Help needed - upgrade or new build ?

[de Scrub]

Hi Guys

 

Looking for some advice on whether I should upgrade my PC or have a complete new build.

 

I currently have an i5 2500, Radeon R9 280, 16GB DDR3, 128GB SSD and a 650Watt PSU. I have windows 10 x64. I use this machine for gaming more than anything but also college work, nothing taxing just word processing. I have 2 monitors that are 1080p 60hz. I have noticed the performance in games that I play, PUBG and ARMA 3, isn't exactly "smooth". I'm not looking to spend a huge amount, I have a budget of £600 so do I spend this on upgrading the GPU but risk having the CPU and older RAM being a bottleneck or do I go all in on a new machine ?

 

Any advice would be brilliant!

 

Cheers guys

[Dragonheart]

If you can find a cheap 2600k/2700k, and have an overclocking motherboard, you can get some nice performance. 

[yaya1]

Hey! 

If you don't mind buying used, try it!

But for the other part, I'd rather upgrade to a newer platform and keep my SSD and PSU and sell all the other parts to get some more money for new ones.

That's what I would do since there's just the i7 2600(K), which might help you get a little more life out of your pc, but I don't think those CPUs are worth their relatively high used prices. 

But that's just me. I think you should keep it for a little longer and wait for coffee lake to come out and see.

[Crunchy Dragon]

Long live Sandy Bridge!

 

I personally would wait until Coffee Lake releases and upgrade to that.

Cheers!

[Moress]

7 minutes ago, Jonas_2909 said:

Hey! 

If you don't mind buying used, try it!

But for the other part, I'd rather upgrade to a newer platform and keep my SSD and PSU and sell all the other parts to get some more money for new ones.

That's what I would do since there's just the i7 2600(K), which might help you get a little more life out of your pc, but I don't think those CPUs are worth their relatively high used prices. 

Agreed, ARMA 3 is very VERY cpu intensive. I would vote that a platform upgrade to the upcoming Coffeelake I5s would be worth a look. It would be a respectable jump of +2 cores, about %20 IPC and good gains in max clock speeds. The R9 280 is showing its age for sure by now, but for the games you play I would think a CPU upgrade would serve you best 

 

Also, Id guess you could get about £200 for your current mobo/cpu/ram. Add that to what you have and deduct (what im estimating) to be about £550 for the platform upgrade, you should be able to get yourself a cheaper GTX 1060 as well.

[de Scrub]

Thank you guys for the advice it's appreciated! 

 

Never would have thought of selling the old parts, wouldn't expect anyone to be interested honestly but the extra cash from sales will definitely be helpful. 

 

Coffeelake here I come!