

3 hours ago, Wuush said:

My biggest problem right now is that it seems like no matter what i do my entire rig is slowing down week by week. I used to be able to open up something like my league of legends client in a few seconds now it takes at least 2 minutes. I'm trying to really do anything besides a clean install but i can't think of anything else that isn't my components right now.

Well overall system slow downs may be indicative of an aging HDD... You might want to take a look at the SMART status indicators of your drive... 

[Wuush]

11 hours ago, VenomizerX said:

Well overall system slow downs may be indicative of an aging HDD... You might want to take a look at the SMART status indicators of your drive... 

Well i checked the diskdrive status and it says ok for both

 

[VenomizerX]

1 hour ago, Wuush said:

Well i checked the diskdrive status and it says ok for both

 

Also check the CPU if its running at the base speed cause it might be going into power states that reduce the clock speed depending on load. Maybe changing your power profile for the PC might help a bit. If nothing else, just clean install as a last resort since doing a clean install of windows most often fixes software-related system slowdowns...

[Wuush]

1 hour ago, VenomizerX said:

Also check the CPU if its running at the base speed cause it might be going into power states that reduce the clock speed depending on load. Maybe changing your power profile for the PC might help a bit. If nothing else, just clean install as a last resort since doing a clean install of windows most often fixes software-related system slowdowns...

Everything seems to be running fine. Might just have to do a clean install ugh

 

 

[Sat1600]

First things first I would do a clean install of windows on an SSD.

 

DDR3 is really cheap right now

Ram $19

 

$150 is a great price for a 1660. This would probably not be the cause of overall system sluggishness though. You can sell your 970 locally. Depending on where you live you can get $80 - $100 easily making this a $70 upgrade. 

 

So $70(gpu) + $30(ssd) + $20 (ram) makes this a $120 upgrade. If that's in your budget, Do it. 

[Wuush]

4 minutes ago, Sat1600 said:

First things first I would do a clean install of windows on an SSD.

 

DDR3 is really cheap right now

Ram $19

 

$150 is a great price for a 1660. This would probably not be the cause of overall system sluggishness though. You can sell your 970 locally. Depending on where you live you can get $80 - $100 easily making this a $70 upgrade. 

 

So $70(gpu) + $30(ssd) + $20 (ram) makes this a $120 upgrade. If that's in your budget, Do it. 

Yeah my boss only offered me like 25 bucks off the card lol so i didn't take it. He is a business man after all. I think ill probably do the RAM and SSD since i don't have an SSD. Upgrading the card is last prio since 970 is still fairly good for modern games. Do you have any suggestions for an SSD and GPU?

[Sat1600]

8 minutes ago, Wuush said:

Do you have any suggestions for an SSD and GPU?

SSD doesn't much matter. You don't have an M.2 slot so your going Sata. I have had luck with the inland ssd.

 

Inland 240gb ssd.

 

Though wait until tomorrow and see what is available for prime day.

 

As far as GPU. A 580 would be a small upgrade. I would look at 1660 and up for an upgrade worth your time

[Wuush]

3 minutes ago, Sat1600 said:

SSD doesn't much matter. You don't have an M.2 slot so your going Sata. I have had luck with the inland ssd.

 

Inland 240gb ssd.

 

Though wait until tomorrow and see what is available for prime day.

 

As far as GPU. A 580 would be a small upgrade. I would look at 1660 and up for an upgrade worth your time

Yeah that's a good point. Prime day might come in handy.

 

I might be a little lost but isn't a 580 an older gpu? or am i as lost as i think i am lol

 

 

[Sat1600]

Just now, Wuush said:

Yeah that's a good point. Prime day might come in handy.

 

I might be a little lost but isn't a 580 an older gpu? or am i as lost as i think i am lol

 

 

AMD rx 580 is a little over 2 years old. It's a refresh of the rx 480 which is over 3 years old. Used, it's the price/performance king imho. New the 1660 takes that title

[Wuush]

1 minute ago, Sat1600 said:

AMD rx 580 is a little over 2 years old. It's a refresh of the rx 480 which is over 3 years old. Used, it's the price/performance king imho. New the 1660 takes that title

Ah alright. Yeah my 970 is a little outdated compared to that. I'm personally looking for something that will last me a while. 

 

Overall I just want to have a rig that doesn't have any stutter starting up or running things like videos and game while needing to do my video editing work

[MadAnt250]

1 hour ago, Wuush said:

Ah alright. Yeah my 970 is a little outdated compared to that. I'm personally looking for something that will last me a while. 

 

Overall I just want to have a rig that doesn't have any stutter starting up or running things like videos and game while needing to do my video editing work

Your not playing games and editing at the same time?

[Wuush]

2 hours ago, MadAnt250 said:

Your not playing games and editing at the same time?

Well any combination of the 3 i suppose lol

[VenomizerX]

19 hours ago, Sat1600 said:

SSD doesn't much matter. You don't have an M.2 slot so your going Sata. I have had luck with the inland ssd.

 

Inland 240gb ssd.

 

Though wait until tomorrow and see what is available for prime day.

 

As far as GPU. A 580 would be a small upgrade. I would look at 1660 and up for an upgrade worth your time

Man an SSD does matter, may it be M.2 nvme or classic SATA since it makes every system coming from traditional HDD's much snappier and overall faster. I ran on an HDD as a boot drive for 6 years and just booting up or opening a single app it takes a while. With a SATA SSD now, everything is basically instant when opening applications and boot up is significantly faster. Best way to speed up an old system or prebuilt without one. Definitely a worth upgrade seen as you can get a cheap yet quality SSD 120gb as a boot drive for around $20 more or less...

[VenomizerX]

As for GPU, an RX580 would be a slight upgrade from your 970. If I had a 970 years ago then even up to now I wouldn't have still upgraded. Thing is I came from a cheap af super budget AMD Radeon GPU so upgrading would make more sense... Maybe the 1660 would be slightly better as its more recent but basing on the signs that your current system is showing, like overall system slowdowns, it isn't fully indicative of a rubbish GPU whatsoever....