Looking for PC upgrade advice

[Sgt Bitchslap]

Okay gang, here's the deal: my computer is ~5 years old now and in need of an upgrade. I'm not particularly computer-savvy, so I'm asking for help from those of you knowledgeable about computers.

I don't really have the budget to completely update everything, but I would like to get it up to speed enough to not need upgrades for a few more years. If you all would be so kind, please let me know which areas would give me the most bang for my buck in upgrades (not necessarily the top-of-the-line stuff, but I don't want low-end parts, either), and if you have the time, let me know which upgrade parts you would recommend.

I have listed my computer parts below (from my NewEgg invoice), and for a frame of reference, this setup runs Ark very poorly on Med-Low settings. It actually looks and feels so bad that I'm not going to play it until the computer is in better shape. I would like to be able to run the game on relatively high settings without breaking the bank (graphics are actually pretty important to me).

• CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
  
  
• COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
  
  
• ZALMAN CNPS9500A-LED 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
  
  
• Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W BX80623I72600K Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000
  
  
• Intel BOXDP67BGB3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
  
  
• CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B
  
  
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit
  
  
• MSI GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) N570GTX Twin Frozr III PE/OC 1280MB 320-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

I appreciate any and all feedback you guys can give me.

[Fire in the bowl!]

i would update mobo/proc/memory to X99 chipset then grab a GTX980ti.....and to what parts...its up to your wallet as long as its DDR4 and X99 mobo / processor you will be fine just make sure the processor u purchase has a K at the end of it as your current one has for overclocking room.

[TheNakedBanana]

Double the Ram, and get a GTX 970 or 980 graphics card and you should run this just fine.

Your processor will be fine for another 5 or so years. 4 cores is a good standard.

In terms of technology to gaming, gaming is lagging exceptionally far behind our current hardware leaps, you will not require 6 to 8 cores for gaming for a very long time.

[TheNakedBanana]

İlk olarak ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☹ tarafından gönderildi:

i would update mobo/proc/memory to X99 chipset then grab a GTX980ti

"I don't really have the budget to completely update everything" is what OP had stated, did you even read the post? changing the mobo to an X99 mobo and ram to DDR4 AND an X99 processor is insanely expensive.

[Flash]

overclock your cpu to ~4,5ghz , should be no problem and upgrade your gfx card to gtx970/r9 390 and you should be fine for 2 years.



i have i5 2500k@4500 with 8gb and gtx970 and ark runs 30-40 fps with epic settings, but shadows and aa low. checkbox all activated

[J&Boo]

İlk olarak TheNakedBanana tarafından gönderildi:

Double the Ram, and get a GTX 970 or 980 graphics card and you should run this just fine.

Even a 960 would improve it a lot.

[coggat]

Get the r9 390, your cpu is great just oc a bit and get new mobo. and more ram, then oc ram as well

[TheNakedBanana]

İlk olarak J&Boo tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak TheNakedBanana tarafından gönderildi:

Double the Ram, and get a GTX 970 or 980 graphics card and you should run this just fine.

Even a 960 would improve it a lot.

I like the 960 but if he were to devote more of his alloted money on grabbing a 980 for example he wouldn't be required to upgrade for years to come.

[J&Boo]

İlk olarak TheNakedBanana tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak J&Boo tarafından gönderildi:

Even a 960 would improve it a lot.

I like the 960 but if he were to devote more of his alloted money on grabbing a 980 for example he wouldn't be required to upgrade for years to come.

Agreed. He didn't list a budget so I was just presenting another option. He can double his ram and get a 960 for less than $300us.

[Kyouma]

İlk olarak TheNakedBanana tarafından gönderildi:

Double the Ram, and get a GTX 970 or 980 graphics card and you should run this just fine.

Your processor will be fine for another 5 or so years. 4 cores is a good standard.

In terms of technology to gaming, gaming is lagging exceptionally far behind our current hardware leaps, you will not require 6 to 8 cores for gaming for a very long time.

Sound advice. I'd say definitely the 980 though, 980Ti if you can afford. Something with 6GB with GDDR RAM would be of huge benefit.

Another thing I'd suggest is putting some extra money in and getting a kit of 16GB RAM. The kits are often quality tested and optimized to work together.

[Sgt Bitchslap]

Thanks for all the replies!

As much as I'd like to have a 980, the 970 seems a bit more practical. Stupid question incoming: would I need to get a new motherboard if I were to go with the MSI GeForce GTX 970 GTX 970 GAMING 4G 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support G-SYNC Support Video Card?

I'll also be getting CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 unless there are reasons I should be considering something else.

Assuming no compatability issues, these two upgrades should allow me to run most games at or close to max settings?

I'll also have to look into overclocking the CPU if I'm capable of doing it without breaking something.

[TheNakedBanana]

No, you wouldn't need a new Mobo to support that graphics card.
good choice on the ram.
That video card should support your gaming needs for a few good years before you start noticing that you'll need to lower the quality of your graphics settings with newly released games.

Also as for the overclocking, don't even attempt it unless you have an aftermarket CPU cooler like an AIO watercooling block or the exceptional entry grade air cooler, the Hyper 212 evo.

Also don't be surprised if you don't get super high settings on early access games like ARK and many others. These games are in the alpha stages and have not reached the point where they begin to optimize everything to run silky smooth.

[Lazloe Longhair]

İlk olarak TheNakedBanana tarafından gönderildi:

No, you wouldn't need a Mobo to support that graphics card.
good choice on the ram.
That video card should support your gaming needs for a few good years before you start noticing that you'll need to lower the quality of your graphics settings with newly released games.

Also as for the overclocking, don't even attempt it unless you have an aftermarket CPU cooler like an AIO watercooling block or the exceptional entry grade air cooler, the Hyper 212 evo.

OP, I second this legit opinion. The CPU and motherboard can be upgraded in a future upgrade cycle. Also keep in mind that your hard drives can be an issue for you if they are old (more than 4 years old) and you should look to getting a fresh drive soonish if they are. Hard drive failures are a pain to recover from if you have no backups.

Also second the OC tip. I would go so far as not trying to OC at all unless you have the cash for replacing the EVERYTHING if the OC fails badly (worst case scenario).

[SirCollin]

Honestly, if you're not completely replacing your RAM, adding an extra 16 gigs is overkill. Another 8 would be more practical and cost effective. You could even save the money and buy an aftermarket cooler to overclock with.

[Lazloe Longhair]

İlk olarak Chuntington tarafından gönderildi:

Honestly, if you're not completely replacing your RAM, adding an extra 16 gigs is overkill. Another 8 would be more practical and cost effective. You could even save the money and buy an aftermarket cooler to overclock with.

He is not going to add 16gb, he is going to replace the old 8 (2x4gb) with the new 16 (2x8gb).

[Sgt Bitchslap]

Sorry for bringing back an old discussion, but I have a couple of questions since I couldn't justify spending the money on upgrading last September while I was finishing school.

Do the above recommendations still hold up now that it's 9 months later?

If not, then what would you add/remove?

I'd like to keep this under $600, but I do want to upgrade enough that I'm set for a few years.

I appreciate all the help, old and new.