Upgrade advice wanted

[DenDirtbiker]

So, here's the deal. I have an old desktop. How old you say? Really old, but it was the Bees Knees when I bought it a lifetime ago AND it still runs like the day I bought it. Never overclocked or had any serious issues with it. It has a Rampage III Gene Mother board with i7 930 processor, about 24GB RAM and has a GTX 480 GPU. My question is, is it really worth it to stick a SSD and a higher spec graphics card into such an old system to make it run current games at higher settings (it runs any of the current games with ease at low settings) or is there another bottle neck that I'm not considering?

 

[JollyJamma]

Firstly, please use paragraphs.

Secondly, what speed is your RAM? What games do you play? What frames per second are you getting? What is your budget?

An SSD will help a ton with loading times but not so much FPS.

I’d still get one though and I’d recommend the MX500 for its performance and 5 year warranty.

 

[DenDirtbiker]

Firstly, please use paragraphs. I did. One big one.

Secondly, what speed is your RAM? 1666, methinks

What games do you play? Blops4, ROE, Battlefield 3 and 4, Far Cries, as you can see mostly FPS's and also the occasional LOL

What frames per second are you getting? Haven't checked frame rates, but want to run higher resolutions with higher settings

What is your budget? It's January bud, anyone accepting linker klinkers for payment, I'm married for nearly 20 years, so it's not like I'm using mine.

An SSD will help a ton with loading times but not so much FPS. It is amazing what a difference a SSD makes to loading speeds for sure, it's definitely on my list.

I’d still get one though and I’d recommend the MX500 for its performance and 5 year warranty.

Thanks for the response @JollyJamma , much appreciated. My main concern is how my games look and run. they run fine, they just don't look as good as I know they can. I guess my main question is, is it worth my while to spend a good couple of Rands on a cross graphics card like a 1080 for example? I'm not even sure if my system will be compatible with the newer GPU's.

 

[Chicken Licken]

Thanks for the response @JollyJamma , much appreciated. My main concern is how my games look and run. they run fine, they just don't look as good as I know they can. I guess my main question is, is it worth my while to spend a good couple of Rands on a cross graphics card like a 1080 for example? I'm not even sure if my system will be compatible with the newer GPU's.

Don't put a 1080 to shame on a 930

 

[JollyJamma]

Don't put a 1080 to shame on a 930

This translates to 'it's a waste to pair those that CPU with that GPU as the CPU will bottleneck the shit out of the system'.

If you're planning on doing a complete upgrade later on, then sure, get the 1080. That CPU would be better paired with a 1060 6gig or AMD 580 8gig.

 

[DenDirtbiker]

That was what I wasn't sure of. Thanks for the advice chaps. Easier on the wallet short term, but I'm gonna "hoes" later on a whole new system.

 

[Spectaitor]

If you're going for a full upgrade (one item at a tiem), get the big G-card 1st. I plan to keep my 1080 for a while unless I get a lekker raise at work so my next upgrade would be for my cpu and whatever goes with it.

The g-card will immediately show its prowess even if your cpu bottlenecks it.
All depends on what your long term is, don't get a 1060 if you can scratch a bit more and get a 1080 or 1070 - far more future proof.

Alas, if you only got enough for a 1060 then that's a great card for your system.

 

[moedeez]

If you're going for a full upgrade (one item at a tiem), get the big G-card 1st. I plan to keep my 1080 for a while unless I get a lekker raise at work so my next upgrade would be for my cpu and whatever goes with it.

The g-card will immediately show its prowess even if your cpu bottlenecks it.
All depends on what your long term is, don't get a 1060 if you can scratch a bit more and get a 1080 or 1070 - far more future proof.

Alas, if you only got enough for a 1060 then that's a great card for your system.

I have the same CPU with half as much RAM as OP with a 1060. It's a perfectly capable 1080p gaming machine.
So far I've been playing games at mostly Max settings.

 

[JollyJamma]

That was what I wasn't sure of. Thanks for the advice chaps. Easier on the wallet short term, but I'm gonna "hoes" later on a whole new system.

Then by all means, get a 1080. It'll cost you more in the long run when your middle range card is out paced by your new rig. It's why I went for a 1070 over a 1060 because I know it would last longer and make it through several upgrades.

If you're on a first gen 870, consider moving to a 4790K or 7700K/6700K rig.

I'd get the 6700K or 7700K as DDR4 RAM prices are set to drop by 20% soon so if you can get a motherboard and CPU in the mean time, you should be lined up nicely for a great upgrade.

 

[Zoltan2222]

Some help full info in the links below

UserBenchmark: Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB vs 480

gpu.userbenchmark.com

GTX1060 6gb is a 150%+ performance increase from the GTX 480 (think you go around R2500-R3000 now)

UserBenchmark: Intel Core i5-4690K vs i7 930

cpu.userbenchmark.com

Upgrading from the 930 to an I5 4690K is only an 50% or so increase, I myself still use 4th gen its a machine, but motherboards are hell to get

UserBenchmark: Intel Core i7-7700K vs i7 930

cpu.userbenchmark.com

Rather go for a I7 7700K, 91%+ performance increase, also more available and you can pair with ddr4 ram.
Also it will be a system which will last long enough to just change GPU after 3 years or so.

UserBenchmark: G.SKILL Ripjaws V DDR4 2133 C15 2x8GB vs RipjawsX DDR3 1600 C10 4x8GB

ram.userbenchmark.com

Difficult to compare 24gb ram, so I used 32gb ddr3 1600 against 16gb ddr4 2133 and the ddr4 is 30%+ improvement (for +-R1600)
Also your 7th gen motherboard will have much more features and enhancements etc. (PCIe gen 3)
Dont think your board support UEFI either?
SSD is a much for your "boot disk" believe me, 128gb should be good.

Hope this helps you