Opinion on Upgrade

[metalhead]

Hey there guys.  First post so be gentle on me! lol  Ok so I am in need of your opinion.  I am planning on making an upgrade to my rig but unfortunately I'm limited this year to a budget of only $600.  For the record, next year I am planning on upgrading the Mobo and CPU to Intel but right now I'm stuck with what I got!  Ok so my question is this: Should I buy a GTX 980 and just wait to upgrade my mobo and CPU next year?  Or should I go ahead and purchase a AMD FX 8370 as well as a GTX 970?  My main concern is I'm going to be playing games like heavily modded Skyrim and heavily modded Witcher 3.  I basically like to play games that can be modded.  I'm worried about bottlenecking a powerful card like the 980 but if it wouldnt be that bad then I would like to go ahead and get it.  Just in case my sig doesnt work to show my system specs here they are:

 

Mobo:Gigabyte UDA-970A-UD3

CPU: AMD Phenom x4 960T OC'd to 3.8Ghz

GPU: EVGA GTX 750Ti OC'd

RAM: Kingston HyperX Blu

 

So just in your guys honest opinion, which is the best way to go about this?  Keep in mind that next year I intend to upgrade Mobo and CPU to intel.  Just need to know the best course of action for this year and the best way to spend my budget.

 

Thanks guys,

 

Metalhead

[Masada02]

Honestly I'd go for the CPU upgrade now. In one years time, CPU's won't change all that much therefore you wouldn't be missing out on any potential upgrades in the future. That way, you can wait till the new GPU's come out this year and gain that extra 30-50% improvement when you get your new GPU next year. That is, if you can stand using your current GPU for another year...

[poownedmage]

i would go with the new prossesor and 970/r9 380

[TidaLWaveZ]

Tough question, if PASCAL comes out the 900 series will be discounted.  What about using the $600 for a FX 9590 and a Motherboard for it, then hold on to the rest until you make a serious decision on the GPU?

[Mr.Meerkat]

Budget on upgrading?

Neither is the best as the 8370 is really old (it's just a tweaked 8350) and would bottleneck that 970 in CPU intensive games...

[metalhead]

Thank you for your reply's I appreciate it!  The only thing that bugs the crap outta me is I know my CPU struggles most of the time when I am playing Skyrim for example.  Also the fact that my card only has 2Gb of VRAM which I totally have maxxed out.  The VRAM issue with the 970 kinda makes me cringe and makes me want to go ahead and get the 980 but then I'd be worried about my CPU not being able to keep up with it.  And the fact that the 980 is way better than the 970.  GAH!!! I really would like to get something ordered tomorrow. 

[App4that]

I have to agree with those saying a graphics card upgrade won't fix your issues. The 970 would be fine for modding Skyrim. Your CPU is on the edge.

 

My advice is to upgrade the CPU. Then the graphics card.

[poownedmage]

1 minute ago, metalhead said:

Thank you for your reply's I appreciate it!  The only thing that bugs the crap outta me is I know my CPU struggles most of the time when I am playing Skyrim for example.  Also the fact that my card only has 2Gb of VRAM which I totally have maxxed out.  The VRAM issue with the 970 kinda makes me cringe and makes me want to go ahead and get the 980 but then I'd be worried about my CPU not being able to keep up with it.  And the fact that the 980 is way better than the 970.  GAH!!! I really would like to get something ordered tomorrow. 

the cpu is probably the best choice

[metalhead]

4 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

Budget on upgrading?

Neither is the best as the 8370 is really old (it's just a tweaked 8350) and would bottleneck that 970 in CPU intensive games...

Yes unfortunately.  We are in the process of buying a house so my Rig upgrade budget is limited this year. Like I said tho I will be upgrading to intel next year.  I honestly want to get the 980 for various obvious reasons because I want to get something that will be a definite upgrade for this year and next year I can take care of the mobo and cpu.

[metalhead]

Ok so basically what you guys are collectively saying is that I should just go ahead and purchase the intel mobo and cpu now? 

[App4that]

I'd get the cheapest i7 set up you can get. In a little over a year Intel is launching the 10nm CPU's that will leave everything behind. So if you can save money getting a Haswell set up do it, as Skylake will not be seeing any significant changes before it's replaced.

 

That's my 2c

[metalhead]

If I remember correctly aren't the new CPU's from intel going to be hardcoded to not run anything lower than Windows10?  I will absolutely NEVER run Windows10 on my system.  Windows 10 is the worst OS ever(for reasons I won't get into right now).   When I am absolutely no longer able to run Windows 7 I will be moving to a flavor of Linux. 

[metalhead]

Ok so do you guys think that this setup here would let me see a huge improvement?:

 

 

• Intel Boxed Core I7-6700K 4.00 GHz 8M Processor Cache 4 LGA 1151 BX80662I76700K
• Gigabyte LGA1151 Intel Z170 Micro ATX DDR4 Motherboards GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5

[Masada02]

Historically, even with the die shrink, the new Intel CPU's will only be marginally faster than the outgoing model (5% difference from Broad well to Skylake, 10% from Haswell to Skylake). This is why I pointed out that getting the CPU now would leave the least performance on the table. It will also allow you to get one of the next gen GPU's and take advantage of that huge die shrink and new architectural benefits. You'd see a much larger performance increase with the new GPU's than waiting until the next CPU from Intel.

[metalhead]

Actually scratch that mobo lol thats the micro haha

[Guest]

If you can get a FX-83XX for dirt cheap - I'm talking ~100.00 - then that would be a decent upgrade for now. 

 

I run skyrim at 60fps steady with max settings (everything maxed) (only randomly do I see a spike down to ~47), un-modded. I do not have experience modding it, nor do I know if that adds to CPU usage or GPU usage. 

 

Otherwise, upgrade to intel now. Or stay with your current gear until you intend to switch to intel. 

[metalhead]

1 minute ago, Masada02 said:

Historically, even with the die shrink, the new Intel CPU's will only be marginally faster than the outgoing model (5% difference from Broad well to Skylake, 10% from Haswell to Skylake). This is why I pointed out that getting the CPU now would leave the least performance on the table. It will also allow you to get one of the next gen GPU's and take advantage of that huge die shrink and new architectural benefits. You'd see a much larger performance increase with the new GPU's than waiting until the next CPU from Intel.

Were you talking about getting an Intel CPU? or AMD?  Honestly and unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time or extra $ to always be current with hardware.  I just would like something that is going to be able to play games like modded skyrim and witcher 3 without really having to redesign my entire system.  Thats why I had originally thought that I was going to just get the 980 and be done with it but I didn't want to have a huge bottleneck on that so that's why I decided to go with the AMD FX 8370 and the GTX 970.  I just really want to be able to see a huge difference in graphics and playability and also have more VRAM for my graphics mods.

[metalhead]

I'm just wondering if I go ahead and get the Intel mobo and the i7 with my current GPU (EVGA GTX 750Ti) if I would see a really clear difference.  Sorry to be pushing back so much, I've had my heart set on getting a 970 or 980 for a very long time. 

[metalhead]

I really appreciate your replies.  Don't think that I don't!! I am very grateful for your guy's opinions.  Nobody here at the office is really into custom PC's lol We just do servers here.

[Mr.Meerkat]

It's hard to give you a suggestion as both your GPU and CPU aren't really that powerful anymore...if you had a 760 and above (7950/280 and above for AMD), I would have easily said CPU and mobo probably...but with your GPU only being a 750 ti, not the best idea ever to increase performance...

2 minutes ago, metalhead said:

I'm just wondering if I go ahead and get the Intel mobo and the i7 with my current GPU (EVGA GTX 750Ti) if I would see a really clear difference.  Sorry to be pushing back so much, I've had my heart set on getting a 970 or 980 for a very long time. 

Not really unless it's a super CPU intensive game as the 750ti is no where near powerful enough to bottleneck that phenom anyway...what's your budget? because I'm sure there's a way to get both a better CPU and GPU  

[App4that]

No matter what you do you'll be held back. Unless you replace the CPU and Graphics cards together.

 

I went CPU first because that upgrade effects everything you do, verses the graphics card that only effects gaming.

 

If you don't want to run windows 10, and I don't blame you. Get a Haswell i7. More than enough for today's games.

[metalhead]

2 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

It's hard to give you a suggestion as both your GPU and CPU aren't really that powerful anymore...if you had a 760 and above (7950/280 and above for AMD), I would have easily said CPU and mobo probably...but with your GPU only being a 750 ti, not the best idea ever to increase performance...

Not really unless it's a super CPU intensive game as the 750ti is no where near powerful enough to bottleneck that phenom anyway...what's your budget? because I'm sure there's a way to get both a better CPU and GPU  

My budget is around $600

[Guest]

If you can reuse ram, PSU, and case you can easily go intel chip and new GPU. 

 

 

[Mr.Meerkat]

4 minutes ago, metalhead said:

My budget is around $600

How about this??

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($61.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($274.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $586.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-09 15:15 EST-0500

 

Feel free to change it to a 970 and take out that PSU if your current PSU is sufficent  

 

Edit, same CPU and mobo but with the PSU taken out and a 970 instead  

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($61.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($309.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $551.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-09 15:18 EST-0500

[App4that]

2 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

How about this??

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($179.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($61.98 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 390 8GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($274.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $586.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-02-09 15:15 EST-0500

 

Feel free to change it to a 970 and take out that PSU if your current PSU is sufficent  

That i5 won't be much better than what they have. Current games want hyperthreading.