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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    Should I get a new pc or just upgrade my video card?

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    Max_Cherry

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    #1  Edited By Max_Cherry

    I built my pc back in 2011 to play skyrim and the witcher 2 at max settings. Now, I want it to be vr capable and be able to play modern games like resident evil 7 at 1440p. Here are the specs:

    Intel core i7 2600k

    nvidia sli gtx 570 ( with 1.2 gb of VRAM each)

    8gb ddr3 ram

    1440p monitor

    Is my pc good enough, or should I upgrade the gpu, or should I build another pc entirely? What GPU/parts would you recommend? Also, keep in mind money is kind of tight for me right now. Thanks.

    p.s. I have a kickstarter edition oculus rift and I noticed that my gtx 570s don't have an hdmi out. Can I just buy a converter?

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    rethla

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    Upgrading the gpu is always gonna get the biggest improvement but depending on your budget you might wanna spend another $300-400 to make an 6 year old pc viable.

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    burncoat

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    I'm guessing you bought the 1440p monitor recently? I couldn't expect a 570 SLI to get to that resolution easily considering my 760 SLI wasn't cutting it at 1080p.

    We're getting to a level where CPUs are starting to bottleneck, at least with resource intensive games like Hitman and VR. I've read and heard that CPU doesn't matter too much with most VR games, but considering it's a new field with wildly different standards your performance will vary. Getting a new card in the 1000 series will last you a long time for regular games, especially if the game has Vulcan API support. For VR I'm just not sure.

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    Barrock

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    I'm actually in a similar boat, but with an i5 2500k. From what I've read CPUS have not made massive gains since Sandybridge, so overclocking what you have and upgrading your GPU should do you well.

    Intel has new architecture potentially coming out at the tail end of this year, so it might be best to wait for that.

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    Max_Cherry

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    #5  Edited By Max_Cherry

    @burncoat: Yeah. I just bought the 1440p monitor last year to play The Witcher 3 on it.

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    kcin

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    You absolutely do not need a new computer. Just get a new graphics card.

    Depending on what kind of ports your cards currently have, you may be able to get an HDMI converter, but some ports do not carry the same data that HDMI can (DVI/VGA, for example, don't pass audio).

    Whatever the case, though, when it comes time to upgrade, you'll only need to upgrade to a new graphics card and perhaps some more RAM depending on what you have, but that's it.

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    Cameron

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    If you want to run games at good settings at 1440p, then just buy a GTX 1070. Your 2600K is still fine, but anything less than a 1070 is going to struggle to hit 60fps in new games at 1440p.

    As for the Rift, you might be able to rig something up with your current system, but I think a 570 (I don't think VR plays well with SLI) is going to be much too old to have a good experience.

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    korwin

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    As a new PC would necessitate a video card anyway just start with that, these aren't mutually exclusive options.

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    hmoney001

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    PDXSonic

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    Picking up a GTX 1070 is probably the best bet overall. Your 2600k is still viable, as it's still within range of a modern 7600k for most games.

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    Max_Cherry

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    #11  Edited By Max_Cherry

    Follow up question: Can I play resident evil 7 at 1440p with my sli gtx 570s (it only has like 1.2 gigabytes of of VRAM each) or should I just buy it on the ps4?

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    cannedstingray

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    I've got the same cpu. I'm running it overclocked to 4.4ghz. When I first built the machine I also had 2 570's in sli. I switched to a single 770 a couple years later, and a few months ago upgraded to a 1070 8gb and upgraded to 16gb ram.

    The 1070 made a huge difference. Before I could run the witcher 3 at high and hair fx on geralt only. Now I can run the game on ultra with no hiccups whatsoever. The only thing I've noticed after upgrading the video card is that now my cpu will get hot when I turn games all the way up. I've noticed it with the witcher 3, Watch Dogs 2, Hitman, even Resident Evil.

    I suppose dust could be part of the cpu getting hot. It's been a while since the last time I blew the dust out of the machine. Can never remember to buy canned air.

    Now I only run a 1080 screen, I mostly play on my TV. But you will notice enormous performance gains if you upgrade to a 1070. But get the 8gb version I'd say, and maybe consider some more ram for the machine since it is inexpensive.

    Also since you have the clockable cpu take advantage if you haven't yet..

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    Sinusoidal

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    New GPU. But make sure it's compatible with your mainboard. I went from a 550Ti to a 750Ti at one point on an older mb and my machine started beeping at start up and taking forever. No bios updates available to fix the problem. It was a pretty shitty Foxxconn. I ended up buying a new mb so I could use my video card.

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    OurSin_360

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    Gpu should be fine for now then update later on if you need.

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    kcin

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    Follow up question: Can I play resident evil 7 at 1440p with my sli gtx 570s (it only has like 1.2 gigabytes of of VRAM each) or should I just buy it on the ps4?

    There is a demo. You could always just....try the demo.

    http://store.steampowered.com/app/530620/

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    Zevvion

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    I actually think 8GB or RAM is probably not great either. I have 16, and I hate how I don't have 32.

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    deactivated-633c70ff026e8

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    Your Cpu is still good. I recommend the 1070 if you want to play 1440p at 60fps

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    fnrslvr

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    I think people around here have said that they've been maxing out their games at 1440p on a 1070. I don't have a 1440p monitor, but I sometimes leave a game running and then boot up another game and my 1070 doesn't care.

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    Marz

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    #19  Edited By Marz

    video card son, i still run a 2600k and everything runs great on a gtx 1060

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    ripelivejam

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    #20  Edited By ripelivejam

    not that i have to at this point, but i agree new video card if you want an immediate boost (and make sure the psu can handle it). just don't expect 60fps/1440p on most games until you upgrade the cpu as well. it was an agonizing few months for me with a gtx 1080 and only fx8350 (yes i'm being *mostly* sarcastic)

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    Brendan

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    If you're playing a lot of AI simulation heavy strategy games then a new CPU will help. For all the classic "AAA" big budget action releases you should spend money on a video card this year and upgrade your CPU and Motherboard next year. No sense spending all the money this year when there's less benefit.

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