FG WWYD: PC Upgrade dilema

[Greboth 2,721]

Morning FG,

 

I thought I'd post a what would you do regarding a potential PC upgrade as I have a dilemma.  My current PC is a m-itx build; Intel 3770 (not a K), 8Gb DDR3 1600Mhz RAM, GTX 1050Ti, 60Gb SSD for OS.  I use it for gaming but also for Photoshop, 3D modelling and rendering and a little video editing (hopefully more when I pull my finger out - sorry Lee  ) It is worth noting that I only game at 1920x1200 at 60fps and I'm reluctant to change my monitor as it is a colour accurate monitor.

 

I was looking at around a £1000 for an upgrade and I have been looking at building a whole new system, Ryzen 5 1600, 16Gb DDR4 3000Mhz or 3200Mhz RAM, 256Gb SSD, GTX 1060 or 1070 and upgrading to Windows 10.  The other option is put that money in to a new PSU and GPU (probably 1080 maybe 1080ti) and maybe try to find 16Gb RAM for my current system.

 

So to the dilemma; If I stick with my current m-itx system then I am quite limited in that I'd need to get creative with my HDD placement to fit bigger GPU's in my case.  I've run out of sata ports on my MB which is an annoyance so potentially could change MB too though this would require a new case (though if I change to an ATX case this cost could be offset for lack of a better word as the case could be used for builds in the future).  All the non-gaming stuff I do loves RAM so it would be nice to change to 16Gb but being m-itx I have only 2 DIMM's so it means a wholesale swap rather than adding more sticks unless I do go for the change in MB too.  I would like to change to Windows 10 too for the reasons above and would like a bigger SSD while I'm at it.  On top of all this, I'd also have to get a new PSU.

 

So basically; sticking with my current system actually means new ram, new GPU, new PSU, new SSD and new OS with maybe a new case and new motherboard.  This big pro would be a nice performance increase to everything but it feel like a lot of effort and change to still be running on a 6 year old CPU, EOL RAM etc.  The GPU would be overkill for effectively 1080p60 gaming but the 3D side of things is GPU accelerated so I would see some benefits.

 

A whole new Ryzen based system would be an upgrade but having looked at numerous benchmarks the single threaded performance and even multithreaded, a Ryzen 5 1600/1600x doesn't score much higher (if at all) over my 3770.  However a whole new system does come some advantages, it is all newer hardware; DDR4 RAM is much faster than DDR3, AMD have said they will support the AM4 socket for a while (2019 or 2020 I think they said?).  Even with a lower GPU in this build I should still easily hit 60Hz of my monitor on high settings but in 3D and rendering the small gain in CPU performance would be offset but the loss in GPU performance.

 

It seems illogical to me to upgrade to a whole new Ryzen based system for very little gains in performance but it seems equally as illogical to go through that much change and be on 'old' hardware.

 

So FG WWYD?

[Plumbers Crack 4,068]

If it was me, I’d change the memory to 16gb and do nothing else until you can afford to make complete step change that’s really noticeable. You’re happy with the monitor and presumably keyboard and mouse? If so, James recently dropped £1500 (?) on a good rig...save a bit more, maybe get some birthday donation dosh, etc and wait until you can afford the next level up because a grand is a lot to drop for a small improvement IMO

[The3rdWalker 1,274]

The 1050ti is a solid card. Depending on the games you play it should be more than enough unless you are trying to 4k and max out games like Witcher, Skryim, etc. Your 1000 pound build gets you a ton more than you think. Now I am looking at North American builds and converting money, but at...

 

£887 you get this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BXfXP3 . I would put your 1050ti in there until you want to buy an upgrade. You could go slightly over at about 1100 and get a 1060/1070. (I am sorry, I put Noctua fans in there and I know some people hate them because they only come in brown, but I use 3 of them and they are silent and wonderful)

 

If you keep your current build, I agree with Phil that I would change the memory and then sit on your hands for a little bit. Your memory needs directly reflect the modeling and graphic design aspect. What games do you actually play?

[Greboth 2,721]

43 minutes ago, Plumbers Crack said:

If it was me, I’d change the memory to 16gb and do nothing else until you can afford to make complete step change that’s really noticeable. You’re happy with the monitor and presumably keyboard and mouse? If so, James recently dropped £1500 (?) on a good rig...save a bit more, maybe get some birthday donation dosh, etc and wait until you can afford the next level up because a grand is a lot to drop for a small improvement IMO

 

A budget is always a consideration else I'd be speccing up a Threadripper build with multiple Quaddro cards but as I don't have £10k+ down the back of the sofa to spend on a PC things need to be kept a little more reasonable  It isn't really a budget question though, it is a question of is it worth sacrificing some CPU power for additional GPU power? which is a question that could be asked on any budget.  I do accept it is more complex though due to it being vastly different CPU's between the 3770 and Ryzen.  My budget is enough though for the build in my OP with a GTX 1070 which should hit 60fps on most, if not all games, at 1080p.  My dilemma is that for the same budget, I could stick with my 3770 and have a 1080 which would give the same gaming performance (as capped to 60fps by my monitor) but better 3D/Rendering performance but that comes at the cost of being stuck with EOL hardware with no upgrade path.

 

6 minutes ago, The3rdWalker said:

The 1050ti is a solid card. Depending on the games you play it should be more than enough unless you are trying to 4k and max out games like Witcher, Skryim, etc. Your 1000 pound build gets you a ton more than you think. Now I am looking at North American builds and converting money, but at...

 

£887 you get this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BXfXP3 . I would put your 1050ti in there until you want to buy an upgrade. You could go slightly over at about 1100 and get a 1060/1070. (I am sorry, I put Noctua fans in there and I know some people hate them because they only come in brown, but I use 3 of them and they are silent and wonderful)

 

If you keep your current build, I agree with Phil that I would change the memory and then sit on your hands for a little bit. Your memory needs directly reflect the modeling and graphic design aspect. What games do you actually play?

 

The 1050Ti has performed well and was bought originally just for some light PC gaming and playing older titles like Gmod, Minecraft etc. but even Minecraft can cause my FPS to drop below 60 if enough is going on, Stellaris does too when in bigger ship battles in the mid to end game.  I've been looking at upgrades too with the switch to Windows 10 to play more of the xbox games (Sea of Thieves, Black Flag was better,, Forza etc.) and speaking to Phil and watching some videos, Star Citizen looks good too.

 

That isn't a bad build though, I'll have to look in to that some more as I specced a Ryzen 5 1600x system to not much less than that build and that is Ryzen 7.

[Plumbers Crack 4,068]

3 hours ago, The3rdWalker said:

I agree with Phil ..........DAVE the plumber sighed and went to look at another thread...

 

[phil bottle 9,822]

 

Doppelgangers;)

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[phil bottle 9,822]

My only thoughts on this are regarding CPU.

Like Dave says, 16gb RAM is a good start and I agree with Rib that the 1050 is decent enough, though a lot of games are looking for 3gb+ GPUs lately even on low settings. My 770 is only 2gb and I'm starting to notice that.

What seems to give me better performance than my card merits is my CPU. It's old now, a 4770K i7. But it's hyperthreaded and the clock speed is precisely 4.39ghz. I play games at settings higher than Nvidia's suggested settings with frames hitting three figures.

I think that a new build is in order though to be frank, unless you want to be having the same conversation in a year or so. Games are demanding more and more and I only see this rising. I've not had to spend a penny on my PC since I bought it 5 years ago but I'm going to have to upgrade the GPU pretty soon if I want my games to run well, and be pretty of course.





Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[Greboth 2,721]

My GPU is the 1050Ti so it has 4Gb VRAM instead of the 2Gb on the standard 1050 which I think does give me some leeway.  I'd probably guess overall though our systems aren't too dissimilar in terms of performace.  I think you're right though about a new system though, it isn't necessarily needed right now but there is little point spending money now to upgrade my current PC then spend money in a year or whenever buying a new PC.  WIth Ryzen2 (or Ryzen+ or whatever they call it) coming out soon I think I might wait and see what that brings before going for a CPU Motherboard combo.  If the price/performance is decent over an OG Ryzen then I might as well but if not, hopefully it leads to a drop in OG Ryzen prices.

 

Either way I went would mean a new PSU so I've picked up an 850W PSU ready and verbally agreed to buy an EVGA GTX1070 SC 8Gb ACX3 card. it is second hand GPU but with GPU prices as they are its almost a £500 card and the guy agreed at £330 so hard to say no to that!  No way will a card that size fit in my current case without taking a HDD out but I'm tempted to do it just to see how fast it runs

[tronic44 3,642]

Don’t buy a gpu at the moment, the prices are awful! Sorry would type more but in a rush

[Greboth 2,721]

58 minutes ago, tronic44 said:

Don’t buy a gpu at the moment, the prices are awful! Sorry would type more but in a rush

 

Too late  I know but they don’t really show any signs of dropping so I bit the bullet.  Plus the cheapest I could find recorded of standard 1070 being is around £330-£340 so doesn’t seem too bad of a price of a better cooler and clocked card  

[Greboth 2,721]

@GazzaGarratt Lee, after chatting to you last night about PC's it got me thinking about RAM.  I was planning on going for 2 sticks but never hurts to keep my options open.  Looking in your PC thread, this is the RAM Phil linked you to; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01DPSQOO4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1515181570&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=crucial+ballistix+sport+8gb&dpPl=1&dpID=41dqpRoIRaL&ref=plSrch

 

Is this the stick you bought? Did you get the 2400Mhz or 2666Mhz? With the exception of Star Citizen how are you finding 8Gb for everything else?  Of course I can't also ignore the most important question did you go for grey, red or white? white or grey look best but everyone knows red stuff goes faster  

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

On 06/04/2018 at 5:52 PM, Plumbers Crack said:

I Lol'd hard at that.

 

On 10/04/2018 at 10:07 AM, Greboth said:

@GazzaGarratt Lee, after chatting to you last night about PC's it got me thinking about RAM.  I was planning on going for 2 sticks but never hurts to keep my options open.  Looking in your PC thread, this is the RAM Phil linked you to; https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01DPSQOO4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1515181570&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=crucial+ballistix+sport+8gb&dpPl=1&dpID=41dqpRoIRaL&ref=plSrch

 

Is this the stick you bought? Did you get the 2400Mhz or 2666Mhz? With the exception of Star Citizen how are you finding 8Gb for everything else?  Of course I can't also ignore the most important question did you go for grey, red or white? white or grey look best but everyone knows red stuff goes faster  

Yeah, believe that's the one. Ballistix red 'Go Faster' one

 

It was the only thing that I pulled back on but knowing I could add another single RAM card soon I think is sensible. Also, seeing Star Citizen struggle terribly, I'd increase your RAM as one of the first pieces.

[Greboth 2,721]

1 hour ago, GazzaGarratt said:

 

Yeah, believe that's the one. Ballistix red 'Go Faster' one

 

It was the only thing that I pulled back on but knowing I could add another single RAM card soon I think is sensible. Also, seeing Star Citizen struggle terribly, I'd increase your RAM as one of the first pieces.

 

Can you remember which speed you went for? or did you just buy the one the link takes you to?

 

I'm trying not to compromise too much on the build but equally I don't have an unlimited budget so there has to be some.  I think based on things like Star Citizen and that video editing and the 3d stuff all are better with more RAM that it is best to go 16Gb straight off.  Speed is the other potential for a little compromise, 3200Mhz seems to the sweet spot of price where it isn't much more expensive than the lower speed but then you start facing bigger price jumps to get up to the higher clocks.  Still 16Gb of 2400Mhz is still £30-£40 cheaper than 3000Mhz which isn't too be sniffed at.  Either way it is going to be faster than my 1600Mhz DDR3 that I have currently, I think I need to look in to quite how much different RAM speed makes.