Looking to Upgrade - Suggestions?

[Hakaan256]

Hi, I'm new to this forum (but not to LinusTechTips) and I've got a few questions about upgrading my current PC. When I bought it last year (not that old, I know) I was on on a budget and wanted to upgrade key components ASAP. (It was a prebuilt, a version of Asus M51AC.) My current specs are

CPU: i5-4440

GPU: GTX 760 (192-bit) 3GB

HDD: 1TB WD 7200RPM

SSD: 128GB SanDisk

Mobo: Unsure but it has H87 chipset

RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz

PSU: 500W unsure of brand

Case: ATX mid tower I believe

Generic DVD drive

Windows 8.1

 

I was hoping to upgrade either the CPU to an i7-4790k or the GPU to a GTX 970. I do a lot of gaming (some hardware intensive) at 1080p 60Hz but in the future may upgrade to 1440p 144Hz g-sync. I also do some server hosting; nothing huge, but when my friends and I play games I usually host a dedicated server that eats up a lot of CPU. Also, if I do upgrade, what do I do with the old components?

 

Advice or suggestions is appreciated.

[dadasmithywinkle]

-snip-

 

The GPU is the most important to gaming. That being said, you have a 760, so it's either 2GB or 4GB of VRAM, not the 3GB you stated. Some prebuilts shipped with the GTX 760ti, which also had 2GB of VRAM. The 970 is a great card and I think that that would be a better upgrade over the 4790K.

[91wow]

Upgrade GPU first then on the next intel launch upgrade CPU if you can.

[OnekillWalter]

if you decided to change your CPU to i7-4690k, you also need a new motherboard. if you don't already know. h87 dont overclock as you may know, wich is okay with you current cpu. that being said, you cpu is still very good for gaming, i would keep it. 8gb of ram is also enough for gaming, frequency dont matter as much. so the gpu would be a good idea. i just got a G1 gaming gtx 970 by Gigabyte and i am pretty pleased. 

 

edit: welcome to the forum!

[SteveGrabowski]

I'd upgrade the GPU and power supply. Likely the case too unless you're looking to buy a reference card from Best Buy or one of the EVGA/PNY/MSI blower models.

[Hakaan256]

-snip-

My prebuilt shipped with GTX 760 192-bit, which is either 1.5GB or 3GB. I have the 3GB.

 

Thanks for your feedback guys, will look into buying a 970.

If I have the slot for it, I can still keep my old card and dedicate it to physx, right? If not, not a huge loss.

[dadasmithywinkle]

My prebuilt shipped with GTX 760 192-bit, which is either 1.5GB or 3GB. I have the 3GB.

 

Thanks for your feedback guys, will look into buying a 970.

If I have the slot for it, I can still keep my old card and dedicate it to physx, right? If not, not a huge loss.

 

I stand corrected, my apologies. You learn something new everyday

[Hakaan256]

Bought the EVGA GTX 970 ACX 2.0 card, installed with little issue. Can't tell if I'm getting CPU bottlenecking or not, but some games run at low fps whiel gpu usage is still low. I have seen cpu usage go to 100%, but not often. Would my i5-4440 be bottlenecking the 970? If so, should I think about buying a Z97 motherboard and i7-4790k? If not, what could be causing my fps drops (into the 10s I might add)?