I want to upgrade my PC and I don't know which path should I choose. I want raise performance in games and be able to OC my PC which is not possible now because I have blocked CPU (without K). All my parts were bought to fit Rajintek Metis case but it was to hot inside and I changed my case to Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Itx which is much larger, has better air flow and can fit bigger GPU. Additional info:Resolution: 1920 x 1080 but I may buy 4K monitor in near futurewhat do I play: newest titles without first person shootersbudget: ~$400 but I want to choose upgrade which will give best performance per spent dollarMy actual setup:CPU: Intel Core i5-4690MOBO: MSI Z87I GAMING ACGPU: Gigabyte GTX960 ITX 2GBPSU: Thermaltake Smart SE 530WRAM: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 8GBHDD: WD 1TB BlueSSD: Crucial MX100 128GBCPU COOLER: Pkanteks PH-TC14SCASE: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ItxCASE Cooling: 200 mm intake fan provided with caseCASE Cooling: 3 x NZXT FN V2 (140 mm) exaust fans (2 x top, 1 x rear) FAN controller: NZXT GRID+ V2 Which of paths listed below will be the best choice ?PATH 1:Cheapest way. Only upgrade GPU & RAM. No OC possibility.Sell:GPU: ~$200RAM: ~$30Buy:GPU: MSI GTX970 ~$380RAM: Teamgroup Vulcan 2400 Mhz, CL11, 2 x 8GB ~$100SUM: ~$250PATH 2:It's the most probable upgrade for me. It will upgrade my GPU and give me possibility to overclock my CPU with upgrading it to i7.Sell:CPU: ~$180GPU: ~$200RAM: ~$30Buy:CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K ~$390GPU: MSI GTX970 ~$380RAM: Teamgroup Vulcan 2400 Mhz, CL11, 2 x 8GB ~$100SUM: ~$360PATH 3:Upgrade only GPU but to GTX 980. Will my not overclocked i5 4690 be a bottleneck for this card ?Sell:GPU: ~$200Buy:GPU: Asus GTX 980 DC2 OC Strix ~$600SUM: ~$400PATH 4:Upgrade to Skylake it will be the most expensive, so I'm not sure if this upgrade is worth this price. To fit budget range I have to resign from i7 (to i5) and 16 GB RAM (to 8GB) and it's still $45 more expensive than Haswell upgrade.Sell:CPU: ~$180MOBO: ~$90GPU: ~$200RAM: ~$30Buy:CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K ~$280MOBO: MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC ~$175GPU: MSI GTX970 ~$380RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V 2x4GB, 3200MHz, CL16 ~$70SUM: ~$405It's really hard choice for me which path will be the best for spent dollar? In addition I have to ask if my PSU will be enough for all this configurations or should I add PSU with more power to this four paths ?Edit:PATH 5So if the best solution is to save more money and wait for new architecture (GPU), I will do it but still my setup won't give me possibility to OC when it will be needed. My last idea is to sell CPU and RAM and upgrade it with better (but used, when they are still on market and people are changing them to Skylake) CPU and better RAM memory which won't be so expensive like other upgrades but will give me possibility to raise performance of my setup when it will be needed.Sell:CPU: ~$180RAM: ~$30Buy:CPU: used Intel Core i7-4790K ~$300orCPU: used Intel Core i7-4690K ~$220RAM: Teamgroup Vulcan 2400 Mhz, CL11, 2 x 8GB ~$100SUM i7: ~$190 SUM i5: ~$110Does this solution have sense ?
Upgrade path to raise performance in games
gaming;graphics cards;processor;pc
I'm currently doing 4k gaming - a 980TI is probably the most sensible option - its 90% of the performance of this generation's titan at 75% of the cost stock but I'd wait for the next generation if possible. On one hand they promise massive improvements. On the other hand, last gen hardware is cheaper.What do I base this on?I'm running a ivy bridge core i7 with 16 gb of ram. I'm rarely ram or CPU throttled. I do have a 980ti which performs adequately for my needs. That said I don't seem to think I hit the limits of my video card ram, and I seem to have some headroom with my GPU with most games, and I usually turn it up past the nvidia recommended settings. .My advice would be to do a video card upgrade, but to wait a bit. If you must buy one now, while its pricy, a 980TI is likely your best option for dx11, single card gaming. That said, the next generation should have similar performance or better, and there's a few new interesting technologies - smaller process sizes and Ram varients that might make it worth the wait. Don't get me wrong, my current card is glorious but we should be seeing things like HBM this year on most cards. That said, things may change soon - AMD's cards are doing really well at dx12 (and there's big price cuts on the high end R9s), and vulcan's coming out. And of course new cards promising more performance. 