Something went wrong. Try again later
    Follow

    PC

    Platform »

    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.

    What to upgrade on my PC?

    Avatar image for virruk
    Virruk

    3

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #1  Edited By Virruk

    Hello All - I am new here and looking for some advice on what would be the best upgrades for my PC at this point. I have had it for 8 years while slowly upgrading separate parts over the years. I am hoping to be able to run Destiny 2 at 60 FPS when it comes out - I'd also love to run other more graphic intensive games, rather than just play them on console. Here are my current specs -

    Original System Model: Studio XPS 435T/9000

    CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz

    GPU: Radeon HD 7800 Series

    RAM: 24GB

    SSD: 750GB

    HDD: 750GB

    PSU: Corsair CX750M

    OS: Windows 10

    Monitors: 30in. Dell & 27in Benq

    I am thinking at this point I may just need to upgrade my GPU, but I am not sure what my build can handle at this point. Should I consider a new CPU? Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

    Avatar image for joemarsden
    JoeMarsden

    340

    Forum Posts

    2109

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Other than upgrading your GPU like you say, I'd recommend looking into getting a newer processor (even a newer i5 if you didn't want to fork out for a newer i7). However, with that comes a new motherboard and new RAM as newer boards don't have support for DDR3 RAM anymore as it has been 'replaced' by DDR4.

    Avatar image for facelessvixen
    FacelessVixen

    4009

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 5

    #3  Edited By FacelessVixen

    As curious as I am to see what a Bloomfield i7 can do with modern games, it might be time to upgrade to Kaby Lake, or Ryzen 5 or 7 if anyone here can vouch for AMD.

    Avatar image for deactivated-5a0917a2494ce
    deactivated-5a0917a2494ce

    1349

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 5

    User Lists: 4

    Except for the drives and case, you need to upgrade everything. We don't know how well Destiny will run yet, but a 7700k with at least a 1060 will be a good start. If you have the money , go for the 1070 or 1080ti. I'm sure a 1070 or 1080ti will be fine for Destiny . . . Unless there are major technical issues.

    Avatar image for charltonheston
    charltonheston

    73

    Forum Posts

    7

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    @horseman6 PSU and monitors are more likely fine too.

    But yeah, I think it's time for mobo, RAM, CPU, GPU upgrade. If that's too much at once just do either GPU or the other stuff and wait for a deal later.

    For reference, I have an Asus Strix GTX 1070 and can run some stuff at 4k/30 and most things at 1440/60 comfortably. That's with an ancient i7 2600k and 8 GB RAM (nothing overclocked currently). I went the route of getting the GPU first.

    So feel it out, honestly if you're gaming at 1080p and have no desire for 1440+ it might make sense to just get a 1060 or 1070 now and see how that goes. Also research the games you're playing, some are going to be more CPU intensive (Forza for example).

    Avatar image for cameron
    Cameron

    1056

    Forum Posts

    837

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 2

    I'd say the real wildcard is Destiny 2. If that game isn't CPU intensive and is a good port, then you might be ok with just a GPU upgrade. If it's an optimized piece of crap (like most PC ports recently) it probably won't run well on anything less that a top of the line system.

    I have a 3570K, which, while an i5, is faster than your CPU and I've had trouble will my CPU bottlenecking my 1070 in a few recent games. My suggestion would be to wait until Destiny 2 is out, buy a new GPU, and see how it goes. If you can't get the performance you want, then it's full system upgrade time.

    If you do a full system upgrade, take a serious look at AMD's Ryzen. Their 1600 (6core/12thread) and 1700(8core/16thread) are an awesome value, especially if you do anything other than gaming on your computer that needs CPU muscle. Intel announced Skylake X this week (launching in August), which looks like a solid response to Ryzen on the high end, but does little to compete with the mid-range Ryzen parts.

    Avatar image for an_ancient
    an_ancient

    306

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Damn, it's been 8yrs since that CPU huh? Can't find a comparable benchmark, but this is even a worse case scenario. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TScpVAGNdcI

    Unless you really need it you could wait it out a bit or get a modest GPU. If you want to do a sensible upgrade you could always do it with as @cameron says Ryzen offering and/or ebayed parts. If you want to splurge I might wait a bit more for the end of this year, beginning next year.

    Avatar image for oursin_360
    OurSin_360

    6675

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Avatar image for virruk
    Virruk

    3

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! You all pretty much confirmed my suspicions...I have been keeping this PC alive as long as I've been able to (I've had it as an_ancient said, for about 8 years lol). I'm thinking I'll probably give a new GPU a shot and see how that goes, but likely commit to a new build shortly after. Thanks again all! Very much appreciated.

    Avatar image for oldmanlight
    OldManLight

    1328

    Forum Posts

    177

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 7

    User Lists: 9

    honestly, i would upgrade both the CPU and GPU in your machine. Older processors tend to struggle with newer games the past 2-3 years almost as much as an old GPU. up until last year i was running a phenom II 965 and i upgraded to a FX 8320 that i caught on sale. The benefit i saw from that alone made my crossfire 7770's run better. Shortly after that i upgraded to a r9 390. now i can run most anything out there at 1080p on high settings and usually hit the 50-60 fps range so i'm locked in on my current machine until the time comes when i'm forced to run new games at medium/low settings. but seriously don't sleep on the CPU upgrade. my old laptop i dug out recently had an older i5 and a mobile radeon 5800 gpu with 8gb of ram and it stuggled to run overwatch at 1366x768 at low settings.

    Avatar image for twilight_prince
    Twilight_Prince

    12

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    #12  Edited By Twilight_Prince

    The processor seems still looks good and i guess you have not face any problem on playing games, but the problem here is your GPU which considerably as old for now. Better to upgrade the GPU first, then you could try to upgrade of your processor later. I always prefer AMD for GPU since they always provided latest driver than what Nvidia always do.

    Avatar image for hosstile17
    Hosstile17

    844

    Forum Posts

    21

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 3

    If you are looking to run Destiny 2 at 60fps on a 1080 display, I would recommend a GTX 1060 or an RX580 video card. If you are going to run at 1440p and don't want to have to turn down any settings, might consider a GTX 1070. But, the rest of your build seems totally fine.

    Avatar image for monkeyking1969
    monkeyking1969

    9095

    Forum Posts

    1241

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 18

    If you can afford it look at building a whole new system on a modest budget. I actually think saving your money now, so that you could afford a new base would be a strategy worth considering. Not a fun prospect perhaps in terms oif cost and waiting; but a new mobo, CPU and RAM would put you in good position down the road. On paper your processor is still quite powerful; but modern processors, mobos and RAM bring with them increasers in performances in all subsystems in addition to what they bring on paper.

    This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.